Links Awakening: Best Gameboy game ever? (The Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening (GB))

Member Name: MonsoonBaby

Product:	The Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening (GB)
Date:	10/07/09 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Challenging, exciting, a satisfying addition to the Zelda series.

Disadvantages: Perhaps too hard for some children.

The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening is the forth installment from the Zelda series, and it marks the first installment for the handheld console.

Link's Awakening follows the hero Link stranded on Koholint Island. Whilst most of the Zelda games are set in the fictional world of Hyrule, with the enemy Ganon making a regular appearance, Link's Awakening scraps both of these in favour of a different fictional world. Koholint Island is watched over by a magnificent whale-like creature named the Wind Fish. Link soon realises that if the Wind Fish is awoken, he is able to escape Koholint Island. The Wind Fish can only be awaken by the playing of a combination of eight instruments, and so the game revolves around Link's quest to gather all eight instruments for the grand finale.

However, it is not all that simple. In order to gather these instruments, Link has to fight a variety of enemies, explore and solve puzzles. The regular mazed dungeons full of traps and monsters make an appearance here, and although they can be very challenging, they are still highly enjoyable to explore. To keep the game challenging, these dungeons increase in difficulty as the game goes on. The same can be said for the bosses, which are also very imaginative.

The life system is simple. At the bottom right of the screen, five hearts are displayed. Everytime Link is hit, half of a heart will disappear. When all five hearts have vanished, it is game over. The player will restart at the last door or section they had visited, which can sometimes be frustrating if they had got significantly far without another door close to them.

The controls are simple. As this is from the first Gameboy handheld console, the player uses the A and B buttons to assign items or to attack, whilst the control pad/d pad is used to move in whatever direction is needed.

Although the main quest takes quite some time to complete, the player can find themselves playing a number of side-missions also. For instance, by collecting rupees [the currency in the game], the player can try an arcade style game in which they attempt to win a cuddly toy [in the form of Yoshi]. Players can also collect seashells which can be exchanged at a shrine for a powerful sword. The player is also able to freely wander around the island and interact with the villagers. Some of the villagers will often be rather helpful, and give hints to Link as to where to go next.

The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening is perhaps one of [if not the] best game in the Zelda series to date. It may not be set in Hyrule like the rest of the games in this popular series, but it still retains the charm of the others. Although the 8-bit music may not feature the usual sweeping orchestral score that the newer Zelda games feature, the music is still memorable and recognisable, and feels rather nostalgic when playing it nowadays. There is tons of replay value, and it is a definate must play for not only Zelda fans, but any Nintendo fans too.

Summary: Perhaps the best game in the Zelda series with plenty of replay value.