I admit BS has some interesting design choices. Fairly linear dungeons (except the level 8s), info guys behind locked doors, the random wrong way stairs in the level 7s, and the suddenly hard to find expansion rooms in the level 5s. BS was also clearly lacking some of the original enemies. There were no blue bubbles, dungeons had fairy rooms instead for curing curses. Gleeok also never appeared as a boss. And the Patras were weaker than the ones seen in the NES Zelda (I did weaken the BS Patra so it isn't too hard for a Level 5 boss).
I like to keep my hints cryptic, but still useful. You are told the clue to some level 9s is in the overworld. A guy tells you there is something wrong with some caves, which points players in the right direction. Another guy hints you need flippers for some things by saying you need to be able to cross water. And the most famous one, the hands refers to wallmasters, since they take you back to the first room where you can push a statue for a secret item (Yes, original BS did this). The hints are useful, but never direct.
The take the stairs back to somewhere else trick in Magic Jar is hinted at, the first stairs take you to a dead end with a key, so unless you Continue Warp, you have to go back in the stairs that go somewhere else. An item hidden this way later is hinted in another fashion. Not only is it a single room with no other way in but stairs, but the stairs that appear in the room are a different tint. I did this to both of these go back puzzles in Super as well.
Starting with Modern I've always had an enemy difficulty curve. Levels are ranked 1-10, with 10 being the hardest enemies. The easiest level 1 is a 1, and the other level 1s are either a 2 or 3. Some levels don't go up in difficulty from the previous one, as level 3s and 4s are the same difficulty in BS. BS 1st is the easiest, BS 2nd and Minus 1st are 1 harder, and Minus 2nd is 2 harder. And Modern had a level 4 with Blue Wizzrobes too, that one was Rupee, which was also in a 2 harder dungeon set. The difficulty issue comes from there being less sets to play, meaning less chances for items to keep up with the curve. Also, Modern and Super had the difficulty stay the same twice, while BS only does it once. So while 1st Quest Level 9 was a 7, BS 1st Level 9 is an 8. When you get to the secret stuff, that curve starts at 4 but only goes up every 3 levels.
BS also has one other difference from Super, dungeons have a concept called foreign enemies. While each dungeon still has a dedicated enemy set, enemies from one other set can show up, but will be a difficulty lower. For example, BS 1st Level 8 is a Goriya set, so some strong Ropes, Stalfos, and Goriyas show up. But is also allows enemies from the Darknut set, so there are Darknuts, Pols Voice, and Gibdos, but the stronger variants don't show up.
