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The Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening is also known as Dreaming Island in Japan published and developed solely by Nintendo for the Gameboy. This was the first Legend of Zelda game in the series debuting on the handheld Nintendo console. Links Awakening was released in June 1993 in Japan and later in that year for North America and Europe. This is the fourth Zelda game in the series.

To make a change for the series this adventure does not take place in Hyrule, doesn't feature The Triforce and Gannon has no part. Link is washed up on Koholint Island after his boat is shipwrecked coming to Link is surrounded by a strange villagers that taken in the hero for him to recover. Looking over the Island is The Wind Fish and Link is soon to learn that he must awaken the mysterious creature in order to leave the island. On the island there are monsters and Link must solve a plethora of puzzles along with learning songs on the flute in order to complete the quest.

The Story

Proceeding the events of A Link to the Past Link travels on the oceans aboard a boat when all of a sudden a storm strikes down his transport he awakens on the mysterious island of Koholint. A man named Tarin and his daughter Marin rescue Link until he awakens to discover the mystery of The Wind Fish. Once Link recovers his blade on the shores he was washed up upon a wise owl tells Link of The Wind Fish and of the eight instruments he must awaken The Wind Fish from his eternal slumber in order to leave the island.

The Original Remake

Link's Awakening was an instant success the ability to adapt such an adventure filled with the length and depth that it has onto a handheld console was such an achievement despite lacking any colour. The game however was re-released in 1998 for the Gameboy Color under the name The Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening DX. The whole game featured coloured graphics, compatible with the Gameboy printer with the introduction of a camera shop in the village and also a new dungeon. Although not very many significant changes were made Links Awakening DX it received higher scores than the original both copies combined have sold over 6 million worldwide.

New Features

Link's Awakening takes place on Koholint Island which is a completely different setting to any of the other Zelda games in the series, I believe the only mentioning is of Zelda in the first part of the game. Links Awakening is an action adventure with similar elements adopted from other Zelda games such as items, controls with additional features such as the roc cape which enabled Link to jump combined with the Pegasus boots could make for a much longer jump.

There are a number of side quests that Link can complete such as collecting secret seashells once Link has enough of these he can receive prizes with the grande prize being a powerful sword which shoots beams with full energy. This was the first game to feature a side quest which is now quite common in the Zelda series. It is necessary to trade objects in sequence to obtain the magnified glass to see which way to go inside The Wind Fish's egg. It is possible to steal an item from the shop in the village as you will be referred to by Thief throughout the remainder of the game and returning to the original shop will result in the shop owner attacking you with a beam of energy draining your life.

What I Have to Say

I got this game for Christmas 1993 and I didn't put it down until I had completed it, quite proud to say I discovered a lot of the secrets for myself due to many hours playing. The box art was simple and gold but I thought it was a trademark from Zelda games with the hype and popularity all the box needs to say is Zelda and it's enough to get fans excited. I played this on my original Gameboy with a large official battery pack however it lasted me for hours on end.

Sounds: The Sounds were great the original Zelda theme tune was there and the music altered to fit the mood and theme.

Graphics: The Graphics on this game were great I felt for the first handheld adventure despite lack of colour it really didn't matter.

Replayability: It was a bit beat once you have completed the game unless you want to find every single heart container and perhaps things you had missed first time around.

I Award The Legend of Zelda: 7/10