The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
March 16, 2009 - 7:17 am - Posted by Luke C.
I’ll be upfront about this: Link’s Awakening for the original Game Boy is probably my favorite game in the Zelda series.
It maintains the isometric top-down view of Zelda games of the time – though side scrolling underground areas recall the Adventure of Link – and many of the basic mechanics like wandering around an Overworld to find dungeons in which you’ll find puzzles, a new tool, and a boss monster guarding some kind of doohickey you need to collect to finish the game.
However, story wise it shakes up the Zelda formula. There is no Triforce to complete, no showdown with Ganon, no Zelda.
Instead, Link is thrown into the ocean when a storm destroys his boat and he wakes up on a small island called Koholint; in order to escape he has to gather eight instruments in order to awaken the guardian of the island, the Wind Fish.
Along the way he’ll fight the Nightmares who want to control the Wind Fish’s dream and meet a number of characters that should be familiar to Nintendo fans, including goombas to stomp on, piranha plants popping out of pipes, and the first appearance of Marin and Tarin (who would be Malon and Talon in later games) and the owl Kaepora Gaebora.
Link’s Awakening heralded the split between the console and portable Zelda games.
While it would have some effect on the console Zeldas – for instance, it was the first Zelda game to give the player multiple assignable item buttons and allow Link to combine his tools – it started the tradition of portable Zelda games that don’t quite fit the Zelda mold.
They’re a little quirky, a little more willing to crack a joke and to buck the traditions of the Zelda series, and for my money Link’s Awakening does it best.
Classic B&W Gameboy… It should look cool colorized.
@Tony: Nintendo did make a color version for the Game Boy Color called “The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX”.
Basically it’s a fully colorized version of 1993 classic and includes a new GBC-only dungeon.
@Tony: The GBC version isn’t just colorized like you would see if you put the B&W cartridge into a Game Boy Color, it’s reprogrammed to be fully colorized. In addition to the color-themed bonus dungeon Sean mentioned, the game also includes a photo mode in which pictures are taken of Link when he fulfills certain requirements.
I would have to agree with you Luke. Link’s Awakening is probably my favorite game in the Zelda series too.