The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Reviews
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening remake for the Switch improves most of the flaws from the original game while maintaining (or enhancing) everything that makes Link's Game Boy adventure a classic. Its shiny new coat of paint suits it well, even if slowdown issues pop up from time to time. A few hours of play is all it takes to remind you why Zelda fans love Link's Awakening so very much.
Overall, this is a excellent remake of an already faultless Zelda game.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is everything a remake should be. It retains the nostalgia of the original game while celebrating it in an entirely new way. The map is small but dense, filled with side quests, interesting character designs, and a surprising moral dilemma. This charming, toy-like world is the perfect way to experience Koholint Island, regardless of it's your first visit or your 50th time washing ashore.
I found playing through a modern imagining of this classic to be almost perfect. While it doesn’t reinvent the franchise or break convention, it never acts like it wants to. There’s something comforting about returning to a world like this: to know its every corner, to recognize its colorful cast, to feel truly lost in the experience.
Anyone who has never played Link's Awakening before should absolutely play Link's Awakening. It's a damning reflection on the entire industry, in terms of the respect that it shows for the artistry of video games, that a remake, rather than a re-release, was ever even contemplated as the way to give people renewed access to this classic.
It is a must-have for any Zelda fan, and so should take its place as a console seller for the Nintendo Switch.
But that's ultimately a small gripe when considering everything else the game has to offer. The vast majority of Link's Awakening has an incredible foundation, and a new coat of paint helps the experience feel fresh and lively without heavily retooling anything. New and old players alike will find something to enjoy here, and the previous expectations from both -- the high of Breath of the Wild vs. the preconceived notion of what the game is and was -- will almost certainly be set aside to simply play and enjoy a sometimes unexpectedly charming, if not entirely new, Zelda game.
Link's Awakening is still, 26 years after its debut, an outstanding game. With brand new graphics, along all the elements that made the original one of the best games ever, this classic game lands on Nintedo Switch to remind us why we love The Legend of Zelda series.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
When I go to give Link’s Awakening to someone else, would I recommend this version? Is this the game I want my kids to play? And yes. It is. Absolutely. Because the truth is that it does recapture its old magic. It’s just not the time machine that I thought it could be.
An indispensable addition to Nintendo Switch
Review in French | Read full review
An epic return of one of the most importante video games of all time. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a classic that everyone should play.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a masterpiece in remaking the original classic game. It perfectly brings back the old school gameplay of the 90s with modern tech. Even if you had played the original game a long time ago, this one will shock you again.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is an almost perfect remake of a classic title.
Link’s Awakening has always been a super-solid entry in the Zelda series, and it easily lives up to today’s standards. It’s also a love letter to some of Nintendo’s greatest in its purest form. To top it all off, it has an alluring soundtrack with familiar tunes — including Marin’s soothing voice — that instantly warm your heart.
It’s ironic, but not a coincidence that we experience a title, tailor made for handheld hardware make a solid return for Nintendo’s newest piece of kit. The charming, and nostalgic world of Zelda returns with this incredible adventure, proving that the franchise itself, will remain timeless with Link’s Awakening being one of the greatest entries ever.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is still a wonderful title that has been fabulously updated by the update. Only an imperfect technical section takes away the status of pristine work.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Updating the look but never losing the feel of the original, Link's Awakening is a masterclass in remaking a classic.
Link's Awakening is back in all it's timeless glory. The main game hasn't aged a day and doesn't need any new gameplay experiences to convince anyone. It does profit from its quality of life changes, beautiful artstyle and memorable soundtrack.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is the definitive edition of a classic: a renewal and improvement in every way, but always respectful with the source material, that manages to evoke the same feelings we felt 26 years ago.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening manages to feel new, but still maintain the essence of the amazing original. This is peak old-school Zelda, and it's never looked better.