Slight gripes with the new engine and the old source aside, this is still Link's Awakening: one of the best Zelda games to date. Although I don't think I'm going to rotate the DX version out of my yearly Zelda replay sessions, I'll definitely be working the Switch remake in.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, despite its share of technical mishaps, remains one of the most wonderful entries in the series. The charm, gameplay and world building are wonderful to behold and deserve to be seen. The selection of smart fixes makes the game less of a grind and mostly an experience that keeps on trucking. While I don't think much of the Chamber Dungeons and other added trinkets, the refinements made to the overall flow make the journey worth it. For newcomers or Zelda veterans, Link's Awakening is a hoot from beginning to end.

I first played Link's Awakening in black and white, more than 20 years ago, but it coloured my hopes for every Zelda since. Some frame-rate issues on the overworld at launch aside - more an annoyance than anything else - this version surpasses the hopes I had for another visit to its world. Koholint Island deserves nothing less, and while Link must journey to leave its shores, this remake will always be a place which preserves the island for others to follow.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was a technical marvel when it first arrived on the scene back in 1993. Easily one of the great Game Boy releases, it was a first bash at a handheld Zelda that took the formula as perfected by A Link to the Past, jammed it all onto a tiny portable console and, somehow, managed to make it all work while adding a host of new features and concepts to the mix. This beautiful Switch remake rebuilds all of this from the ground up in fine style. It adds modern conveniences, a dungeon creator, amiibo support and lots of little quality of life improvements whilst infusing every single square inch of Koholint – every secret passage, Piranha, Pokey and Pig Warrior – with a level of detail and depth that totally reinvigorates both its timeless story and classic Zelda gameplay for a whole new generation of gamers.

Link’s Awakening is a special adventure and a perfect introduction to even the youngest would-be Zelda fans, but it does fall short at times. The striking new presentation is stellar, even if the game can’t quite keep up with the splendor on the technical side. And the slight enhancements made to the original’s gameplay are mostly for good, even if the biggest new feature (Chamber Dungeons) doesn’t offer much.
 
If you can get over these issues, you’ll find a charming recreation of one of the most approachable Zelda adventures ever made.

Avec The Legend of Zelda : Link's Awakening sur Switch, on tient la preuve que le classique de 1993 se maintient toujours au sommet. La progression et le contenu quasiment inchangés, il fait encore figure de monument au sein d'une saga qui ne manque pourtant pas d'ambassadeurs brillants. Son ravalement de façade - qui s'accompagne malheureusement par moment de chutes de frame rate - et ses mélodies remises au goût du jour, qui ne peuvent laisser insensibles, lui permettent de faire fructifier son héritage et lui offrent une seconde jeunesse totalement méritée. À (re)découvrir absolument.

Link's Awakening est une merveilleuse friandise que nous avons dévoré sans ménagement.
 
Pour les connaisseurs, quelques heures suffisent pour terminer un jeu que l'on n'a plus envie de quitter une fois bouclé, et que l'on continue pour trouver tous les nouveaux collectibles parfois bien cachés. Pour les autres, une belle aventure commence : prenez votre temps !

My most succinct recommendation for the 2019 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening would be this: a couple of weeks ago, having finished the original, I was actively hoping that this wouldn’t be a shot-for-shot remake. Entire decades after the fact, the dungeons felt a little underthought, the controls a bit archaic. Even slowly making your way through the overworld by way of set clues, rather than the kind of self-directed navigation we were allowed in A Link Between Worlds, felt old-fashioned. And yet, as I potter once again across Koholint, digging up its last remaining secrets to avoid turning it off again, I’m delighted to have been wrong. Link’s Awakening retains the style and feel of its 1993 self, but looks and controls like a game – albeit a retro-styled one – made in 2019. In doing so, this feels like it was made in some alternate present, where games remained in 2D, puzzle-focused and strange, but tech improved to support it all. You could, I guess, call it time travel.

Link’s Awakening has always held a special place in my heart, but asking someone to go back to the original release is tough. With this remake, people don’t have any excuses for not playing through one of the best (and strangest) entries. I envy those of you who will be experiencing this for the first time, though revisiting it all these years later is still an absolute pleasure.

The Legend of Zelda : Link’s Awakening remet aux goûts du jour les premières aventures portables de Link pour les réfractaires au pixel art. La direction artistique est magnifique et c’est un plaisir de découvrir ou redécouvrir les personnages et moments iconiques d’un des meilleurs épisodes de la série. Nous aurions aimé voir Grezzo améliorer ou approfondir un peu plus l’expérience en termes d’ajouts et de contenus et il faudra faire avec une durée de vie « d’époque » et quelques concepts archaïque, mais cela n’enlève rien au charme inné de cet opus, que l’on vous conseille avec hâte. Toutefois, il est à noter que le framerate n’en fait parfois qu’à sa tête, alors vous voilà prévenu.

Fichtre, que c'est chou. Quand bien même la seule véritable nouveauté de ce remake (l'éditeur de donjons) s'avère être moins intéressante que prévue, l'île de Cocolint n'a rien perdu de sa magie en vingt-six ans. Le remodelage du jeu est une véritable réussite et permet de découvrir l'un des meilleurs épisodes de la série avec un regard nouveau, en s'attardant sur des choses qui nous auraient échappé à l'époque ou en s'émerveillant des nouveaux arrangements musicaux qui rythment notre ascension vers le Poisson-Rêve. Les rares ajustements opérés et les améliorations liées à l'ergonomie rendent l'expérience plus confortable qu'auparavant, tandis que le matériau de base a été religieusement préservé. Link's Awakening est toujours un petit bijou, un concentré de joie et l'un des épisodes les plus solides de la série, et ce remake constitue aujourd'hui la meilleure façon d'explorer Cocolint. Ou constituera, une fois que les petits soucis de performances seront corrigés.

Though the remake has a couple of blemishes, it's still an easy game to recommend. People speak of Link's Awakening as the secret best Zelda game. That's a tough call to make, but it's definitely one of the best. If you haven't touched a classic Zelda game in a while, Link's Awakening will almost instantly transport you back to the '90s. It's simple, in many ways, but the orchestrated journey still conveys a sense of adventure, and this new version is without question the best way to experience it. And more than anything else, it will put a smile on your face. Remakes are a dime a dozen nowadays and often easy to overlook. Don't make that mistake with Link's Awakening.