Link's Awakening

[Marilink]

Link's Awakening

The fourth installment of the Legend of Zelda series, released for the Gameboy in 1993 and the DX version for GBC in 1998. Being a Zelda game, I am already inclined to love it, but this game is even toward the top of my Zelda list.

WHAT THIS GAME DID POORLY

-The Power Bracelet. I understand that the GameBoy's limited buttons made it almost necessary to use the power bracelet as an item, but I really dislike pausing and switching my items just to pick up a pot. Maybe this would have been too much for the GB's capabilities, but I think it would have worked to use the sword button while next to a pot to trigger the picking up. I dunno, that's not a huge complaint I guess.

-In my most recent playthrough, rupees became a big issue for me. I'm not even really sure why, but they didn't seem to scale well. You needed like 800 for the bow, but then you need 300 and 200 later in the game to advance. Maybe I just timed it poorly, but every time I got a good chest, my wallet was full, but when I needed more rupees to continue the game, I didn't have enough. Maybe that was just me, though.

WHAT THIS GAME DID WELL

-Music. A lot of people don't realize this, but Link's Awakening was the first Zelda game to have different music for each individual dungeon. LoZ and AoL had special themes for their final levels, and LttP had different music for Light and Dark world dungeons, but LA had a different track for each one, setting a very welcome precedent for the series. The music itself is pretty great, too. Without a doubt one of the strongest soundtracks for a Gameboy Game out there.



-Scope. I am always amazed at how much they were able to fit into this little GB game. The overworld is fairly decent sized and includes LttP-styled different-shaped screens. In addition to the overworld map there's a decently large network of caves to explore. There are plenty of houses and secret areas, like the classic Under-the-Bridge zone, to find. The story is pretty simple on its surface, but gets surprisingly deep the more you play and the more you think about it.

-Environments. Again, this game has incredible diversity for an original Gameboy game. Mabe Village, Yarna Desert, Tal Tal Heights, Animal City, every place in the game is fairly unique.



-Dungeons. This game has some pretty memorable dungeons, my favorite of which being Eagle's Tower. Not only were the dungeons well-designed, and at times pretty challenging, but the bosses in this game actually had personality. Unique to LA is that the bosses actually advance the plot with their dialogue more than anything else in the game (save for the owl). Boss dialogue goes from "*BRZZT! BRZZT! KILL! KILL!*" to that really freaking annoying Genie guy, to critical plot advancement. They build up the suspense of the unknown, and make you really unsure whether or not waking up is actually a good idea. Will you really just wake up if you wake the Wind Fish? Statements like "We'll all disappear--and you! You, too!" from a dying boss make you wonder.



OVERALL

This game is a must-play for Zelda fans. Some people don't like the handheld idea for Zelda, and I'm sure at the time of its release it was questioned whether or not a full-scale Zelda game could work for the Gameboy. Well, instead of letting the Gameboy hinder them, Nintendo decided to do what they could with the limited hardware to deliver a solid, time-withstanding installment to the Zelda series. It kinda makes me wish that they had continued such good utilization of bad hardware for the OoT Zeldas as well, but I digress.

Favorite track from the game:

Click to view video.

[The Missing Link]

Originally Posted by DJ Blue J

-The Power Bracelet. I understand that the GameBoy's limited buttons made it almost necessary to use the power bracelet as an item, but I really dislike pausing and switching my items just to pick up a pot. Maybe this would have been too much for the GB's capabilities, but I think it would have worked to use the sword button while next to a pot to trigger the picking up. I dunno, that's not a huge complaint I guess.

I was never too bothered by it. That said, if I recall correctly, the L2 sword can break pottery.

-In my most recent playthrough, rupees became a big issue for me. I'm not even really sure why, but they didn't seem to scale well. You needed like 800 for the bow, but then you need 300 and 200 later in the game to advance. Maybe I just timed it poorly, but every time I got a good chest, my wallet was full, but when I needed more rupees to continue the game, I didn't have enough. Maybe that was just me, though.

That's why so many people steal the bow.

-Scope. I am always amazed at how much they were able to fit into this little GB game. The overworld is fairly decent sized and includes LttP-styled different-shaped screens. In addition to the overworld map there's a decently large network of caves to explore. There are plenty of houses and secret areas, like the classic Under-the-Bridge zone, to find. The story is pretty simple on its surface, but gets surprisingly deep the more you play and the more you think about it.

Given the puny size of the cartridge in comparison to its chronological twin A Link to the Past, there was 512kiB of storage on LA's cart compared to LttP's 1 MiB. However, since the graphics could be super compressed (with 2 bits per pixel) it could be sprite rich and still have a lot of content.

-Dungeons. This game has some pretty memorable dungeons, my favorite of which being Eagle's Tower. Not only were the dungeon's well-designed, and at times pretty challenging, but the bosses in this game actually had personality. Unique to LttP is that the bosses actually advance the plot with their dialogue more than anything else (save for the owl). Boss dialogue goes from "*BRZZT! BRZZT! KILL! KILL!*" to that really freaking annoying Genie guy, to critical plot advancement. They build up the suspense of the unknown, and make you really unsure whether or not waking up is actually a good idea. Will you really just wake up if you wake the Wind Fish? Statements like "We'll all disappear--and you! You, too!" from a dying boss make you wonder.

I agree with you on this point! I'd forgotten the bosses all talk. A really nice effect.

[Marilink]

Haha, yeah, my "complaints" aren't really complaints at all, I realize. I love the game, I was really fishing for those. :P

The power bracelet thing is a little legitimate, though. I've always disliked that.

[Valigarmander]

Someday, I'm going to get this on the VC and finally play it.

[Chaos Deviot]

I own both versions of it. I prefer the original(due to your Flying Cuccoo not leaving after Level 7).

Likewise, they're among my top favorite, tied with Majora's Mask.

[The Missing Link]

Originally Posted by Chaos Deviot

I own both versions of it. I prefer the original(due to your Flying Cuccoo not leaving after Level 7).

I didn't know that!

Because I was really worried at the time that you need the Rooster to get one of the Secret Seashells, and if you didn't get it when you had it, then you forever couldn't.

But then again, there are 26 such Secret Seashells (two of which available at specific points in Seashell Manor), so you can miss six of them and still be okay.

[monstrman]

Honestly this game is one of my favorite in the series. It was just so well done...

[Loot]

Oh yeah, didn't the original also have some neato glitches?

Still, I really enjoyed Link's Awakening, so glad I got it on my 3DS.

[Antisocial]

BOMB ARROWS

HELL YEAH

[monstrman]

Originally Posted by The Missing Link

That's why so many people steal the bow.

BUT IF YOU STEAL, YOU PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE!!

HADOKEN

Click to view video.

[Bomby]

This is definitely one of my top three of the series. A spectacular game by all means.

[Lord_Zack]

I love this game, one of my favorite in the series, definitely. Unfortunately my cart has developed some problems. I don't think it saves any more. So that sucks. It was one of the first Zelda games I owned and I played it again and again and again.

[Dizzy]

I had this, then I lost it before I could get anywhere important in the game.

Good thing I can get it for 3DS now, though.

[Crazyswordsman]

Love this game. Love, love, love this game. This was probably the most well done Game Boy game. -CSM

[Cosmonautical]

My favorite aspect of the game was how the map-warp glitch actually increased its replay value to much higher than had the game not possessed such a glitch. You can cause bizarre things to happen, and obtain unnecessary increments in things like the Power Bracelet far before the game's design even calls for the first bracelet level.

[Panfan]

I haven't played this since I was probably 6-7. I should change that.

[Cravdraa]

One of my personal favorite games. Possibly my favorite game in the zelda series.

To the people saying they need to play it for the first time, can I suggest the black and white version? I always have to bring this up whenever Link's Awakening is talked about, but they added a crapload of "hints" to the color version. Except they're not really hints. They're more like step by step instructions on how to solve the toughest puzzles in each dungeon. And the worst part is, they put them in the same form as the real clues that were already in the game, many of which were riddles that you needed to solve to advance. So because they're mixed up with actual gameplay elements, you can't just skip them and figure it out on your own because you never know when it'll give you a vital peice of the puzzle, or just blurt out the answer to the whole thing. >_>

But enough sadness.
This is one of the first games in the series where NPCs actually had some personality and you might even care about them. The level design was absolutely amazing. There's stuff EVERYWHERE. It's absolutely jam-packed with puzzles and secrects and different landscape features, and yet it's never felt cramped or forced to me.
The new system of letting you combine two items at a time for different effects was clever, especially because they'd often let you experiment to discover special combo moves, rather than tell them to you outright.
It's got a ton of humor, even more than other games in the series and almost seems to parody itself, and yet it still maintains that sense of mystery, and can have bittersweet moments as well.
The setting is simply whimsical.

[Cosmonautical]

^ Yeah, I'll really second playing the original GB version over the DX version. The GB version is kind of the pinnacle of Zelda puzzle designs, and the DX just took a **** all over that. Beside which, the coloring isn't even very well executed as none of the sprites were re-drawn to take advantage of the new 2-bit color palettes, they were simply assigned a palette scheme as an approximation of what an artist may have done with them.

[Cravdraa]

Not to mention they messed with some of the dialog and added lines to make a lot of the bosses blurt out their weak points when they talk to you. So much for figuring it out for yourself... >_>

On the plus side, the new dungeon was pretty cool, if not vital, and I did enjoy the camera quest to find photo ops. DX wasn't all bad.

Some of those cryptic messages the owl statues just had a way of sticking in my mind, even if most of them didn't really mean anything.

[monstrman]

My favorite part about this game is when you're talking to the kids and they say stuff like "Press all the buttons to save. IDK what that means cause I'm just a kid!"

I lol'd.