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Link's Awakening: It makes me feel warm inside (appreciation thread)

Dascu said:
This was the first Zelda game I ever played. It's been a long time and I should replay it, but yes: Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is the best 2D Zelda and arguably the best Zelda overall. Remake this game, Nintendo. Whether's its just a graphics update or a full-fledged 3D remake (looking at those artworks...), I don't care all that much, but this game deserves a remake, whatever its form.
If they ever did remake it, I'd prefer a 2d remake. I guess if it was remade in 3d in the style of the pics posted by Waku I'd take it too.
 
Honestly I started replaying this last summer (well more like playing it past the first 2 dungeons finally) and it felt so fetch questy and kinda awkward. Its a good game but I think LTTP is the better 2D Zelda overall.

Great game for its time, but replaying it today you can feel how it was limited by the hardware it was on.
 
I loved this game. I haven't played it for years. I must buy it. Immediately. Actually, I can't remember if I still have the game or not.

The only thing that bugged me, back in the day, was that heart piece that you can only get when you have the chicken. If you miss getting the heart piece, while you have the chicken, then you can't get that heart piece ever again after you get rid of the chicken. My memory is really hazy but that's how I remembered it.
 
Waku said:
*pics*

Still the Greates 2D Zelda.

Woah, those are awesome. Where are they from?

Anyway, yeah, Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask are my favorite Zelda games. Link's Awakening was also the first game I ever purchased, and also the game I've played the most times. It's so charming, and it's full of little details you will never see if you only play it the first time. Marin rocks, too.
 
Also my favorite Zelda. Great items, great dungeons, and great challenge. The Oracle games were better in a few ways, but LA was more consistent, so it wins out there.

I always felt Link to the Past was a bit overrated. It did pack a larger overworld and more dungeons, but the overall fun factor was lower, the challenge was just a little lacking, and many of the items were only useful for the one dungeon you found them in. (Others were just extraneous.) I also preferred the sword controls in LA, where sword swings were much faster.
 
It definitely has the best intro/title screen music of any Zelda. I know the tune is used in other Zeldas, but the new song (during the shipwreck/beach washup) leading into the classic Zelda theme is just perfection.

Definitely the best handheld Zelda, but I don't put it above the original Zelda when discussing the entire series.

The file select screen music also rocks.
 
LA is the best 2D Zelda out there. It deserves more attention than its retarded brother, ALttP.

Johnas said:
It definitely has the best intro/title screen music of any Zelda. I know the tune is used in other Zeldas, but the new song (during the shipwreck/beach washup) leading into the classic Zelda theme is just perfection.

Fact.
 
Link's Awakening has a special place in my heart. I used to play this when I had visted my sister at the hospital for several months.
 
Johnas said:
It definitely has the best intro/title screen music of any Zelda. I know the tune is used in other Zeldas, but the new song (during the shipwreck/beach washup) leading into the classic Zelda theme is just perfection.

Definitely the best handheld Zelda, but I don't put it above the original Zelda when discussing the entire series.

The file select screen music also rocks.

Well, the first Zelda, is like the holy bible for a catholic. You don't compare the book to anything else.

the_legend_of_zelda.jpg


I am sorry for the younger generation that wasn't there when the NES and LoZ were popular. Those who began playing with N64 or PS1 really arrived 10 years too late to this world in my opinion.
 
sphinx said:
.- It's balance between outworld (side-quests) and dungeons is PERFECT. After it, only Ocarina of time was able to achieve that balance perfection.
What?
Links Awakening and A Link to the Past are pissing on Ocarina of Time and TP!
 
sphinx said:
Well, the first Zelda, is like the holy bible for a catholic. You don't compare the book to anything else.

In the beginning, Prince Darkness " Gannon " stole one of the Triforce with power. Princess Zelda had one of the Triforce with wisdom. She divided it into " 8 "units to hide it from " Gannon " before she was captured. Go find the " 8 "units " Link " to save her.
 
I remember the first time I played through the game, I spent days wandering the Eagle Tower, trying to figure out how in the heck you were supposed to get up to the fourth floor. I thought for sure I must have missed the stairs somewhere and just needed to explore some more, and didn't see the purpose of that weird black ball you could carry from room to room...

...when I finally found the solution, it completely blew my mind.

Still probably my favorite Zelda dungeon ever.

Makes me kinda miss the days before FAQs/Internet, too, where you spent more time trying to solve stuff on your own too. It made finally figuring it out so much sweeter.
 
links awakening was a very flawed game. for one you can only have one item at your disposal during the entire game. secondly the animation is really bad. its basically a retread of zelda 2 but with different locations
 
Kilrogg said:
I like it when you're being serious like that.

In other words: seconded.
I remember i sucked at this game, got it as a gift when i was 5 and finished it at 13 because i sucked so much but i loved every second of it. It's still my favorite Zelda game.
 
I traded in all my GB and GBC games in a moment of stupidity to GameCrazy.

Never again D:
 
Tyrone Slothrop said:
links awakening was a very flawed game. for one you can only have one item at your disposal during the entire game. secondly the animation is really bad. its basically a retread of zelda 2 but with different locations

I could swear you could equip different items on the A and B buttons...

in fact, I know you could, because that's how you could use bomb arrows.
 
Tyrone Slothrop said:
links awakening was a very flawed game. for one you can only have one item at your disposal during the entire game. secondly the animation is really bad. its basically a retread of zelda 2 but with different locations
Wrong. GTFO.
 
Tyrone Slothrop said:
links awakening was a very flawed game. for one you can only have one item at your disposal during the entire game. secondly the animation is really bad. its basically a retread of zelda 2 but with different locations

you could have 2 items at one time, you just had to take away your sword, some segments even needed you to use Rocs Feather and the Pegasus Boots at the same time, I really liked that about the game.
 
joetachi said:
I remember i sucked at this game, got it as a gift when i was 5 and finished it at 13 because i sucked so much but i loved every second of it. It's still my favorite Zelda game.

Same here. I used to be stuck at the 2nd dungeon when I was a kid. Every once in a while I'd try to complete the dungeon but had to wait until I was old enough to understand what I was doing wrong.

Then I bought Zelda DX because I couldn't get enough of Link's Awakening.

[EDIT] There was one real flaw though: you couldn't get the L-2 sword if you didn't bring shells to the shell house on a regular basis. The reason was that every 5 shells you got a bonus shell in the house, but if you brougt, say, 10 shells at once, you would still get only 1 bonus shell.
 
Story- and atmosphere-wise Z:LA is still my favourite game ever. The way how the game mixes all the gameplay of bird's eye and side view, the simple but catchy music, how there are tons of seemingly out-of-place references to other nintendo stuff and Japanese mythology, the increasingly darker mood later through semi-hidden and easy to ignore story bits, which then fit together at the end.

Imo Takashi Tezuka should direct another Zelda game.
 
Aisenherz said:
What?
Links Awakening and A Link to the Past are pissing on Ocarina of Time and TP!

objectively and factually, not opinion based, you are wrong.

Link to the past isn't well balanced at all. It has too many dungeons and there is almost nothing to do besides them. I am trying to remember a sidequest and I can't remember a single one.

in regards to Oot, the gerudo fortress is a fantastic diversion between dungeons. Hyrule market place is a mini-game, sidequest haven too.
 
Best 2D Zelda indeed. Also, one of the best Zelda OST in my opinion (actually my favorite after Twilight Princess' ). I've been - rather passively - looking for a copy of Link's Awakening DX to play on my GBC but no luck so far. But I intend to search more actively very soon because I would really, really like to play it again.
 
Johnas said:
It definitely has the best intro/title screen music of any Zelda. I know the tune is used in other Zeldas, but the new song (during the shipwreck/beach washup) leading into the classic Zelda theme is just perfection.
Thirded.

The buildup until you reach the sword is something no other Zelda game has been able to reproduce, with the possible exception of a few moment in MM.
 
AniHawk said:
LA is the best 2D Zelda out there. It deserves more attention than its retarded brother, ALttP.

You've got that statement backwards.

LA is ALttP's retarded brother. Fact.

It's not a bad game, but it's just way too easy and loses much of what your typical Zelda game's atmosphere.
 
Here's a nice little remix done by Iggy Koopa that I have had on my HDD for awhile and may as well share it now since it's based on one of my favourite songs in the game (don't expect a techno remix rendition guys, it's purely synth piano/flute styles mixed with certain others)

http://www.archive.org/download/SereneHouseByTheBay/Iggy_Koopa_-_Serene_House_by_the_Bay.mp3

Also, has anyone been able to play Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru? Gameboy game that Intelligent Systems did and the gaming engine was used for Link's Awakening later on.

Wiki link for those interested - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaeru_no_Tame_ni_Kane_wa_Naru
 
jeremy1456 said:
You've got that statement backwards.

LA is ALttP's retarded brother. Fact.

It's not a bad game, but it's just way too easy and loses much of what your typical Zelda game's atmosphere.

that was one part of it I really liked
 
First Zelda I ever played, I was 12. Could not get away from it before finishing it (took me 2-3 month). Great game, I won't compare it to LttP both are great game but have not the same scope at all.

Am I the only one to remember the awe I felt when I saw the Intro? Now every game as cinematics but at that time it was quite rare and only happenned on home consoles! It was like a short piece a really well done animation, does anyone has it as a gif? And the ending....


Kilrogg said:
[EDIT] There was one real flaw though: you couldn't get the L-2 sword if you didn't bring shells to the shell house on a regular basis. The reason was that every 5 shells you got a bonus shell in the house, but if you brougt, say, 10 shells at once, you would still get only 1 bonus shell.
*


If I can remember well, there were 20 shells across the world and you could get away with it only finding 18 with this little trick.
 
This game includes my favorite Zelda music of all time -- the theme that plays when Link first leaves Marin's house prior to finding his sword. Now that you've got me thinking about Awakening, I can't get that damned song out of my head. Not that I mind all that much, though.
 
Awesome! I remember being disapointed that
Gannon wasn´t the last boss
but the game intself is better than ALTTP.

Sometimes I like it even more than Ocarina.

Mistouze said:
when I saw the Intro? Now every game as cinematics but at that time it was quite rare and only happenned on home consoles! It was like a short piece a really well done animation, does anyone has it as a gif? And the ending....
.

No. Best Zelda muisc ever!
 
jeremy1456 said:
You've got that statement backwards.

LA is ALttP's retarded brother. Fact.

It's not a bad game, but it's just way too easy and loses much of what your typical Zelda game's atmosphere.

Really? It was more challenging than LttP if you ask me.

sphinx said:
Well, the first Zelda, is like the holy bible for a catholic. You don't compare the book to anything else.

Zelda 1 is hardly that timeless IMO.
 
My favourite 2D Zelda.

I mean, I loved ALTTP (and it was game I never knew about, just heard sme good nubmers- no idea what I was getting myself into when I started it) - but when I got a friend to purchase me a copy for GB - I was aboslutely blown away. The graphics were mindblowing for the little handheld - the use of the four shades of grey was so awesome - like little light grey puffs of grass, and stuff like that - I don't know what it is, but I really appreciate effort and attention to detail when the engine is limited (I also used to love playing people's DOOM wads to see what creativity people pushed in that pseudo 3D level design).

The sound was awesome - hearing the Zelda theme from those tinny little speakers was great. I'm not sure I'd enjoy a remake as much - the DX version improved it a little bit, but I keep thinking a full remake will make it lose a lot of it's 8-bit charm.

Anyway, as many have pointed out in the past and here, moments of sheer genius:

-Opening sequence from the ship cutscenes, washing up on the beach, panning to the egg...and the theme.

-Having your items selectable to whatever button (and combinign arrows and bombs on both buttons!).

-THIEF

-sidescrolling sections

-Holding up marin after that cutscene. lol, one of the funniest moments ever

-THE ENDING.

God, this game blew away so many 16-bit games, let alone stuff on the GB. Hell, it blows away games today.

Did anyone else have the GB printer and took photos in the DX version, and print them out? - I never did find all those photo ops...
 
Link's Awakening > Link to the Past. Fact.

There's a sense of wonder and mystery in this game that has not been matched in the Zelda series since.

One of my favorite scenes has Link and Marin staring at the sunset from the beach. There's something to it that's just magical and charming. The conversation they have adds to the mystery of the island and the game.

An amazing game all around. Everyone should give it a try and actually finish the game before passing judgment on it. The graphics are archaic by todays standards but the story, gameplay, music, and atmosphere are all top notch. No Zelda game has had such a perfect balance of all those elements like Link's Awakening.
 
Tyrone Slothrop said:
links awakening was a very flawed game. for one you can only have one item at your disposal during the entire game. secondly the animation is really bad. its basically a retread of zelda 2 but with different locations

Wow, 100% wrong on everything.
 
cartman414 said:
Zelda 1 is hardly that timeless IMO.

You'll have to elaborate an argument on that. You can't just come and type those words.

Imagine yourself in 1986, now consider that all the games you played prior to 1986 were 10 minutes long, 90% of them had no story, 90% of them had broken controls. This was, in short, the atari era which caused the videogame crash back then but that is what video games was about at the time. Some of us didn't like it, others convinced themselves they had fun with circus atari and kaboom.

Imagine a game were the world is not only open and HUGE for 1986 but it gives you absolute freedom about where to go, what to look for and in some cases, how to progress in the story. There is a SECRET almost every 2 blocks of the map. There are more items to use than the amount of items 10 atari games can gather together. The dungeons, each one present a different challenge, sometimes fierce enemies, sometimes secrets to be revealed. The world is so full of secrets you can hardly believe there was all that under trees, under or behind rocks, under water ponds.

When that game was released, it was the most creative and massive game in the existence of videogaming, of course you know you have 2 different quests which just added to the game's greatness.

LoZ did to the industry what Oot did with 3D gameplay elements. It was a revolution, as big as it gets.

the game is timeless, regardless of our opinions on the board.

Videogame history owes that game so much, the game is untouchable. Like I said, like a holy bible to a catholic.

EDIT: Damn, I am confusing the dates. It debuted in Japan in 1986 and in 87 in the US.
 
sphinx said:
...
Imagine a game were the world is not only open and HUGE for 1987 but it gives you absolute freedom about where to go, what to look for and in some cases, how to progress in the story. There is a SECRET almost every 2 blocks of the map. There are more items to use than the amount of items 10 atari games can gather together. The dungeons, each one present a different challenge, sometimes fierce enemies, sometimes secrets to be revealed. The world is so full of secrets you can hardly believe there was all that under trees, under or behind rocks, under water ponds.

great post.
 
sphinx said:
You'll have to elaborate an argument on that. You can't just come and type those words.

Imagine yourself in 1986, now consider that all the games you played prior to 1986 were 10 minutes long, 90% of them had no story, 90% of them had broken controls. This was, in short, the atari era which caused the videogame crash back then but that is what video games was about at the time. Some of us didn't like it, others convinced themselves they had fun with circus atari and kaboom.

Imagine a game were the world is not only open and HUGE for 1986 but it gives you absolute freedom about where to go, what to look for and in some cases, how to progress in the story. There is a SECRET almost every 2 blocks of the map. There are more items to use than the amount of items 10 atari games can gather together. The dungeons, each one present a different challenge, sometimes fierce enemies, sometimes secrets to be revealed. The world is so full of secrets you can hardly believe there was all that under trees, under or behind rocks, under water ponds.

When that game was released, it was the most creative and massive game in the existence of videogaming, of course you know you have 2 different quests which just added to the game's greatness.

LoZ did to the industry what Oot did with 3D gameplay elements. It was a revolution, as big as it gets.

the game is timeless, regardless of our opinions on the board.

Videogame history owes that game so much, the game is untouchable. Like I said, like a holy bible to a catholic.

EDIT: Damn, I am confusing the dates. It debuted in Japan in 1986 and in 87 in the US.

QFT. Part of me looks back at Zelda 1 and goes "damn some of these items are so useless, and the dungeon layouts are kinda stupid."

Then another part of me goes, "Wait a sec, this was probably the most amazing game I'd played at that point in my life, even more so that Ultima for C64."

There's a lot of wonkiness to that game, but for its time it was amazing, a revelation, a vision of the future.
 
Zelda 1 is a damn good game by any measure, you don't even need to consider how ****ing amazing it was for its time.

If you're too pussy to get through it, that's your problem. It has every element of a great game, except handholding.
 
When I was 9 and got my Game Boy, Link's Awakening came bundled with it. I spent most of the time checking out Super Mario Land first, because I had been dying to play SML on my own for such a long time.

But I gave Zelda a shot, and holy damn, it was awesome. Great puzzles, people to talk to, places to explore... it opened me up to the adventure genre. Just typing about it makes me want to pull out my DX cart that I never started and get going on it.

What I think stuck with me the most, and what makes Majora's Mask so special too, is that the world is completely foreign to Link. Unlike the Oracles games, where he's suddenly fallen into another world, there's a strong back story to LA.

The director tried to get the player a little more emotionally involved. It kinda toys with the player of where he really is. I was exploring a world that was completely foreign to me, just as the main character was. Uncovering mysteries and meeting with people that you're supposed to know, yet appear different. And of course, the overworld and sheer amount of places to explore was staggering for a Game Boy title. I remember feeling the need to fill in every piece of the map.

LA also had the first plot twist I'd seen in a game, though I can't remember if I saw it coming. The presentation of that sequence was fantastic though... especially for a GB game.

And when I beat it, I found myself wanting more. I must've replayed it from the very start two or three more times, but that was over a decade ago.
 
I was around for Zelda 1, and I enjoyed it then. But note the part about timelessness. There are various things that don't hold up quite as well, particularly the somewhat stiff controls.
 
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