Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening

[gtmtnbiker]

If you're a fan of Link to the Past, you'll love this game, Link's Awakening on Gameboy Color.

I'm near the end (just finished the Eagle Tower dungeon) and really enjoyed this game. I'm playing it on my PSP via the MasterBoy GBC emulator. I haven't found any issues with the emulator. It seems rock solid.

I have the cartridge and could play on my GBA SP, but there's no way I'll forgo the use of save states. I'm too old to repeat a dungeon over and over to get back to the point where I have to battle a boss. Plus, I don't have a lot of time for games.

Link's Awakening is very similar to Link to the Past. Has many of the same items. Here are some of my observations for the game:

1. I thought the story line was pretty unique where it's focused on collecting the different music instruments.

2. I liked the Eagle Tower dungeon where you have to knock down the four pillars in order to fully access the fourth floor.

3. The Catfish's Maw was another favorite dungeon of mine. It is kind of neat that you have to dive down and then enter the giant catfish's mouth.

4. The game is mostly top-down but occasionally you have some side scrolling action in certain parts in order to get to another area. I thought this was very clever.

5. The three penguin like monsters that have the rotating card suits was pretty clever.

6. The photographer who takes pictures of you at certain parts of the game was also a clever concept.

7. I found the bosses to be pretty easy in this game. At no point, did I ever lose my life completely. LttP bosses are the hardest in my opinion.

8. The trading sequence was fun and manageable. Much better than the Minish Cap.

9. I liked the idea where this girl had a chain chomp named Bow Wow for a pet and at one point, you took it for a walk.

All in all, a very fun game. Once finished, I will tackle Oracle of Seasons. I have already finished LttP, Minish Cap, and partially played the original Legend of Zelda. After doing the two Oracle games, I will then move onto the 3D versions starting with Ocarina of Time.

[MrPopo]

I believe this was the DX version you were playing, as I don't remember a photographer in the original GB version. Have you discovered the bomb arrows trick yet?

[Anubis]

This is my favorite Legend of Zelda game.

I remember playing this game for the first time on a Gameboy Pocket. You couldn't pull me away from it. Honestly, I think it is probably the most well designed Zelda game.

[dlmvii]

This was the only Zelda game I ever beat

[gtmtnbiker]

Yes, that's correct that I'm playing the DX version. I didn't know that they had two different versions released at different times.

No, I didn't discover the bomb arrow trick. I just read about it by doing a google search. Was there some point in the game where you received instructions on doing it?

One more comment I have about the photographer's hut is that there's a photo album containing the pictures taken of your journey. You can see the pictures here:
http://www.zeldawiki.org/Photo_Album
Cute and clever.

It will give you the option of printing the pictures. On the PSP Masterboy, it seems to hang and I have to do a soft-reset. It's possible that the same behavior will happen on the original rom if you don't have the Gameboy Printer hooked up.

[gtmtnbiker]

Another thing I liked about the game is the various telephone huts scattered across the world. You can go inside and speak with Ulrira who will give you a clue on what you should do next.

[jfe2]

I'll have to find this game and give it a try. I loved Link to the Past, so if this is anything like that I'll most likely enjoy it!

[HellHammer]

If I remember correctly, Nintendo once did an interview where they discussed the similarities and history between Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past. When Nintendo had finished Adventures of Link they immediately started to create a third Zelda game for the NES. However, early in development they decided to instead create new Zelda games for SNES and GameBoy and proceeded to split what was to be Zelda 3 into two different games, which explains why they're so different and yet so similar.

I've also heard that the option of dedicating each of the B or A weapon brackets in Link's Awakening came from Zelda 3.

[noiseredux]

If I remember correctly, Nintendo once did an interview where they discussed the similarities and history between Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past. When Nintendo had finished Adventures of Link they immediately started to create a third Zelda game for the NES. However, early in development they decided to instead create new Zelda games for SNES and GameBoy and proceeded to split what was to be Zelda 3 into two different games, which explains why they're so different and yet so similar.

I've also heard that the option of dedicating each of the B or A weapon brackets in Link's Awakening came from Zelda 3.

not to mention that a lot of the sprites from Link To The Past were flat out re-used for Link's Awakening.

[izdead]

This is my favorite Legend of Zelda game.

I remember playing this game for the first time on a Gameboy Pocket. You couldn't pull me away from it. Honestly, I think it is probably the most well designed Zelda game.

Same with me, It was my first gameboy game, and its still my fav zelda game. I loved messing around with the warp screen trick using the select button.