vgmusicologistJust after my wife picked up the Link’s Awakening remake for Switch a month or so ago, I decided it would be fun if I (as the more beep-boop tolerant one) played through the Gameboy Color version concurrently. It turns out to be a lovely little gem that makes me regret some of the scorn I heaped on the Gameboy back in its heyday. Especially regarding its audio capabilities; I was… not kind.
I’ve been especially surprised at just how little Nintendo changed in the remake, gameplay-wise. The world and dungeon design is virtually identical, and there’s been little, if any, “re-imagining” that I can see. The changes have mainly been quality-of-life stuff: Making use of the controller’s additional buttons for items, reducing the amount of menu equipping, improving hit detection, automatic saves, etc. Obviously all the visuals have been redone, but not simply to please the eye; there have been usability improvements as well like the icon identifying doors that can be opened by throwing pots at them, or a more recognizable face in the sleeping walrus’s thought bubble. Link can now move and attack in eight directions instead of just four, and the new 3D engine allows him to walk behind certain object and tall enemies, where he would collide with any part of them in the Game Boy version.
This is really sounding more like my thoughts on the Remake than the original game, but it’s just to highlight how the Game part of Link’s Awakening remains largely unchanged, and I’ve been having a blast with this not-so-moldy oldie. Marin’s square-wave singing is surprisingly endearing, even when compared to the sampled vocals of the remake. The soundtrack is quite pleasing on the whole; with many callbacks (and call forwards?) to other games in the series. Some are quite obvious like the overworld theme with its new B section, but others are very subtle, like Mabe Village’s eerie resemblance to Zelda’s Lullaby. I don’t know what’s going on with the cave music. Like in A Link to the Past, it’s disjointed, amelodic, and atonal, which distinguishes it from pretty much every other track.
I’m beginning to understand a bit more what Mark Brown of Game Maker’s Toolkit is referring to when he talks about this game having less linear dungeon design than its successors. Though there is a specific path to the end, the dungeon layout itself gives the player many options for where to go “next”. Often times you’re given a choice of several locked doors, not all of which are necessary to actually complete the dungeon, and the game seems much more willing to allow you to get lost than later entries in the series. Mark refers to this type of design as “Find the Path” versus the more player-friendly “Follow the Path” which features more streamlined, cinematic gameplay with fewer real choices to be made.
One thing that stands out to me is just how much this game borrows from other Nintendo games. There are little inconsequential cameos and references in many of the Zelda games, but Link’s Awakening takes it to a whole different level. Whereas Talon and Ingo in Ocarina of Time vaguely resemble Mario and Luigi, the dungeons of Koholint are covered in literal Goombas, Piranha Plants, Bloopers, Shyguys, Thwomps, and something resembling a….Kirby? Link delivers a signed photo of Princess Peach to Will Wright, learns an ocarina song from Wart, takes a Chain Chomp for a walk, and earns a Yoshi doll as a prize in the crane game. Link’s Awakening is also missing a lot of the Zelda series’ staples: There’s no Zelda, no Ganon, no Hyrule, no Master Sword, no Triforce, and none of the usual mythology. It all gives the game an eerie foreign feeling that reminds me of Majora’s Mask (which shares all of these omissions), and given how closely Zelda games tend to adhere to their formula, might qualify both titles as spin-offs.