Stuff - UK (2019-12)

TESTED GAMES

he last Legend of Zelda
wound up shaking up
the whole series – and
all open-world games, in fact. You
could call it a hard act to follow.
But with a Breath of the Wild
sequel on the way, Nintendo has
decided for now to return to a
more traditional top-down Zelda,
with all the dungeons and items
we’ve known and loved in the
series’ three decades.
Well, we say ‘traditional’, but
the Game Boy classic Link’s
Awakening is still one of the

weirdest entries. This version

comes a long way from the 8-bit

original, but reimagines it with an

art style that’s adorable. Essentially,

Koholint Island resembles a huge

toy playset.

The plasticky feel makes total

sense here – and it also sounds

incredible, from the familiar music

brought to life with a new orchestral

arrangement to the pitter-patter of

Link’s footsteps.

But even with new visuals and

audio, the important thing is that

the island’s layout and story beats

remain faithfully intact. It’s what

you might call a frame-by-frame

remake, even though the outdoors

is now a seamless open world.

That means all the narrative

elements and puzzles play out

just as you remember.

Apart from adding more heart

pieces and seashells, this remake

attempts to increase its longevity

by letting you assemble your

own dungeons... but this is more

‘remixing’, using tiles from existing

dungeons, than actually creating,

and it feels restrictive. There are

also a couple of niggles, including

a chugging framerate every time

the open-world island has to load

up on leaving an interior.

Compared to the endless hours

of exploration in Breath of the Wild,

this game is relatively short. But

it scratches the itch for Zelda fans

who’ve missed old-fashioned

dungeons... and if you’ve never

played Link’s Awakening, then you

owe it to yourself to experience

one of the finest of the 2D entries

at its most weird and wonderful.

Alan Wen

STUFF SAYS A magical if familiar return for the handheld Zelda classic ++++,

The Legend of Zelda:

Link’s Awakening

Re-awakened for the Switch generation, one of our favourite Zelda titles plays it safe with

a pretty straight remake of the Game Boy original – and that’s absolutely fine with us

Switch / stuff.tv/LinksAwakening

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