The famed Space World ‘97 demo of Zelda 64 has been a source of consternation for many. This early build of Ocarina of Time was the first time we saw Link in all his early 3D polygonal glory. But, for so long, there has been nothing; just screenshots and firsthand accounts of playing it. All that has changed.
Forest of Illusion, a Nintendo history preservation group, has discovered an early build of Zelda 64 on a test cartridge for F-Zero X. In a routine data dump, Forest of Illusion discovered map files, character assets, and just so many graphics in an over-dump.
As more files became available, fans have been able to reconstruct the test maps of Kakariko Village, the Fire and Water Temples, the fishing grounds, and more. The slideshow below is just a sampling of all of the images found from the dump.
Item icons. 
Link calling Epona. 
Finding the Medallions, which would add new spells to your inventory. 
Beta Link’s house. 
Quest screen. 
Pieces of Heart. 
Reconstruction of what the quest screen might have looked like. 
Assumed to be the tunnel to nowhere in Zora’s Domain. 
Water Temple. 
Gerudo Fortress. 
Unknown room. 
Possibly a beta Fire Temple. 
Graveyard. 
Kokiri Forest.
Not only that, but a giant text dump was also found in the files. There are item descriptions along with the effects of the unused spells connected to the Medallions. Another interesting find from the text is how Navi was originally supposed to speak in a more simplistic pattern. Make sure to click on the tweet to read the whole thread.
Special thanks to Forest of Illusion, Psi_Hate, and MrCheeze_ on Twitter for their hard work on uncovering the assets.
For all of you preservers out there, take a hint from Forest of Illusion: “Let today be a lesson to always check for overdumps in Nintendo 64 development cartridges.”
