The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Console icon SNES/Super Famicom

  • Bested Ganon

    (25) (111)

    Defeat Ganon without being harmed without using the Magic Cape or Cane of Byrna.

    2,201 (1,641) of 33,584 โ€“ 6.55%

    4.89% of players have earned the achievement in hardcore mode
    6.55% of players have earned the achievement in softcore mode
  • Created by dude1286 on: 22 Aug, 2013 07:16
    Last modified: 21 May, 2023 21:49


    Recent comments

    (See all 37)

    21 Nov 2022 18:00
    wolfman2000 edited this achievement's logic.
    xtagnado 21 May 2023 20:02
    Chupa meu cu, platinado
    21 May 2023 21:49
    suspect15 edited this achievement's logic, description.
    cykette 22 May 2023 16:31
    Too bad you can't use the brazier glitch in the NTSC-U version. It makes phase 3 much easier and more tolerable. He's not too hard to do damageless, though, as long as you stay moving and don't get greedy.
    jamboree 10 Jun 2023 23:46
    Much easier than Mothula and Blind. The first phase is what gave me the most trouble - the circle of fire bats can be a bit unpredictable.
    Jenkys 25 Jun 2023 15:50
    https://youtu.be/DntcSrveM2w
    31 May 2024 12:34
    TheMysticalOne set this achievement's type to Missable.
    Jotta 4 Jun 2024 18:45
    The only difficult part is the second phase, with the level 4 sword you can melt ganon really fast
    AlyxMeadow 26 Nov 2024 08:45
    We HATE firebats! Took us a total of 3.5 hours across two nights to finally complete this one. Turns out the trick is absurd aggression. Hit Ganon as many times as you can after you read his speech for the hundredth time, then as he goes down, get on his right and just keep smacking him aggressively. Pull away from the firebat circle at the last possible moment, then when it shrinks back in, get another 2-3 hits. If you can do this without getting hit by the first volley of firebats, you won't have to go through any more firebat circles. This was the solution for us, because we are terrible at avoiding the firebats.

    We failed 1-2 hits away from winning several times. We may have cried a little bit after one of them. But... we FINALLY got it. Be aggressive! Be-e aggressive!
    Raven90 1 Jan 2025 18:35
    The Hookshot is your friend in phase 2. The firebats cant hit you while youre shooting it. Pull yourself between the two torches and it becomes a lot more manageable. (Beware where Ganon teleports to though)
    yourmom 9 Jan 2025 23:18
    i am superconfused: the oldest comments here make it sound like you can use the cane of byrna (even the guy with the twitch stream demonstrates it as such), but the description makes it sound like you can't.

    soโ€”

    can any body shed light on whether you can or can't?
    mattyalanestock 9 Jan 2025 23:28
    Looking at the comments suggests the logic was changed to disallow the strategy I used to unlock the achievement. So no Cane of Byrna! If it makes you feel any better, now the game takes multiple playthroughs to master... and I was one fight away from it being done.
    yourmom 10 Jan 2025 23:51
    thanks, matty. you make your mother proud.

    i wish the achievement authors would note as much in either the comments (or somewhere else).

    i must have some other glitch blocking me from completing this. it sounds like the consensus is the requirement-pop doesn't pop no matter what, but from your stream and problemaรงo's, i should have it right when i cross into the triforce room. i've done a few times now, but no achievement for mommy.
    yourmom 11 Jan 2025 00:55
    suspect15 (who has some kind of admin power over the achievement, here: https://retroachievements.org/achievement/2352/comments [bested helmasaur]

    says,

    "This achievement will NOT unlock if you abuse the bug to get the Silver Arrows or Golden Sword early."

    as does wantsi,

    "Apparently this cheevo won't unlock if you have the silver arrows - even though it's possible to obtain them glitchlessly before this fight (by doing dungeons 5 and 6 first)."

    which i definitely did for helmasaur (and it would appear it prevented me from besting all 7 dark world bosses), so i went back and did it with the level 2 master sword, just to be safe. all 7? โœ“. ganon? level 2 doesn't touch. (i should also note i silver arrowed up, as, well, regular won't work, either). so then i tried it with level 3 tempered master sword. still no achievement. then i tried level 4 golden master sword. still no achievement. can't figure out what i'm doing wrong.

    suspect15 says the same for [bested mothula], here:

    https://retroachievements.org/achievement/2358/comments

    "This achievement will NOT unlock if you abuse the bug to get the Silver Arrows or Golden Sword early."

    (he does the same with [bested blind]). so. there must be some conditions-triggering i'm cancelling out somehow, but my brain needs a break.
    suspect15 11 Jan 2025 04:26
    I don't understand what you are trying to say, but please communicate further in the ticket.
    VectorCurve 19 Jan 2025 22:18
    Should the missable flag on this achievement be removed? Once you beat the game, you are respawned on top of the pyramid with Ganon alive. Therefore, you can attempt this challenge as many times as you like.
    salvadorbastard 25 Jan 2025 09:22
    Come at this with the Golden sword and play agressively.

    P 1 : Start slashing the swine as soon as you start. He's gonna throw his staff at you and you're gonna want Ganon in a position that makes him easy to get hits in for Phase 2 as you can manipulate this with your movement.
    Ganon is LEFT HANDED.
    This means if he's facing the camera his staff is gonna be on his right side and if he's facing away from the camera it's gonna be on his left side.

    Get Ganon positioned facing away from the camera in the bottom left corner of the room OR facing the camera on the top right hand corner of the room and you can get heaps of hits in ready for P 2.
    If he's bottom right facing away or top left facing camera WAIT and get him positioned correctly.

    P 2 : The fire circle will ALWAYS circle around his staff, not his entire sprite. If you have him in the correct position you can get heaps of hits before he expands the circle. Play right and you should only see this section twice.

    The circle expands run away and when it contracts - position yourself so you have 3 corners of the room to dodge. Having 3 corners to dodge makes this part trivial as you can see most of the bats and have loads of room to dodge the last ones and avoid accidently bumping into Ganon again. Works every time. DON'T STOP OR CHANGE DIRECTION!

    P 3 : Attack just as he appears and he won't do his bat attack. Attack too late and his bats will appear. If you miss him the bat from that attack will COME BACK when Ganon starts his next attack and probably hit you. 4 hits.

    P 4 : Easiest part. If you are next to the candle, Ganon will alternate between attacking from the top side of the stage and the bottom. Light 1 torch and run to the other torch and WAIT until Ganon has just finished attacking from the top and light when he appears at the bottom. He will not attack and you can get him. Don't light both and try and chase him around or you'll be eating HOT BAT. Do this 4 times and GG! GOOD LUCK!
    TheHy1ianGuy 3 Feb 2025 00:44
    this isnt missable because you can reset I think
    SilentZX 31 Mar 2025 19:42
    I want to thank Raven90 for telling about the Hookshot trick on the second phase because Holy Crap that helps a ton!
    sandro4912 16 Apr 2025 19:30
    Unlike Mothula and Blind which are both unfair rng fests this one is all just skill. I just got quite fast maybe in 10 tries learning the pattern.

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