Zelda Classic

Zelda Classic

Zelda Classic is a fan-made game engine inspired by the original Legend of Zelda (NES). It allows players to play custom adventures called “quests” created using the ZQuest editor. The engine has been actively developed since 1999 and has a large community of quest creators.

Batocera uses the zc210-libretro core, a libretro port of Zelda Classic v2.10 by netux79. This port focuses on quest playing only — it does not include the quest editor.

This system scrapes metadata for the “zeldac” group(s) and loads the zeldac set from the currently selected theme, if available.

Quick reference

Emulator: RetroArch
Core: libretro: zc210
Folder: /userdata/roms/zc210
Accepted ROM formats: .qst

BIOS

No Zelda Classic emulator in Batocera needs a BIOS file to run.

ROMs

Place your Zelda Classic quest files (.qst) in /userdata/roms/zc210/.

Quest files are custom adventures created with the ZQuest editor. You can find a large collection of quests at PureZC.net, the main community hub for Zelda Classic.

The core supports quests made for Zelda Classic version 2.10 and earlier.

/userdata/roms/zc210/
               ├── 1st.qst
               ├── z2.qst
               └── MyCustomQuest.qst

The core comes with the original 1st.qst (a recreation of the NES Legend of Zelda) built-in. Additional quests can be downloaded from PureZC Quest Database.

Emulators

RetroArch

RetroArch (formerly SSNES), is a ubiquitous frontend that can run multiple “cores”, which are essentially the emulators themselves. The most common cores use the libretro API, so that's why cores run in RetroArch in Batocera are referred to as “libretro: (core name)”. RetroArch aims to unify the feature set of all libretro cores and offer a universal, familiar interface independent of platform.

RetroArch configuration

RetroArch offers a Quick Menu accessed by pressing [HOTKEY] + South button (B SNES) which can be used to alter various things like RetroArch and core options, and controller mapping. Most RetroArch related settings can be altered from Batocera's EmulationStation.

Standardized features available to all libretro cores: zc210.videomode, zc210.ratio, zc210.smooth, zc210.shaders, zc210.pixel_perfect, zc210.decoration, zc210.game_translation

libretro: zc210

The zc210 libretro core is a port of Zelda Classic v2.10 that removes the development tools and menus, turning it into a console-like quest player experience.

Controls

Here are the default Zelda Classic's controls shown on a Batocera Retropad:

The controls are mapped similarly to the original NES Zelda:

Gamepad button	Action
D-pad	Move Link
B (East)	Sword
A (South)	Use item
START	Start / Pause
SELECT	Map screen

Troubleshooting

My quest does not load

Make sure the quest file has a .qst extension.
The core supports quests made for Zelda Classic v2.10 and earlier. Quests created for newer versions (2.50+, 2.55+) may not work.
Some quests may require specific tileset or music files. Check the quest's readme or description on PureZC for requirements.

Further troubleshooting

For further troubleshooting, refer to the generic support pages.

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