3.5/5 ★ – TNGLiam's review of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.

Platform: 3DS (via Virtual Console) Time Played: 11.75 hours Status: Beaten I played the Switch remake of Link's Awakening almost two years ago now, and I decided to go back and play the original, well the Game Boy Color DX rendition, and I am surprised to say that I liked the original more than the remake, which I believe is a hot take. For whatever reason I feel like this version has much more personality than that of the remake, but to not to say that the remake doesn't have any personality with its model set aesthetic to it which I really liked, but the pixel art of the original and the colors brought in by the DX game just helped make this game a greater experience in my eyes; like, I feel like if I were to play the original black and white Game Boy version I would not have liked this game as much simply due to the lack of colors. But as I said, the colors and pixel art, along with the great chiptune soundtrack. There are obviously a lot of downsides to this version compared to the Switch remake; for instance the constantly reappearing text when you bump into a physical obstacle that you don't have the proper item equipped for, or not having certain items automatically equipped due to the two-button setup of the Game Boy, or the difficulty I had navigating later dungeon layouts due to the lack of visual distinctness. But even then, I still felt like I enjoyed this version more than the Switch remake. Regardless, I did really like playing through each of the dungeons and trying my best to navigate through them without having to consult a guide, and it was really fun to do so. I will say that backtracking through the overworld was much more tedious than the remake due to its worse warp system but it didn't bother me too much. The bosses are much more easy in this game, as you can just spam hits on pretty much all of the bosses and kill them within a few seconds, which feels very rewarding. I also did like the trading sequence within the game, but I wish there could have been a little more to do with each of these characters, but for a Game Boy game, it's fine. I also appreciate that despite how relatively small the overworld is, the way the game is laid out makes it so that the overworld feels much larger than it actually is, and I like that a lot. All in all, I really enjoyed my time with Link's Awakening DX despite me initially thinking that I wasn't going to like it all too much before starting it and during the first hour or so, but it certainly grew on me as I got further into it, and I'm glad that I went back to play this one, as it was a great and fun experience that prepped me for the *hopefully* improved Oracle of Ages and Seasons. Check this version of the game out if you haven't already, or even if you've already played the remake!