I'm in a Book! Video Game Maps: Volume 2

Retro Game Books is releasing their 2nd volume of video game maps soon, and I'm in it! Which is so exciting, I never imagined being in a book! Be sure to buy it here! It's currently a pre-order and should be released later in the Spring.

 

The Book's Description:

In video games, maps have always played a crucial role, serving as guide, world builder, and interactive element. A single image can add incredible depth to the story and lore of a digital universe.

With Video Game Maps: SNES - Volume 2, experience the beauty and wonder of some of the most iconic Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Famicom maps. From the farmlands of Harvest Moon to the dual worlds of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, this book showcases the stunning artwork that captured the imagination of gamers around the world. Discover hidden secrets and intricate details within the maps, and marvel at the art styles and design choices that brought these virtual worlds to life.

Inside you’ll find maps spanning over 65 games — including Japanese exclusives — that originated from guides, posters, instruction manuals, advertisements, magazines, and so much more. Plus, quotes from 30 artists, writers, game developers, podcasters, comedians, and journalists.

Perfect for both casual gamers and art aficionados, this book is a must-have for anyone interested in the artistic side of video game design and cartography.Created by Brian Riggsbee

• Cover by Mary Anne Kluth
• Logos by Shibuya-K
• Edited by Riley MacLeod
• Foreword by Fabien Sanglard
• Interview with Melora Hart
• Article by Brian Riggsbee
• Words by Alex Juel, Adam Engels, Andre M., Andrew Elmore, Brett Martin, Brian Riggsbee, Chris Modica, Christian Hammond, Cole Marshall, Darren Hupke, David Lasby, David Teixeira, Fabien Sanglard, George J. S. Smith, Heather Anne Campbell, Ian Southwell, John Riggs, Jonathan Leung, Kurt Kalata, Matt (Stormageddon), Max Nichols, Mike Sholars, Peter Tieryas, Rod Lloyd, Salvatore Pane, Stephen Frost, Tegan, Travis Nicholas, and VGCartography
• Art by Craig Tait, Jeff Retro, Brian Riggsbee, and Pipeur

Information:

• Limited bundle includes: Book — 300 full-color pages, 8.5"x11", hardcover
• Notebook — 144 pages, 5.25”x8.25”, dot grid
• Art print — By Craig Tait, 8.25"x6"
• Bookmark — 2"x6"
• Sticker — 2"x2.5"
• Hardcover includes: Book — 300 full-color pages, 8.5"x11", hardcover
• ISBN: 978-1-966009-01-6
• This book is not affiliated with Nintendo.

If you would like to buy volume 1, the physical copy is currently out of stock but you can purchase the ebook and 

Map Gallery and New 2400dpi Map Scans and Repairs

I needed to get someone some images for a time-sensitive project they're doing so I've been adding old strategy guide maps to the gallery for Zelda: A Link to the Past. This gallery on Flickr will also have all of the Zelda maps and "world scenes" that I've been able to get to so far. There's some pretty good ones in there already and A LOT more to come. Some of these also need to be cleaned up (like the dungeon maps for LttP) but me, and the ever wonderful and talented Olga, have gotten some of them done. Specifically the overworld. I did the 2 from this "Continental Shobo" guide, and she cleaned up the 2 big maps of the Light World and Dark World from The Zelda Handbook. What she accomplished was an utterly massive amount of work when you realize how many of the buildings and details were nearly completely covered by text and how much detail the seam in the middle needed to be fixed:

By the way, these haven't really been online before. There was one bad set of full-book scans on archive.org that is now missing but no one ever got good images online or cleaned them up. So this is very likely the first time you are seeing them. Give them a look, they're great.

Hyrule Fantasy Bandai Board Game Art!

This is a really beautiful little board game that was produced by Bandai in 1986.

While I have this, and plan to make bigger scans at a later date, I wanted to upload the art for people to enjoy and also so myself, and everyone else, can keep track of what we have and what is missing. You can find the scans in the Zelda 1 Art Album.

Amazing cleaning and editing done by: Alberto Vitali https://boardgamegeek.com/user/sbaracleto 

I did a 2nd pass on the map and cover to remove some more text.

Scanned by an anonymous donor and sent to Derrick and Bludd at https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/769070/hyrule-fantasy-total-conversion-project

If you would like to learn more, or play this game, you can find it here: https://historyofhyrule.blogspot.com/2021/09/hyrule-fantasy-board-game-fully.html

If you would like to play other pysical Zelda games, check out this link:

https://historyofhyrule.blogspot.com/2021/10/zelda-game-night-all-non-console-games.html

Edit: if you would like to 3D print the little Link figuring, Keshi Corner has it scanned here.

And here is an absolutely beautiful Hyrule Fantasy (Zelda 1) map from the same Bandai board game that I just posted. This set has incredible art. I'll make higher res scans at a later date but this was mainly cleaned by Alberto Vitali & then I did some too: flickr.comofhyrule/52720823435

 

Rare Art Repair: Ikeda Bookstore Hyrule Fantasy Map

This is a strategy guide map for the original Legend of Zelda. Olga @That_black_lynx has repaired it by patching numerous pieces together and she and I have cleaned it up. If you would like the full sized images, from 300-1200 dpi, please visit the download page for the scans on: archive.org/details/zelda_guide_loz_ikeda

Each zip has 7 versions of the map. The original cleaned image, ones with items removed, lines removed, text removed, cropped and uncropped.

池田書店 チャレンジマップ ゼルダの伝説

Ikeda Bookstore The Hyrule Fantasy The Legend of Zelda

ISBN 4-262-15501-3/C8276

April 22, 1986


Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Strategy Guide, Zelda 1, Hyrule Fantasy, ゼルダの伝説, Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, ppi, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Impa, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, book, videogame, Game Guide, Guide, NES, FC, Map, ファミマガ, ファミリーコンピュータ, ファミリーコンピュータ マガジン, Gaming, Nintendo, Retro, Art, Illustrations

2400dpi Scans of Ikeda Bookstore Hyrule Fantasy Guide and Map

 

Mases of Zelda Dungeon sent this to me and I am so thankful to him because it has one of the best map I have ever seen and Olga, who does amazing work, is going to repair it.

This is a strategy guide for the original Legend of Zelda. It has an amazing fold out map which I have included in its rough form.

Find it here: https://archive.org/details/zelda_guide_loz_ikeda

池田書店 チャレンジマップ ゼルダの伝説

Ikeda Bookstore The Hyrule Fantasy The Legend of Zelda

ISBN 4-262-15501-3/C8276

April 22, 1986



Other Keywords: Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, ppi, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Impa, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, book, videogame, Game Guide, Guide, NES, FC, Map, ファミマガ, ファミリーコンピュータ, ファミリーコンピュータ マガジン, Gaming, Nintendo, Retro, Art, Illustrations, The Legend of Zelda, Strategy Guide, Zelda 1, Hyrule Fantasy, ゼルダの伝説

2400dpi Zelda II: The Adventure of Link map from Nintendo Power Issue 4

A good version of this has never been online before. I scanned and cleaned it so there is one version with the text and one version without. You can also find the RAW scans as well. 

Find it here: https://archive.org/details/zelda_np_aol_map_hyrule


Other Keywords: Zelda II, Zelda 2, Zelda, Link no Bouken, tLoZ, LoZ, AoL, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, Famicom Disk System, book, videogame, The Legend of Zelda, Art, ゼルダの伝説, The Adventure of Link, リンクの冒険