Interesting read about how movement was implemented in the original Zelda, and a quick followup on how it worked in Link to the Past: http://troygilbert.com/2006/10/the-move ... -of-zelda/
Very I interesting. I had always noticed the "bouncing" mechanic used in aLttP, but it never really clicked what that provided to the player. I never knew how the original Zelda game worked though.
Good read.