With this game, I finish up the launch lineup of Switch Online's GB emulator. And with Tears of the Kingdom on the horizon, I picked the perfect one to end with. BACKGROUND:
I'm pretty well-versed in the Zelda series, but I definitely haven't played every game in the franchise. This is one of the games I have yet to play. SUMMARY: In a rare departure for the usual Zelda formula, Link finds himself stranded on Koholint Island after a storm destroys his boat during his voyage. He is found by a girl named Marin, who allows him to recover at her house. After Link comes to and retrieves his sword, a talking owl briefs him on the situation. Koholint Island's guardian, the Wind Fish, is trapped in a deep slumber atop a mountain, and Link must scour the island for eight Instruments of the Sirens. These instruments are the key to waking up the Wind Fish, but monsters known as Nightmares guard them, hoping to prevent Link from acquiring the items and thwarting their plans to rule over everything. The fact that we're not in the typical Hyrule setting and Zelda, Ganon, and the Triforce are all missing in action is interesting enough, but later in the game, the truth about Koholint Island is slowly revealed. I actually already knew the twist beforehand, but I found it amusing, nonetheless. It would have been even better if the game explored the implications of Link's actions in response to the revelation, but that's just my feeling on the matter. As far as gameplay is concerned, Link's Awakening DX is your traditional 2D Zelda. You have the top-down perspective, one big overworld to explore with a handful of dungeons containing the main objectives, the usual arsenal of weapons and tools, and a healthy helping of monsters to fight. If you've played A Link to the Past before, this game will feel quite familiar indeed. Koholint Island isn't terribly vast, but there's still optional rewards to uncover for diligent explorers (like the expected Heart Pieces and other bonuses like larger arrow/bomb capacity). Navigation isn't hard, either, as the in-game map has a neat grid that allows you to check each individual screen for information (like the area name or revisiting the owl's dialogue telling you where to go next). In terms of the environments, I would say the only areas that feel unique are Animal Village and the beach. Everything else is standard fare for Zelda locales, apart from the mountain upon which the Wind Fish's egg rests. Link's arsenal is largely the same as what he had in A Link to the Past (minus a handful of items like bottles or the Ice Rod), so again, this is familiar territory for seasoned players. The most notable exception is of course the feather, which gives Link the then-revolutionary ability to jump. Other returning items have been tweaked from previous iterations, like the magic powder being a consumable item, the fire rod being unlimited use (since there's no magic meter), the ocarina having multiple songs with different functions, and the ability to pick up objects being tied to the Power Bracelet (which needs to be equipped instead of being a passive ability). Speaking of equipping things, you're able to equip any combination of your arsenal to your two face buttons. This allows you to actually unequip your sword and try out different loadouts (e.g. you can double up on projectiles and equip both the bow and the boomerang). Although the act of constantly switching items is tedious, there are some interesting combinations, like having the Pegasus Boots and the feather equipped (allowing you to jump really far after a dash), or how equipping the bomb and the bow gives you bomb arrows. The dungeons are standard Zelda fare as well in terms of structure. You can pick up a compass and map like before, and though I didn't think the dungeon map is as helpful this time, the compass has a much-appreciated new feature: it notifies you if a room has a hidden small key (again, classic Zelda dungeon component). Aside from the instrument required to progress the main story, every dungeon also has your usual treasure in the form of a new tool or weapon to use. And like before, dungeon puzzles and boss fights are designed around the use of these items. In terms of dungeon gimmicks go, there isn't much here that I haven't seen before. Classics like pushing blocks and crystals that toggle orange/blue blocks are present here, but there are some neat mechanics like a device that spawns platforms, the game allowing you to walk on top of barriers, and plenty of rooms that take advantage of the fact that you can jump. A few of the dungeons do have some particularly tricky puzzles that may actually necessitate talking to the owl statues who give you hints. Those hints don't come for free, either, as you actually have to find the beak that lets the statue talk within the dungeon before you can access the hints. I thought this was an interesting take on a hint system; you have to make the effort to get those hints, but they're not necessarily required if you manage to figure out what to do. Many dungeons also feature very brief side-scrolling segments not unlike the treasure rooms in the original Zelda. These are a bit more involved than those rooms, as you do have actually navigate some basic obstacles with the help of your trusty feather. Nothing too tricky here, either, but having these segments was a fun change of pace. For those who are unfamiliar, the DX version of Link's Awakening is a re-release designed specifically for Game Boy Color. Obviously, this comes with lovely colors for the charming 8-bit graphics, but the version adds an extra dungeon that's completely optional. This dungeon has some fun puzzles and makes liberal use of the fact that the game has colors, plus the reward is quite helpful for your adventure. A lot of the regular enemies are either taken straight from the older games or feature similar behavior despite having a different sprite. What makes this game stand out is the presence of characters from other Nintendo franchises, as you can fight Goombas, Piranha Plants, and even Kirby. The cameos don't stop there, as some of the NPCs you can interact with include Dr. Wright from the Super Nintendo SimCity, Wart (the final boss of Super Mario Bros. 2), a character from a Japan-exclusive NES game, and a Chain Chomp. The bosses/minibosses are a healthy mix of familiar and new, with some being one-to-one recreations of A Link to the Past fights, and others being completely unique (like the boss that requires the use of the feather to jump over their attack). In terms of challenge, I would say only the final boss was rough given it had multiple phases (and its last phase can kick your ass if you don't have a specific item). I've already talked briefly about optional collectibles and rewards, but one such collectible is interesting both for how tricky they are to find and what the reward is for collecting a lot of them. Throughout Koholint, there are hidden seashells you can pick up, and they're hidden in all sorts of places (under bushes/rocks, in chests, knocking them out of trees). Collecting 20 of them is worth going for, as this is how you get the upgraded sword. I enjoyed finding these seashells a lot, and I found it interesting that there's more than 20 in the game. Another interesting collectible are the photos for the photo album, which are nice-looking stills of notable moments in Link's quest that the photographer NPCs captures. The cutscenes that unlock these are funny, though other than that, they're just collectibles for the sake of collecting. If you were playing this on original hardware and also have the fabled Game Boy Printer accessory, you could print these out as pictures, but alas, no such equivalent exists for the Switch. Perhaps the most notable sidequest in this game is the trading sequence, which involves you acquiring an item, giving it to an NPC, receiving another item in return, then looking for the NPC who wants that item. Fetch quests of this nature can be hit or miss, but I enjoyed this one largely because you'll get most of it done right alongside the main quest. It's technically required for the end (though only to a certain point), but completing the sequence also unlocks a great optional reward. There are some fun interactions that make this game stand out, like the handful of segments where you escort a friendly NPC. When you escort Marin, there are a lot of amusing bits of dialogue you can get out of her when doing various things. Some of these escort missions actually matter during gameplay, like escorting a rooster that allows you to fly over gaps. The best escort mission out of the three is you walking the Chain Chomp, as it attacks nearby enemies for you as you walk around. Other minor things I found amusing were the few impressive-looking cutscenes, minigames (which include fishing, a claw machine, and collecting goodies on a raft), and the hilarious ability to steal from the town shop. If you manage to swipe an item from the shop without getting seen, the game calls you out, going as far as labelling your save file as "THIEF." There's also the penalty of never being allowed to shop again, so I would advise being a shoplifter if you regularly need to restock arrows/bombs. Otherwise, stealing the bow is a great way to save 980 rupees (an absurd amount, but not that hard to accumulate if you find bonus chests and play minigames). VERDICT: Link's Awakening is the standard Zelda-style adventure game I know and love, but it offers plenty to make it stand out from the rest of the series. Between the atypical story, some unique mechanics and fights, and all the Nintendo cameos, there's a lot I like about this title, and I can see myself replaying this the same way I replay A Link to the Past. Handheld entries of notable console series were hit or miss in terms of quality back in the day, but I think Link's Awakening is on equal footing with its predecessors. Now, I haven't played the remake of this game on Switch, but based on what I've seen of that, Link's Awakening on Switch is quite faithful to the original and adds quality-of-life changes on top of that. As such, I feel more comfortable recommending that over this, but of course, I think this version holds up just fine today (apart from the constant need to navigate menus). Also, the remake is still $60 for some reason, which is pretty steep. Wait for a price drop on retail, find a used copy, or cross your fingers that Nintendo has a digital sale (which is painfully rare). - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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