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

[{Marvelous}]

Below other entries like LTTP and the Oracle duo but it's a cute, charming adventure.

I think it was my first crack at Zelda, back on Gameboy Color. I played it to death, as a kid does at least, before really getting swept up with the aforementioned titles.

 

[entremet]

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.

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Yeah, Eagle's Tower was a bit wacky. I honestly thought I was glitching the game when I first played it on GameBoy.

 

[Dogui]

Fav 2D Zelda, and fav Zelda overall after Twilight Princess and Majora's Mask.

 

[JackOfSomeTrades]

Love the original on Game Boy but for some reason the Switch version just didn't land for me and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it was the performance issue, maybe it was the art style, but I just felt whelmed by it.

On the other hand, my absolute favourite way to play this is the now removed PC remake, it's an absolutely lovely comfortable way to replay this classic, it's a shame it got pulled

View: https://youtu.be/IhKM7fIlgKg

 

[entremet]

Love the original on Game Boy but for some reason the Switch version just didn't land for me and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it was the performance issue, maybe it was the art style, but I just felt whelmed by it.

On the other hand, my absolute favourite way to play this is the now removed PC remake, it's an absolutely lovely comfortable way to replay this classic, it's a shame it got pulled

View: https://youtu.be/IhKM7fIlgKg

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I forgot about this one!

 

[julia crawford]

Very very good, an joy to play and i really love the sprite work and the animations and how much they wrangled out of that tiny screen

 

[Jims]

I prefer A Link to the Past overall, but you're absolutely right about Marin and the story/personality aspect. Link's Awakening does a great job with the bittersweet aspect of leaving the dream, with Marin's characterization.

That sequence where you basically go on a date with her on the beach is pretty special. How she talks about wanting to leave the island. And then you go over to Animal Village with her. It's really slight by modern gaming standards but you care enough that it's kind of a gutpunch in the ending when they show her singing by the statue when everything fades away.

It would be a really weird pick, but always felt like Link's Awakening would be make for a good movie adaptation.

 

[KingK]

It's my favorite 2D Zelda (Wind Waker being my favorite 3D Zelda). I love this game.

Played the DX version for GBC as a kid and it was the first Zelda that I beat and really clicked for me. Just love the world of this one, the bittersweet vibes, and general personality, as the OP mentioned. Even now, some 24 years after I originally played it, I still vividly remember so many parts of my original playthrough.

I think I might replay it on the NSO app this year. Didn't realize they had it on there.

 

[Petruccis Biceps]

All awesome, though I feel like the remake kind of lost a bit of the weird/creepiness factor of the original.

 

[Cathode Ray]

It is still my favorite 2D Zelda because it hits that dark fairy tale vibe perfectly. Excellent 2D complement to the entry that does the equivalent in 3D, Majora's Mask. I even love the interesting parallel between them where Link is trying to stop the end of the world in MM but causing it in LA. In both cases is it a real world at all, or just a dream?

Nintendo has gone in a much different direction with the tone/storytelling in Zelda, so for my tastes LA will likely remain the all-time best 2D entry just as MM will likely remain the all-time best 3D one.

 

[ShmarioBrosh]

I only have vague memories of playing the GB original back in the day but I didn't have much fun with the Switch version. Feels a lot more constrained than ALTTP and an almost unpleasant experience as a result.

 

[Jetsun Mila]

While it is a good game and really impressive what they were able to get out of the Game Boy, it is my least favorite Zelda game. Far easier than any game before it, too handholdy to the point that every time you touch a rock or pick up a special item it tells you what it does, the dungeons are rather small and simple and the bosses are mostly far too easy. Also disliked the blatant padding by making the trade quest mandatory and that about an eighth of the map is just the raft minigame. The story is great though and it has some good tunes there.
I greatly prefer the Oracle games to this, but these had the more powerful Color variant as a huge advantage.

 

[oatmeal]

The Remake is great...just such shitty performance makes it baffling.

I'd love LTTP in that style.

 

[amara]

I played it for the first time a couple years ago. Very easily my favorite 2D Zelda. I played A Link to the Past after and it felt like a bland and default Zelda experience comparing it to Links Awakening

 

[CloseTalker]

It's a tad bit overrated imo, but it's a 2D Zelda so at worst it's still incredible

 

[FTF]

Great game and loved the remake.

 

[MrSaturn99]

A masterpiece no matter which version you play.

 

[Fuchsia]

I much prefer it to LTTP like you, OP. It has way more personality and quirkiness - something I value a lot in Zelda. I think the game benefits from getting out of Hyrule and I sincerely hope the next 3D Zelda also gets out of Hyrule ala Link's Awakening, Oracle games, or Majora's Mask.

 

[BigBadGiantHand]

Playing through DX right now for the first time on my new Analogue Pocket (have four instruments) and it is honestly very good. Not on the same level as Link to the Past , but it's awfully close and maybe more impressive given the limit hardware and input methods.

Edir - recently purchased Both Oracle games off eBay, so off to those next as well!

 

[Richietto]

Probably one of the tightest experiences in all of video games.

 

[hopeblimey]

Link's Awakening is pretty good, but is still rightfully overshadowed by Link to the Past.

It's kind of a bridge between 8-bit and 16-bit Zelda, with all the blemishes of both.

 

[mute]

I still like LttP more but LA is my second favorite.

I think this was the first Zelda game I finished though.

 

[furfoot]

Still hurts the GB runs it better than the Switch.

 

[Het_Nkik]

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.

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It's crazy how much game DESIGN changed in just a few years, regardless of hardware capabilities. I bought and played through all the NES Dragon Quest games like 12 years ago and Dragon Warrior IV was blowing me away with its presentation and storytelling.

 

[Firemind]

Still hurts the GB runs it better than the Switch.

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Can't improve on perfection anyway.

Playing through DX right now for the first time on my new Analogue Pocket (have four instruments) and it is honestly very good. Not on the same level as Link to the Past , but it's awfully close and maybe more impressive given the limit hardware and input methods.

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Beat Eagle's Tower and Turtle Rock and come back to me.

 

[entremet]

Still hurts the GB runs it better than the Switch.

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You mean NSO? I haven't noticed any issues.

Are you comparing the remake to the original?

 

[Dice]

I'm going to tackle the Oracle games next.

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Imagine Link's Awakening but with QOL features 😂

*PICK UP HEAVY BOULDER*

LA:
Oof! This boulder is heavy!
I won't be able to lift
it with just my bare hands.

Oracle:
Oof heavy!

 

[Mephissto]

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.

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Absolutely. Super impressive game for the gameboy.

 

[The Quentulated Mox]

fantastic game, one of the best. i feel like the monochrome of the OG version really helped sell the weird melancholy of it all

a few problems you might expect from such an old game (dialogue pacing, too few buttons, etc.) but the only real problem i have with it is the guardian acorns/pieces of power. pick up one item and listen to a 3-second music loop for minutes on end

 

[Karsha]

It's my favorite zelda. I'd say the best version is the fan remake that Nintendo shut down while the worse is the switch remake. I just can't stand that artstyle and I felt like they didn't even add much QoL. It does have some cryptoc stuff and you can get stuck with not much eplanation on where to go next but the dungeons and gameplay are great.

 

[mael]

I don't know why but I always preferred the OG GB version over the DX game, I always felt like the printer/camera additions detracted from the game somehow.
I love what they did with the Switch remake albeit I probably spent more time than most in the Zelda maker minigame.

 

[inkblot]

The first time I played it was the Switch version and it's a beautiful, sweet and melancholy game that has stuck with me long after beating it. Just a great game all around!

The soundtrack is also incredible!

 

[Whipwhopper]

First GB game I ever played and beat and still my favorite Zelda game

 

[Mickagau]

It's crazy how much game DESIGN changed in just a few years, regardless of hardware capabilities. I bought and played through all the NES Dragon Quest games like 12 years ago and Dragon Warrior IV was blowing me away with its presentation and storytelling.

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It is funny you brought this game cause I have such similar experiences with DQ4 and LA

First time really playing LA was the remake in 2019. I adored it, it felt so compact and well designed with a great, offbeat atmosphere. Played the GB version a bit after and it is incredible how well it holds up too. The foundation for the remake was so strong.

For DQ4, I started with the DS remake, loved it, played the OG and was blown away by what they achieved

Both are timeless classics and great achievements.

 

[XaosWolf]

I didn't like the Remake that much due to the performance issues and (imo) inferior soundtrack. Which is nice but I love the original GB renditions a lot better.

 

[strife85]

I beat the remake on switch. Awesome game, but yeah, the framerate sucks.

 

[revengeofgibbon]

Best Zelda.

 

[Buttons]

It was my first ever Zelda and will always have a special place in my heart. Love both the gameboy version and Switch remake.

 

[Arkanim94]

the mid game twist is still so damn cool.

This island is going to disappear... our world is going to disappear... our world... our... world...

 

[RaySpencer]

2nd best of all Zelda games. Only OoT is better.

I was lucky we got a Super GameBoy, or I would have crushed so many AAs.

 

[The Quentulated Mox]

oh wait no, the one other problem i have with the game is the "true ending" where you get a vision of marin after the credits if you didn't die once, with the implication that she's reincarnated as a seagull. game shouldn't have pulled its punches like that, the ending hits way better when the credits are done and all you hear are waves and the gulls

 

[dralla]

Game would be 10x better on Switch if the feather had a dedicated button. You need to have it equipped for so much of the game and it wastes an inventory slot when there are plenty of buttons on the Switch. Still an enjoyable game for what it is, but I wish they took the QoL improvements further.

 

[Shan]

Top 3 Zelda easily. The world felt so grand at the time and all this on a small cartridge. An easy replay although a run through a randomizer might also be interesting.

 

[skeezx]

haven't played the remake, but I always thought it was a nice and cozy little game, perfect for game boy (which, I question how i'd find the remake as it's not particularly "a portable game", guess that's for me to judge later)

though LttP and OG LoZ are my 2D Zelda go-tos, LA is a distant third

 

[Axe]

Still one of my favourite games ever. Packed full of fun and quirky personality, yet a genuinely moving experience. I appreciate how lean and tightly designed it is. It's the perfect handheld game, and it has stood the test of time.

I enjoyed the remake a lot too, though it is shame about the uneven performance. I hope we get Oracle remakes done in a similar style one day. They're both great games, but could benefit from some major QoL tweaks in a way that wasn't really needed for Link's Awakening.

 

[Neverx]

I like Minish Cap a bit more but it's one of the best 2D Zelda games.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

This is the game that made me fall in love with Zelda.

 

[javac]

Tried playing this 3 times now on switch and I keep getting bored and dropping it, and it isn't even a long game lol, maybe one day

 

[hypostatic]

DX is my favorite game of all time.

 

[theMrCravens]

Didn't like the remake, but the original was a FANTASTIC game.

I think I prefer the non-color one to be honest. There's a charm to it with the old black/white (or green'ish?) retro.