Link’s Awakening
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The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Japanese title: ゼルダの伝説: 夢をみる島, Zeruda no Densetsu: Yume o Miru Shima; Japanese subtitle meaning "Dreaming Island") was a 1993 video game, originally created for the Game Boy. A color version, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (夢をみる島DX), was created for the Game Boy Color in 1998. The latter is compatible with the Game Boy Printer and features a new dungeon. The music for the game was composed by Koji Kondo, composer of the music for many other Nintendo games (not just those in the Zelda series).
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Gameplay
Link's Awakening was an action-adventure game, as are all games in the Legend of Zelda series. Being played from a viewpoint above the playfield looking down at Link and his surroundings, it followed its closest relative from the Legend of Zelda line of games, A Link to the Past (which in itself is a further developed version of the original NES Legend of Zelda), in its sense of gameplay and the possible actions that could be performed in the game.
Link's Awakening was the first of the topview games in the series (that excludes Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, which is more of a platformer with RPG elements) to feature jumping and platformer action scenes. The treasure caves from Legend of Zelda (platformer scenes seen from the side found in dungeons where treasures lay hidden) make a cameo appearance in Link's Koholint adventure, and other side-view scenes (e.g. the chamber below the first dungeon boss or the hiding spot of the fisherman below the bridge) were added also to make full use of Link's new jumping abilities.
Also appearing for the first time in a Zelda game were fishing, a trading sequence, and flying around using a cucco (a rooster in this case).
Presentation
Title screen of the monochrome original.The graphic style was similar to that of a cartoon. The intro and ending utilized nearly fullscreen comic stillframes in this style. With the release of Link's Awakening DX, the game only required minor changes (colorization and the addition of a photographer's shop, another dungeon and advanced armor were the most significant) as it was already considered by Nintendo to be of very high quality. The DX version of the game was well received on the market and was able to outsell the successful Pokémon games in Japan for a brief time.
In 2001, Nintendo and Capcom released the Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons games for the Game Boy Color. The two games used large parts of the graphics and sounds of the 1993 monochrome original as well as much of the 8-year-old program code, including nearly all of the music playing code.
Story
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Link on his ship, opening scene of the DX version.This is the first game in the series to take place outside Hyrule and the main "Triforce" storyline, and can therefore be considered one of a number of Zelda side stories. These side stories are games in which Ganon is not the principal antagonist, such as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for the Nintendo 64. This is also the only Zelda game not to feature Princess Zelda at all. She is only alluded to at the very beginning.
After training abroad, Link is sailing back to Hyrule, but he is soon shipwrecked in a violent storm. He awakens on Koholint Island, in the house of a kind man named Tarin, and his daughter Marin (who bears a strong resemblance to Princess Zelda). Tarin, for his part, bears a passing resemblance to Nintendo's mascot, Mario, and, not coincidentally, adores the taste of mushrooms. A mysterious owl tells Link that to return home, he must awaken the Wind Fish (風のさかな, Kaze no Sakana) by gathering and playing the eight Instruments of the Sirens. The bosses in Link's Awakening, who guard the Sirens' Instruments, are said to be the Nightmares of the Wind Fish. When Link plays the Ballad of the Wind Fish with all eight Instruments, he can enter the giant egg atop Mt. Tamaranch, where the Wind Fish slumbers. There he must face the final Nightmares, shadowy apparitions which include umbral visions of foes from Link's past.
DX version
Title screen of the color remake.In 1998, Link's Awakening DX was released for the Game Boy Color. Many fans of the game, despite already owning the original version, bought the DX version because of the new color scheme. This was one of the few deluxe versions of Game Boy games, along with the cancelled Metroid II: Return of Samus DX and Kirby's Dream Land 2 DX.
One addition to the DX version was the entirely new (and well-hidden) Color Dungeon. The Color Dungeon made use of the Game Boy Color's capabilities to deliver puzzles based on color. It featured two minibosses and a boss; the minibosses were a golem, which rains rocks on Link, and a giant Buzz Blob. The Nightmare was Evil Orb, a resilient color-shifting creature which resembled certain nearly indestructible enemies from A Link to the Past. Once the player beat the dungeon, Link was given the choice of a Red Tunic or a Blue Tunic. The Red Tunic allowed Link to become more powerful, while the Blue Tunic raised his defense. The player could return there to switch to the other tunic at any time, but once Link put on one of the new tunics there was no way to change back to his traditional green.
Another new feature of the DX version was a Camera Shop and photo album. Note that this is not to be confused with the Pictobox camera from Majora's Mask and The Wind Waker, as the player did not actually snap the photo. Instead, certain actions triggered cutscenes in which the Camera Shop owner would appear and take a picture. The pictures could be viewed in the player's photo album at the Camera Shop, and printed using the Game Boy Printer. This feature included the addition of an invisible Zora in the Animal Village as one of the triggers.
A hint system in the dungeons of the game, which used a stone tablet piece to complete a hint message on a wall tile, was replaced with an owl's beak that, when used with one of the corresponding owl's body tiles, allowed the player to receive hints from a stone owl "guide".
Link's Awakening as part of the series
Link's Awakening (including the DX version) is the best-selling Zelda game for a portable gaming system to date, surpassing the successful re-release of A Link to the Past on the Game Boy Advance. It has, however, suffered from the stigma of being technically inferior to the previous SNES game.
Despite this, many characters and items from Link's Awakening were carried over to newer Zelda games and have become important elements of the Legend of Zelda series as a whole. Among others, Marin and Tarin have become major influences on the Zelda games—especially The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Cameos
Bow-Wow the Chain-Chomp, tied to a post.Alternate Music from the game Mario Paint makes a cameo "appearance" in the game. If the player takes Link into Richard's Villa, and waits for the music to loop a few times, a small little snippet of music will play. Wart of Super Mario Bros. 2 appears in a cave beneath the Signpost Maze as Mamu (the Japanese word for "wart"). Richard, a character from a Game Boy title only released in Japan, Kaeru no tame ni kane wa naru (translated as A Bell Tolls for the Frog). He made a deal with Link by letting him get the Slime Key in Pothole Field after he retrieves Richard's Golden Leaves from Kanalet Castle. In his villa are filled with frogs, which "Kaeru" means "Frog". A remixed version of the main theme music from the same game he came from is also in his villa. Dr. Wright, a character based on The Sims creator Will Wright, from the SNES version of SimCity and SimCity 64 (Japan-Only). Called "Mr. Write" in this game, he is one of the characters involved in the trading game. His theme music also made it into the game. Princess Peach of the Mario series appears in a picture sent to Mr. Write by his pen-pal. Yoshi of the Mario series appears as a doll. The doll is the first item collected in the trading game. In the Eagle's Tower, there is an enemy called an Anti-Kirby (an evil version of the Nintendo character Kirby), who will try to suck Link up into his mouth as he passes by. Making a return from A Link to the Past, a Chain Chomp from Super Mario Bros. 3 appears in this game. He's not an enemy this time, however, he's a domesticated pet in Mabe Village, named "Bow-Wow". Smaller "puppy" chomps are also present in the general vicinity of Bow-Wow's doghouse; one of these can talk and contributes to the Trading Game. Various other baddies from the Mario series appear throughout the game, including Goomba, Thwomp, Boo, Cheep-Cheep, Blooper, Pokey, Bob-Omb, Shy Guy, Piranha Plant, Podoboo (a fireball), and Spark.
Trading sequence
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. An important part of the game is the trading of items, leading up to the discovery of the Magnifying Glass, which Link needs to read the book called "Dark Secrets And Mysteries Of Koholint" at the Library.
The sequence begins when Link wins a Yoshi doll playing the Trendy Game in Mabe Village. Mamahl, the quadruplets' mother, wants it for her baby and is willing to trade Link a pretty ribbon.
A small, fashion-conscious puppy in Madam MeowMeow's doghouse surrenders her canned dog food for the must-have accessory.
Sale, the Alligator trader at Sale's House O' Bananas on the beach "collects" canned food (in his stomach, apparently), and in return gives Link a free bunch of bananas.
While trying to find a way into Kanalet Castle, Link generously feeds Kiki the Monkey, who calls in friends to build a bridge. They leave behind a stick, which Link later gives to Tarin in the Ukuku Praire, who knocks down a beehive to get a honeycomb but gets chased off by the bees.
Chef Bear of Animal Village loves to cook with fresh honey and gladly offers Link his pineapple for the delicacy. The fruit is a perfect restoratif for Papahl, who has gotten lost in the Tal Tal Mountains (as he prophesied earlier). He gives Link a hibiscus in thanks– which just happens to be Christine the Goat's favorite flower.
When Link visits her in Animal Village, she asks him to deliver a letter to her penpal Mr. Write near Goponga Swamp. Thrilled to hear from her (and receive a somewhat... abstract photograph), he rewards Link with the only thing he has lying around, a broom.
Grandma Ulrira, coincidentally, has now worn hers down to nothing with excessive sweeping, and when Link makes a gift of the broom in his posession, she turns over the fishing hook she found while sweeping by Martha's Bay.
Under a bridge in the bay, Link finds a Fisherman who hasn't been having much luck. Begging the hook off Link, he offers up his next catch, which turns out to be a necklace (Note: This was a bikini top in the Japanese and black-and-white European versions). Thrilled to get it back, the Mermaid lets Link take a scale from her tail.
When Link sets the scale in Schule Donavitch's Mermaid Statue overlooking the bay, he finally gains access to the cave where the Magnifying Glass lies hidden. With this in his possession, he can read the enigmatic book, and also make one final trade: a previously invisible Goriya in a cave on Toronbo Shores will give Link a powerful 'hidden' weapon, the Boomerang, in exchange for certain items from his inventory (like his shovel).
Glitches
Link's Awakening was well known for the infamous 'screen warp' glitch. First published in Nintendo Power volume 50, the Screen Warp glitch allows the player to reach places that would ordinarily be off limits.
The game world is divided into many small areas ('screens'), and when Link came to the edge of a screen, he would move via a scroll effect to the opposite side of the next as it scrolled in. As the character leaves one screen, the game activates several sets of variables that separately move the screen position and then the character sprite. However, the programmers neglected to disable button controls during this action, thereby enabling the Screenwarp glitch; if Select is pressed at the precise moment that the screen begins to shift, the variable that tells the game to move Link is not activated. Thus, the character will have "warped" all the way to the other side of the screen.
This glitch, while giving the player immense freedom within the game world, is not without faults. Misuse of the glitch can result in Link finding himself stuck in a wall, tree or other object. Additionally, certain actions taken in the game (such as fighting the boss in Eagle's Tower without lowering the pillars, then going back and fighting again) can result in getting too many hearts, something the game was not designed to handle. On some games, this has corrupted entire save files.
Due to these problems, the Screen Warp glitch was fixed in later shipments of the black and white game, and does not exist at all in the DX edition (some unconfirmed reports suggest it may work in later shipments of the DX cartridge).
However, many other glitches can be performed in the DX version as alternate ways of performing the glitches in the original version. One of these glitches is the "Freaky World" glitch that allows one to enter a world where the tilesets are replaced with ones that do not restrict movement. Unfortunately, saving in this world can corrupt your file.
Note: to access this world, one can either enter a door/cave entrance from the top of the screen using the screen warp, or one can use the screen warp to carry the fisherman in Mabe village down a screen and then rent a fishing rod.
Written by: Admin-Alx
