Not a Dream: Link's Awakening (Switch) and Nintendo Switch Lite Out

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I wouldn't mind if it was a dream, though.

My first look and thoughts article on the Nintendo Switch Lite, out in stores today in Yellow, Grey, and Turquoise, is still my current impression. It's clearly not for me, so I don't care about it. I think it's obviously inferior to the normal Nintendo Switch (with new battery). The only personal benefit to me is that it's most likely responsible for the destruction of the Nintendo Labo, which has been a KoopaTV goal for a long time now. Of course, if after I publish this article there's a fifth Labo kit, then that benefit won't apply.

Meanwhile, the The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening remake is also releasing on the Nintendo Switch today—and it supports handheld mode, so you can play it on the Nintendo Switch Lite. It better support handheld mode, because it was originally a Game Boy title. Then it was a Game Boy Color title in the form of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX. That's how I played and beat the game—though in a non-handheld form, by using my GameCube's Game Boy Player. I think I played it in the early 2010s, sometime between 2010 and 2012.

My impression of Link's Awakening is that it was nothing special. Nintendo's press release deems it “one of the most beloved games in the Legend of Zelda series” and I don't know how anyone can really have that opinion. It's an average game in an above-average franchise. I think one of the issues is that it lacks a gameplay-defining gimmick, unlike most other The Legend of Zelda games with their oceans, time travel, season-changing, Kinstones, or whatever. All The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening has are those secret seashells (which I didn't know were optional when I was playing the game, and trying to get all of those without a guide or a way to keep track of where you found them already is horrible game design) and a bunch of cameos from other game franchises, since it's all a dream.

SECRET SEASHELLS ARE AN OPTIONAL SIDE QUEST.

The Switch remake does include some differences, mostly quality-of-life changes to the controls. Instead of only having two face buttons on the Game Boy, Link will always have his Sword, Shield, Pegasus Boots, and Power Bracelet equipped, plus two more items set to X and Y. The in-game map has also gotten an overhaul. There's also a Chamber Dungeon where you can build your own dungeon, room-by-room, and get some chambers with amiibo or collecting them in-game. ...No one cares about that, though.

The Nintendo Switch Lite is $200, while The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is $60. You can also buy The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX ported to the Nintendo 3DS for $6. Just figured you'd want to know you can save $54 on the game if you want to save $100 on a console.


Ludwig's immediate attention is on tomorrow's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate North America Online Open September 2019, so... whatever, give your thoughts on the Switch Lite (again?) and on The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX. In terms of portable The Legend of Zelda games, he'd rather endorse Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, and The Minish Cap.


The Nintendo Switch Lite and Link's Awakening are being purchased together, frequently.
While Ludwig was mean to Link's Awakening, will he be consistent and therefore mean to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon for having the exact same buffs that Link's Awakening's remake brought?