Zelda Extreme Challenge Three: The Manji

This is probably going to be our first difficult labyrinth, but I'm pretty sure it'll be nothing compared to the next few!

I figure it's probably a bit unnecessary to obsessively collect 255 rupees before every dungeon, but I'm pretty sure I'll want 8 bombs still.

Our first stop at a fairy fountain so far this challenge. Fortunately it's so close to level three.

Speaking of level three, here we are already. Once again, saved from running into a few Molblins by exploiting the knowledge of how enemies walk onto the screen. Credit to avengah on the GameFAQs board for explaining how that works.

I want to say that once upon a time, I read why Link's skin changes color in this labyrinth, but unfortunately I can't remember.

Zols are generally good for dropping rupees, and these ones are being much more agreeable than the Ropes from last time.

When I think about how liable I am to die to the Darknuts in this level, I realize that it's almost cute and think about the Blue Darknuts and Wizzrobes to come... Sadly, until we get the magic wand, bombs are the only weapon that will affect these guys. That being said, no reason to waste my bombs on these particular ones.

What a wonderful reminder, we should pick up that sword. If only...

Really getting annoying, visiting every room in the labyrinth. Even with rupees to spare, I hate having to shoot down eight Keese.

Our first actual fight with the Darknuts. Of course, in the context of this challenge (and sometimes in general), 'fight' is defined as 'dropping a bomb and running away'.

And this time, I actually was counting my kills so the (technically second) Darknut I bombed gave me a guaranteed bomb drop. Huge credit to Darkwing Duck for figuring out all the details in how that worked.

And to sweeten the deal, the next one I killed gave a random bomb drop too. Things are going pretty smoothly.

A somewhat terrifying room without any real weapons to spare.

But we safely manage to collect the raft with no harm yet.

We manage to kill the last Darknuts we're forced to in this labyrinth, but we're a bit short on bombs.

Fortunately, this room still has four bombs in it we can get by killing all the Keese.

Manhandla is quite honestly one of the most terrifying bosses in the game, comparable to Gleeok or Ganon. Especially with only three hearts, we need to kill him with one bomb.

Darn. On the plus side, he's moving slowly instead of quickly for whatever reason. I'm not sure if that's random, or if killing all three limbs on the same frame could do it, or what it was.

Make sure not to stand in the center of the room when you kill him; you don't want to pick up the container heart and do this whole level over again. I wonder why they chose to put some Moldorms and some Manhandlas in these sandy(?) rooms. I don't honestly understand the random design choice.

I have to admit, I'm enjoying the challenge so far. Being forced to visit every room means I get to see the top half of this labyrinth, which I haven't done in ages!

Three levels down and six to go. Unfortunately, we can't finish level four without the magic wand in level six, but we can't finish any other level without the stepladder from level four (Well, except level eight, but we need the candle from level seven to access that). That means we'll have to enter the Snake and leave without collecting its Triforce Shard, sadly.

Fortunately for Link, he catches a tan quickly.