The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

Link wakes up on the beach of an unknown island, the girl Marin leaning over him, and in the distance a giant Egg looms atop a mountain. No Princess Zelda, no Kingdom of Hyrule. Link's Awakening is the strangest, most personal, and perhaps the most beautiful Zelda Nintendo ever created.

The game began as a side project by developers in their free time, an experiment in bringing Zelda to the handheld Game Boy. The result was a dreamlike, melancholic adventure set on the island of Koholint, a place that, as the player gradually discovers, may not be as real as it seems. This narrative boldness and the undertone of sadness make Link's Awakening one of the most cherished installments in the series.

Mechanically it was a classic top-down action adventure. You traverse dungeons, solve puzzles, obtain items, and gradually unlock new areas. But the game also brought novelties, such as the ability to assign two items to buttons at once, which opened up ingenious combinations. Nor was there any shortage of humor and charming references to other Nintendo worlds, including little characters from the Mario games who wandered in here.

The DX version came out later specifically for the Game Boy Color and brought the full color graphics that the original monochrome game lacked. The main addition was an entirely new color dungeon where distinguishing colors mattered, and the reward for conquering it was a special tunic. The DX edition is thus considered the definitive form of this classic.

Culturally, Link's Awakening proved that a grand adventure can fit into the palm of your hand and that a portable Zelda need not be a compromise but a full-fledged experience. The game earned high praise from critics and a remake on the Nintendo Switch in 2019, which translated its dreamlike world into cute, toylike graphics. Even so, the Game Boy Color original has a magic that time has not worn away.

Why play it: A dreamlike, melancholic, and unexpectedly personal Zelda you can enjoy to the fullest in full color on the Game Boy Color. One of the most beautiful installments in the series.