It's actually kind of surprising how close the Zelda 3 Randomizer Race was, despite significant path divergence! I think Andy had a huge advantage because of his ridiculously consistent ability to "hover" over gaps (a repeated frame-perfect button press that I've seen another GDQ runner choke on). He was pulling them off like they were nothing.
I tried the Zelda 1 randomizer last year, and it was surprising how much fun it was to play. I'm very familiar with what the game expects me to do, and yet I found myself constantly exploring and discovering, using the very problem-solving skills the original game taught me. I definitely want to try the Zelda 3 Randomizer, but there's no way I'm playing a no-sword run.