Looking at the their description in the Legend of Zelda 'Tips and Tactics' Strategy guide we see this...
"Monsters that have big ears but their weakness is loud noises. So far the only way you know to attack one is to surprise him by making a loud sound. There will be other opportunities to attack him but you must use your own own imagination. Even if you don't come up with any new ideas to attack him, you can always try the sword"
Then again if we look at the American strategy guide we see...
"A ghost with big ears and a weak point - he hates loud noise."
Now, other than the fact that the Tips and Tactics description sounds like it was written by a 2nd grader... neither of these make sense for the American version of the game. Why you might ask? Well, the Recorder (Flute/Whistle) DOES NOT work against the Pols Voice. Instead... arrows work and will kill them with one hit. The sword works as well, but it isn't effective.
I read this at Zelda Wiki...
"Originally, they were meant to be sensitive to input into a microphone peripheral for the NES, however that weakness was lost in translation."
Seems odd really. The whole thing just seems weird. If anybody has played the Famicom version, it would be interesting to know whether or not the Recorder was effective against the Pols Voice, since it is clear in the American version it is not. Yet... the fact that they never took that out of the game manual and the official strategy guide is extremely odd. In future games Pols Voice were defeat by playing loud instruments, so you would think that would be useful in Legend of Zelda.
Perhaps its just one of those odd things that seem to be forgotten.
"Monsters that have big ears but their weakness is loud noises. So far the only way you know to attack one is to surprise him by making a loud sound. There will be other opportunities to attack him but you must use your own own imagination. Even if you don't come up with any new ideas to attack him, you can always try the sword"
Then again if we look at the American strategy guide we see...
"A ghost with big ears and a weak point - he hates loud noise."
Now, other than the fact that the Tips and Tactics description sounds like it was written by a 2nd grader... neither of these make sense for the American version of the game. Why you might ask? Well, the Recorder (Flute/Whistle) DOES NOT work against the Pols Voice. Instead... arrows work and will kill them with one hit. The sword works as well, but it isn't effective.
I read this at Zelda Wiki...
"Originally, they were meant to be sensitive to input into a microphone peripheral for the NES, however that weakness was lost in translation."
Seems odd really. The whole thing just seems weird. If anybody has played the Famicom version, it would be interesting to know whether or not the Recorder was effective against the Pols Voice, since it is clear in the American version it is not. Yet... the fact that they never took that out of the game manual and the official strategy guide is extremely odd. In future games Pols Voice were defeat by playing loud instruments, so you would think that would be useful in Legend of Zelda.
Perhaps its just one of those odd things that seem to be forgotten.