At night, there are actual constellations in the sky.
This was Nintendo's first cel-shaded game, with the visual style being heavily inspired by the animated Japanese movie Príncipe Suzano e o Dragão de 8 Cabeças (1963). Director Eiji Aonuma knew that this was a controversial choice, especially since he had initially agreed on a more realistic style, so he didn't share his ideas with producers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka until development was well under way. As expected, series creator Miyamoto was skeptical, especially about Link's large eyes, which Aonuma joked could shoot beams before admitting that they were meant to show Link's gaze as a hint system. Miyamoto reminded Aonuma that it wasn't too late to change course, but the team's enthusiasm finally swayed him (and the fact that making a realistic Zelda game would take 10 years with their resources). Miyamoto later said that it was his favorite game in the series, especially praising the large eyes which showed Link's facial expressions, creating a closer relationship with the player.
Pre-ordered copies of the game had "gold" game discs, following the tradition of the gold cartridge for pre-ordering.
Continuing an often-overlooked tradition of the Legend of Zelda series, Link is left-handed. This is because creator Shigeru Miyamoto, although ambidextrous, prefers to use his left hand.
The trader with the big hat on the raft that Link can do business with is a Goron, a rock-dwelling species featuring heavily in the earlier Zelda games (and thought to have gone extinct since). This becomes more obvious after blowing their hats off with the Deku Leaf.