Same. I didn't even know what Zelda was back then, I tried the game at a friends house and loved it I asked him to borrow it. I ended up buying the DX version with some birthday money months later. Simple times haha.
When I moved to a new village, I became friends with two people in my class. As one was handing the other a black cartridge, I asked them; What’s THAT game..? As I booted it up, I distinctly remember saying to myself “Let the LEGEND begin!” In a corny, spooky fashion. Here I am, all games played (besides cdi), anticipating the next❤
Surprised that you didn’t talk about how well the game evokes these bittersweet feelings of nostalgia and loss. It’s pretty insane how emotional that game made me feel, even as a teenager who had never played a Zelda game before.
The only Zelda game that makes you bond with the characters that much makes the ending all the more impactful.. When the owl tells you what's going on near the end I didn't want to finish it. Plus I realized the clues were there but I was too blind to see them. You didn't expect that kind of emotions from a game back then
The sound/music of this game is just so captivating and it’s even greater that I can associate this with good times as a an early teen.(I first did a full playthru in 2000)
You gotta check out the videos if you haven't already that go into reasons/ music theory and why the soundtrack is so good and well put together. Love how it feels so organic as you first go into a cave, then first dungeon and the next... The music evolves as you progress, becoming something different yet familiar. Genius songwriting.
6:48 “alongside the 8 dungeon structure which has remained standard since the series began…” Link’s Awakening is literally the first Zelda to have 8 dungeons. LoZ had 9 (18 counting second quest), AoL had 7, and LttP had at least 11.
I love how you go into all the little minute details and explain why they are good. These little things all add up and give a game like this it's magic. Subscribed!
I remember waiting for Links Awakening, and being so excited for its release. I desperately wanted a SNES and ZELDA 3, but only had a Gameboy. I just loved every minute of Link's Awakening. My 2 cents, I never once found the pause menu to change items annoying at the time of release, and still dont really find it annoying now, although I hear people complaining about it a lot in retrospectives... Honestly think they're just stuck for something to complain about with this game. The other point was the Gameboy was out of date when it launched, Gunpei Yakoi stated it was 'lateral thinking with wizened technology'... Words to live by!
I had this game as a little child before I could even read. I traded it with some other kid for a garbage game and never got it back. In 2023, now 33, my mother gifted me an original Game Boy for Christmas and a working Link's Awakening with a new battery. I'm playing through it right now in the original experience :)
12:48 - I've been playing this game since it came out in the 90s, and I was today years old when I learned you could use Magic Powder on those guys. I always thought I was stuck with them until I had the Boomerang. Man, still so much stuff to learn about this game.
In the day I learned about using magic powder on creatures in "Link to the Past" so I tried it in "Link's Awakening" and of course it worked. Otherwise I probably would've been like you and avoided those guys if I hadn't had played the games as they came out.
Great video. I have been fascinated by this game for a couple years now, but never had a game boy as a kid. It's one of the most unique and interesting adventures out there in my opinion
Happy new year in advance WSGAG and everyone. More Zelda games in my backlog to complete, and Awakening is prob one of the better ones as demonstrated here.
I remember being about ten years old and I had just gotten a Gameboy color and this game for my birthday. I vaguely remember beating it for the first time on a camping trip. My older cousin asked what happened thinking I had just beaten Mario and saw some thanks for playing screen. I told her that you were trapped on an island that was a fish's dream and that by waking it up you can leave but everyone you met and everything on the island vanished forever. Her mind was blown
Great video! You made me want to go play the remake on my Switch now haha I'd love to see your takes on Final Fantasy VII and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night!
This game holds a special place in my heard, because it was my very first Zelda game (Link's Awakening DX specifically). I think it might even be my favorite Zelda game, up to and including it's very own remake on the Nintendo Switch. There's something about the visuals, the music, the characters and the overall vibe this game gives off that I don't get out of any other Zelda game, a sort of surreal absurdist take on the Zelda formula with a surprisingly dark and tragic backstory hidden behind the super deformed character and enemy sprites. It's very unassuming in that regard, and that, I think, helps the story be all the more impactful as a result. ...Also, I just really like the artstyle and music, and the various Nintendo cameos didn't hurt either.
I was the kinda girl who grew up with OG NES Mario, and had a friend in first grade who introduced me to Zelda and Final Fantasy. Due to obvious finances my sister and parents generously got us the original Zelda, rented Zelda 2, and I finally saved up money to get an SNES and my coveted Link to the Past. (It's hard to say "this is my farourite game," even though that's true. Things have changed. A great joy to me has been the fact that many of my favourite novels, movies, soundtracks, those land on the same page of experience. That GAMES now can compete with that? That's precious. Link's Awakening, to a child like me at the time was a rare even "Hey, the Link from Link to the Past is going to have new adventures!" (despise the convoluted continuity of Zelda II) Marin's theme and the Windfish and the Zora.... mushrooms, and hey are we drowning?
Link's Awakening may indeed be the original Game Boy game that holds up the best by modern standards. For hardly any other game a faithful Switch conversion (that is mostly just a graphical update) would have been realistic to sell a full price. Even the original Pokémon doesn't hold up so well with it's relatively conventional random turn-based battle system, and things like the player character only moving in a grid on the overworld.
While I had played a bit of Zelda, Zelda II and ALttP prior this was the first Zelda game I got into from beginning to end and made me the Zelda fan I am today. Still a top 3 Zelda game for me and my favorite handheld game of any sort.
I only recently played this. It's so good. And it starts many of the features that make their way into Ocarina in much bigger ways. It was actually an important step in the series that I totally missed out on, along with the Oracles games.
I got the remake when I first came out I remember the game boy version, I loved it so much I was able to finish it . I haven’t finished the remake though. I was playing it yesterday and got into it like I did when o was a kid😂 I love your video as well All I know is that when I played as a kid I couldn’t get enough Now I’m an adult listening to your video I appreciate it more than ever It truly is one of the greatest Zelda titles
It’s amazing; my first Zelda experience; and still my fave Zelda game all these years later. But it’s not the first handheld in the series - guess someone missed ZELDA Game & Watch! Doh! Third handheld if you count The Legend of Zelda Game Watch from Nelsonic, but if you only count Nintendo hardware or only Nintendo-developed Zelda games by either measure the Game & Watch ZELDA title precedes it.
I prefer the mGBA core in Retroarch with the following shaders: For original Game Boy: shaders_glsl>handheld>gameboy For Game Boy Color: shaders_glsl>handheld>console-border>gbc-retro-v2-6x (which automatically applies GBC color correction.) Also make sure to choose the correct model under Quick Menu>Options>System.
When I had a Game Boy way back when I only had a few crappy games for it (Jeopardy Sports, some winter sports game, Mortal Kombat II, and Kid Icarus). I desperately wanted this game because it seemed like such a full, proper game that I just never saw when it came to the Game Boy. Had no idea it got an 3D remaster. It looks goofy but fun which, come to think of it, is all Zelda titles. 😂😂❤
I got a Super Game Boy specifically to play this because I saw it as a sequel to ALttP. My favorite way to play will always be Link's Awakening DX with a Super Game Boy 2.
Thanks for the video, your video captures look amazing, would you mind sharing what emulator and shaders were used? Just discovered your channel and I am going to go through your other videos for sure! :) Happy new year and keep up the good work!
The nostalgia is strong because Link's Awakening was the first Zelda I owned. But then Oracle of Ages & Seasons built on the same engine so much more. With the next 3D Zelda likely 4-5 years away, I expect Nintendo will announce another remake to keep profiting off Zelda in the meantime and I'm already sold if OOA/OOS got the same treatment as Link's Awakening Switch.
It’s everything. The main part is the charm and the saddening realization that you destroyed an entire place, with living people, just in the world of a fish.
@@giganticmoon I know, I was around anticipating the launch way back when. That said, that argument doesn't hold much water, if they reach your comment before playing... imagine mentioning Aerith.... lol
Honestly, I still prefer the look of the original over either the GB Color version or the new remake. There's just something perfect about those pixel graphics that still hold up just fine. The GB Color wasn't sufficient to really do it justice so it ended up looking ok, but a bit weird. And the remake has this almost mobile game-esque feeling to the visuals that I just didn't love as much as I wanted to.
That's a strange view I'm seeing for the first time; I've always thought the GBC version was miles better looking. Especially the graphics they cleaned up between the two versions, having more tile variety with the dungeon floors for instance. I could understand the toy-aesthetic of the Switch remake not being for everyone in terms of style, but what I did appreciate about it was how it also made the environments even more lush. The houses feel more lived in, with knick-knacks and furniture added and such. That could also have been achieved with pixel art too, of course, and I also would have preferred a higher resolution pixel-art remake of the game instead of the 3D we got.
Stealing, the bow before and buying bombs before the first dungeon in order to shoot bomb arrows. Which was then patched in dx but would still drain bombs if used. BORIIING! Still love it and prefer the original over the rest.
Technically not the first Handheld Game. Those where Game&Watch and Game Watch. Maybe even Barcode Battler if you want to count that one. But still. The Gameboy Game is amazing. It was one of my first Gameboy Games as well as my first Zelda Game. I loved it and back then it took me quite some time to finish is. But i enjoyed every minute.
Great video... but you used the word “diverse” way much... and since it has a negative cognotation because of Leftists, I cant give you a like. 😕🤷♂️ Next time use “variety” instead.
I love to see fellow fans of the Gaming Historian. But where are the images of all the developers you mention? All this Japanese name droping seems like noise without substance.
This was my first Zelda game. An adorably small and bittersweet experience.
Same. I didn't even know what Zelda was back then, I tried the game at a friends house and loved it I asked him to borrow it. I ended up buying the DX version with some birthday money months later. Simple times haha.
When I moved to a new village, I became friends with two people in my class.
As one was handing the other a black cartridge, I asked them; What’s THAT game..?
As I booted it up, I distinctly remember saying to myself
“Let the LEGEND begin!” In a corny, spooky fashion.
Here I am, all games played (besides cdi), anticipating the next❤
Same. Got this as a christmas present in 1995. Good memories and have been a Zelda fan ever since. 😊😊😊😊😊👍🏻
Surprised that you didn’t talk about how well the game evokes these bittersweet feelings of nostalgia and loss. It’s pretty insane how emotional that game made me feel, even as a teenager who had never played a Zelda game before.
The only Zelda game that makes you bond with the characters that much makes the ending all the more impactful.. When the owl tells you what's going on near the end I didn't want to finish it. Plus I realized the clues were there but I was too blind to see them. You didn't expect that kind of emotions from a game back then
The sound/music of this game is just so captivating and it’s even greater that I can associate this with good times as a an early teen.(I first did a full playthru in 2000)
You gotta check out the videos if you haven't already that go into reasons/ music theory and why the soundtrack is so good and well put together. Love how it feels so organic as you first go into a cave, then first dungeon and the next... The music evolves as you progress, becoming something different yet familiar. Genius songwriting.
This was my second gb game. It holds the soundtrack of my childhood. I will never forget this masterpiece
6:48 “alongside the 8 dungeon structure which has remained standard since the series began…”
Link’s Awakening is literally the first Zelda to have 8 dungeons. LoZ had 9 (18 counting second quest), AoL had 7, and LttP had at least 11.
Probably my favorite GB game. It’s an enduring classic!
I love how you go into all the little minute details and explain why they are good. These little things all add up and give a game like this it's magic. Subscribed!
I remember waiting for Links Awakening, and being so excited for its release. I desperately wanted a SNES and ZELDA 3, but only had a Gameboy. I just loved every minute of Link's Awakening. My 2 cents, I never once found the pause menu to change items annoying at the time of release, and still dont really find it annoying now, although I hear people complaining about it a lot in retrospectives... Honestly think they're just stuck for something to complain about with this game. The other point was the Gameboy was out of date when it launched, Gunpei Yakoi stated it was 'lateral thinking with wizened technology'... Words to live by!
*Probably my favorite Zelda game of all time.*
*I still remember the TV commercials for this game.*
😊😊😊
I had this game as a little child before I could even read. I traded it with some other kid for a garbage game and never got it back.
In 2023, now 33, my mother gifted me an original Game Boy for Christmas and a working Link's Awakening with a new battery. I'm playing through it right now in the original experience :)
12:48 - I've been playing this game since it came out in the 90s, and I was today years old when I learned you could use Magic Powder on those guys. I always thought I was stuck with them until I had the Boomerang. Man, still so much stuff to learn about this game.
In the day I learned about using magic powder on creatures in "Link to the Past" so I tried it in "Link's Awakening" and of course it worked. Otherwise I probably would've been like you and avoided those guys if I hadn't had played the games as they came out.
Great video. I have been fascinated by this game for a couple years now, but never had a game boy as a kid. It's one of the most unique and interesting adventures out there in my opinion
Happy new year in advance WSGAG and everyone. More Zelda games in my backlog to complete, and Awakening is prob one of the better ones as demonstrated here.
My favorite feature was the ability to review what the Owl said from the map menu. Sometimes he said important info!
One of my favourites when I was younger. Great story and mystery, and characters.
I remember being about ten years old and I had just gotten a Gameboy color and this game for my birthday. I vaguely remember beating it for the first time on a camping trip. My older cousin asked what happened thinking I had just beaten Mario and saw some thanks for playing screen. I told her that you were trapped on an island that was a fish's dream and that by waking it up you can leave but everyone you met and everything on the island vanished forever. Her mind was blown
Would be cool concept for a Mario RPG game 😅
Great video! You made me want to go play the remake on my Switch now haha
I'd love to see your takes on Final Fantasy VII and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night!
it's in my top 3 zelda games
Ive been playing remakes for so long. Great game. I recently played the newest switch one with the agumon mod
Just discovered this channel and I love it! You’ve got a new fan and subscriber!
This is one of my favorite Zelda games ever. Great video!
Underrated Zelda game
This game holds a special place in my heard, because it was my very first Zelda game (Link's Awakening DX specifically). I think it might even be my favorite Zelda game, up to and including it's very own remake on the Nintendo Switch. There's something about the visuals, the music, the characters and the overall vibe this game gives off that I don't get out of any other Zelda game, a sort of surreal absurdist take on the Zelda formula with a surprisingly dark and tragic backstory hidden behind the super deformed character and enemy sprites. It's very unassuming in that regard, and that, I think, helps the story be all the more impactful as a result. ...Also, I just really like the artstyle and music, and the various Nintendo cameos didn't hurt either.
I was the kinda girl who grew up with OG NES Mario, and had a friend in first grade who introduced me to Zelda and Final Fantasy. Due to obvious finances my sister and parents generously got us the original Zelda, rented Zelda 2, and I finally saved up money to get an SNES and my coveted Link to the Past. (It's hard to say "this is my farourite game," even though that's true. Things have changed. A great joy to me has been the fact that many of my favourite novels, movies, soundtracks, those land on the same page of experience. That GAMES now can compete with that? That's precious.
Link's Awakening, to a child like me at the time was a rare even "Hey, the Link from Link to the Past is going to have new adventures!" (despise the convoluted continuity of Zelda II)
Marin's theme and the Windfish and the Zora.... mushrooms, and hey are we drowning?
Link's Awakening may indeed be the original Game Boy game that holds up the best by modern standards. For hardly any other game a faithful Switch conversion (that is mostly just a graphical update) would have been realistic to sell a full price.
Even the original Pokémon doesn't hold up so well with it's relatively conventional random turn-based battle system, and things like the player character only moving in a grid on the overworld.
While I had played a bit of Zelda, Zelda II and ALttP prior this was the first Zelda game I got into from beginning to end and made me the Zelda fan I am today. Still a top 3 Zelda game for me and my favorite handheld game of any sort.
I only recently played this. It's so good. And it starts many of the features that make their way into Ocarina in much bigger ways. It was actually an important step in the series that I totally missed out on, along with the Oracles games.
I got the remake when I first came out
I remember the game boy version, I loved it so much
I was able to finish it . I haven’t finished the remake though.
I was playing it yesterday and got into it like I did when o was a kid😂
I love your video as well
All I know is that when I played as a kid I couldn’t get enough
Now I’m an adult listening to your video I appreciate it more than ever
It truly is one of the greatest Zelda titles
It’s amazing; my first Zelda experience; and still my fave Zelda game all these years later.
But it’s not the first handheld in the series - guess someone missed ZELDA Game & Watch! Doh!
Third handheld if you count The Legend of Zelda Game Watch from Nelsonic, but if you only count Nintendo hardware or only Nintendo-developed Zelda games by either measure the Game & Watch ZELDA title precedes it.
Still have to watch the video, but the only possible answer to the title is "everything"
My first Zelda game, and my favourite since
There’s a pcport now too !
Love the shaders used on the emulators, I assume retroarch? I'd love to know which ones are being used
I was impressed by the original monochrome Game Boy look, really captures the look and LCD fell but without the horribleness. 😂
I prefer the mGBA core in Retroarch with the following shaders:
For original Game Boy: shaders_glsl>handheld>gameboy
For Game Boy Color: shaders_glsl>handheld>console-border>gbc-retro-v2-6x (which automatically applies GBC color correction.)
Also make sure to choose the correct model under Quick Menu>Options>System.
I still have my gb cart roughly 30 years later. ♥
When I had a Game Boy way back when I only had a few crappy games for it (Jeopardy Sports, some winter sports game, Mortal Kombat II, and Kid Icarus). I desperately wanted this game because it seemed like such a full, proper game that I just never saw when it came to the Game Boy.
Had no idea it got an 3D remaster. It looks goofy but fun which, come to think of it, is all Zelda titles. 😂😂❤
The Windfish
I got a Super Game Boy specifically to play this because I saw it as a sequel to ALttP. My favorite way to play will always be Link's Awakening DX with a Super Game Boy 2.
Thanks for the video, your video captures look amazing, would you mind sharing what emulator and shaders were used?
Just discovered your channel and I am going to go through your other videos for sure! :)
Happy new year and keep up the good work!
Thank God this "Project" became reality!! Was by FAR the most impressive Gameboy game of all time!
Absolutely blew my mind as a kid!!
The nostalgia is strong because Link's Awakening was the first Zelda I owned. But then Oracle of Ages & Seasons built on the same engine so much more.
With the next 3D Zelda likely 4-5 years away, I expect Nintendo will announce another remake to keep profiting off Zelda in the meantime and I'm already sold if OOA/OOS got the same treatment as Link's Awakening Switch.
I snagged this from the 3ds eshop right before it closed. I also got a link to the past. I didn't get ages and seasons though.😢
Effing love this game. Makes me sad that I’ve played and beat it twice and can’t get the same excitement
Still my favorite Zelda game. I've played through DX so many times, I've lost count.
The Compass also adds another feature.... Endless unskippable dialogue! 😅
It’s everything. The main part is the charm and the saddening realization that you destroyed an entire place, with living people, just in the world of a fish.
Spoilers, lol
@@samuraijaydee lol i mean it IS 30 years old
@@giganticmoon I know, I was around anticipating the launch way back when. That said, that argument doesn't hold much water, if they reach your comment before playing... imagine mentioning Aerith.... lol
@@samuraijaydee I’VE GOTTEN SPOILED SO MUCH WITH FF7 THAT AT FIRST IT WAS SURPRISING NOW IT’S JUST-
Yeah buddy!
Not my first Zelda, but still my favourite!
The only system I ever owned was an snes. I’ve always felt sore that there never was a second snes Zelda game.
I took the DX version and my atomic purple gameboy with me everywhere as a kid
Oracle of Seasons will forever be the best Zelda game
This game (DX specifically) is goated and i am contractually obliged to say it is by far my favorite Zelda game
I had Links Awakening DX on my gameboy pocket and tried to sneak into the color dungeon but never managed, I think the guards were randomized?
Honestly, I still prefer the look of the original over either the GB Color version or the new remake. There's just something perfect about those pixel graphics that still hold up just fine. The GB Color wasn't sufficient to really do it justice so it ended up looking ok, but a bit weird. And the remake has this almost mobile game-esque feeling to the visuals that I just didn't love as much as I wanted to.
That's a strange view I'm seeing for the first time; I've always thought the GBC version was miles better looking. Especially the graphics they cleaned up between the two versions, having more tile variety with the dungeon floors for instance. I could understand the toy-aesthetic of the Switch remake not being for everyone in terms of style, but what I did appreciate about it was how it also made the environments even more lush. The houses feel more lived in, with knick-knacks and furniture added and such. That could also have been achieved with pixel art too, of course, and I also would have preferred a higher resolution pixel-art remake of the game instead of the 3D we got.
Great job 👍
Stealing, the bow before and buying bombs before the first dungeon in order to shoot bomb arrows. Which was then patched in dx but would still drain bombs if used. BORIIING! Still love it and prefer the original over the rest.
I Have This game When I Was the Kid unfortunately in German but I Still loving it😅
imagine... in the future.. a Link Awakening Remake in Unreal Engine 10! :D
Everything, thats whats great about it
Love you man! :)
It's odd how only one Zelda game ended up on SNES.
Technically not the first Handheld Game. Those where Game&Watch and Game Watch. Maybe even Barcode Battler if you want to count that one. But still. The Gameboy Game is amazing. It was one of my first Gameboy Games as well as my first Zelda Game. I loved it and back then it took me quite some time to finish is. But i enjoyed every minute.
SILVER MEDAL HERE
"Its Hylian ticipated 2019 release"
Blue tunic gang
I end up buying the Zelda game & watch because Zelda Link's Awakening was on it it was the original game boy version which I prefer
Comment to feed the algorithm!
Links awakening is the best game boy game.
The switch version isnt a remaster, it's a 1:1 remake. DX was the remaster
And people whinge about botw not having much tri force in it
This Zelda didn’t even have zelda lol 😂😂
It’s the best Zelda evvvver
Great video... but you used the word “diverse” way much... and since it has a negative cognotation because of Leftists, I cant give you a like. 😕🤷♂️ Next time use “variety” instead.
LA>ALTTP. And I'm tired of pretending it's not.
Link's awakening >>>>BOTW
You could not dive underwater in the SNES game... Just sayin'.
I love to see fellow fans of the Gaming Historian. But where are the images of all the developers you mention? All this Japanese name droping seems like noise without substance.