[Games] The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Ah, a classic in Gameboy history. This was my first real introduction to Zelda, when I played my cousin's copy of the game at a family event. It was a wondrous experience, which led to me checking out nearly every Zelda game that had come out after that. I've been on a Zelda kick lately, so I figured why not review this? I have some things to share.

---Summary:
The story of the game is quite simple. You play as Link, a young man who is traveling the sea when he gets caught in a storm and washes up on shore. After you're taken in by a girl named Marin, you're soon given a quest by a talking owl to awaken the Wind Fish, a mysterious entity. Only then will you be able to escape. You're sent off to many dungeons, where you collect 8 different instruments in order to play the tune that awakens it. Very simple, a little unusual, but so very effective.



---Gameplay:
Ah, the gameplay. If you've played any Zelda game - especially portable or on the SNES - you know what to expect. As all Zelda games it follows a formula of obtaining new items in dungeons in order to reach new destinations. There's a bush blocking a path so you'll need to get your sword at the beginning, there's a hole over here so you'll need the Roc's Feather to jump across it... Very simple concept, and I know I keep saying it's simple but that's the beauty of it; When you're playing something on a portable system, it helps to have something you can pause and pick back up, and isn't hammering storytelling into your brain. It's a simple adventure game with a little bit of puzzle solving involved. Sometimes it stops me in my tracks because I'm not seeing the pieces to the puzzle, but it's a game where you don't have to do too much hard work to get where you need to go. I like that about this era of Zelda.



---Writing:
The game isn't really dialogue-heavy, which I think is good. If you like a game with story, it's fine, but with a portable game, it helps to be able to jump back into the action right away. There's some minor dialogue when you complete a dungeon and after each dungeon you'll encounter the owl who will tell you where to go next, but apart from that, it's mostly go-here-then-there.



---Graphics:
The graphics of this era of Zelda games is something I love just as much as the gameplay. It's a definite downgrade from the SNES era (which later would be ported to Gameboy Advance) but a step up from NES era. It's got a nice simplistic charm to it which is easy on the eyes.



---Sound:
The music is quite nice, that's all I've got really. It's got some nice tunes. The sound effects are also very good, especially the sound that plays when you kill an enemy. It's very satisfying.



---DX edition:
The game was re-released under the name of Link's Awakening DX which was essentially an updated version of the game. Aside from a few tweaks in the gameplay and scenery, the major addition was that the game was now in color, along with an added dungeon which takes advantage of said color. I played this version myself, but the one I was introduced to was in fact the original. Memories, man.



---Final Thoughts:
It's like I said many times over; it's simple in all the right ways. I think that if you've never played it, try to. Even if the days of Gameboy Color are long gone, the world of emulators will bring you ways to reach back in time and experience this nice little gem in Zelda history.

This style of game was later used for the Oracle series, with Oracle Of Seasons and Oracle Of Ages. Both of these games do a marvelous job of replicating the style and feel of the game while making some nice additions and improvements. I may review these in the future but probably not soon. No, I have some other ideas planned in my head...