An incredible new fan adaptation of the classic Game Boy Color title The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening offers an incredible new HD experience.
Longtime fans of one of the best Zelda games of all time will surely find a lot to love this new HD adaptation.
Update December 15, 2023: As anticipated, this project was quickly chopped down by Nintendo. The itch.io page now reads: "This game's files have been suspended for copyright (or trademark) claim." Hopefully you were able to download your copy while it was live!
All of the familiar elements are present, but with the addition of the incredible ability to zoom all the way out to get a full view of the map. And that map will remain 100% active, with all NPCs still wandering around.
This ability to zoom out the map would likely introduce some exploration spoilers and take away from Nintendo’s original intended experience. But we do not see this adaptation as something for somebody who has never played Link’s Awakening before.
This unique interpretation of the Game Boy title is best familiar players looking for a brand new way to experience the beloved classic.
Link’s Awakening Re-Imagined
Zelda fans would be well aware of Nintendo’s own contemporary re-imagining in The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch.
That remake leverages an entirely new visual aesthetic, some of the best video game music of any game, and honors the original game while offering something entirely new.
The sophisticated approach in the new “Link’s Awakening DX HD” adaptation maintains all of the classic elements we love about the original Game Boy Color game.
The port keeps all of the original music, graphics, and game play functionality. But with the contemporary benefits of widescreen support, HD visual assets, and 120fps scrolling.
And that exciting new feature of expanding the viewable area and the ability to zoom the map out is just perfection. *chefs kiss*
I have yet to play the PC adaption myself, because I am a MacOS user. But I downloaded the PC game file for safe keeping and I plan on playing the game as soon as possible.
The biggest question I had was whether or not this was the full game presented in this new HD format.
And from the comments left on the Youtube preview, it does seem like this PC port offers the entire game experience from start to finish. So somebody clearly put a ton of work in this fan port.
How To Play
You’ll want to grab your copy as soon as possible by visiting the Link’s Awakening DX HD page on itch.io. Unsurprisingly, nobody is claiming this fan project for fear of consequences from Nintendo.
But if the makers of Link’s Awakening DX HD are reading this, we’d absolutely love to see The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages & Seasons next. And please load a MacOS version for me!
Obviously there are legal issues with taking original game content and leveraging it in a new port. But when no money is being made, we believe these kinds of projects are only a positive for the gaming community.
So big solute to the anonymous creator(s) of this incredible Link’s Awakening HD port, and we’d love to see more games ported over like this.
