More Thoughts From Me #176: Wake Up Link!

I played Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening when it first came out on the original Gameboy. I didn’t play the Gameboy Color version till years later on the Nintendo 3DS. I like both versions but I have to say, my hype for the upcoming remake is bigger than my nostalgia for the original game. Lets talk about Link’s Awakening for the Gameboy and why I think the remake will completely erase all memory of the original.

Link’s Awakening for the Gameboy is a good game but its not even close, in my opinion, to being the best of the Zelda franchise. Its not the worse either, don’t get me wrong, and I do like the game a lot. But Link’s Awakening is so very different from your typical Zelda game. Its got the heart of Zelda but it does some weird things that make it different too.

There is no Hyrule in Link’s Awakening nor Zelda. Link is thrust onto a new island and into a new quest. It may seem like a spoiler to some, but the fact that Link’s Awakening is all a dream is pretty obvious once you play the game.

The original game is good but the remake, I feel, will completely make the original not worth playing anymore. I know that might be a controversial statement but the new Link’s Awakening looks even better than the original, plus has some cool modern updates and even its own “dungeon maker”.

When Nintendo revealed the Link’s Awakening remake, I was stunned and amazed by it. The game’s graphics look so great and also so unique. We’ve never seen a Zelda game like this before. And yet, its still very much a Zelda game. Not only that but as revealed at E3, the game will expand on the original and add to it. The new “dungeon creator” looks fantastic. Link’s Awakening looks better than ever.

And while Link’s Awakening will still be a different sort of Zelda game, I feel that the new graphics and the updated gameplay take it closer to being an experience that could be among the best of the franchise.

Then again, maybe I’ll just feel the same way I felt about the orignal game: its a good game but there are better Zeldas out there.

Time will tell!

What do you think of Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening? Do you like the classic Gameboy game a lot? Will the remake outshine that game or will we still want to play the orignal in the end?

Next week: The Year of Dragon Quest? With Dragon Quest Builders 2 and Dragon Quest 11 S both coming out this year, plus the Hero from DQ11 in Smash, its feeling like the year of Dragon Quest. So I’ll talk about the series, my favorite entries, and why I’m so glad the series is still around.

More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed here are mine and mine alone. Is that Yoshi?!