I'm sorry, but this game and I go so far back that it constitutes as one of those times I've no choice but to sacrifice my otherwise totally-kinda-sorta-existent objective views, as damaging to my perceived "professionality" as it may be. That's right; this game was my first ever meeting with The Legend of Zelda. And as with any "first time", there's stuff both good and bad, but it was special and unforgettable. This is my roundabout way of saying that in this special case, my Nostalgia Goggles (or rather, Nostalgia Eyepieces) are worn with pride! Hell, I'll shout it from the goddamn Tal Tal Mountaintops: Link's Awakening is an honest-to-Goddesses classic! (And probably the best portable outing in the series.)
Ahem.
Right, so Link's Awakening—Mamus and all—taps into some sort of magic. It breaks on through to the other side like only Zelda can do at its finer moments. In fact, I like to consider it sort of a proto-Majora, in that it's not a black-and-white, good vs. evil, "YOU GREATLY SAVED WORLD, CONGLATURATION" kind of story. I won't spoil the twist, but the ending will leave you pondering about whether you actually did the right thing. And that's... something that's unfortunately(?) the exception rather than the rule in Zelda. Either way, it's right up my alley.
As a pure game, it holds up extremely well, even when its age is taken into consideration. Link's movements are responsive and fluid. If you die, it's mostly your own flawed playing what's to blame. It's got some extremely annoying quirks, such as the needlessly repetitive "Item Get" dialogue (Not that this problem wouldn't resurface in a future game...), poorly balanced boss fights that can be won in under a minute (regardless of skill), and little but basic puzzling. Though it must be said, these attributes also make it a good series entry point. Oh yeah, and those goddamnpower-ups...!
However...
In case I hadn't already sufficiently underlined this, these things are immaterial to me. Lots of its contemporaries suffer from the same problems and worse, and with much less to show for it. Returning to Koholint Island will always be on my shortlist of yearly gaming traditions. End of line.
Perchance to dream...
I'm sorry, but this game and I go so far back that it constitutes as one of those times I've no choice but to sacrifice my otherwise totally-kinda-sorta-existent objective views, as damaging to my perceived "professionality" as it may be. That's right; this game was my first ever meeting with The Legend of Zelda. And as with any "first time", there's stuff both good and bad, but it was special and unforgettable. This is my roundabout way of saying that in this special case, my Nostalgia Goggles (or rather, Nostalgia Eyepieces) are worn with pride! Hell, I'll shout it from the goddamn Tal Tal Mountaintops: Link's Awakening is an honest-to-Goddesses classic! (And probably the best portable outing in the series.)
Ahem.
Right, so Link's Awakening—Mamus
and all—taps into some sort of magic. It breaks on through to the other side like only Zelda can do at its finer moments. In fact, I like to consider it sort of a proto-Majora, in that it's not a black-and-white, good vs. evil, "YOU GREATLY SAVED WORLD, CONGLATURATION" kind of story. I won't spoil the twist, but the ending will leave you pondering about whether you actually did the right thing. And that's... something that's unfortunately(?) the exception rather than the rule in Zelda. Either way, it's right up my alley.
As a pure game, it holds up extremely well, even when its age is taken into consideration. Link's movements are responsive and fluid. If you die, it's mostly your own flawed playing what's to blame. It's got some extremely annoying quirks, such as the needlessly repetitive "Item Get" dialogue (Not that this problem wouldn't resurface in a future game...), poorly balanced boss fights that can be won in under a minute (regardless of skill), and little but basic puzzling. Though it must be said, these attributes also make it a good series entry point. Oh yeah, and those goddamn power-ups...!
However...
In case I hadn't already sufficiently underlined this, these things are immaterial to me. Lots of its contemporaries suffer from the same problems and worse, and with much less to show for it. Returning to Koholint Island will always be on my shortlist of yearly gaming traditions. End of line.