BATTLE SYSTEM INTERACTION ORIGINALITY STORY MUSIC & SOUND VISUALS CHALLENGE Easy COMPLETION TIME 10-20 Hours OVERALL 4.0/5.0 Rating definitions

   In 1993, Nintendo released the fourth installment of its RPG-esque Legend of Zelda series. Surprisingly, the fourth chapter, entitled The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, was not on the Super Nintendo, but rather on the Gameboy, although the transition to the handheld was extremely faithful, keeping the general feel of the series while introducing some fresh elements. Around five years later, Nintendo ported the title to the Gameboy Color with a special DX version, featuring an extra dungeon and a quirky sidequest I'll mention, and is the version upon which I'm basing this review.

   To begin, battles in Link's Awakening are a bit different than in A Link to the Past, although they still work out well. This time around, the player can assign one tool each to the A and B buttons, among them being Link's sword and shield. Using the shield does a decent job in nullifying most enemy attacks, while Link can normally attack with his sword and/or keep it extended to charge it up and either poke at enemies from a safe distance or unleash a nifty swirl attack. There are some interesting combinations of tools, as well; for instance, the player can use a bomb and fire an arrow simultaneously to unleash an arrow with a bomb at its end, exploding when it makes contact. Moreover, bosses, and a few enemies, require some element of strategy to defeat other than endlessly hacking away, making Link's Awakening hardly a glorified button masher. That said, though, there is some slight difficulty in battling enemies in tight corridors, although combat never becomes dull or boring.

ROTC, Zelda-style

   Interaction is just as solid. The menus are tidy, and the player even gets a map of Koholint Island showing which areas they've visited and which they have yet to uncover. Moreover, advancing across many areas requires the use of Link's tools, mostly gained (and in a few cases, enhanced) from the main dungeons, which can be fairly challenging at times, yet nothing overly tedious. The sidequests are interesting, as well, such as constantly trading one item for another, finding seashells, with twenty granting Link an enhanced sword, searching for heart pieces to increase his life meter, and, new to the DX version, collecting photographs at various locations that the player can view at the photo hut and print with a Gameboy printer. The translation, however, is a bit weak at times, although Link's Awakening nonetheless interfaces well with the player.

   Concerning originality, the fact that Link's Awakening takes place somewhere other than Hyrule, and, for once, doesn't involve rescuing Princess Zelda, is a nice change, as is the presence of a somewhat-revamped battle system and new tools such as the Roc's Feather (letting Link jump), as well as the mentioned sidequests. That said, traditional elements of the series, such as Link, of course, and tools from the previous Zeldas, recur, although the fourth installment remains fresh in the end.

   The story of Link's Awakening begins with a trend that would be commonplace in many future Nintendo games: a ride on a boat. The hero, Link, is sailing out at sea, when a nasty storm sends him ashore on a mysterious island, Koholint, where he meets a girl, Marin, who resembles Princess Zelda. Afterward, Link sets off on a journey to uncover the mysteries of Koholint Island, with a talking owl popping up now and then to show him the way. While the change of setting to a location other than Hyrule is quite welcome, the plot nonetheless takes a backseat to the exploration of the world and dungeon crawling, and though there is some slight attempt at development at a few points, the characters remain largely underdeveloped, and the story is still below average overall.

"NO MORE WISHES FOR YOU!"

   One thing that really surprised me, though, was how magnificent the aural quality of Link's Awakening was. Sound effects, for instance, have a surprisingly high degree of diversity for a Gameboy title, and the music, much of which is catchy, never becomes repetitive, with different tunes for each main dungeon alongside variations on the main Zelda theme and the Ballad of the Wind Fish. In the end, the aurals are some of the best ever on a handheld system.

   While not as great the music, moreover, the graphics still contain their own degree of shine, as well. There is some anime in the introductory sequence and during the ending, alongside the cutesy chibi artwork of the photographs, and the rest of the visuals aren't half-bad. The DX version makes nice use of the Gameboy Color's hues, for one, and the environments contain nice detail, with trees, for instance, being much larger than the sprites, alongside nice effects such as butterflies occasionally hovering on the screen. That said, sprites are a bit too small to contain great detail, although they do show have mouths and noses at times, and in the end, the visuals are more than functional.

   Finally, Link's Awakening is relatively easy as long as you determine the patterns of the bosses, and is a bit longer than A Link to the Past, taking anywhere from ten to twenty hours to complete.

   In conclusion, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, in its time, was a worthy follow-up to A Link to the Past, keeping the general feel of the franchise while at the same time doing things a little differently. It may not have the best story ever in a game, although its gameplay is pretty snazzy, alongside some of the finest graphics and music ever on a handheld, and is definitely worth a look from long-term series fans and those who haven't touched a Zelda game in their lives.