Line #13 YMMV/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening


1	* AccidentalInnuendo:
2	** Examining a dresser in the Game Boy releases produces the message "Link checked the chest. Wow! This is a nice chest!" This text was changed in the Switch remake; the dressers are called dressers instead of chests and examining them produces the message "Link checked out the dresser. Yep! Everything checks out!" However, the vanity in Crazy Tracy's house, of all characters, still has the original "chest" description.
3	** Link holds Marin up like an item... and she has a dress. Then the text comments how this could be his "big chance". The Switch remake tweaks this so she's tilted slightly diagonally when Link holds her.
4	** In the ''DX'' version's Color Dungeon, the Fairy Queen tells Link to close his eyes and relax... [[AndYourRewardIsClothes while she changes his clothes]]. Followed by her announcing that she will now "take [him] out." In the Switch version, at least, her dialogue is tweaked to say that she will take him ''outside''.
5	** What the person in charge of the Rapids games says when Link chooses not to do a Rapids Raid or Race again. “If you wanna get wet, we’re always open!”
6	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: It requires little effort on the player's part to interpret the Wind Fish (and by extension, The Owl) as an UngratefulBastard after [[spoiler:it seemingly leaves Link stranded on the ocean at the end of the game]]. Other players have taken to alleviating some of the blame off of the Owl, based on a certain, different interpretation that he genuinely didn't know [[spoiler:what the island was or what would become of it]] when the Wind Fish woke up, and that [[spoiler:he and the Wind Fish only "caught up" with each other after the Nightmares were defeated. As he's revealed to be a part of the Wind Fish's spirit and even the designated "guardian" of his dream world, this would require some pretty selective awareness on the Owl's part if the two weren't in contact through the majority of the game,]] but that's not something the game covers in enough detail to fully dispute the idea.
7	* AntiClimaxBoss: If you managed to complete the FetchQuest and get the Boomerang, the final boss's final form goes down in '''one hit.''' But provided that you don't get/use the Boomerang, it is most likely the hardest battle in the game, and one of the most fun. The Switch remake rectified this by stripping the boomerang of most of its tremendous attack power; it's still highly effective in the fight, but not effective enough to be a OneHitKO.
8	* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper:
9	** "Wow! This looks pretty heavy! You won't be able to lift it with just your bare hands." Mercifully, this goes away once you acquire the Power Bracelet. Obtaining the [[SprintShoes Pegasus Boots]], however, does not get rid of "Oh? What a weird object! There must be some way to tackle this obstacle." This is thankfully absent in the Switch remake, as the messages only appear when checking the pot/skull/stone without the bracelet, and the crystals that are destroyed via the boots also don't automatically display the message either.
10	** Every single Compass, Map, Heart Piece, Seashell, or (Nightmare) Key that you pick up from a chest repeats its tutorial dialogue. The compass is especially egregious, as it is 4-5 text boxes long, each time telling you about its special feature of letting you know a key is in the room. Thankfully, ''only'' the keys gotten from treasure chests do this; the ones that are dropped on the ground do not.
11	** In the DX version, full descriptions repeat ''every time'' you obtain a Guardian Acorn or Piece of Power, which might be irritating enough to make you avoid them on purpose despite their useful benefits, when the original Game Boy version allowed you to quickly exit out with B.
12	* [[AwesomeBosses/TheLegendOfZelda Awesome Bosses]]:
13	** [[EvilDuo The Grim Creeper and Evil Eagle]], the bosses of Eagle's Tower. It's a surprisingly challenging fight in which Link must use whatever weapons necessary to hit the eagle in the head, before using the Mirror Shield to block its wind gusts and feather attacks and slashing at them at the exact right moment.
14	** [[FinalBoss DethI]] is a SequentialBoss who takes on the forms of Link's past enemies, including Moldorm, Agahnim, and ''Ganon himself''.
15	* [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels Awesome Levels]]:
16	** The Face Shrine, a dungeon filled with new puzzles in just about every room and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic beautifully somber music piece]]. The dungeon also does a great job at setting a melancholy tone following the reveal that [[spoiler:Koholint Island is just a dream]].
17	** Eagle's Tower, despite its [[ThatOneLevel difficulty]], is a well-liked dungeon due to its creative ball-and-pillar gimmick, fun boss fight, and a memorable set piece in which a large chunk of the tower ''collapses in on itself''.
18	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Throwing Magic Powder on a Buzz Blob turns it into a skinnier, bug-eyed creature called Cukeman. The same thing happens in ''A Link to the Past'' and the ''Oracle'' games. Here, Cukeman repeats four different phrases in a loop when you speak to it, and the latter three are thought to be references to the Nintendo 64, which was in development at the time. The Switch remake replaces this nonsensical dialogue with some interesting hints that involve getting the tunes for the Ocarina item. Provided that the player hears about this before getting said item, this counts as foreshadowing and avoids BLAM.
19	-->"Hey Mon!"\
20	"You know me, I like short names the best..."\
21	"It can display millions of polygons!"\
22	"I definitely need it, as soon as possible!"
23	* BreatherBoss:
24	** The bosses in Angler's Tunnel and Turtle Rock are ''ridiculously'' easy. Angler Fish you can just hit with your sword rapid-fire and win with no damage. With a Piece of Power active and/or the L-2 Sword[[note]]It is possible to get the L-2 Sword before the boss if you leave the dungeon after collecting the Flippers[[/note]], the fight can be over in about ''3 or 4 seconds''. Hot Head, meanwhile, you can just rapidly-fire the Fire Rod at them and kill 'em almost as easily as the Angler Fish (just ''don't'' let him hit you; four hearts of damage is nothing to sneeze at). It even ''stunlocks'' him. Both of them were strengthened in the remake, though not to a terribly high degree.
25	** Facade of the Face Shrine is rather easily beaten, and even got a [[DegradedBoss downgrade to a mini-boss]] in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle of Seasons]]''. He's a bit trickier in the Switch remake, now capable of dealing CollisionDamage and warping around the arena.
26	* BrokenBase: The remake is divisive in a few ways.
27	** The art style. Some find it to be incredibly unique, cute and charming and love how faithful it is to the original game’s sprites, while others found it to be unappealing and unfitting for ''Zelda'' and wished the art style resembled the original game’s promotional artwork or ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' instead.
28	** The remake's near faithfulness to the Game Boy original has also been divisive. Some are absolutely fine with it due to the game already being great as is, and are happy to see the game's unique identity and design be preserved with only a few quality of life additions to it to make it that much better. Others felt it was [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks too faithful]] for its own good (especially since it's at the same price tag as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', despite the remake being a far smaller and less substantial game by comparison) and wished the remake took more creative liberties and added more new content outside of the dungeon maker.
29	* CaptainObviousReveal: ''Link's '''Awakening'''''? [[spoiler:Why, is he asleep or something?]] That said, the actual details of the reveal are much less apparent from the title.
30	* CatharsisFactor: In all versions of the game, there's a scene where you can take Marin to the Trendy Game and have her grab the game's operator with the claw, getting you kicked out. In the original, this was just a funny moment, but in the Switch remake, it becomes this in part because of him rigging the trendy game with "realistic" claw physics that can randomly drop the item you grabbed.
31	* CommonKnowledge:
32	** The reveal of [[spoiler:Koholint Island being just a dream]] is sometimes cited as the game's TwistEnding. In the game itself, this is directly revealed (with slight ambiguity attached) two-thirds of the way through, and [[spoiler:the Wind Fish's dream]] is an important part of the story from then on. It's dampened somewhat in the Japanese version, since the translated title is [[spoiler:"The Dreaming Island"]].
33	** On the flip side, some players treat the twist as something the game gives away in its early stages or even [[InsaneTrollLogic through its title alone]], thereby negating the need for any spoiler warnings when talking about it. While the Owl tells Link from the beginning that he must wake the Wind Fish to leave the island, he does ''not'' tell him that [[spoiler:doing so will cause the island to disappear, or even that it's part of the Wind Fish's dream.]] Even after all of the hints the game drops and the ambiguous midgame reveal, the Owl acknowledges that the only person who knows ''for sure'' [[spoiler:what the island is and what will happen to it]] is the Wind Fish himself, whom Link does not have a chance to consult until the end of the game.
34	** There is no "Fire Cephalopod". It's just Cue Ball in lava instead of water. Zelda.com's [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer terrible encyclopedia]] is responsible for this one.
35	* DemonicSpiders:
36	** The Vire enemies from the original make a return in the eighth dungeon, and their relatively powerful fireballs and stick-and-move tactics are sure to piss a lot of players off -- until they find the [[KillItWithFire Magic Rod]], [[WhosLaughingNow that is]]. They're easier to hit in the remake, but also take less damage from the Magic Rod.
37	** Same goes for the bomb-tossing, mushroom-like Zirros that populate the eastern prairie. Their bombs do relatively high damage (even when you're submerged in water), they have high defense and are difficult to land a blow on. Their rate of fire is also very quick, resulting in bombs being dropped just about every 1.5 seconds and they deal a full heart of damage. Most of their weaknesses either require ammo or are late-game items. The Switch version makes them a lot easier to deal with, as they throw bombs with less frequency and aren't quite as infuriatingly agile in avoiding your sword, making them vulnerable to a well-timed spin attack.
38	* DisappointingLastLevel: The Wind Fish's egg [[spoiler:isn't a dungeon but just an endless maze]].
39	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
40	** [=BowWow=], the mook-munching Chain Chomp. Many players wish you could keep him with you the whole game.
41	** The Raccoon is well-remembered, despite only appearing for a few minutes at most.
42	* EsotericHappyEnding: Link's stranded in the middle of the ocean at the end of the game. [[spoiler:The implications of this are alleviated in the presumably canonical secret ending, in which Marin becomes either a winged girl or a seagull who can guide him to shore or fetch someone to rescue him.]] The presence of seagulls means he is not too far from shore, so he might just be stuck on another island.
43	* FanNickname:
44	** Once the trailer for the Switch re-release came out, "Chibi Link" became the unofficial fandom name of the redesigned, SuperDeformed Link, in a somewhat similar manner to "Toon Link".
45	** Link in the Switch remake is also sometimes known as Toys/{{Playmobil}} Link due to his resemblance to their figures. Others, for the sake of brevity, simply refer to him as Toy Link.
46	** "Link's Remakening" for the remake itself.
47	* FranchiseOriginalSin: One of the main criticisms of the later ''Zelda'' games prior to ''Breath of the Wild'' is that several items, especially those obtained in the second half of the game, [[UnderusedGameMechanic see very little use]] in both combat and puzzles. ''Link's Awakening'' faces this exact problem, as the three items obtained after the fifth dungeon see very little use in puzzles or combat. However, it's not very noticeable in this game, since the Powerful Bracelet and Mirror Shield are merely upgrades of existing items, while the Magical Rod is still a fairly powerful if redundant weapon. It became far more noticeable when later games like ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' had very unique and interesting items like the Spinner, Dominion Rod, Gust Bellows, and Whip that didn't see much use other than their pre-made targets.
48	* GameBreaker: [[GameBreaker/TheLegendOfZelda Has its own entry in the series page.]]
49	* GoddamnedBats:
50	** The Chamber Dungeons in the Switch version let you add [[MookBouncer Wallmasters]] to your dungeon. Just as annoying as ever, and once they start spawning, they appear in ''every room'', aside from miniboss/boss rooms, for the rest of the dungeon.
51	** The Spiny Beetles ([[Franchise/SuperMarioBros no relation to]] TheSpiny) that camouflage themselves under rocks and skulls are uniquely irritating. The ones hiding under grasses can be easily dispatched with your sword, but the other two require you to get in close and pull off their covering with the Power Bracelet, making it very likely you'll take damage when they skitter right into you.
52	* GoddamnedBoss:
53	** The boss of the Color Dungeon, the Hardhit Beetle, must be continuously attacked to change its shell across the spectrum from blue to red to make it vulnerable, but scoring hits on the boss causes severe knockback, and its shell regenerates very quickly if you fail to keep up the momentum. Not an especially dangerous fight to get through, but it's certainly a tedious and time-consuming one. Interestingly, the Switch remake nerfs the knockback and regeneration effects dramatically, while increasing the boss's attack speed and number of enemies it can call. This effectively turns it into a RushBoss.
54	** Moldorm's back, and just as annoying as he was in his first appearance. Fall off his platform-- which is even ''smaller'' than it was in ''A Link to the Past''-- at any point, and once again he'll be restored to full health. On top of that, you have less health when facing him this time around, although here you can at least quickly teleport from the dungeon entrance to just a couple of rooms away from his chamber, and Roc's Feather lets you jump over it. The remake's take on Moldorm isn't as bad as it was in the original, considering Moldorm only moves crazily when his weak spot is hit. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as he can go down with just TWO sword spin attacks.
55	* GoodBadBugs:
56	** The game positively oozes them. The screenwarp glitch, for instance.[[note]]The way it works: Press Select just as the screen starts to scroll when crossing from one screen to another. If done correctly, you'll end up on the opposite side of the next screen. If done improperly, ends up as a GameBreakingBug.[[/note]] Note that this was fixed in the DX version.
57	** [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170306053722/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGCL0EPSZxU This TAS]] exploits every possible good bad bug for all it's worth, for the sole purpose of moving faster and bypassing any and all time-consuming events. ''And this is the UpdatedRerelease version''. Watch for the incredible diagonal superdash! Marvel at how Link manages to walk straight over pits! Gaze at the technically-impossible Hookshot tricks that'll leave your brain in a seizure!
58	** [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170207112340/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XUGVrJyy2c This TAS]] of the original game breaks it even further, skipping ''all'' of the dungeons and going ''straight'' for the Nightmare Boss.
59	** If you have the rooster and the boomerang, you have an impossible to beat combo. First, throw the boomerang and then grab the rooster before you catch it. The boomerang continues to move below you as you use the rooster to hover and it will follow you every where. Hovering with the rooster makes you nigh invincible and the boomerang continues to do damage to anything it touches. The only downside is that you have to let go of the rooster and catch the boomerang before you can move on to the next screen.
60	** Saving and quitting immediately after buying a big-ticket item will halt the removal of funds, letting you keep a large amount of your rupees in the original Game Boy version (the DX edition fixed this one).
61	** If the player times it correctly, bringing up the continue/save and quit screen, then continuing allows them to skip most treasure chest dialogues. This is useful for skipping long chest dialogues, such as the compass.
62	** By timing it just right, you can jump over some blocks and dungeon walls with the Roc's Feather. This is used a lot in speedrunning, such as skipping a good portion of Face Shrine.
63	** The boss of Face Shrine, Facade, can be damaged with bombs before the actual boss fight starts. Dropping a bomb right before it appears will damage it.
64	** In the Switch version, you can skip Kanalet Castle by clipping into Richard's backyard to grab the Slime Key (which involves jumping and dying in mid-air via a bomb explosion while landing on top of a fox lured there from Mabe Village, then reviving using the Secret Medicine, which respawns you on top of the fence). This has the side effect of letting you keep [=BowWow=] past the Bottle Grotto, even bringing him into the cutscene where Marin and Link sit on the beach, which totally spoils the mood of an otherwise poignant cutscene. Unfortunately, you still can't keep [=BowWow=] forever, since he disappears once the game reloads while Marin is in your party.
65	** The same "die and land on a fox" trick can be used to skip ever going to Animal Village and Yarna Desert, by taking a fox to the lock that opens Angler's Tunnel. Turns out, you can just walk through the waterfall once you're on the ledge.
66	* GoodBadTranslation:
67	** The "Bucket Mouse" answering the phone in Old Man Ulrira's house [[https://www.glitterberri.com/links-awakening/staff-questionnaire/ is actually meant to be a reference to the fishing shop Bucketmouth in Osaka, Japan]]. But this inside joke would go over English speakers' heads, while the idea of a talking mouse with a telephone living in a bucket somewhere on Koholint is pretty amusing in its own right and fits right in with the other general weirdness you encounter on the island. Notably, while the Switch remake touched up the translation in places, Bucket Mouse was kept.
68	** The final boss's last form is called "[=DethI=]". It's supposed to be "Death Eye", but for a lot of people, it was pronounced "Dethl" because the uppercase "I" looks a lot like a lowercase "l" on many fonts. For some people, "Dethl" was actually the preferred name for sounding more like a fantasy creature.
69	* GrowingTheBeard:
70	** While every ''Zelda'' game on a new platform has advanced the series in one way or another (and they've always been good games), ''Link's Awakening'' was the first to be truly narrative-driven and to include NPC characters with distinct likeable personalities (which, among other things, led to Marin becoming one of the most perennially-popular "Zelda girls" alongside the titular deuteragonist). The game's predecessor, ''A Link to the Past'', told a fairly typical hero's journey story about a young knight and a princess. ''Link's Awakening'' features the series' first dive into existentialism, which would remain a running theme with the series through its run.
71	** ''Link's Awakening'' also codified the general dungeon design that was faithfully followed for the next 20 years: Traverse dungeon that has a certain type of obstacle, defeat a miniboss who is guarding an item. Use said item to overcome the obstacles featured in the dungeon and obtain the boss key, defeat boss using the item. Incidentally, it was also the first game where each dungeon had its own unique dungeon theme, as well as a confirmed canonical name that was displayed on screen when you entered.
72	* HilariousInHindsight:
73	** In a way, the Manga adaptation by Ataru Cagiva managed to reveal something regarding the game's development and the final battle. In his version of the final battle, the Shadow Nightmares provide some BossBanter towards Link as he fights them, much like other bosses in the game. In the [[ContentLeak July 2020 Gigaleak]], a graphic file for the game reveals that Dark Link was to have a role much like what Cagiva had written into the manga, although acting more as a MouthOfSauron to the Shadow Nightmares.
74	** There's a village of animals in this game, years before ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' would debut on the Nintendo 64 in Japan.
75	* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: The Switch remake received some criticism for being largely the same as the original Game Boy version. The only real differences are the patched up mechanics and the addition of the Dungeon Maker.
76	* ItsShortSoItSucks: The game, both the original and the Switch remake, were criticized for its relatively short length. Though the game sports the series' usual nine dungeons format, plus an additional four mini-dungeons, the condensed overworld and having little in terms of sidequests meant that the game can be beaten in approximately ten hours, which is short by ''Zelda'' standards.
77	* ItWasHisSled: The true nature of Koholint Island [[spoiler:being a dream]] is well-known in the ''Zelda'' fanbase, even among the fans who never played the game.
78	* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:[[TheOwlKnowingOne The Owl]] is the guardian of the Wind Fish's dream, who was overthrown when the Nightmares invaded. Seeking to use Link to awaken the Wind Fish and [[WellIntentionedExtremist put an end to the Nightmares]], the Owl poses as a friendly guide and tells him that he can only return to Hyrule by waking the Wind Fish, utilizing lies and half-truths as he leads him to hide the [[AllJustADream true nature]] of the island. When Link discovers the truth, the Owl dismisses it as a rumor and continues nudging him forward, despite knowing that the quest will end in the [[DreamApocalypse the island and all of its inhabitants being erased from existence]]. Upon Link's victory, the Owl visits him a final time and reveals the truth, thanking him for saving the Wind Fish [[FaceDeathWithDignity before vanishing along with the rest of Koholint Island]].]]
79	* MemeticBadass: The [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass shopkeeper]] who will instantly OneHitKill Link by [[ShockAndAwe summoning lightning from his hands and shocking him to death]] if you [[FiveFingerDiscount steal from him]] and [[TooDumbToLive come back]]. It makes one wonder why [[YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood he doesn't go on the quest to save everyone rather than Link]], since he's [[PhysicalGod apparently far more powerful than Link could ever hope to be]]. He has a reputation as possibly the most powerful character in the entire series because of this. Not even ''[[GreaterScopeVillain Ganondorf]]'' can just [[StoryBreakerPower instantly murder Link without batting an eye]] the way that this guy does.[[note]]It may have something to do with the fact that [[spoiler:he and everyone else on the island are AllJustADream]].[[/note]]
80	* MemeticMutation: Link checked the chest. Wow! [[AccidentalInnuendo This is a nice chest!]] [[labelnote:Explanation]]A quote that, due to its wording, can be interpreted differently by more dirty-minded people. This text was changed in the remake.[[/labelnote]]
81	* {{Moe}}: Link and ''especially'' Marin in the Switch remake thanks to their adorable designs, [[ShipTease heartwarming interactions with each other]], and the latter's SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel singing voice.
82	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
83	** Marin singing in the Switch remake, as well as her excited squeals and laughter when you do things like dig holes and play the Trendy Game with her.
84	** The ocarina sounds in the Switch remake are also very pleasant to listen to.
85	* {{Narm}}:
86	** The [[Heartwarming/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening touching scene with Link and Marin on the beach]] is immediately followed the ItemGet sequence, ''with Marin as the "item" being obtained.'' Seeing Link hold Marin over his head looks ridiculous and ruins the mood. On the other hand, it's also [[Funny/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening incredibly funny.]]
87	** In the Switch remake, you can utilize a glitch to keep [=BowWow=] past the point where you are supposed to return him to Madam Meow Meow. Doing this will have Bow Wow cheerfully nibbling on Link's ass during the aforementioned moment with Marin on the beach, completely destroying the romantic mood.
88	* OlderThanTheyThink:
89	** ''Link's Awakening'' isn't the first handheld Zelda game. That goes to the Zelda ''VideoGame/GameAndWatch'' game, released in 1989. It is the first traditional Zelda game on a handheld however.
90	** During the reveal of the Switch remake of ''Link's Awakening'', people were genuinely confused by the presence of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''-related enemies like Chain Chomps and Goombas. They didn't know that such enemies were also in the original game. Chain Chomps also appeared in ''A Link to the Past'' as enemies in Turtle Rock.
91	** There have been multiple claims that the Angler Fish was given a new attack in the Switch remake where it rams the wall and causes rubble to fall. This attack was actually present in the original Game Boy releases; most likely, the boss would [[BreatherBoss go down so quickly]] that many players never saw it use this attack.
92	** The photos taken in the photography sidequest in ''DX'' depict Link and other characters as chibis, very much like the Switch remake.
93	* {{Padding}}: The sequence between Levels 4 and 5 where a ghost starts following Link, requiring the player to visit his house by the beach, and then return him to his grave. This part has no bearing on the plot whatsoever, is never mentioned again, and no item is acquired upon completing it.[[note]]In the Switch remake, however, the ghost will give you a bottle.[[/note]] However it is nevertheless mandatory, as attempting to go to Level 5 while the ghost is in tow will only result in him nagging you. That being said, it's an interesting story beat that helps to reinforce the game's themes of existentialism; the ghost having to let go of his past reflects the similar message that Link can't stay on Koholint Island forever.
94	* RemadeAndImproved: With more buttons to divide items between (and thus significantly less time spent swapping which button is mapped to which item), less tedious dialogue boxes, a complete overhaul of the rather dated graphics and sound, the Color Dungeon being made colourblind-friendly, and fairies catchable in glass bottles, the 2019 remake is a marked improvement over the original and ''DX''.
95	* SacredCow: While perhaps not to the same extent as other titles such as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' or ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', ''Link's Awakening'' is generally regarded as one of the best 2D titles in the series and one of the best titles on the Game Boy, while also massively pushing the series forward. Not that, it also achieved a genuinely strange, unsettling dream-like world unlike anything seen before, and experimented with themes of melancholy and existensialism, all running on the ''Game Boy''. To say it is considered a masterpiece is an understatement.
96	* ScrappyMechanic:
97	** Guardian Acorns and Pieces of Power, due to their repetitive jingle interrupting the music whenever one is active, as well as a long dialogue box appearing every time they're picked up, which could be skipped in the original version but not in the ''DX''. This is somewhat fixed in the remake by toning down the annoyance of the jingle and having the item run on a timer, rather than persisting until Link takes enough damage.
98	** While inventory juggling is constant in most ''Zelda'' games, it's much more prominent in this game since Link's sword and shield count as items, along with the ability to lift things and the Pegasus Boots, so he has to manage those along with everything else. Combined with the frequent item-requiring roadblocks on the overworld, it takes a lot of menu finagling just to get some places. The Ocarina slows things down more since its song sub-menu pops up whenever you scroll over it. The remake, which has more buttons to play with, equips the sword and the shield automatically (along with the Power Bracelet and the Pegasus Boots), meaning significantly less time wasted with item juggling.
99	** [[WarpWhistle Warping]] is more limited in this game compared to ''A Link to the Past'' and even the original NES game. The only natural fast-travel Link has is by playing Manbo's Mambo, which plops him in roughly the center of the overworld. The other warp system is with the warp holes, of which there are only four (one of them is hidden partway through Turtle Rock, making it nearly useless) that aren't always in convenient spots. Once again, the remake addresses this by allowing Manbo's Mambo to warp to any warp hole in addition to his pond, and adding additional ones as well.
100	** In contrast to the simple, [[CheeseStrategy very easy-to-cheese]] mechanics of the original version's conveyor belt, The Trendy Game in the remake has WreakingHavok physics instead. Generally, this wouldn't be too annoying... unless one of the objects is a Rupee or a Seashell. Grabbing one of these and watching it it ''fall out of the crane while it's being brought to you'' (therefore wasting you 10 rupees) is not exactly uncommon.
101	** In the Switch version, if Link already has Secret Medicine equipped and finds another dose in a treasure chest, he'll put it back, a repeat of the Rupee problem from the original version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''. With Link having more health and the addition of fairy bottles, the medicine is already less likely to be needed ''anyway'', so these chests are likely to sit unclaimed, taunting completionists who aren't desperate enough to deliberately lose all their health so they can claim them.
102	** When you create a dungeon, the game doesn't offer the player the ability to map where stairs lead to; instead, they link automatically according to which ones are closest and move outward from there. Even worse is that in Dampe's later challenges, you're required to place stairs on the map, but getting them all to seamlessly link can be a huge hassle.
103	** In the Game Boy versions, several dungeons have a "puzzle" that involves tossing a couple of horse-heads so that they're both standing up instead of lying down. Unfortunately, which way the horse-heads land is a completely LuckBasedMission, so you can watch your progress grind to a halt until the game feels like letting you basically win a coin-toss twice in a row. To add insult to injury, even if the first head lands badly, you can't just pick it up to try throwing it again until ''after'' you throw the second head and hear that annoying buzzer that tells you "nope, you failed, try again." The player can expect to be hearing that buzzer ''a lot'' in those rooms.
104	** If you don't want to pay the ridiculously huge sum of 980 rupees for the bow (which is mandatory to complete the game), then you'll have to resort to shoplifting, which results in all characters referring to you as "THIEF" for the rest of the game. And no, there is no way to change your name back from "THIEF". Adding insult to injury is the fact that outside of treasure chests, rupees in the original game are only found in denominations of ''one'', making them very tedious to farm. Additionally, if you're aiming for HundredPercentCompletion, the ''DX'' version of the game ''requires'' you to steal from the shop at least once since there's a picture for the photo album that can't be obtained otherwise.
105	* SignatureScene:
106	** Link sitting with Marin at the beach is fondly remembered by game players for offering a tender moment between Link and his [[ShipTease love interest]], before you lead her around Hyrule on a date.
107	** The Southern Face Shrine, the moment where the game goes from a light-hearted adventure to something ''far'' bleaker, is considered one of the biggest plot twists in all of ''Zelda''.
108	** Link playing the Ballad of the Wind Fish at the peak of Mt. Tamaranch. Considering the entire game has built up to this moment, no surprise it sticks in players' memory.
109	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsVMC2PAEIQ theme]] of the Face Shrine is frequently compared to BaroqueMusic, such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAAXAckjLko Prelude and Fugue in C minor (WTK, Book I, No.2) , BWV 847]] by Music/JohannSebastianBach.
110	* ThatOneBoss:
111	** Blaino, the birdlike, pugilistic mid-boss from Turtle Rock. Does one heart of damage per hit, is impossible to attack from the front, and has an uppercut that [[MookBouncer sends you back to the start of the dungeon]]. Blaino is an ''asshole'', man. Oh, and he has an attack that stuns Link if it connects, which he'll always follow up with an uppercut. In the remake, he at least only knocks Link back one room.
112	** Genie, the boss for Bottle Grotto, can take a lot of punishment before going down and pelts Link with fireballs which take away a full heart each; given that Link is likely to only have four hearts at this point, there's little margin for error. The ''DX'' version reduced his attack speed to make him easier.
113	** The Evil Eagle from Eagle's Tower is no picnic either. It's a 2D boss like the Angler Fish, but it requires you to use the Mirror Shield to push against the winds he'll create with his wings, and block his razor sharp feathers. If you get hit or stand in the wrong place, you'll more than likely fall down, causing the fight to reset like with Moldorm. The Switch version changes it so falling off the tower doesn't reset the fight, although getting back up to the top with the eagle spraying feathers isn't easy.
114	* ThatOneLevel:
115	** Eagle's Tower includes four pillars that have to be knocked down to make the upper levels crash down on the lower ones. This involves carrying around a metal ball and the gimmick of the dungeon is getting it to the various pillars. However, that means an excessive amount of backtracking, memorization, trial-and-error, and remembering the setting of the blue/orange blocks. On top of the difficult puzzle solving aspects, it can be hard to move without it falling down a pit and respawning in its original room and it's entirely possible to glitch the ball and have it materialize in a spot you can't reach. [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable Hooray!]]
116	** Turtle Rock. There are various ways to navigate it and tricks to bypass much of it, but if you go at it normally, you'll find minibosses from past dungeons that respawn, which is frustrating because you'll have to do quite a bit of backtracking, especially if you're trying to figure out where to go next. And the true miniboss, [[ThatOneBoss Blaino]], has an infamous attack that can send Link away to the dungeon's entrance. This is alleviated in the Switch remake, as none of the minibosses (except for the Dodongo Snakes, as they are part of a puzzle that requires them to be defeated in a specific manner to get the key they are guarding) respawn after they're defeated, and Blaino's attack is nerfed so it only bounces Link back to a nearby room.
117	* ThatOneSidequest: After the first three sets of Chamber Dungeon challenges are completed, Dampé comes up with one final set of a dozen more. These challenges all fall into at least one of three categories: large maps, complex maps, and/or challenging restrictions. The only rewards for these challenges is rupees; there's no extra reward for completing all of them.
118	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Though the Switch remake was overall well-received, there were a few changes to the content that weren't:
119	** The Switch remake [[AdaptedOut removing Bulldog moblins]] drew criticism as early as E3 2019 for lowering the diversity of the game's enemies.
120	** The photographer and his sidequest from the ''DX'' version being removed in the Switch remake and replaced with Dampe's dungeon maker. Even among players who don't mind the absence of the Camera Shop, a number of them don't see the Chamber Dungeons as a worthy or engaging substitute.
121	** Related to this is that Dampe himself was chosen as the one to host the new Chamber Dungeon system. The rest of the game wisely uses SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitutes of characters from other games to reinforce the notion that [[spoiler:it’s AllJustADream]]. Some have pointed out that the inclusion of the actual Dampe from previous games leads to a break in this worldbuilding trend and that the developers should’ve made up a character based on him if they really wanted him in the game.
122	** Also from the Switch remake is the nerfing of several late-game items: the Hookshot simply stuns most enemies instead of defeating them, and the Magic Rod, one of the most powerful items in the original game, now takes two shots to defeat the most common foes. Even the boomerang, while still remaining a powerful and effective tool, was stripped of enough of its tremendous attack power that some players continue to complain about it.
123	** The Trendy Game in the Switch remake, in part to having altered claw physics. In the original game, if the claw managed to successfully pick up an item, it was yours, guaranteed. In the Switch remake however, the game has actual physics like real life claw machines... introducing the possibility that the item will fall out of the claw at no fault of your own, forcing you to spend more rupees to get another shot. Or you can just SaveScum.
124	** The orchestrated soundtrack in the Switch remake is quite nice, but its predominantly strings-based instrumentation lacks the right amount of epic bombast in many situations that might have called for it (such as the more low-key final boss theme that, by contrast, sounded downright ''mean'' in the original version).
125	** The design of Link's first shield being changed to that of the popular Hylian Shield as debuted in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' received several complaints. Detractors feel that the design change was cheap pandering to the iconography of later games and that going with the shield's [[https://zelda.fandom.com/wiki/Gallery:Link%27s_Awakening?file=ALttP_Link_Running_Artwork.png original design]] would have helped preserve its identity.
126	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Dream Shrine's mere existence posits many interesting questions: Link goes into a dream ([[DreamWithinADream within a dream]]) and comes out with a magical ocarina. But what is the Shrine ''for''? What are its ties to the fact that Link is already in a dream? For a game entirely built upon dreams, entering, and escaping them, one would think that a shrine built to dreams would get some exploration but other than getting a single item it goes completely uninvestigated.
127	* UnderusedGameMechanic: The dungeon items introduced past the fifth dungeon don't have much utility. The upgraded Power Bracelet is basically only used for a couple of Face Shrine puzzles and summoning the Flying Rooster (but does have the minor boon of letting you hoist up other stuff faster than the L-1 Bracelet), and the Mirror Shield has no puzzles since it's just used to bypass the fire stream at Turtle Rock (and for blocking the occasional Beamos), though it has more power in the remake, able to deflect enemy projectiles back at them. The Magic Rod gets plenty of use in half of a dungeon and a few puzzles, but is gotten too late for much else and only one form of the final boss takes damage from it.
128	* {{Woolseyism}}: The localization teams did their own things with the [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment Cukemen]]. Their German localization in the monochrome version is the most (in)famous, although the censors caught it by the time the ''DX'' version rolled around.

Context YMMV / TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening