I think it’s been pretty obvious that I’ve been on a serious Zelda kick for the past
few months. It had been some time since I’ve sat down and played these games,
and this being one of my favorite game series, it was long overdue.
If someone was to ask me what my favorite Game Boy game was, this is the
game that comes to mind first. I know I’ve said it before, but developers really
got into the groove and really worked out what the Game Boy was really capable
of by 1991 or so. This game is an excellent example of just that. Let me show
you just what I mean.
From first inspection, you see that for a game with the limited palette of the Game
Boy, it still has great detail to the characters and landscapes. This footage comes
from my Retron 5 and an Elgato HD capture device, so it looks extra pretty. But
even back in the 90’s when I was playing it for the first time on an original Game
Boy, it really surprised me how good it looked. Then there’s the music, the music
is my absolute favorite of all Game Boy titles. It has so much personality and
variety to it. Some of it isn’t as “Zelda like” as music in other games. But it fits
this game so well. Even today, there’s something about “Ballad of the Wind Fish”
which really stands out to me. It’s probably one of my favorite bits of music on
the Game Boy.
(me playing “Ballad of the Wind Fish” on guitar, dissolve to Marin singing)
I think the quality of the visuals and sound are testament to the time and care that
went into the creation of this game. Legend has it that the game had its start as a
port of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past that was being developed as a side-
project by Nintendo staff after hours. From there it grew and took on its own life
as an original game with an original story. The influence of Link to the Past is
very obvious in the art design of this game. While it is a younger sibling to the 16
bit entry to the Zelda franchise, it has it’s own personality and introduces quite a
few elements which carried over into later Zelda titles. I’ll get into those a little bit
later.
By now, I think you already know about my opinion and thoughts on the timeline
of the Zelda series. So I won’t trouble you with that. This game could really fit
just about anywhere. There are no returning characters aside from Link and not
unlike Majora’s Mask, it takes place somewhere other than Hyrule. In this story
Link finds himself shipwrecked and lost at sea. He washes up, unconscious on
Koholint Island, and is discovered by a girl named Tarin, she brings him to Mabe
Village to the home she shares with her father Marin to recover. Link makes his
way back to the shore and recovers his sword. Then he encounters a talking owl
who acts as a guide for Link in this game who tells us about the Wind Fish who
needs to awoken in order to return home. Link then sets out to collect the 8
musical instruments hidden in dungeons across the island. Playing them all
will open the last dungeon and ultimately wake the Wind Fish. That’s the story in
a nut shell… or egg shell if you prefer.
There are a lot of elements to this game which I think are just so great. Like
how self-aware this game is. The kids that break the fourth wall and tell you
things like how to save the game always amused me. The inclusion of things
from the Mario series, like Shyguys, Pokeys, Wart, Mario’s face on your wall,
a photo of Princess Peach and some really angry looking Bob-Ombs really
made things different. Those aren’t the only characters from other Nintendo
games. We’ve got Dr. Wright from the SNES SimCity, and Prince Richard from
a Japanese Game Boy title which I don’t think was released elsewhere… and
hey! Is that Kirby? Naturally, I got a huge kick out of this stuff back when I was
13 or however old I was back when I first played this.
Something I realize now, which I had no clue about before, mainly because
I had never played Ocarina of Time until more recently is how there are a
few elements which this game introduces that carry over into Ocarina. The
most obvious one of course being the Ocarina, and needing to learn to play
songs on it. The mysterious owl guide is another obvious one. Also one
that stands out to me is that you’ll need to ready your shield to deflect things,
that I think has appeared in most Zelda games since this one. While you
also have to equip it in this one, having to ready the shield becomes a pretty
important element in later games. That started here too. Also, while Marin and
Tarin only inhabited Koholint Island, characters named Malon and Talon appeared
in several later Zelda games.
Interesting elements, good graphics and sound are all important factors in making
a good game, but they don’t mean all that much if the game doesn’t play well.
The gameplay in this game is pretty decent. You pick up all the familiar sub
weapons and choose where to equip them between the A or B buttons. You can
also change which button uses your sword, or even equip more than one sub
weapon, at the expense giving up use of the sword until you equip it again.
That’s one of the biggest issues about the gameplay. You can switch out the
sword and shield, and sometimes you have to switch them out. The shield isn’t
such a bad thing, and some of the items or sub weapons are way more useful
anyway, but Link without his sword is like a day without sunshine. I can
understand why they did things this way, so you can have all the abilities you
did in A Link to the Past, despite the limited number of buttons on the Game
Boy. I guess they worked out the best way to do it, but having to switch out your
weapons and items constantly can get a little bit annoying at times. Especially
with the shield, you have to not just have it equipped, but you also have to ready
it by holding the button you have it assigned to. Before this game, the shield did
its thing automatically in the previous Zelda games. But there are some
gameplay elements introduced by having the shield used this way, the shield
push and shield bump moves are pretty neat, and those mechanics probably
wouldn’t work in previous Zelda games. So I see why they did it. But most of the
time it renders the shield less effective, I’d rather keep the feather or the bracelet
equipped.
The feather is one of my favorite items they added in this game, giving Link
the ability to jump in the overhead environment, and the side scrolling
sections too. Side scrolling sections? You heard me right. Remember the
tunnels in the original Zelda? Well take that and add in a huge helping of
Super Mario Bros. and it’s kind of like that. Complete with Goombas and
Piranha plants. Using the feather you can even stomp on the Goombas like
Mario. Which is totally out of place in a Zelda game, but I love it.
Just like with most Zelda games, there is some excellent problem solving
required to get you through the dungeons. Coming off of A Link to the Past,
there was no way Nintendo was going to slack off when it came to this. Even
the hints were a puzzle, requiring you to find stone slabs to complete a
tablet on the walls. While I feel much of the game is somewhat easier than
it’s 16-bit sibling, there are a few things in the dungeons which will leave you
scratching your head. Another thing nice about the dungeons is that all of
them have a mid-stage boss encounter, and while you need to defeat the
mid-boss to progress, doing so also activates a teleport which will send you
to and from the entrance room, which is very handy if you get yourself
killed. Also, much like A Link to the Past, there are tricks to beating most,
if not all of the bosses. You can’t just dive in, brandishing your sword with
reckless abandon, you need to jump, throw, bomb, launch arrows or use your
hookshot your way past them and to the magical musical instrument of the
dungeon.
As many of you already know, there’s not just a version of this for the original
Game Boy, but one for the the Game Boy Color as well, Link’s Awakening DX
or Deluxe isn’t just a version of the game that was colorized like an old movie,
but there were new features added including synergy with the Game Boy
printer and also an extra dungeon which upon its completion, granted the
player their choice of a red or blue tunic, improving their attack or increasing
their defense. That dungeon is of course optional, and the core of the game is
identical. I know most reviewers will talk about that version. But the original is
the one I have nostalgia for, so I chose this one. That said, I do have the DX
version downloaded on my 3DS.
As I stated earlier, this is, without any doubt, my favorite Game Boy game. It
shows it’s age a bit, and while I’d not call it perfect, I still thoroughly enjoy the
game. Much like with the original Zelda, I’m amazed at how much of it I
remembered.
Chances are, if you’re a Game Boy fan like me, you’ve already played it, but
if not, check this or the Deluxe version out.
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