Pros: Classic Zelda gameplay, one of the best Game Boy games ever.
Cons: Item switching a little annoying, a couple tough to acquire secrets.
The bottom line: If you are a Zelda fan, a fan of action/RPG's, or just into great games, then you'll want to pick this game up.
Quick Facts:
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – for Game Boy Color. (Also will work on Gameboy and Game Boy Advance). About $10 at the time of this writing, 1 player. Released by Nintendo in 1993, rated E for everyone. Action/Adventure Genre.

Full Review:

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is quite simply perhaps one of the best games for the Game Boy ever released. Several years after the release of the original Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo, Link’s Awakening comes to the Game Boy, in a game which retains all the charm, simplicity and fun of the original – and adds some fantastic new features.

You are Link, the savior of Hyrule. You found yourself sailing on a raft when a sudden storm strikes, you are blasted off your boat and awake on a strange island, where the mysterious Wind Fish Sleeps, and waking him holds the key to you finding your way home. Monsters and Nightmares have begun to plague the Wind Fish, and Link sets out to battle them and solve the riddle. The Nightmares live in dungeons scattered across the island.

Released in 1993, 7 years after the original Zelda game, and just a year after the SNES: Smash “A Link to the Past”, Link’s Awakening uses technology from both games in this fantastic marvel of a video game that fits so snugly into the tiny Game Boy cartridge. At its core, Link’s Awakening is still a top-down action RPG adventure game, which uses the familiar A and B button Items slots, where a variety of weapons and items can be equipped and used by selecting them in your inventory, then using them with the appropriate button. Classic items like the Sword, Shield, and Bombs make their return, as well as items from “A Link to the Past”, like the Power Bracelet, which allows you to lift objects throughout the game. And of course, there are new and powerful objects, such as the fire wand.

Link’s Awakening is elegant and simple, and a ton of fun, as well as impressive with its scope. You travel throughout Koholint island, talking to the inhabitants and figuring out what to do. The game has a built in map, which is incredibly convenient, as well as a nice “tip” system – a wise owl will tell you where to head, and if you are a bit stuck on what to do next, you slip into a phone booth and contact Ulrina, who points you in the right direction.

In the dungeons, which are the meat of the game, you’ll face a variety of challenges, impressive sub bosses and mini bosses, and a whole array of enemies. Again, you’ll see some returnees from the series, as well as a whole new set of beasties to slay. There are 8 of these dungeons, and at the end of each a musical instrument needed to wake the Wind Fish.

The over world also has a good amount of variety, with mountains, prairies, swamps and graveyards among the areas you will traverse and explore.

The game was challenging, and may be too challenging for some younger gamers. For the adult gamer, you should be able to figure out everything needed to beat the game on your own, though there were a few things that were a TAD vague, and annoying in that respect. For example, once you get the Flipper and are able to swim in the deep waters, you would never suspect that you need to dive and move under terrain or find special caves to advance in the game. I found things like this, and similarly that some secrets were almost impossible to find, slightly frustrating. But to balance this, unlike in previous Zelda games, you don’t need to randomly bomb and burn things – Most of the secrets were in areas you could find and identify them relatively easily.

Link’s Awakening is long, and will take you some time to defeat, but you will be rewarded with a great enemy boss to fight and an actual game ending sequence, again rare for the Game Boy at this time. However, you will have fun throughout most of the game, and will be itching to get back to the quest.

Something interesting about this game is how many Mario type references are made. You’ll actually fight Goombas, and make Mario style platform jumps and maneuvers. In fact, the game really doesn’t seem to take itself nearly as seriously as other Link adventures, and has an all around tongue in cheek style, poking fun at itself and at video games at various points. While I feel this does take a little away from the atmosphere of the game, it certainly doesn’t make it less fun.

Complaints are minor, but some are there. You have to switch items so many times and so frequently, that the system becomes a tad tedious. Also, with no way to mark the map, you have to remember/write down all the places you need to return to at later points, which can be time consuming for a hand held game. And there are the aforementioned problems with difficulty and a few of the secrets being a little too well hidden. Personally, I have one complaint. In the final dungeon of the game, you fight a sub boss who is so incredibly annoying, because he knocks you back to the beginning of the dungeon, so fighting and killing him was tedious. I only mention it because it still annoys me.

Graphics: 4 out of 5

Simple, but crisp - Link’s Awakening’s graphics are fun and easy to see. There are a few instances of slowdown with several things on the screen, preventing this from being a 5.

Sound: 5 out of 5

The sound is solid, and the music, of course, is fantastic. The original Zelda theme is here, as well as several new songs.

Control: 4 out of 5

Controlling the game is easy, for the most part. Some of the dash/jump maneuvers can be a little tricky, and item switching does get tedious.

Gameplay: 5 out of 5

It is a fantastic Zelda quest, complete with all the elements that make this series what it is. You never get bored, the pace and story of the game move along, and you’ll enjoy it all the way through.

What I liked:

One of the best and most detailed Game Boy games ever.

Great graphics and sound.

Fun!

What I didn't like:

Item Switching.

Some secrets a little too secret.

Overall:

Link’s Awakening is perhaps the best Game Boy game ever made, and a fine addition to the series. If you are like me, and prefer the original Zelda and SNES games to the 3-D titles you see now, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up and spend some time with your favorite elf, Link.

Mr_D