Question about auto-input in Zelda...

[eleventhirtyfour]

This is a weird question but is there a way to hack a rom of zelda 1 (or any game really) where it randomly presses buttons, like up, down, left, right, B, A, and start? Thanks!

[Cyneprepou4uk]

Yes. For example right after the game is done with reading registers and calculating input, you execute your own subroutine with some logic, where you replace values in addresses with yours.

[FAST6191]

As above then you can either swap out the read results, or if the game is debounced then attack that.

What I am more here to say though is if you are running this on an emulator then Lua will do inputs for you, you can probably even do it with a cheat engine, PC scripts are all about faking pressing buttons and more besides there.

If on hardware you also have the option of slicing into a game controller and wiring in something like a teensy++ device to fire outputs randomly (or indeed "randomly" by cycling through a long list of inputs of your choosing, or maybe something pseudorandom, if random is hard). The same techniques people do for auto input for games, turbo buttons on controllers, controller remapping or making things for disabled people are what you want here. Programming should be no different than the basic intro to the device guides that get you to light up a LED, or maybe the next guide of flashing LEDs in a pattern.
Bonus is you don't need to edit the ROM, don't need a flash cart and can rock up to anybody's NES that will accept your controller and go from there.
Depending upon the programmable chip you are using then many will also serve as keyboards and mice for the purposes of messing with emulator inputs if you wanted to go that way, or did not have access to emulators that allow Lua and such like (if a phone/tablet will take a USB keyboard then yeah).

[Jorpho]

This is a weird question but is there a way to hack a rom of zelda 1 (or any game really) where it randomly presses buttons, like up, down, left, right, B, A, and start? Thanks!

Have you looked into whether anyone has set anything up for those old "Twitch Plays" streams? That would be a good place to start.