Before I get started, I want to clarify something. This is a review of the original Link's Awakening for the original Gameboy, as that is what I played as a kid. When my Gameboy copy finally died on me, I purchased DX and thought the added tunics and dungeon were nice, but in the long run unnecessary, and actually made the sword a pretty cheap way to kill anything after being upgraded and infused with a piece of power (I one-shotted Slime Eel in the Red tunic that way).
Anyways, as Nintendo is prone to do when they release a new console, they run through their franchises, especially Mario and Zelda. The Gameboy was no different. Super Mario Land was released at the launch of the handheld, but Link got to rest as much of the core Zelda Team were hard at work on A Link to the Past.
After they finished it though, they didn't take long to complete the Gameboy installment of the series. Link's Awakening is one of my favorite games of all time, and easily one of the few games I've probably given a full month of my life to. I'm serious on that one. Ten-ish road trips a year, eight hours a trip, and it was all I played for three and half years worth of those. It still is my number one road trip game.
I've literally played a cartridge of this game to death. When people get in an argument over which Zelda game is the best...this is my answer. But on to the game itself.
The story is amazing.
Oh...you want elaboration? Well...ok...Link is in a shipwreck. When? I don't know. The timeline is so up in the air right now and with Nintendo issuing a "the timeline is a lie" blanket statement so they get out of ever having to clarify it, I couldn't care less. However, Link's only ever been on a ship in two games...so, I'd say somewhere near Wind Waker or Phantom Hourglass perhaps?
Anyways, Link unconciously drifts on to Koholint Island where he's found by Marin (though given the vernacular, I often wonder if she was supposed to be Malon; her father Tarin, who looks very much like Mario, as does Talon, adds to this theory), a young girl who loves animals and has a singing voice so lovely that she can soothe all animals...even Walruses. Seriously.
Throughout the course of the story, Link is guided by an owl, much like Kaepora Gaebora or the Eldin Light Spirit in other games in the series. As Link progresses, he learns the dark secrets of the island, and that reality isn't all it seems to be, a rather mature theme for a Zelda title still.
Gameplay for the game is mash up of the two preceding top down Zelda titles, The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past. From the NES title, the eight dungeon format, one world set up, leading up to a final boss and a much more simplistic input system. From the SNES one, diagonal movement, spin attack, an engrossing story that's fully in game, and the abilities to run and swim through the aid of the Pegasus Boots and Zora's Flippers. It also added to key items that would become staples of the young hero's: an instrument (in this case, an ocarina) used for various functions (other than just moving around the map) and the Roc's Feather, giving Link the ability to jump, which in later games, translates to gliding as Roc's Cape. One final addition to the gameplay was the compass gaining the ability to tell you if there was an item in the room by playing a tone, a very helpful addition if you had no idea where to find an item.
Dungeons have certain themes based on where they are and who the boss is. Face Shrine is devoted to elements of the face, with rooms with giant eye's etched into the floor, all leading up to a battle with Facade, a boss that is the floor of the boss chamber. Angler's Tunnel is named also for it's boss, a giant Angler Fish, and the level is a very watery one to fit the mood.
The music is amazing. Here listen to The Ballad of the Wind Fish (not the Majora's Mask version), and tell me you don't like it. I know it's quite possibly my favorite piece from the Zelda series.
Anyways, as Nintendo is prone to do when they release a new console, they run through their franchises, especially Mario and Zelda. The Gameboy was no different. Super Mario Land was released at the launch of the handheld, but Link got to rest as much of the core Zelda Team were hard at work on A Link to the Past.
After they finished it though, they didn't take long to complete the Gameboy installment of the series. Link's Awakening is one of my favorite games of all time, and easily one of the few games I've probably given a full month of my life to. I'm serious on that one. Ten-ish road trips a year, eight hours a trip, and it was all I played for three and half years worth of those. It still is my number one road trip game.
I've literally played a cartridge of this game to death. When people get in an argument over which Zelda game is the best...this is my answer. But on to the game itself.
The story is amazing.
Oh...you want elaboration? Well...ok...Link is in a shipwreck. When? I don't know. The timeline is so up in the air right now and with Nintendo issuing a "the timeline is a lie" blanket statement so they get out of ever having to clarify it, I couldn't care less. However, Link's only ever been on a ship in two games...so, I'd say somewhere near Wind Waker or Phantom Hourglass perhaps?
Anyways, Link unconciously drifts on to Koholint Island where he's found by Marin (though given the vernacular, I often wonder if she was supposed to be Malon; her father Tarin, who looks very much like Mario, as does Talon, adds to this theory), a young girl who loves animals and has a singing voice so lovely that she can soothe all animals...even Walruses. Seriously.
Throughout the course of the story, Link is guided by an owl, much like Kaepora Gaebora or the Eldin Light Spirit in other games in the series. As Link progresses, he learns the dark secrets of the island, and that reality isn't all it seems to be, a rather mature theme for a Zelda title still.
Gameplay for the game is mash up of the two preceding top down Zelda titles, The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past. From the NES title, the eight dungeon format, one world set up, leading up to a final boss and a much more simplistic input system. From the SNES one, diagonal movement, spin attack, an engrossing story that's fully in game, and the abilities to run and swim through the aid of the Pegasus Boots and Zora's Flippers. It also added to key items that would become staples of the young hero's: an instrument (in this case, an ocarina) used for various functions (other than just moving around the map) and the Roc's Feather, giving Link the ability to jump, which in later games, translates to gliding as Roc's Cape. One final addition to the gameplay was the compass gaining the ability to tell you if there was an item in the room by playing a tone, a very helpful addition if you had no idea where to find an item.
Dungeons have certain themes based on where they are and who the boss is. Face Shrine is devoted to elements of the face, with rooms with giant eye's etched into the floor, all leading up to a battle with Facade, a boss that is the floor of the boss chamber. Angler's Tunnel is named also for it's boss, a giant Angler Fish, and the level is a very watery one to fit the mood.
The music is amazing. Here listen to The Ballad of the Wind Fish (not the Majora's Mask version), and tell me you don't like it. I know it's quite possibly my favorite piece from the Zelda series.
MusicNGaming's post of the SSBB remix of Ballad of the Wind Fish
Most of the sound effects are ripped from A Link to the Past, but that makes sense for this game. The fact that the Gameboy could actually make them sound somewhat cooler than the SNES always made me happy, though.
Ok, so as I mentioned earlier, Link's Awakening got updated when the Gameboy Color came out. DX added the Color Dungeon and two tunics, a red and blue one specializing in a combat or defense buff respectively. It also added to the cutscenes, and in one case, changed the outcome of a scene entirely.
The thing that always bothered me about DX is that one cutscene that was changed. It plays after the credits if you get a perfect score. In the original, Marin herself flies away from where the island was. In DX, it's a seagull that is made to be Marin by plastering her picture on top of it before showing it. While it seems more picturesque, the part of me that really loved the character hated that she became a bird rather than actually make it off the island. However, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't change the series one way or another.
So, let me know what you think. Do you like Link's Awakening? Are you of the opinion that the best Zelda games are the two games that came out directly before and after it? Do you like the other handheld Zelda's better? Let me know.
-Sara
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