Ocarina of Time

Superslide / ESS

Superslide

Discovered by FierceLinkMaster in June 2006

Superslides work by shielding damage at the same time as trying to grab something (usually a bomb). The Superslide is the fastest known method of travel in the game next to HESS, so it's good to know. Although HESS is more common for HESSes of large distance, Superslides are still used in some cases where you only need to go straight. For instance, Hover boots can be equipped after starting a Superslide to hover over large gaps such as the Shadow Temple chasm or across the hands outside Spirit Temple. It's also fast enough to clip through many walls (though HESS is more often used). Navi or owl text triggers can also be skipped in this state. There can be funny side effects while holding a Superslide through cutscenes and allows you to keep the Master Sword in the Ganon cutscene, which is one of its greatest uses. Link won't lose his sword without the scene of him losing it occurs, and with the shield up, Link stays still and Ganon's attack just hits the shield. Link's shield must be held the entire time during a Superslide or it will end.

Nayru's Love

A Superslide is set up similar to a ground jump; however, the timing is more precise. The easy, automatic way is to cast Nayru's Love, and then set up a Ground Jump. After you are hit by the damage (bomb, enemy, etc.), instead of storing the jump you will do a Superslide.

1 bomb Superslide

You can Superslide without Nayru's love:

Get on flat ground
Hold Z, shield drop a bomb (wait until Link is holding it above his head), and press A to roll forward once, then backflip. Do not instant shield drop the bomb, this will make it more precise, because the bomb is not centered with Link and ends up being considered a distance akin to a step back from the bomb. Alternatively, you can shield drop, backflip and neutral roll forward. Either one has the same spacing, it's just preference.
Soon after the bomb's flashing quickens (around 7th red flash), mash A rapidly until you have finished rolling forward. It is a 4-frame window to roll as Adult Link and 3 frames to roll as child. However, child can slide more successfully because he has more frames to grab the bomb.

For Adult, the 2nd roll frame (1st frame of 7th red flash) will often be a ground jump because you have to grab the bomb on one of 5 frames of Links's roll to slide. You can only grab on this frame for the 4th and final roll frame, however, there are no other frames to grab the bomb, so it will often slide if you mashed well. This grab frame (with is also the 5th frame of Link's neutral roll) will work on all 4 roll frames to superslide.

As a sidenote, Child can superslide well with instant shield drop just fine, likely just a result of his roll being a bit slower, therefore putting Child Link slightly closer to the bomb. Adult Link can fix the frame data if you move towards the bomb from an instant shield drop. For a trick like Boatkey Skip (supersliding oob straight to Bongo), instant drop is fine simply because your position is good from the setup and unlike a basic flat ground superslide.

With enough practice you can superslide in this manner with a high success rate. Though it's only useful to know in limited scenarios, it's good to know.

The frame data for Adult slides, documented by Exodus can be seen ⁠here

Each image represents the 4th frame of Link's neutral roll to the 8th frame (which will never work. The first frame to roll is the most lenient, but is followed by the bad frame where it's easy to ground jump. It's good to try and get a feel for rolling on the last 2-frames, but everyone has their method be it timing the A press or specific mashing.

2 bomb Superslide

With 1 bomb, the timing is very strict as you have to grab the bomb as it is exploding. By using 2 bombs, you can shield the explosion of 1 bomb while grabbing a separate bomb, thus giving you many more frames on which you can successfully get a Superslide.

For a 2 bomb Superslide, you can drop the bombs as shown in the video and mash A to roll and grab the second bomb just before the first bomb explodes. It can be done with them dropped left to right or vice versa. The video below how to set up the most common, easy setup, and it also shows how to perform a 2-bomb Superslide while backwalking to cover distance (a more advanced technique that takes practice). It can also be done with 1 bomb, but is a lot more difficult. You have many more frames to grab the 2nd bomb as Adult, and your distance from the bomb is less important.

⁠Here is an in-depth tutorial based on the easy method made by ArthurOudini which also includes frame data.

Off of Enemies

Discovered by FierceLinkMaster

As mentioned, Superslides can be done without bombs. You just need another grabbable object and another source of damage. The grabbable object can be bushes, pots, bomb flowers, etc. The damage can be most enemy attacks, ones that don't knock Link over and his shield will block. The trick is to roll forward, and just as Link's about to finish rolling, have the enemy attack him and he will block it with shield. If done correctly, Link blocks the attack and will Superslide. This isn't a commonly used technique, but can be done in Haunted Wasteland to get a recoil Superslide from a Leever (either intentionally or by good chance) while performing a backwalk Superslide.

Superslide Teleport

Discovered by GuanoBowl

If the object you are interacting with is something that Link can't lift, such as bomb flowers or grass before you get a strength upgrade, it's possible to do what's called a Superslide Teleport.

To do this, first get a superslide off one of these objects in a similar way as 2-bomb superslides. Note that it must not break in an explosion; the original object must still be intact so you can grab it, so if you use bombs a bombchu be careful be cautious. After getting the Superslide and being shot back, let go of R, and you will be shot back to grab the object. Link will grunt and won't be able to pick it up. Note that if you superslide too far you will no longer be able to teleport back to the object.

The trick is useful however, because of one extra characteristic: When you warp back to the object, the Z position of Link does not change from where he teleported from. This means that if you Superslide up a hill or slope and then warp back, you will be over top of the object you are trying to grab, and if you performed ISG beforehand you will stay there in the air. This used to be useful in some cases such as getting into Shadow Temple Early. That was obsoleted by a Hookshot Jump off Dampé's Hut. Additionally, if you go down a slope and warp back, you will be out of bounds below the object. It can be useful in certain situations as well, especially where there is out of bounds water to swim in.

Extended Superslides (ESS)

Discovered by SwordlessLink

Using the Extended Superslide (ESS for short) is slightly slower than the full Superslide, but has the advantage of being able to turn in any direction. Another advantage is the ability to pull out bombs or bombchus while you are doing an ESS. This allows for a quick set up to another superslide or another trick. The direction of the ESS can be determined based on the direction you tilt the joystick. It also acts like the Superslide and Ground Jump, in that it will skip certain cutscenes such as the owl texts.

ESS position

"ESS position" refers to an area just outside the neutral deadzone on the control stick. Holding the stick in ESS position at a standstill will make Link shuffle his feet and turn in place to face the direction held; beginning to hold target while Link is shuffling will make him shuffle indefinitely. This animation is important because Link can't lose speed during it, so entering this animation while at high speed by moving the control stick to ESS position and then holding target can preserve high speed indefinitely. This is the basis of the techniques below.

There are four known methods of starting an ESS:

Extended Superslide

During a regular Superslide, slightly tilt the joystick down to either the left or right. This must be a very slight tilt, just enough to have pressure on the joystick. At this point, you can now remove the Z and R buttons. If done correctly, Link will start to spin in a circle. Simply repress and hold Z to 'lock' in a new direction.

Water ESS (WESS)

For this method, an ESS can be started if Link jumpslashes into a wall and is recoiled at a high speed. He must also go into and come out of the water all from the jumpslash. Since he goes through the water this is sometimes called the WESS. The joystick must again be tilted slightly upon exiting the water. This is useful for an alternative forest escape as well as getting to the castle before dark when heading to Kakariko first. It should be noted that this method is faster than a normal ESS.

Megaflip ESS (MESS)

After performing a Megaflip, while in the air, tilt the joystick in the same way you would while you were supersliding. Upon landing, Link will start to spin in a circle. Press and hold Z to 'lock' in a direction. Important note: You must let go of Z the same frame that you do the backflip. This means while you are megaflipping in the air, the black bar at the top and bottom of the screen should not be there. Otherwise, you will only get a slow ESS.

Forward ESS (FESS)

This is similar to the other methods, but involves tilting the joystick slightly just before getting hit from an enemy. The enemy damage must not knock Link over, such as a hit from the attacking cuccos. Note that this is slower than backwalking, and so does not have much practical use.

Hyper ESS (HESS)

Discovered by MrGrunz

A HESS is known as a Hyper-Extended-Superslide. It has the exact same mechanics as an ESS, but it gives Link the same speed as a Superslide.

NL HESS

A HESS can be set up either by activating Nayru's Love, then holding the ESS position on the joystick and holding target + shield and getting hit by a damage source (typically a bomb).

Double chu HESS

Dropping two chus in quick succession on certain geometry will cause the two chus to collide and explode, which is seconds faster than waiting out a chu timer. To do this, pull a chu, hold target, press and hold shield, and then press the chu button again exactly 1 frame after the shield input began. The roll timing needed to begin the HESS will depend on the exact setup, but the A press will always need to be delayed at least a frame or two after the second chu input; rolling as soon as possible will put Link far enough inside the explosion that he takes damage on the way out, interrupting the HESS.

This can be done with sword and shield in most places (depending on the ground geometry), as shown in the main video below.

Specific setup examples:

Changing directions

(also called "angle change")

Once the ESS is started, it can be used to continue to change direction an infinite amount of times. Simply keep the joystick where it is and let go of Z. Link will start to rotate in circles once more. Simply hold down Z again when you have the angle you want. The ESS will end if Link is aligned with the direction you're holding on the joystick (e.g. if you are holding right, the ESS will stop whenever Link will be facing right)

If you want to go in circles clockwise, tilt the joystick slightly down and to the right (southeast direction). If you want to go in circles counter-clockwise, tilt the joystick slightly down and to the left (southwest direction). It is also possible to change circle direction by shifting the joystick from one side to the other. This should be done while you have a position locked, not while you are spinning.

Last updated October 6, 2026 by Blue