The game boy classic is about to turn 26 years old June 6th and at E3 we should see more info on the remake so we decided why not take a look at this game boy classic.
Almost 26 years to the day, Legend of Zelda Links Awakening launched on the original Game Boy. This title is one of the best games on the handheld and is one greatest games released on the grey brick. With that being said I want to take a look at what is one of my favorite games of all time.
From the get go Link’s Awakening starts off differently than any Zelda game before. You’re not dropped off and left to explore like in the first game or saving a sleeping Zelda in the second. You’re also not being asked to go on a quest to save Princess Zelda by the Princess herself, no as soon as you turn the game on your met with a scene of Link on a boat. He’s been caught in the middle of a storm and it’s not looking good for our green tunic adventurer. His ship crashes on Koholint Island. Koholint Island will be the setting for the rest of the game.
That’s right, right from the start this game is completely different. No Hyrule, no Zelda, no Gannon, no triforce. Instead you wake up on the previously mentioned Koholint Island where you are rescued by Marin a villager whom lives on the island. When you wake up she tells you that she found you washed up on the beach. She’s fascinated by Link because he’s from outside of the island a place she knows nothing of.
Pretty soon Link leaves and you set off to the beach to find your sword. Shortly after your visited by an owl and told the only way to leave the Koholint Island is to wake the Wind Fish which is the guardian over the island. The wind fish is currently hold up in a giant egg on top of Mt. Tamaranch. In order to wake the wind fish Link will have to adventure around the island and collect 8 magical instruments known as the Instruments of the Sirens.
From here on the game does follow a similar route to previous Legend of Zelda games. There’s 8 dungeons placed all over the island. Each dungeon requires special tools in order to get passed the traps and puzzles that wait inside. Some of these items are series mainstays like bombs, bows and arrows. While other items such as the Roc Feather which allows Link to jump made it’s series debut. Another difference that Link’s Awakening had that no other game before did was the ability to unequip his sword and use 2 different pieces of equipment instead. This idea was an idea the game’s director Takashi Tezuka had for Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past however it was ultimately shot down by Shigeru Miyamoto who had supervised the development of that title.
In fact the development of Link’s Awakening was also different in the fact that it wasn’t constantly over seen by Miyamoto. In fact Tezuka has gone on record saying that Miyamoto had something else on his mind so he left the development of the game up to the team. The development of the game had started as a side project something they worked on after hours outside of the work that they were assigned to. It wasn’t until the game started to look and play impressive that Tezuka pitched the project to his higher ups which of course they agreed to and greenlit. Originally intended to be a port of Link to the Past for the game boy (probably why the overall look is closest to that title.) Tezuka and team decided to go in a different direction. Tezuka told his team that the game would be a spin off and that they should stay away from the mainstays of the series (as previously mentioned Zelda Gannon etc.) When Tezuka told the team that was the direction they would go in Kensuke Tanabe (one of the script writers of Link to the Past) suggested the games setting to be an island with a giant egg placed on a mountain.
Later on once development started way another former Link to the Past script writer Yoshiaki Koizumi was brought in to help with the overall story of the game. It was Koizumi that came up with the plot of the wind fish and the need for Link to wake him and the subsequent reveal that the entire island was a dream. (The fact that the entire game was a dream is the one of the reasons you see other Nintendo characters such as Goombas, Chain Chomps, and Yoshi make appearances in this game.) While Koizumi worked on the overall plot of the game Tanabe worked on the subplots and the characters of Mabe Village and the rest of Koholint Island (other than the owl and wind fish those were Koizumi’s) Tanabe was given instructions by Tezuka to make the characters seem off somewhat untrustworthy. The reason for this was due to the fact that Tezuka was a huge fan of the TV show Twin Peaks who also had strange and untrustworthy people. Thanks to both Tanabe and Koizumi the plot of Link’s Awakening is a unique and strange one and is also one of the games best strengths.
The team may not have realized it but the “spin off” that they were working on would have a huge impact on the series moving forward. The world being populated by odd and eccentric people. The importance of music. The fishing mini game. Also the “side quest” that has you taking an object and trading it with one character and then trading with someone else and so forth and so forth has also been used by later game in the series.
In an interview Eiji Aonuma once said that Link’s Awakening was “the quintessential isometric Zelda game.” He then stated in another interview that had Link’s Awakening not release when it had that the overall vision of Ocarina of Time would have been completely different. If that doesn’t state just how important Link’s Awakening really is then I don’t know what will.
Link’s Awakening released on June 6th 1993 in Japan and on August 1993 in the U.S.. The game was a bona fide hit selling over 3 million copies and helping bolster the sale of the Gameboy by 13%. The game wasn’t just a financial and sales success it was also a critical one as well. Gaming outlets such as EGM gave it high reviews in fact EGM gave the award for best Game Boy Game of the year 1993.
In 1998 with Nintendo launching the Game Boy Color they needed a huge title to coincide with the handheld’s launch they decided to give a breath of color to Link’s Awakening and re-release it. Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening launched in 1998 alongside the Game Boy Color. This re-release had more going for it than a splash of color Nintendo also included an exclusive dungeon for the re-release.
The DX version was also well received both sales wise and critically, with sales of 2.22 million units. The DX version also saw high scores from multiple gaming outlets and currently sits at a 91% on Gamerankings.
The legacy of Link’s Awakening is still known and felt to this day. Fans still regard it highly when looking at the Zelda series overall. Jason Schreier of Kotaku ranked it number 3 overall in the entire series (only being beaten out by Link to the Past, and Breath of the Wild.) When IGN ranked the 100 greatest games of all time the IGN staff listed it at 78th while the readers polled it at 40th. Nintendo Power stated that it is the second best Game Boy game of all time, and the 56th best Nintendo game ever made.
With a legacy like that it’s really no shock that Nintendo is going to remake Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch. I for one am definitely excited. Link’s Awakening was my first Zelda game. My dad gave me my copy for the original Game Boy we would take turns playing and spend hours talking about the game and sharing what we saw and discovered in the game. Now all these years later I get to revisit this wonderful adventure all over again. And just like the way I shared the adventure with my dad I too can with my daughter. To me in the end that is what gaming is all about. Its the experiences and memories we make as we play. I have Link’s Awakening to thank for the experiences and memories I have. I’m sure I will be thanking it for
many more to come.
Are you excited about the remake of Link’s Awakening? Do you have memories of the original or DX version of the game? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
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