The beloved Game Boy game is coming to the Switch
Update: Check out this quick comparison of the 1998 Game Boy Color version of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening to the 2019 Link’s Awakening remake announced today. The intros have a lot of similarities!
Original story follows:
Nintendo has announced a full remake for the Game Boy classic The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch.
Link’s Awakening for Switch is planned for a 2019 release. In its reveal trailer, Nintendo showed a recreated cutscene version of the Game Boy opening of Link’s Awakening, seeing Link wash ashore on Koholint Island after a storm destroys his boat.
Nintendo’s reveal also showcased gameplay and the brand new art style. Link’s Awakening on Switch retains a top-down camera style but set in a world realized in fully 3D animation. Characters are 3D models, and the art style is new to the series. (Some of us in the IGN office have compared it to the claymation characters of Frosty the Snowman.)
No additional gameplay details have been revealed, but it appears to be retaining the core of the original experience.
Link’s Awakening turned 25 last year, and when we last ranked the entire series, Link’s Awakening ended up in our Top 10 Legend of Zelda games list.
Be sure to check out our original review of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, its Game Boy Color port and stay tuned for plenty more on Link’s Awakening as Nintendo reveals it.
And, for even more, check out all of our Nintendo Direct coverage from the Feb. 13 presentation.
Jonathon Dornbush is IGN’s News Editor and host of Beyond! Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.
