Zelda 25th Anniversary: Remembering Link’s Awakening

When the Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening came out, I was doubtful. The Game Boy was a cool system, but my favorite games had a habit of losing something in the portable transition. Mega Man lost entire stages. Mortal Kombat was an indecipherable mess. Even Mario wasn’t immune. Through the Game Boy’s monochromatic lens, the mascot was transformed into a submarine-driving munchkin who threw rubber balls at giant insects. I had a hard time believing that the little plastic rectangle could be a suitable home for my beloved Zelda. I used my skepticism as a shield, hoping to protect myself from being disappointed in the game the same way Zelda II let me down.
Oh boy, was I ever wrong.
Link’s Awakening is one of my favorite games of all time, portable or otherwise. It magnificently captured what I loved about the series, while simultaneously playing with its still-evolving formula. The dungeon designs are still some of the best to date, with puzzles that are as elegant as they are difficult. Best of all, it’s really weird.
The game opens with Link washing ashore on a beach after his ship is ruined in a storm. He’s nursed back to health by a girl named Marin, one of the many residents of Koholint Island. It’s immediately clear that this isn’t your typical Zelda game. One of the first things you do is walk past a Chain Chomp in the village. At the time, seeing a Mario character so clearly out of its element was stunning. That wasn’t the only unusual cameo. SimCity’s Dr. Wright makes an appearance, as does Yoshi and the Goombas. The whole experience feels like playing through a fever dream – with good reason, as it turns out.
I spent the better part of the summer of 1993 with my face pressed against a tiny screen. If there was a light source nearby, I was aiming my Game Boy at it like a solar collector. When it was all over, I was more than a little sad. Link’s Awakening made me laugh, with silly characters and situations. Its puzzles – particularly the Eagle’s Tower level, with its collapsing pillars – made me want to tear my hair out. But still, more than anything else, I was just bummed out that I finished one of the best games I’d ever played. I think even then I knew just how special it was