Link's Awakening's (all versions) what did you think?

[entremet]

I've been replaying the DX version NSO's Gameboy app. Game ages like fine wine. I also played the remake on Switch, which I also loved. I know some folks hated the framerate issues. I had no problems. Hopefully Switch 2 can fix this for future replays. I've seen overclock mods fix it.

I owned and played all versions. This is my first time replaying DX a few years. I do wish the original GB version would be made available as well. But I doubt it.

I prefer it to the LTTP. It just have more personality, fun NPCs, and interesting stuff with the 2D sections. It is also just a tighter playthrough. LTTP has the 3 baby dungeons, which kills the pacing for in replays. I prefer ABLW here, it fixes the pacing.

I actually care about Marin in the game, even with the tiny amount of dialogue. Zelda in LTTP is a typical damsel with no personality. Animal Village is rather fun and so is the original village. The humor with the photographer in the DX and remake, the trading game, the reaction if you steal from the shopkeeper. It just has so much more charm than LTTP.

I'm going to tackle the Oracle games next.

 

[AlgusUnderdunk]

They were all fantastic, especially the original at the time. Loved the photography aspect in the DX version and hunting down the color dungeon.

I'd love to see the Oracle games get a similar treatment in terms of remakes.

 

[Zor]

I'm going to tackle the Oracle games next.

Click to shrink...

They're fantastic.

 

[Nakho]

Best 2D Zelda, by a mile

 

[onibirdo]

I wasn't too big on the remake but the OG will always be my favourite Zelda.

EDIT: time to listen to the OST for the millionth time I guess.

 

[SasaBassa]

Two of the most underrated Zelda songs in Mabe Village and Sword Search

 

[mopinks]

prepare to be annoyed by the oracle games

 

[Bish_Bosch]

Still my favorite Zelda. Devestating ending and love the lynchian dialogue.

 

[Kazooie]

Absolutely brilliant game and an astounding achievement on Game Boy. Considering what Zelda 1 and 2 were on similar hardware before, it really goes to show what would have been possible before. Link's Awakening is a pretty much perfect game. The Oracles are also great.

 

[Moff]

My favorite game of my childhood. Always loved it more than ALTTP. the overworld is so much better.

 

[eXistor]

Close-to-perfect Zelda. Love the vibes, the overworld is nice and dense, great dungeons, great music. Best Game Boy game for sure.

 

[Ouroboros]

The AA batteries in my Gameboy exploded because I played too long.

 

[Zippedpinhead]

With OG being able to be sequence broken out of the box is incredible. I mean trying to figure out how many bosses can you beat without picking up the sword? the answer is at least one because you can break into TR, pick up the fire rod and beat that boss incredibly quickly in the OG version

DX is nice but honestly it's the one I never had as a kid (only eventually picking it up on 3DS).

I like the remake, it was fun and I think a shame that the devs didn't follow it up with an original game in the same style (or oracle remakes)

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Link's Awakening is, IMO, the best 2D Zelda and probably my favorite Zelda after Majora's Mask.

The fact that it was built for the black and white gameboy with all its limitations (tech, memory, buttons, screen, etc.) is probably one of the greatest testaments to "gameplay above all."

 

[Kadzork]

View: https://youtu.be/Nz91gGUbCog?si=lktWelNADhxvwzbm

Urge to replay rising.

 

[Starsunder]

It's an amazing game. I still prefer ALttP but it's really good nonetheless.

I need to play the Oracle games soon

 

[julian]

It's fantastic and a classic for a reason. Easily my most replayed Zelda game and I'd argue one of the best because of how tight an experience it is. It's crazy they could release a 1-1 remake 20+ years later and it still holds up.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Still really good! Link's Awakening was my personal first Zelda game as a kid and I still love the heck out of it today.

I think the performance issues in the Switch remake hold back my appreciation for it a little bit but I overall adore that version of the game too.

 

[sir_crocodile]

The original is a strong strong candidate for best Zelda game ever alongside Zelda 3.

The remakes are both mostly excellent (the colour dungeon and the dampe make-a-dungeon both suck) but I still prefer the original - I really like the GB music for this one, and the monochrome adds to the dreamlike quality of the game

 

[entremet]

It's fantastic and a classic for a reason. Easily my most replayed Zelda game and I'd argue one of the best because of how tight an experience it is. It's crazy they could release a 1-1 remake 20+ years later and it still holds up.

Click to shrink...

The remake added some really cool features like the journal feature for tracking sea shells and heart containers. Hope they continue that in future remakes.

 

[Stairouais]

First Zelda game I finished without any help as a kid. In my memories, it took years.

In reality it probably just took a few weeks / month.
I love this game dearly.

 

[Azzanadra]

I played it for the first time on the Switch with the remake.

Freaking loved it, it might just be my favorite experience on the system, period- I even enjoyed it more than BOTW or TOTK. Perhaps because it was my first time playing it, and I missed the classic Zelda formula, but yeah. It was such a tight and charming experience.

 

[julian]

The remake added some really cool features like the journal feature for tracking sea shells and heart containers. Hope they continue that in future remakes.

Click to shrink...

I knew somebody would mention the small additions! Come on! lol. There's also the dungeon maker feature which I'm guessing nobody used beyond making one experimental dungeon.

 

[Clive]

I honestly liked it a lot more than A Link to the Past although I might be biased since I played it first. The characters and world have much more personality.

 

[BFIB]

I really enjoyed its quirkiness. It had goombas, a chomp-chomp, and other references to other games in it. I beat it on Switch via the remake, and really enjoyed that also.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Also the localisation for this was so good. You got Marin! Is this your big chance?
It's a shame the switch version didn't replicate the cool font.

 

[pioneer]

I watched my older sisters play this when I was really young and its mood and vibes were definitely formative for me, shaping my taste in media forever afterwards. I played every version of it as I got older and it remains my favorite 2D Zelda. Probably would choose the original Gameboy version as the best.

 

[NukeRunner]

Fantastic games, in all iterations. That said, they are a bit simple by todays standards and I consider ALBTW a superior actual game, and the GB games suffered a lot by having such limited controls, something the remake did help with a lot.

Either way though, they are all top tier 2D Zelda, along with LTTP and and ALBTW. Seasons and Ages are not quite as good but still good.

 

[duckroll]

It's my favourite Zelda game. Although I do prefer the original to the DX and also the remake. I feel it kinda gets worse each time they try to make it "better" or update it in some way. The black and white original is the way it was designed and the best version of the game. Luckily it's so good that each time they try to add something new, even if it gets worse it's still better than almost everything else.

LA for lyfe.

 

[AppleKid]

Incredible game. The original was actually my first Zelda game and still one of my favorites. DX is still the best version, then original, then remake. I enjoyed remake overall but it lost something from the original.

DX and Oracle of Seasons are the only 2D Zeldas I consider 10/10.

 

[Euler]

Link's Awakening is really fantastic. It holds up through all the years.

When I replayed the Oracle games I felt they aged far worse.

 

[DanteSparda504]

I did not enjoy it. I never played it till the remake, and it just wasn't my thing. I got lost a few times and just didn't really find the world or game or events particularly enjoyable. Was super disappointed considering the praise it always got.

I definitely could see how it would've been huge at the time having a full Zelda experience on the OG Gameboy, but it didn't do much for me today.

 

[Mephissto]

Awesome. One of my favorite Zelda games.

I prefer the GB/DX version over the Switch version though. Only pain is the constant item switching in the old ones.

 

[BennyWhatever]

This is my favorite game of all time. I've probably beaten it at least 100 times. Got a casual speedrun time down to like 2.5 hours too, just for funsies.

I do wish the original GB version would be made available as well. But I doubt it.

Click to shrink...

The Zelda Game & Watch machine has the original GB version on it instead of the DX version, if you're interested. I got one a couple years ago and keep it on my office desk for random pick up and plays.

 

[henlo_birb]

Love the original two, sold my copy of the Switch version. Absolutely inexcusable that the framerate tanks to the teens in the overworld. Disgusting. The originals on GB and GBC provide a more stable experience. Embarrassing.

I'm almost never a graphics/performance guy, but this was just terrible and killed it for me.

 

[super-famicom]

Links Awakening is my favorite Zelda game. Getting through Eagle Tower as a child is one of my favorite accomplishments.

 

[mrmickfran]

Can never touch the GB versions ever again after playing the remake

Having more than one button for your items is a godsend

Or that annoying "wow, this looks heavy" message if you so much as look at a rock

 

[.exe]

Impressive for Game Boy but a skeleton of a Zelda game to me.

The pop-up text boxes in DX don't bother you? I found that so exasperating with the pickups and later when pushing up against liftable blocks without the gloves. Skyward Sword has nothing on LA's intrusive text boxes.

 

[entremet]

Awesome. One of my favorite Zelda games.

I prefer the GB/DX version over the Switch version though. Only pain is the constant item switching in the old ones.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, the better item controls in the remake were great.

 

[Orso]

Amazing game. Also features some of the most underated songs in the Zelda series

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtvtZT-PXGk

 

[Seik]

It's fantastic and I would replay it now if I didn't already back in January, just by the mere mention of it.

It's a testament of all you can do so much with so little.

 

[Guitar (Pseudo) God]

I loved the GB version, but the Switch remake hit me in the nostalgia feels, and it's the version I shared with my children.

 

[Derbel McDillet]

Tal Tal Heights is the best Zelda theme.
I like a lot of ideas on paper, but for all the wandering you get to do there only seems like there's one way to do things so if you miss it you're left trying all this other stuff to no avail. So that's why I always found Zelda to be pretty obtuse as a kid. Now that I'm older I recognize it better, but the issue is still there.
Dungeons don't particularly stand out to me.
Overall I've never been too into this game, but it technically is my first Zelda, but I find to be the most restrictive in terms of making progress so following Breath of the Wild with a remake of this always seemed like an odd choice.
I can appreciate the original.
I don't like the Remake at all.

 

[oni-link]

Link's Awakening fans should also check out The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls

I made a thread on it last week, it's another great first party Nintendo game that scratches that same itch

 

[ultraluna]

best zelda game ever made

 

[bananab]

I have never finished it despite having played quite a bit of it over the years. I really like the "weird gameboy game" vibe that it seems like it exemplifies more than just about any other game I've tried. And I was surprised that the switch remake manages to retain this. However, I wish there could have been a way for the switch game to also retain the screen-by-screen progression of the original. I realize this wouldn't really work with the new aspect ratio. But without it, I felt like the outdoor environments in particular felt strange.

 

[PucePikmin]

Always preferred it to Link to the Past. Despite coming out on more dated hardware, it's a much more modern-feeling game. Just the layout of the world, little quality-of-life things like the tip line, better dungeons. Also, it's got that weird melancholy that I think the best Zelda stories have, whereas LttP is more of a straightforward fantasy tale. Liked the remake quite a bit, although at times it was maybe a little too cute?

 

[Z-Brownie]

They are a nice little game, kind of "loose" in the logic of the iten gathering but nothing really worrying

 

[Bigg]

Great game overall, gets a little annoying in the second half but still pretty damn good. The first Zelda game that "clicked" with me and my second favorite behind Link Between Worlds.

The remake is really solid and the QoL improvements are good, I just wish it didn't stutter in the overworld. I probably still prefer DX for that reason but I'd still recommend the remake to people interested.

My only real complaint with it - and I've found this to be semi-controversial - is that I think Eagle's Tower sucks. The dungeon gimmick is annoying and the solutions feel obtuse, it's everything I dislike about dungeon design in older Zeldas. Thankfully it's the only part of the game that I find frustrating.

 

[QuigleyMcShine]

Probably still the best Zelda (though sometimes I could be convinced it's Majora's Mask).