BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets

BS The Legend of Zelda: Inishie no Sekiban (which translates as Ancient Stone Tablets) was a game for the Satellaview (or BS-X) addon for the Super Famicom (Japanese Super Nintendo). Games were downloaded from St. GIGA's satellite radio service. The game was much like a Second Quest or Master Quest of A Link to the Past. Various actions earned the player points, and these points could later be traded in to Nintendo for different prizes.

The game was divided into four "weeks", each of which had to be played within a strict one-hour time period; minus the cutscenes this gave players 50 minutes in which to beat two dungeons, hunt for secrets, and perform all the other standard Zelda actions. The game made use of streaming orchestrated music as well as a technology called Live Voice, which supplied tips to players at key points during the game. Other than a rebroadcast the following year the game was never playable again, even for those who still possessed the game on a flash cartridge, until the advent of emulation.

This was the first Zelda game to use the shovel as a means of finding items, many heart pieces and other items were buried, not to mention when you rented a shovel, they gave you a map of where it was as well.

The game is based on the fact that you are the character in the game. Your character is named and is male or female based off of your broadcasting ID, which is also true for BS Zelda. The male character wears a green tunic, though others are later available, and a backwards baseball cap. The female character has long red hair and is otherwise almost exactly the same as the male.

Much of the story is unknown because of the use of voice actors.

Week 1: When you awaken, you are told you appeared in a flash of light. You go through both of the two temples and receive a stone tablet, although you have no clue what they are for. You save Zelda and walk her back to the castle. She says you remind her of a past hero she knew. She also tells you that you appeared from a bolt of light, so you must be the Hero of Light.

Week 2: Your character is told to find the other stone tablets, the smiths improve your sword, there is much talk of Ganon and Link, and you are known as the second hero, or the other hero. From the last game, only the village and the lost woods are opened up.

Week 3: Your character wakes up and gets the one use glove, which is like the power glove, but you can only use it once per screen. There is talk of the Book of Mudora and translating the tablets. At the end of this week, you have six tablets.

Week 4: Zelda decides she is going to follow you throughout this week. She follows you into the graveyard dungeon and the dungeon that goes up the mountain. On top is a giant stone tablet, and she tries to decipher it. Once she does, the tablet breaks, giving you the Silver Arrows and a path to get into Ganon's Tower. It is a simple level, and there is a drop down into an area like the center of the pyramid. Ganon says that he will steal your power. After after you defeat him, Zelda remarks that she never realized how beautiful Hyrule really is. When time runs out after 50 minutes, your character drops the master sword into place. He or she is transported back in a flash of light from where the hero came.

It is speculated that Ganon's Tower is in the dark world, but no one is sure where it was. Also there are spots in the game for the Magic Cape and the Book of Mudora, but neither of them appear normally in the game. BS Zelda Website Downloads available there.