CROOKED CARTRIDGE FOR DUMMIES
Harnessing the ultimate glitch
'Crooked cartridge' is a VERY popular N64 cheat/glitch that is used mainly in the Zelda games available on that console (Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask) to do things that would otherwise be impossible. The original glitch comes from T-Dog and was first made available at The Odyssey of Hyrule, but the details there are somewhat sketchy. In fact, I crashed my game about a hundred times before learning the specifics...the hard way.
To prevent this from happening anymore, I have created a quick tutorial to help you out with crooked cartridge. THE EXAMPLE USED HERE IS HOW TO GET TO THE GREAT DEKU TREE WITHOUT A SWORD AND SHIELD. However, crooked cartridge can be used for many other things, which you can find on The Odyssey of Hyrule.
.the basics of crooked cartridge.
The whole idea behind crooked cartridge is to very, VERY slowly lift up the left side of the game cartridge, then push it back in once the glitch has been finished. Crooked cartridge may or may not cause damage to your cart, I'm not sure, but mine remains intact as of now.
It takes a lot of practice to properly perform a crooked cartridge; the game locks up if you perform it too quickly or let go of any 'required keys' before pushing the cart back in. Also, it seems as if you can only perform crooked cartridge once after restarting the game, but that could easily be wrong.
.results of a proper crook.
Look at the above picture. What do you notice? That's right: Link is invisible!
The disappearance of Link is just one of the things that happens when crooked cartridge is performed in Zelda. THE FOLLOWING OCCUR WHEN PERFORMING A CROOKED CARTRIDGE:
DO NOT LET GO OF ANY REQUIRED KEYS WHILE DOING CROOKED CARTRIDGE UNTIL THE CART HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK IN! For example, if the glitch requires you to hold in B while walking past an NPC, do NOT let go of B until you have pushed the cartridge back in. Otherwise, the game will freeze, and you will have to turn the N64 off.
.example: crooking past mido.
The above picture is dark, but you CAN see the object of it: Link is PAST Mido without a sword or a shield! Here's how you do it.
1. Walk up to the left side of Mido. He'll block you, but keep pressing forward on the joystick and do not let go!
2. Use your free hand to perform crooked cartridge. Do it VERY slowly and carefully, lifting up the left edge of the game cart.
3. After a while, the sound will become garbled and Link will start to blink. If this doesn't happen, continue to pull up on the cart; if the game locks up, turn it off and try again. Again, DO NOT let go of the joystick until directed to, or else the game will lock up!
4. In a burst of speed, Link rolls through Mido's side, completely invisible. Mido will spin a few times, then stop. Push your cart back in. NOW you can let go of the joystick.
5. The sound will return to normal and Link is visible. (It's a great time to be boastful and laugh at Mido from the sidelines whilst sticking your tongue out, by the way.)
.the downsides of crooking.
Glitches are not done on purpose; rather, they are things that were not noticed by the betas. Surely they never expected anyone to be so daring as to lift up their game cartridge during game play, and neither do many of the NPCs.
For example, just because you manage to crook past Mido doesn't mean that he'll let you back out. The game has a specific code, and that code says only to move Mido if it registers the Kokiri Sword and the Kokiri Shield present. Swordless Young Link can only get back through with a sword and shield (which I've proven with the above picture--you can see the Forest is BEHIND Mido, and Link is in front of Mido.) Hence, it's best not to save your game UNLESS you manage to beat the Great Deku tree without the sword (which requires a bit of skill) or can perform another SUCCESSFUL crooked cartridge to get back out.
It has also been rumored that crooking can ruin your cart or even your console. While neither of these things has happened to me, it is certainly plausible. Please keep in mind that neither Kragey (the author of this tutorial), T-Dog (the founder of the glitch), or Video Gamer X (the publiciser of the glitch) are responsible for any damage that your stupid self does to your cartridge.
Some people say that the only crook that works is the "get past Mido" glitch shown above. This is most certainly not true! However, using a crook can alter your gameplay, so please: beat the game before you decided to mess around with crooked cartridge. A list of more great crooked cartridge stuff and other glitches can be found at the Odyssey of Hyrule, linked in the introduction of this tutorial. I sent in several for Majora's Mask--a mysterious wall, odd bean patches, and suspending the carpenters in the air--but I doubt they were ever posted.
With that in mind, I wish you happy crooking!
