The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening isn’t the best Zelda game on Nintendo Switch. That’s still The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In my opinion it’s not even be the most creative Zelda game released on Switch this year. That’s Cadence of Hyrule. To be fair, it’s also not the worst Zelda game on Switch. That’s Hyrule Warriors. And in its own way, Link’s Awakening may be the Zelda game that most fulfills the dream of the console/handheld hybrid.
There’s a reason this game is launching alongside the Nintendo Switch Lite, the new Switch model solely made for handheld play. The original Link’s Awakening took the epic Legend of Zelda series and shrunk it down into an intimate handheld experience for the very first time in 1993. Doing so required many compromises and creative decisions that give the game so much weird charm even within its own series. This remake does its best to recreate that charm, and playing it as a handheld game sounds like it would be the best way to honor that legacy.
But the Nintendo Switch isn’t just a handheld. It’s also Nintendo’s new mainline home console. It’s the system they can finally focus all of their development muscles on. And it’s so cool that a Game Boy remake (hello, Pokemon Let’s Go) can still exist both in a portable form while also receiving some of the most lavish AAA console production value this side of Resident Evil 2.
Like the Switch itself, it’s the fascinating tension between Link’s Awakening’s handheld and console sides that make the game so special. Ever since Zelda went full 3D, top-down adventures were just for handhelds. But here we are staring at Link from above on our 4K TV screens. The Game Boy’s limited real estate meant rooms had to be dense with puzzles and secrets to remain interesting but also clear enough to navigate on the initially monochrome screen. There’s a lot of satisfying Metroid-esque backtracking to make the most of the (then) cramped space. This remake retains that brilliant economical design but now allows for a seamless, flowing overworld and dungeons packed with detail. Even the music is this ethereal blend of orchestrated melodies along with chiptune beeps and boops.
It’s also beyond ironic that this Game Boy game remake is arguably the best-looking game Nintendo has ever made. Yes, the framerate isn’t totally solid and that’s disappointing. It doesn’t drop frequently but it does drop consistently, like when transitioning between areas, and it’s annoying and notcieable. But when the framerate holds up, and that is most of the time, I was constantly in awe of the look of this game.
The adorable (but wholly distinct from Wind Waker) figurine characters. The diorama-esque compositions. The quality of the materials and textures. The layers of filters that are dizzyingly sharp and hazy at the same time. It all makes it so much easier to buy into this mysterious melancholic side story of waking up the desert island Wind Fish. Even the bizarre sidescrolling Mario parody references here benefit from the visual fidelity. These might be the greatest Goombas I’ve ever witnessed. I’m so happy this isn’t on 3DS. I love just looking at this game.
I love playing it, too. The original Link’s Awakening remains an important Zelda but its primitive nature probably makes it tough to go back to, even if to me it’s still the best 2D Zelda and the second-best Zelda overall behind Breath of the Wild. On Switch though even just having more buttons makes the game way more playable since you aren’t constantly hopping between menus to equip different items for jumping and dashing and swimming and slashing.
Beyond visuals, control tweaks, and extra secrets this is a pretty straight recreation of the original. But its biggest new mode allows players to create their own dungeons. No, this isn’t Super Mario Maker 2 but for Zelda. I think the puzzling Zelda formula is too inherently complicated for that to ever be as intuitive as Nintendo would want. Instead, you use rooms from dungeons you’ve already cleared, which encourages you to finish the game and expand your potential options.
I dug it. One of my issues with the main game is how interchangeable dungeons feel in terms of design and aesthetics. But here, that’s a plus as chambers can blur into each other without it feeling too jarring. Eventually you can build whatever you want but initially you have to complete certain tasks like making a dungeon in a certain shape or with a certain number of keys. And figuring out the necessary creative architecture was more fun than staring at a totally blank canvas. The end results almost feel like a top-down Zelda roguelike but with more human (and therefore better) guidance compared to a truly randomized experience. But this is definitely a side mode rather than something to dive deep into, especially since levels can’t even be shared online.
Part of the reason why I champion the Nintendo Switch so much is because it tears down this wall between handheld and console games. There are just good video games. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is the strongest example yet of why eliminating this arbitrary divide is a good thing. And if nothing else, it’s nice to have another great, beautiful Zelda game to play while waiting for Breath of the Wild 2.
