The latest game in the beloved Legend of Zelda franchise, Link’s Awakening, has been out for a couple of weeks. Wondering how it’s doing with critics? So are we!
Launching alongside the Switch Lite, Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a remake of the Game Boy classic and the first Zelda game to be released exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.
Link washes ashore on Koholint, a tropical island with multiple villages, sandy beaches, swamps, deserts, and forests. Legend holds that those who set foot on the island cannot leave.
Eurogamer’s Tom Phillips doesn’t want to leave. “Koholint Island is a place worth treasuring,” he writes.
The island, he argues, “is as much a character in Link’s adventure as its inhabitants” and “not a square of its map is wasted.”
Metro Game Central was surprised at “the lack of any meaningful additions,” but they say that it “only underlines what a fantastic game the Game Boy original was.”
Giving the game a 9.4 out of 10, IGN’s Joe Skrebels writes that Link’s Awakening “is a remake in the true sense. The story, and every event in it, is completely intact.” He adds that Link’s Awakening is “a masterclass in remaking a classic.”
GameSpot’s Peter Brown was more critical, noting the game’s clumsy attempt at a dungeon creator and occasional drops in framerate. Although “the remake has a couple of blemishes, it’s still an easy game to recommend,” he concludes.
All right, so the consensus is almost universally positive, although the game has occasional frame rate issues and it may be overly loyal to the point of not being terribly original. Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is currently averaging an 87 out of 100 at review aggregator OpenCritic.
