Yes exactly that is how the Home brew loader works, you always must run on application mode.I don't use any forwarders. There have been self-contained NSP versions since before any nro build was posted. I don't even have any zelda3 files on my sdcard.
You can hold R and launch a game to run hbmenu if you need full RAM.
you are deviating the issue. and if any NSP version is there is piracy and you should not publish any link or discuss about it here on GBATemp.
Any version you can use and link here on GBATemp is the official one and you MUST provide the original legally obtained ROM in order to run it.