Link's Awakening (1993) Review: A Dreamlike Zelda Adventure Full of Heart and Wonder
I’m on a quest to broaden my gaming experience into some new genres and to play some more retro games. With a deep love of The Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, I’m going back to the beginning and playing the first 4 games in the franchise. All are included with Nintendo Switch Online, and with the new release of Echoes of Wisdom, there’s no better time to go back to the roots of the series and experience how it all started by playing The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II Link’s Adventure, A Link to The Past, and Link’s Awakening.
The 4th title in the series adapted the Zelda format for handheld, releasing on the Gameboy and later the Gameboy Colour. The story is completely unique within the franchise, and doesn’t follow within the main storylines of Zelda. Instead, director Takashi Tezuka intended the game to be a spin off A Link to the Past, and desired the game to have a similar feel to David Lynch’s TV Show, Twin Peaks. In knowing this, there is definitely a mysterious element to the plot, I did find myself confused throughout as to where the plot was leading me to. With no mention of Hyrule or Ganon, instead just talk of a mystical windfish, who I should, or maybe should not, awake.
Music plays a hugely important role in the game, and instead of collecting pieces of the triforce, you need to collect musical instruments to create an orchestra to play “The Ballad of the Windfish”, a beautiful melody devised by Marin, an inhabitant of the island. It’s a stunning piece, and it gave me goosebumps each time I heard it.
The game itself I didn’t find too difficult in comparison to the first 3, I feel it was the easiest. The story flows you through the plot well, with helpful hints from the owl, to Old Man Ulrira in his telephone hut. The dungeons get more elaborate maps as time goes on, but the bosses themselves are quite straightforward to defeat. Except for, in my case, the eagle, who I must have hit almost 100 times before realising his energy regenerates if you get blown off the tower!
It’s the first game in the series to add in a trading sequence, where you need to deliver items between the residents of the island, from pineapples to hair bows, and even a letter to a man being catfished by a goat! It’s also considered to be one of the first video games to feature a fishing minigame, which has become a staple in so many cozy games today.
And the game has the best use of Cuccos in the franchise for me with the Flying Rooster, a delightful experience where once unlocked you can be carried by the Rooster to fly to previously unreachable areas which I absolutely loved.
Considering the gameboy was such a small screen, initially without colour, and using less powerful hardware than both the NES and SNES, Link’s Awakening is packed with imagination, fun and originality, and for me, is my favourite of the first 4 games.
