Original Release: June 6, 1993, Gameboy. Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch, 2019. Platform Used: Nintendo Switch.
THE PLOT:
Link is on a ship, traveling by sea, when he's caught in a huge storm. He is washed ashore on Koholint Island, where he is found and tended by pretty young Marin. The people of the island are warm and friendly, but they have no ships to take Link home. Indeed, they seem confused by the very notion of a home that isn't on their island.
When he retrieves his sword from the beach, an owl flies down to tell him that he has only one way back: to wake the Wind Fish that slumbers within the giant egg at the summit of the island's highest peak. Doing so will require the eight Instruments of the Sirens, each of which has been locked within a different, monster-infested dungeon, and each of which is jealously guarded by a beast known as a Nightmare.
Link embarks on his quest, defeating the Nightmares and recovering the precious instruments. However, as he progresses, those monsters give him a warning: Even if he succeeds and makes it home, his victory will come at a steep price!
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| Link and Marin on a date, staring out at the ocean. |
CHARACTERS:
I didn't bother with this section for the earliest Zelda games. Unless you delved into the instruction manuals, the NES titles had no characterization to speak of. A Link to the Past had a bit more, with actual character conversations - but the dialogue was entirely focused on plot and gameplay mechanics.
Link's Awakening changes this. The people on the island have personalities. Sunny, upbeat Marin has a clear crush on Link, and she muses about wanting to see the outside world. Old Man Ulrira gives hints by telephone, but he is too shy to speak to Link in person. Papahl, the father of quadruplets, is kind but befuddled. When you first talk to him, he'll outright tell you that he'll get lost in the mountains later (sure enough, he does). There are several other people and animals you'll meet, and they are all just quirky enough to be unique and endearing.
GAMEPLAY:
A Link to the Past introduced mini games to Zelda. That's taken further here. An optional seashell hunting mini game yields various rewards, notably a stronger sword. A fishing mini game can net you rupees as well as an extra bottle for the storage of health-replenishing fairies. There's also the opportunity to create your own dungeons, with prizes for successfully building and navigating them.
There's also an extended item collection side quest that runs through the game. Basically, you solve characters' problems, gaining items to then deliver to other characters who need them. A glance online tells me that not everyone was a fan of this, but I liked it a lot. The added interactions help to make the characters and their island that bit richer and more real - and I admit that it was nice to have something to do other than battle enemies and spelunk through dungeons.
The rest of the gameplay is similar to A Link to the Past. Explore (and destroy) terrain and defeat overworld enemies to find rupees, bombs, arrows, and health. Find the dungeons and solve puzzles until you make your way to the dungeon boss. Defeat the boss to gather the next Thingie (in this case, the Instruments of the Sirens). It's all very familiar - but then, after A Link to the Past refined the core mechanics, upending them again would have been senseless.
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| Link agrees to recover a villager's kidnapped dog, kicking off a lengthy side quest. |
VERSIONS:
Link's Awakening was first released for the Nintendo Game Boy in 1993. Five years later, it was effectively replaced by Link's Awakening DX, a Game Boy Color version that was faithful to the original but also added new features. For two decades, the DX version was widely seen as definitive.
It was remade again, in 2019, for the Nintendo Switch, the version that forms the basis for this review. The Switch release is again faithful to the original version. I compared it against videos of the 1993 release and was satisfied that I was effectively playing a prettier version of the same game.
This release adds quality-of-life features so that players won't have to constantly swap items around while playing. The wider display allows Link to cover more ground before moving from one screen to the next, and the transitions between them are handled by the camera moving in the appropriate direction, rather than Link just entering a new screen.
The art style is gorgeous. It's the same top-down perspective, but the detail brings the world to life. Link is particularly expressive. For the first time in this series, I felt like I was playing as a full person, rather than just a generic video game hero.
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| Link battles the caterpillar-like Moldorm, the "Nightmare" boss of the first dungeon. |
OTHER MUSINGS:
In case it's not blindingly obvious, I thoroughly enjoyed Link's Awakening. I was drawn in immediately. The island is so vibrant, and the whole atmosphere is extremely pleasant. If Koholint Island were real (and monster-free), it would be a perfect vacation spot.
Link's Awakening is enhanced by thematic elements. Notable is the repetition of situations involving sleeping and waking. Link starts the game regaining consciousness on the island. Repeated upgrades are a "punishment" by a being who's angry at Link for waking him. Then there's a bit that's the game's entire story in miniature: Link's quest is blocked by a slumbering walrus, with him enlisting Marin to rouse him by singing a song. These and other examples are artfully woven throughout the game.
I'd rate this as the most accessible entry in the series thus far. It's relatively short, but not too short. The story and setting feel fully mined, but nothing is allowed to overstay its welcome. It's also the easiest Zelda title to this point. I died only a handful of times across the full length, mostly because weaknesses of certain bosses and mini-bosses can only be found through trial-and-error.
Oh, and the game ends beautifully. I won't spoil it, though the game drops increasingly heavy hints throughout the second half. I'll just say that the final minutes are among the best dramatic scenes I've seen in a video game.
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| Link plays the Instruments of the Sirens in an attempt to wake the Wind Fish. |
OVERALL:
What more is there to say? Link's Awakening is energetic, likable, and fun. I lost one full night's sleep to it, because I simply got wrapped up in exploring the island and didn't notice the time slipping by until it was suddenly 4 AM. As I've gotten older, that's not something I tend to do anymore - but that's just how good this game is.
Overall Rating: 10/10.
Previous Game: A Link to the Past
Next Game: Link - Faces of Evil/Zelda - The Wand of Gamelon (not yet reviewed)
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