Link's Awakening (Remake)

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for Nintendo Switch is a remake of the 1993 Game Boy classic. It was announced in a Nintendo Direct in February 2019 and came out worldwide on September 20th, 2019. Grezzo, who had already remade Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for the 3DS, built it with Eiji Aonuma as producer.

The story is unchanged. Link is shipwrecked on Koholint Island, is rescued by a girl named Marin and learns that the only way home is to collect the eight Instruments of the Sirens and wake the Wind Fish sleeping in the egg on top of Mt. Tamaranch. The island, its dungeons and its oddities (Goombas, a Chain Chomp pet and side-scrolling tunnels) are all where you left them, along with the Color Dungeon from the Game Boy Color version.

What changed is everything around it. Koholint is now a 3D diorama full of characters that look like toys, with a tilt-shift blur that makes the whole island look like a model on a table. The opening and ending are hand-drawn animation, the music has been rearranged, and the sword and shield now have their own buttons. There are 32 Pieces of Heart and 50 Secret Seashells to find, and the new Chamber Dungeons at Dampé's Shack let you build dungeons out of rooms you have already cleared. Our What's New page covers all the changes.

Critics liked how faithful it was and how much nicer it was to play, though its technical problems drew criticism. It has sold over 6.46 million copies (as of December 2022), making it one of the Switch's best sellers. The original walkthrough still works for the remake's main quest, and our Heart Pieces and Secret Seashells guides cover the collectibles.