The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Genre: Top-Down Action-RPG

Players: 1

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a Top-Down Action-RPG in the more traditional 2D style of Zelda games (this will seem extremely different to players introduced to the series through Breath of the Wild) originally released on the Game Boy in 1993. Now over 25 years later, the game has gotten a full remake on the Nintendo Switch in its 2019 release, with completely new graphics and a few new features, but with gameplay that ultimately remains pretty faithful to the old-school original game.

Of course, the biggest, most noticeable change here is going to be this game’s visuals, which depict the characters and world in a way that makes them look almost like miniature figurines, with everything looking diminutive and plasticky. It’s not impressive on a technical level, but stylistically it is extremely striking, and there’s really nothing else out there that looks quite like it. The game’s soundtrack has gotten a once-over too, although to be perfectly honest, I found myself a bit underwhelmed, especially having been quite fond of the original soundtrack and looking forward to what a full remake could sound like. It’s decent, but it feels like it’s lacking something I can’t quite put my finger on.

There’s another problem with the presentation as well, and that is that despite this game’s graphics not being anything that seems like it’s pushing any envelopes, this game nevertheless runs into problems with slowdown in some areas. Generally, I can forgive some slowdown in games that are trying something ambitious, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but in a game like this, it’s far less forgivable.

As for the gameplay, what’s here is largely unchanged from the original, classic Zelda game, which featured some absolutely incredible level design, puzzle design, and boss design. I’d say this game still stands the test of time as one of the best games of its series and its genre, but its much smaller scope than other Zelda games is easier to see now, especially when sitting next to a massive game like Breath of the Wild. However, those looking for a more bite-size adventure should find this to be a delightful experience.

Unfortunately, while the adventure may be bite-size, the price most certainly isn’t. As much as Nintendo has clearly given this game a full remake treatment, it is nevertheless a remake of a 26 year-old Game Boy game, and $60 is an absurd asking price for that.

I suppose I should mention some of the other changes that were made here, but they’re really a mixed bag. There’s the new dungeon builder feature, which enables players to collect dungeon rooms to build their own custom dungeons. However, there’s not much reason to do so, especially with no practical way to share these dungeons with other players (you can store them on Amiibo, and that’s about it). There’s also reworked controls, although I’m disappointed that this means the game feels like it ditches the customizable control scheme of the original game, and it is absolutely crazy that players aren’t allowed to use the D-Pad to control Link’s movement, despite that this game otherwise still feels like the original Game Boy Game in how it controls.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the original Link’s Awakening, and on the whole I find this to be an excellent remake of that game, but it is an excellent remake with some pretty major flaws, and with an insultingly high price tag. Fans of the Zelda series who aren’t expecting something big and impressive like Breath of the Wild will still want to give this game a look, but as great as this game still is, I can’t help but feel like most will walk away from it feeling a bit disappointed.

tl;dr – The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a remake of the classic Game Boy games that gives the game a new, memorable art style, but mostly leaves the gameplay of the original intact. Unfortunately, this release has numerous flaws, including disappointing framerate issues, control issues, and missed opportunities in what little new content there is. Plus, the $60 price tag is ridiculous. It’s still a great game, but in many ways it’s also a disappointing one.

Grade: B+

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Genre: Top-Down Action-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

One of the initial batch of games to receive free updates on Nintendo Switch 2 when it launched in 2025, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening isn’t the sort of game that felt like it should have needed an update. After all, this is a remake of a 1993 Game Boy game, and while it looks nice with a good visual style, it is in no way visually ambitious. Yet the game did release with occasional framerate issues, as baffling as that may be.

Oddly, the Nintendo Switch update purportedly wasn’t even about addressing those framerate issues, but improving the resolution and adding HDR support. I can’t really vouch for any difference these improvements made – the game looks nice, but it always looked nice. However, even if this update wasn’t meant to improve the framerate, I suppose just being on Nintendo Switch 2 was enough to fix this particular issue, because I didn’t notice any framerate problems.

So there it is – the biggest issue The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening had with its performance has been resolved on Nintendo Switch 2, even if it wasn’t the patch that fixed things. And while I wouldn’t say that this transforms the game, it certainly does make this the best way to play it.

tl;dr – The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a remake of the classic Game Boy games that gives the game a new, memorable art style, but mostly leaves the gameplay of the original intact. Unfortunately, this release has numerous flaws, including control issues, and missed opportunities in what little new content there is, although the framerate issues the game had on Nintendo Switch are fixed on Nintendo Switch 2. However, in addition, the $60 price tag is ridiculous. It’s still a great game, but in many ways it’s also a disappointing one.

Grade: B+

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