For a dungeon in a watery location, Jabu-Jabu’s Belly is oddly full of electric creatures. Talking to Ruto seems to suggest that this is a recent development, no doubt caused when Ganon was refused the Spiritual Stone. Baris and biris show up as enemies, and they’re always electrified. There’s also tailpasarans, wormlike electrified critters, and parasitic tentacles, presumably from the boss, that spread throughout Jabu-Jabu’s insides and mostly serve to block Link’s progress until he can find a point to attack them. Navi identifies each of the parasitic tentacle growths blocking Link’s path as a “[color] slimy thing,” and keeps taking control of the interface to warn Link even after he’s presumably figured out not to touch them. Oh, and eventually there’s blobs in the water Link needs to convert (temporarily) to platforms.
The other notable feature of the dungeon is Princess Ruto. She’s not happy to see Link – or at least, if she is, she hides it well – and tells him to get lost. She falls through a soft spot in Jabu-Jabu and is still annoyed when Link follows her down. She finally gives up when it becomes apparent Link isn’t going to leave her, only she sits down and makes Link carry her the rest of the way. Sadly, there’s no sequence of Link doing the item get thing with her. On the other hand, she can be thrown at the various electrical enemies to kill them – although my accuracy isn’t that great with that – and used to hold down switches, although she gets huffy about being left behind while Link goes through the door to deal with what’s in the next room.
The treasure of the dungeon is the boomerang, which makes dealing with all those electrical enemies easier. It’s also an all-around good ranged weapon with unlimited ammo, although harder to aim without Z-targeting [1] than the slingshot and sometimes it only stuns the target, although that usually allows Link to sneak in and whack them. And, like other games’ boomerangs, it’s good for retrieving distant items, although the inability to lock on to them and the fact that they disappear after one or two failed tries makes it easier to go after them personally [2]. The boomerang’s consistently been one of my favorite Zelda items, and while this one may be my least favorite so far, it’s still pretty great and was pretty much welded to my C-Left spot afterward.
There are four skulltulas here: One on a vine wall in a room where Link has to hit a switch to raise the water level to advance, two before the miniboss, giving Link a chance to practice with the boomerang, and then one before the boss.
Eventually, Link and Ruto find the Spiritual Stone, which of course is a sapphire, and Ruto throws caution to the wind and runs and claims it, and now’s when the game makes its item get screen joke. The game wonders why Ruto gets the sapphire, but it belongs to her and her people, at least for now. The platform she was on rises up, leaving Link to fight Big Octo, a giant octorok miniboss. The standard boss mechanic works: stun it, now with the boomerang, and get close, whack it with the sword, and start chasing it down again. Chasing it down is tough, because it runs about the same speed Link does, and the easiest hits came after it hit Link and started its approach from the other direction.
Ruto’s nowhere to be found on the upper level, so Link pushes on to reach the boss: Barinade, Bio-electric Anemone. This feels almost like a boss out of Star Fox, with its multiple phases and the way the baris spin around it. The boomerang is essential here: first to sever the tendrils attaching Barinade to Jabu-Jabu, then to stun Barinade while swordwork takes care of the actual damage. The baris separate in two phases and are immune while Barinade is not stunned. Once they’re all gone, Link can kill Barinade itself, and Ruto appears in the portal back to the surface.
Ruto admits that she’s thankful to Link for the rescue and offers him a reward. Of course, Link asks for the sapphire, which she gives to him… as an engagement present. And unlike Talon, I don’t think she’s joking.
Before leaving Zora’s Fountain, there’s a couple skulltulas to get: one near where Link and Ruto emerged, and another hiding in a tree. There’s also a great fairy of magic hiding in a cave behind some boulders, and she teaches Link another spell, Farore’s wind, which lets him mark a spot in a dungeon and then teleport back to it, which is going to be useful in a little bit. Also, looking at this fairy, I think they’re wearing vines. Heading back downriver to Hyrule Field, Link stops to buy a ninth magic bean, and now it’s time to go back to Zelda with the three Stones.
Next: A dream come true.
[1] Not an issue most of the time, but it makes it harder to use against gold skulltulas.
[2] Gold skulltula tokens are a positive exception to this: they can be locked on, and as far as I know don’t fade.
