The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a 1993 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is the fourth installment in the Legend of Zelda series and the first for a handheld game console.

An updated rerelease, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, was released for the Game Boy Color in 1998 featuring color graphics, compatibility with the Game Boy Printer, and an exclusive color-based dungeon.

Overall

 * 1) This was the first Zelda title to be truly narrative-driven and to include NPC characters with distinct likeable personalities. The game's predecessor, A Link to the Past, told a fairly typical hero's journey story about a young knight and a princess. Link's Awakening features the series' first dive into existentialism, which would remain a running theme with the series through its run.
 * 2) This is one of the few Zelda games to not take place in the land of Hyrule, and it does not feature Princess Zelda or the Triforce relic. Instead, Link begins the game stranded on Koholint Island, a place guarded by a whale-like deity called the Wind Fish, where he must search for eight musical instruments that will awaken the sleeping Wind Fish and allow him to escape from the island.
 * 3) One interesting quest involves a trading sequence. This involves 14 items that must be given to various characters around Koholint Island. All items up to the Stick are required to get into Kanalet Castle and complete the main storyline, but after that it is entirely optional. The Magnifying Lens is a required item in order to read the book in the library that gives the correct path through the Wind Fish's Egg. Technically, you can get through the Wind Fish's egg without the Magnifying Lens by guessing the path or if you know one of the seven set paths already. However, this Magnifying Lens also allows you to get one of the most powerful weapons in the game, the Boomerang.
 * 4) Amazing graphics for Game Boy standards with lots of nicely detailed sprites.
 * 5) This entry introduced elements that have now become staples of the franchise: Fishing and learning songs with the ocarina.
 * 6) *In the Mabe Village is a Fishing Pond to which Link can fish in for 10 Rupees. The pond is filled with three small fish and two large ones. The larger ones are more difficult to catch, but they yield better prizes. For each small fish Link catches, he receives 5 Rupees. The large fish farthest from the platform gives Link 20 Rupees. The other large fish gives him a Piece of Heart.
 * 7) *Unlike Link to the Past where the ocarina was used for fast travel, it's now used to unlock specific areas needed to progress by learning songs.
 * 8) This game introduces two new items.
 * 9) *Roc's Feather: It gives Link the ability to jump to higher places and over small gaps.
 * 10) *Secret Medicine: It works in a similar manner to Fairies. When Link dies, it automatically brings him back to life and restores his hearts. However, Link can only carry one dose of the Secret Medicine at a time and has to purchase it from Crazy Tracy.
 * 11) Hidden throughout the games are 26 seashells. With these you can take to the seashell mansion where, after exchanging 20 seashells, the player will be given the Koholint Sword which does twice the damage of the Level 1 Sword and also gives Link the Sword Beam.
 * 12) If you ever find yourself stuck, you can use a telephone booth where picking up the phone lets you speak with Old Man Ulrira, who will give Link various hints on how to progress on his quest.
 * 13) This is technically the first Zelda game to have multiple endings. If you beat the game with zero deaths, an extra segment will be added near the end that implies that Marin's wish to become a seagull and fly away from Koholint Island was fulfilled.

DX

 * 1) The graphics are now fully colorized and makes the game all the more appealing to look at.
 * 2) There is a brand new dungeon known as the Color Dungeon. It includes several enemies, puzzles, bosses, and two rewards that advantage of the new colored graphics. Many of the puzzles require identifying colors in order to progress. At the end of the dungeon, Link meets the Fairy Queen, who offers him the "power of color": a Red Mail for increased offense or a Blue Mail for increased defense.
 * 3) Some minor issues were addressed:
 * 4) * The Stone Slabs used to give hints in dungeons are replaced by Owl Statues, and the Stone Slab Fragment to Stone Beaks. Statues that speak when a mouth is attached, which makes more sense than the writing on a single mundane stone fragment that somehow makes every stone plaque in the dungeon readable.
 * 5) * The Genie boss in Bottle Grotto had his fireballs slowed down.
 * 6) A new addition to this version is the photography system. In Tal Tal Heights, just north of Tabahl Wasteland you can find a Camera Shop. Link can talk to the Photographer who will take pictures of Link while on his journey. Each photo must be obtained by performing certain actions, and some can only be taken during specific events. After being taken, they are placed in a photo album, entitled The Travels of Link, which can be found in the Camera Shop.

Overall

 * 1) Padding: The sequence between Levels 4 and 5 will have a ghost start following Link until you take him to his house by the beach and then return him to his grave. This part has no bearing on the plot whatsoever, is never mentioned again, and no item is acquired upon completing it. This is not a side quest mind you, this is mandatory as attempting to go to Level 5 with the ghost will only result in him nagging you. That being said, it's an interesting story beat that helps to reinforce the game's themes of existentialism; the ghost having to let go of his past reflects the similar message that Link can't stay on Koholint Island forever.
 * 2) *In the remake, the ghost will give you a bottle.
 * 3) It's possible to use the keys in the wrong order in the fourth dungeon thus locking you in forever. Strangely enough, the third and eighth dungeons actually have a security key for just that case (the former in the very last puzzle before the boss and the latter hidden in a statue you'd shoot with an arrow). The fourth dungeon, however, lacks one.
 * 4) The fast travel is kind of lousy. Unlike ALttP where you could call upon a bird to drop Link in specific locations on the map, the places where you can go to is limited via Warp Holes. These are holes Link has to jump in to which he will warp to another warp hole. The problem is that most of these are on the east side of the world and you have to walk to every warp hole to use them, which becomes a pain after awhile.
 * 5) *This was changed in the remake where playing Manbo's Mambo will warp Link to any of the active Warp Holes.

Original

 * 1) The game can get pretty dull to look at after awhile due to the monochrome color scheme that makes everything red and the character sprites green.
 * 2) If you managed to complete the trading sequence and get the Boomerang, Nightmare's final form goes down in one hit. But provided that you don't get/use the Boomerang, it is most likely the hardest battle in the game, and one of the most fun.
 * 3) Some of the bosses can be pretty brutal.
 * 4) * Blaino, the birdlike, pugilistic mid-boss from Turtle Rock. He does one heart of damage per hit, is impossible to attack from the front, and has an uppercut that sends you back to the start of the dungeon. Oh, and he has an attack that stuns Link if it connects, which he'll always follow up with an uppercut. In the remake, he knocks Link back one room.
 * 5) * Genie, the boss for Bottle Grotto. He takes seven hits to go down and pelts Link with fireballs which take away a full heart each. The worse part is how hard it is to avoid them since he'll always throw them in front of Link. Given that Link can only have four hearts at this point, there's little margin for error. The DX version reduced his attack speed to make him easier.
 * 6) * The Evil Eagle from Eagle's Tower. It's a 2D boss like the Angler Fish, but it requires you to use the Mirror Shield to push against the winds he'll create with his wings, and block his razor sharp feathers. If you get hit or stand in the wrong place, you'll more than likely fall down, causing the fight to reset like with Moldorm. The remake changes it so falling off the tower doesn't reset the fight, although getting back up to the top with the eagle spraying feathers isn't easy.

Original
Link's Awakening was critically acclaimed, and holds an average score of 90% on aggregate site GameRankings.

Sales
In Japan, the game topped the Famitsu sales chart in June 1993. In North America, it was the top-selling Game Boy game in August 1993. Link's Awakening sold well and helped boost Game Boy sales 13 percent in 1993—making it one of Nintendo's most profitable years in North America up to that time. The game remained on bestseller lists for more than 90 months after release, and went on to sell 3.83 million units by 2004.

Accolades
The game won several awards. At the Golden Joystick Awards, it won two awards, for Game of the Year (handheld) and Best Advert of the Year. It also won the Game Boy categories for Graphics and Sound, Challenge, Theme and Fun, Play Control and Best Overall in the reader-chosen 1993 Nintendo Power Awards. It was awarded Best Game Boy Game of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly. In 1997 Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked the Game Boy version the 28th best console video game of all time, saying it ended up "beating out the Super NES Zelda in both size and scope." They also lauded its humorous dialogue, hefty challenge, and incorporation of the best gameplay mechanics of its predecessors. Nintendo Power later named it the fifty-sixth best Nintendo game.

DX
Link's Awakening DX also received positive reviews with multiple critics highlighting the color graphics as an improvement; based on ten media outlets, it holds an average score of 91% on Game Rankings.

Sales
The DX version sold another 2.22 million units. The Virtual Console release of Link's Awakening DX was the top-selling downloadable Nintendo 3DS game of 2011, selling over 338,700 units, or an estimated $2.3 million in gross revenue.

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