The Legend of Zelda's instruction manual included a text walkthrough that covered up to the second dungeon. It also included a fold-out map for most of the overworld and the first few dungeons, plus a list of which items could be found in which dungeons, plus a bunch of hints for some of the more obscure bullshit the game threw at you, like how to get to level 9. The idea that the original Zelda involved no hand-holding is based more on nostalgia than reality. Some kids who rented the game in the 80s may never have seen the manual, but Nintendo clearly intended to hold the player's hand.