Walkthrough: Ganon's Tower

[Dark Link]

[shadow=dimgray,left,300]GANON'S TOWER[/shadow]

Getting to Ganon's Tower
Once you leave Turtle Rock, getting to Ganon's Tower is easy. Just head west a bit and you'll run right into it - it's the Dark World's equivalent of the Tower of Hera. After the Crystals unlock the tower so you can enter, you want to make sure you're fully prepared.

Make sure to have all twenty heart pieces, a halved magic meter, four Magic Bottles (three full of Red Potion, one full of Green Potion), the Golden Sword, the Blue Clothes, et cetera. In otherwords, everything up to this point! When that's said and done, enter into Ganon's Tower!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ganon's Tower
As you enter Ganon's Tower, you'll be on a platform over-looking the rest of the dungeon. Two staircases lead down, but just go north and jump off of the platform. Statues of Ganon holding the Triforce line the center of the room.

You have three choices from the outset. On either side of the northern wall are doors with staircases leading downstairs. In the middle of the northern wall, up some stairs, is a door with a staircase leading upstairs. First, take the left-hand side door, and the stairs going down. In this room you come to, you'll have two Skeletons there. Slay both of them, and you'll see a key atop one of the torches in the center of the room. Dash into the torch to knock the key off of the torch, and then scoop it up. Then, ignore the locked door to the right of the room for now, and go left into this next room. (the locked door leading to your right is, in all actuality, the separator between the right staircase leading down and the left staircase leading down from the Tower's main room, so it's basically a waste of a key.

Back in this next room, avoid the blue obstruction spinning around on the conveyor belt. The pink enemies in the middle need to be bonked down, so equip the Hammer on Link and bonk them all down. Then, go to the left side of the room and approach the middle block in the room, pushing it from the left to the right, which will reveal a switch underneath it. Press this star switch and the sealed door to the left of the room will open, allowing you to continue going left and into the next room. In this room, the Hookshot is a must, because you have to grapple from platform to platform using the various blocks and skull pots available to you in the room. Grapple from the platform you're on to the middle platform, and then grapple to the northern platform, which has an open door leading northward on it. Go through this door and into the next room.

Here, the door will seal behind you and you'll be stuck with three Skeletons and two fireball shooters... kill the Skeletons and avoid the fireballs from the fireball shooters, and the door will reopen leading south. However, the main attraction in this room is the four treasure chests in each corner. Grab the various goodies out of each treasure chest in the room, and when you're done in there, head back south to the previous room. Back here, simply start grappling all the way to the south end of the room, until you get to the platform with two crystal switches and a Skeleton on it. Slay the lone Skeleton, and then use a key on the door to your right, which will open up, then go through the door. In this room, duel Firewalls spin around a middle block, blocking a treasure chest. Equip the Magic Cape on Link and activate it, and use the power of invisibility to get to the treasure chest in the middle of the room, which will have the dungeon's map, which is especially important in this huge dungeon. Then head back west through the previous door. Now, the crystal switches on this platform must be struck, so... strike the crystal switch so that the blue blocks below you go down, but then, equip the Bombs and place it next to either of the crystal switches, and quickly run to the south of the downed blue blocks. When it explodes and the blocks go up, go south into the next room.

In this room, go to the left-hand side of the room where there are two Crystal Switches. Plant a Bomb far away enough from the Crystal Switches so that the explosion radius hits one but not the other, then quickly run to the other side of the room so that you can get to the right side of the room. Lift up the skull pot on that side of the room (to the southeast corner) to get a key, and use that key to unlock the right-hand side door. After it's unlocked, go through it and to the next room. In this room, there's a crystal switch in front of you, and Spike Traps (like ten of them) trapped behind some blocks on the right side of the room. Equip and activate the Magic Cape, and then hit the crystal switch, letting all of the Spike Traps go free. Run to the right side of the room (with the Magic Cape you don't have to worry about getting damaged) and use the golden teleporter square there to teleport to another area of the Tower. Once there, you'll be in a small maze-like situation with four Firesnakes patrolling the area. Equip the Magic Cape once again and walk all the way to the end of the maze, where a chasm'll be in your way. There's a lone block on the bottom of the "maze"... approach it and push it up, and a treasure chest will appear across the chasm. Equip the Hookshot and Hookshot across the chasm, using the treasure chest to grapple on to. When you're over the chasm, open the treasure chest to get a key, and use that key to open the door to the south of the room, allowing you to go south into the next room.

In this new room, you'll be sectioned off to a small part of it. This is okay... go down and to the right-hand side golden square teleporter, and take it to yet another new area of the Tower. From this new room, head south, and you'll have your choice of two more teleporters. Opt to take the one on your left, and you'll be in yet another new room. In this new room, you have four golden square teleporters to choose from. Go down, and then into the lower left-hand corner, and take the teleporter there to another new room. In this room, you'll have no choice but to take the golden square teleporter right there, so do so now... and when you come out in this new room, head right.

There will be a series of chasms in your way, with two Blue Tentacle Monsters patrolling the area. Slay both of the enemies, and then head to the northeast corner of the room, where another golden square teleporter will be awaiting you. Take that teleporter to a small room, which will lead you to another teleporter, which you'll take back to the previous room (you'll see what I mean when you get there)... this allows you access to the right-hand side of the room. From here, simply go right and into the next room.

Okay, now here it gets a little bit tricky, from the door, follow the passageway until it branches upward. Go up all the way and bare left to the doorway ahead of you, but don't go through the door yet. Face right and equip the Fire Rod, and shoot fire to your right, at the torch there on the platform.

The invisible pathways of the room will now light up as long as the torch is lit. Run back south to the fork and go up and right. Throw the skull pots in your way and traverse the invisible passageways to the platform where the torch is that we just lit up. From there, you'll see a door heading north. Go through this door and up into the next room. In this room, avoid the Spinners and grab all of the goodies from the various skull pots in the room. To the southeast of the room is a treasure chest. Open this treasure chest to get ten arrows... but that's not all there is to do here. Place a bomb right next to the treasure chest, and the faulty and cracked floor there will blow up into a million pieces, leaving a hole to the floor below. (you can blow a hole in any faulty floor in the room, you'll just be nearer to the treasure chest when you do it, so... Jump into this hole and you'll come out in the floor below. When you land on the floor below, you'll see the first dungeon in the game's boss enemy, Armos Knights! Get ready to fight these enemies... equip the Bow and Silver Arrows and get ready for one hit kills on each of them. I don't have to explain how to defeat them again, do I? If you need help, please see the boss section below the walkthrough... they have the advantage here though, because the floor ice icy and slippery, just like the Ice Palace's. In anycase, when the Armos Knights are defeated, the sealed doors leading north and west both open up.

[Dark Link]

First, go to the room at the north. In this room, three treasure chests sit atop a platform. The back left and right chests hold some arrows and Bombs for you... the middle chest holds something far more important, however - the dungeon's Big Key! With this, you're granted a lot more freedom to explore and such. With the Big Key in hand, head back south to the previous room, and then bare left into the next room. In this room, there is a door with a staircase leading back upstairs in the northwest corner. But first, in the middle of the northern wall is a cracked and faulty section. Bomb it and create a hole in the wall, and then go north through this hole. In this room there are FOUR fairies... refill your life and capture some with the Bug Catching Net if you have any empty bottles. When you're done here, head south back to the previous room, and then go to the northwest corner of the room and up the stairs, to the floor above.

When you come up at the next floor, you'll be in the room with the Big Treasure Chest! SWEET! Push the block to your right over so you can gain access to the rest of the room, and then avoid the Firesnakes and Spike Traps. Approach and open the big treasure chest to get the Red Clothes for Link! These clothes cut damage in half again for Link... it's four times stronger then the Green Clothes and twice as strong as the Blue Clothes. Good deal! With these now equipped, you are looking VERY STRONG. Now, just head north up to the next room, which will be a familiar room. Avoid the two Skeletons and go up to the door at the north of the room, and take the stairs there back up to the main floor of the Tower. Back on the main floor, approach the center door, by going up the stairs, and then going through the door and up the stairs to a whole new level of the dungeon...

Once up here, it'll be a pretty hairy situation. But it's really not. Equip the Boomerang on Link and chuck it at the crystal switch to your left. When the blocks around the spikes to your left go down, walk on them, and approach the crystal switch again. The idea is to get to the upper left-hand corner of the room to push the block there down, which will trigger the sealed door to the south of the room to open. So basically, do that... it's not too hard, but how can I really explain it. It's easy, just use some logic! When the door is open, go south out of this room and into the next room. In this room, there are some Spike Traps and two Red Gnomes kinda just chillin'. The door leading out of the room to your right is sealed shut, so you'll have to kill both of the Red Knomes to open it... time your attacks so you go south and attack the Gnome with the Bow and Silver Arrow, and get out of harm's way in time to avoid getting hit by the Spike Traps on their way back. When both Red Gnomes are no more, the sealed door to the right opens up. In this next room, it's more of the same. Two Red Gnomes and two Laser Statues are in this room, with a sealed door to the north. While avoiding the deadly lasers of the Laser Statues, slay both Red Gnomes with the Bow and Silver Arrow like we did before, and the sealed door to the north will open up... go north through this door to the next room. This next room is actually a void corridor... take it north and you'll come to a room locked with the Big Key. Use our new found Big Key to open this locked door, which will lead you to another room at your north. Go through the door to the next room.

In this loud and noisy room, a catwalk surrounds a lower area below... on the upper right-hand side of the catwalk is a sealed door. We need to unlock it to proceed. This is what we do to do so. It's a lot simpler then it looks. Go down the stairs to your north, to the lower area of the room. There are two Spike Traps going back and forth, guarding two Crystal Switches. For the sake of less damage (you'll see what I mean), ignore the first crystal switch you come across and, instead, strike the second of the two crystal switches, which will allow all of the Spike Traps trapped behind the yellow walls to come free, but also give you access to the region at the north. Here, you'll come across a Red and Green Cyclops. With the Bow and Silver Arrow, slay both of these enemies, and you'll see three skull pots to your north. Lift them up to get some goodies... the middle of these skull pots will be hiding a golden circular switch. Press this switch to open the sealed door along the catwalk, and then go back south to the crystal switch you struck before. Wait until the Spike Traps are behind the yellow lines at the outside of the room and then hit the switch to retrap the Spike Traps. Then head south back to the staircase, and go back up the stairs. Follow the catwalk to your right and then north to the now-open door. Go through this door to the next room.In this next room (which is more like a corridor) black balls (heh heh) are coming from both the north and south walls. Run straight across the corridor (getting hit a few times, probably) to the end of the corridor. There's a cracked wall to the south, but we can't get to it, so we'll have to ignore it.

Instead, simply head north through the door there and up the stairs to the next floor. As you come up on this floor, the door out of this room to the left will seal. A Red Dragon Knight and Blue Dragon Knight, as well as other enemies will come and attack you. Slay all of the enemies and the sealed door will unseal, allowing you access to the room at your left. Go through this door to the room at your left. The door behind you will seal, as well as the door heading south in this room. You'll have to kill the three Skeletons patrolling the room now, as well as avoid the lasers from the Laser Statue that's on the conveyor belt in the middle of the room. When the three Skeletons are killed, the doors will unseal. Grab the goodies from the four skull pots in the room, and then head south to the next room. In this next room, you'll be assaulted by four more Blue Dragon Knights and two rotating Laser Statues... slay the four enemies here and the sealed door to the south will open... start getting the drift yet?

In this next room, the floor'll be icy in some spots, so be very careful. While avoiding the lasers from the Laser Statues rotating around the middle of the room, slay the two Dragon Knights and the door leading south will open. Go south to the next room, where the floor is still icy. Kill the Skeleton and Dragon Knight and avoid more lasers and fireballs, and the door heading to your left will then open. In this next room, run straight left to the next door, avoiding the Magical Energy. In the NEXT room you come to, the doors will again seal shut. You'll be in a desert environment now. Yes, another boss fight. Lanmolas, this time, the boss enemy from the Desert Palace in the Light World.

Easy as can be now though with the Golden Sword. If you need a tip on beating them, see the boss section of the guide. When they are slain, head north and through the door there to the next room. In this room, grab the goodies from the four jars in the room, and go to the door at the north of the room, which has a staircase leading up to the next floor. When you come up, the entire room is dark, and three Wizards appear. When they appear, equip and use the Ether Medallion. Not only will this kill the Wizards, but it will allow you to see the invisible pathway in the room, and let you take it to the other side. With the three wizards slain, the door to the south will open.

Once out here, go down and run right across the corridor, avoiding the lasers from the wall-mounted Laser Eyes. At the end of the corridor are two guards which you can slay quickly, and then head north to the next room. In here, you'll have to run straight across a crumbling passageway heading north. Just run and slay the enemies as you go, and work your way to the next door heading right. In this room, you'll have to light up all four torches there with the Fire Rod and then quickly work your way to the unsealed door at the bottom right of the screen. In the next screen, simply walk up the stairs to the next floor. Now this part is a little tricky. You have to light up the four torches in the room as the floor around you falls... use the Fire Rod for this tricky deed, and be tenacious! It may take a while to do. When the four are lit, the door to the north of the room will open. Go through the door to the next room.

[Dark Link]

In this room, two statues shooting fireballs are just chillin', with two Helmet Bugs coming at you. Slay the Helmet Bugs, one of which is carrying a key. Use the key on the locked door to the left of the room, and go through to the next room, after getting the Bombs from the treasure chests. Here, a conveyor belt lines the bottom of the room. A Spike Trap and Door Trap are both lining the bottom as well, and a cracked, faulty wall is in need of bombing here... bomb the bottom wall carefully, while avoiding the two traps, and go south through the hole you make into the next room. In this room, work your way to the center of the room by using the various crystal switches located within the room, while avoiding the Spinners... the center of the room has a treasure chest, in which holds a key that opens the door to the south. Go south into this next room where you'll have a fight with the Tower of Hera boss enemy, Moldorm. He was hard at one point, but not anymore. With the Golden Sword, two hits will take him out... for tips on beating him (like you should need any) see the boss section. When he's defeated, it seems as if you're stranded on that platform, but you're not. Go to the east end of the platform and hookshot to the newly found treasure chest there. Open it to get a red rupee (worth 20 rupees) and then work your way to the left and out of this room, into the next room. From here, just walk along the slippery surfaces and conveyor belts, and avoid the Helmet Bugs. Work your way northward and go through the door and up the stairs to the next floor. Then follow this red carpet to Agahnim's lair...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boss Fight Thirteen: Agahnim II
This is our second fight with Agahnim, but it means nothing, really. Aghanim fights the same way as he did earlier in the game, but there's a catch. Instead of it just being him, the great wizard and magician has made two clones of himself that fight alongside with him. This might sound like kind of a pain in the ass, and hell... it is, but it's not SO bad. There will be three Agahnims running around, in that case, and you have to discern which one is the real one. It's easy, though. The three shadows that go around the room before Agahnim and the two clones attack... two of them are light and one of them is dark. The dark shadow is going to be the real Agahnim when they reappear to attack, you see? Furthermore, while all three Agahnims can attack, and can damage you (even if the attack comes from a fake clone), Agahnim lost his greatest attack from the last battle we had with him - that is, his lightning attack. So just like we did last time, equip the Bug Catching Net (or just use your sword) and deflect his fireball attack back at him.

The actual beauty in having two clones fighting alongside with him is that the two fake guys' attacks can also be deflected back at the real Agahnim for damage. That's clutch at times. It's hard to avoid the clones' attacks when you're attacking Agahnim himself, however... so make sure to have a Red Potion handy to use when the time comes. Even then, Agahnim does VERY little damage, especially barring the fact that you have the Red Clothes on Link now. All in all, this battle is easy. Six or so reflections of his fireball attacks back on him, and Agahnim will bite the dust... for good. Oh, and about his other attack, the orb attack, if it's coming at you, slash it away. But just like with the last fight with Agahnim, deflecting that back on Agahnim won't damage him at all... only the fireball attack will.

When Agahnim bites the dust here, he falls to the ground and Ganon's spirit comes out of him. He was being possessed by Ganon all along! Ganon turns into a Bat and flees the scene, but then, the Duck comes (the Flute playing automatically in the background) and swoops Link up. The Bat (Ganon) smashes a hole into the top of the Pyramid of Power, and the duck takes Link there... but do we fight Ganon now? Read on...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before Battling Ganon
Before you enter into the Pyramid of Power, make sure to have all four of your Magic Bottles full of Red Potions for your health. To get these potions, teleport to the Light World and hit up the Witch's Hut one last time. Then teleport back to the Dark World and jump into the hole in the Pyramid of Power, and get ready to fight Ganon!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Battle With Ganon
Once you jump into the hole at the top of the Pyramid of Power, Ganon will address you briefly. He honors you by being surprised that you got this far, that you beat Agahnim twice, and that you are about to battle him... but then, he promises you that he'll end your life here! GET READY!

The battle with Ganon isn't hard at all, especially if you took my advice to get Red Potions before fighting him. Even with four Red Potions in your four Magic Bottles, you'll probably only need to use one... two, maximum. In any case, the battle begins with Ganon running around his room, doing random attacks with fire. He has so many attacks that it's too hard to name them all. Before you do much of any damage to him, he just chucks around his trident a lot, and tries to strike you with it. Coincidentally, his trident has boomerang-like qualities, because it comes back to him when he throws it. So run up to him and strike him with your sword over and over again... it's quite simple.

As you begin to do more damage to him, he starts to incorporate fire into his attacks. He'll shoot fire, shoot fire birds (like phoenix attacks, I suppose), and even do these crazy fire earthquake attacks that make the sides of the room fall apart, which makes the area in which you battle him even smaller.

Don't worry about dodging his attacks, really, just concentrate more on hitting him over and over again. As you do even more damage, Ganon will start to teleport around. He'll do it relentlessly actually, making him a pain in the ass. Stay with him however, because when he stops teleporting to attack briefly, you'll have just a moment to strike him with your sword before he does it all over again. When you finally do enough damage to him, he'll tell you that he's going to use his Darkness Technique, and then the room will go semi-dark. You won't be able to see him. The idea is to equip your Fire Rod or Lamp and light the two torches on the bottom of the room. When both are lit, Ganon will be in full view.

At this point, run up to him and slash him with your Golden Sword, which will turn him blue. While he's blue, equip your Bow and Silver Arrow and shoot him with it, which will make the room go back dark. Repeat this process four times total on him, and the fourth Silver Arrow will kill the evil Ganon for good.

On to SNES/GBA Changes...