TLDR : I have nothing of actual value to say here, just nostalgic rambling.
One of my favourite games, probably tied with Ocarina as my favourite Zelda game. I played this when I was a kid on my gameboy colour. This was different from playing games on a shared console, where everyone kind of played together or watched each other. The gameboy was mine and I would get to choose the games for it. I went to Smyths Toys to buy a gameboy game because I had gotten some cash. I didn’t really know what was out at the time, or what kind of game I wanted, then I saw The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening DX on the shelf.
At this stage in my childhood I had played some of Ocarina of Time, never getting past Jabu-Jabu. So I was quite inexperienced with the Zelda franchise, I just knew Ocarina was cool. I knew nothing about Link’s Awakening , didn’t realise it was a colour remake of an original gameboy game. I didn’t even really understand the format of Zelda games, that each one is its own story - so I assumed this was a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time! None of that mattered, this was my chance to have a Zelda adventure all to myself .
I picked it up for like £20 , I can still remember the feeling of holding the cardboard box containing the game. That specific memory makes me a little sad for some reason. Got home , connected my Gameboy Magnifier screen / light combo, slotted in the cartridge and I was away. I loved how the the village was a friendly safe environment which allowed you to wander around and talk to people . Even as a kid, I could tell something was a little off with the people in this game , the way they spoke. There is a undercurrent of sadness and melancholy, teeming throughout the game. Besides the main plot which is an existential / nihilistic concept, the individual characters have their own sad stories. Another use above posted the image of the ghost who just wanted to see his home one last time before passing in the next world “…Nostalgia… …unchanged…” (and I will absolutely post the same screenshot from the DX version below ) There are a bunch of quests and quotes like that and I found this darker tone quite intriguing.
I played the heck out of that game as a kid, I would get pretty far, get stuck and decide “hmm. maybe I’ve messed something up, I should probably start a new game”. Which is obviously ridiculous but I didn’t have any goddamn internet to look up a walkthrough at the time, so I continued to bang my head against a wall. I think I got near the second last dungeon but there were some parts my dumb baby brain could not figure out. This didn’t taint the experience for me however - on the contrary it made the adventure seem even more epic and challenging. I was ok with not finishing it back then, I figured I would come back to it sometime.
Well I did come back to it, 24 years later. I got a Steamdeck, got emulators set up via Emudeck and finally made the journey back to Koholint island. And damn, if it wasn’t just as beautiful to me as it was way back when.
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I love the music that plays as you initially set out to the beach to get your sword, then right as you triumphantly pick up and perform the signature spin-attack, the main Zelda theme kicks in! The first of many fist-pumps for me.
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I thought the mario characters being in the game is kind of goofy but the surreal nature of their presence amplifies the themes of the game. Who would have thought a pet chain-chomp is the most powerful weapon in the history of Zelda?
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Having only two item slots mapped to A or B is a real pain, but that was a limit of the hardware back then I guess. I’m also not a huge fan of the combat in the old top-down zelda games, they were a lot more exciting in the 3d zeldas in my opinion.
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The dungeons in this game are not that hard at all. One or two towards the end can have puzzles that are a little obtuse or require thinking about the entire layout of the building - but very do-able.
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I love the items in this game. Pegasus boots, to make you sprint straight into stuff like a freight train. Roc’s feather, which temporarily enables Link to remember he’s a human being with legs who can actually just jump whenever he feels like it. Flippers, that are legitimately just flippers that make him better at swimming.
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Koholint island as a map is a charming place to explore. It doesn’t have wildly varying environments or biomes, but each area has its own sense of place and character. I only wish there was more of a reason to revisit more of the locations.
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The plot is sad, its melancholic, its scary and surreal. As you get closer and closer to the climax, the weight of what you are doing and what is about to happen grows and grows. Are you ready to leave this world, to do what it takes to leave the island? This reflects metatextually on the player - are you ready to finish playing this game? Are you willing to do what is necessary, just to see the credits? Other games have explored themes like this more successfully and with greater focus, but even as a kid I found these ideas fascinating.
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I feel like this maybe won’t hold up as well for people who didn’t play top down zelda games when they were younger, but I hope they would give it a shot. I haven’t played the Switch version but that looks cute and I’m assuming it makes a bunch of QOL improvements.
I love this game. I would recommend the DX version as the colours are pretty and there is an extra dungeon (which comes with a significant upgrade of your choosing). Every Zelda fan should play this , anyone interested in the Gameboy / Gameboy Colour should play this. For me it is the best gameboy game ever made , by a wide margin.
Try it, play it, find the seashells, beat the dungeons, but WHATEVER you do, don’t steal from the shop.
“…Nostalgia… …unchanged…”
I’m enjoying bopping around the island, and I like the owl.