Summary[*Reviews will go up on September 19 at 5am Pacific] 26 years after its original release on Game Boy, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening will be reborn as a new experience on Nintendo Switch. Buffeted by a storm, Link washes ashore on the mysterious Koholint Island. In order to return home, Link must overcome challenging dungeons and battle ag... Read More
Rated Efor Everyone
Developer:GREZZO
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Released On:
Sep 20, 2019
Metascore
Generally Favorable
87
User score
Generally Favorable
8.3
My Score
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Where to Buy
All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
87
97% Positive
108 Reviews
108 Reviews
3% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Sep 23, 2019
100
I found playing through a modern imagining of this classic to be almost perfect. While it doesn’t reinvent the franchise or break convention, it never acts like it wants to. There’s something comforting about returning to a world like this: to know its every corner, to recognize its colorful cast, to feel truly lost in the experience.
Sep 19, 2019
92
Link’s Awakening hasn’t aged a bit. It’s fantastic design with now beautiful graphics make it as enjoyable as when it came out. No matter if you played it a million times or if you hadn’t heard about it before, it’s an adventure you cannot miss.
User score
Generally Favorable
8.3
82% Positive
1987 Ratings
1987 Ratings
12% Mixed
300 Ratings
300 Ratings
5% Negative
123 Ratings
123 Ratings
Apr 23, 2026
10
Excelent! Link’s Awakening feels like going back to a childhood memory, but somehow better than you remember it. The world is small, but it feels warm and full of personality. Everything — the characters, the music, the little details — just sticks with you.
The gameplay is simple, but in the best way. Exploring, solving puzzles, going through dungeons… it never gets boring. It just feels right.
Jan 5, 2026
10
By far my favorite Zelda game. There will be no nostalgia bias here as I have not played the original. I would say this game competes with Mario odyssey for my favorite game of all time. Heres why: first thing I will bring up is difficulty. It’s not hard, but not easy at all. The last 2 dungeons in the game are actually quite hard while the beginning is quite easy. It’s about perfect. I will say I am a casual gamer, so take that as my base. I love this difficulty. Its not hard so I never really got frustrated with anything but I never felt I was playing a game for baby’s and was quite challenged. And unlike other games the hard parts didn't frustrate me at all. I guess do to them having logical solutions. Similar to Mario Odyssey where the last challenge (darker side) was hard but did not frustrate me as I knew it would be and made progress overtime. My second reason for this being a great game is the art style. Look at it, it’s a subjective thing but I love it. My third reason will be a hot take I think. But I love linearity of this game. It’s has enough of a open world to jot feel like 2D Mario games but still be linear (I prefer this). My only complaint is I wish every part of the map was bigger and had more things. Like the Tabhul Wasteland could have had so much more. This, in my opinion, is tied with Super Mario Odyssey for being the best game ever made.
Sep 19, 2019
90
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on Switch reasserts the original's position as one of the richest, strangest and most affecting games in the series.
Sep 19, 2019
90
Whether you’re a new or old player, Link’s Awakening remains hugely compelling and is another Switch must-have.
Sep 19, 2019
85
Despite some uncertainty regarding the framerate The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is an excellent remake, which enhances the original experience in every way and makes it modern thanks to a very valuable series of improvements.
Sep 20, 2019
80
Link’s Awakening is a fantastic remake of a game that was fantastic in 1993. Fans must decide for themselves if those two things combine to make it a fantastic game in 2019 – particularly when the glorious Cadence of Hyrule is also on the Switch to scratch the itch you may have for 2D Zelda – and at a third of the price.
Oct 8, 2019
60
Unless you find this one on sale, do yourself a favor and grab Link’s Awakening DX instead. You’ll have the same game, minus the Chamber Dungeon, and updated graphics and still have plenty left over to get some other excellent titles.
Dec 26, 2025
10
Best Game that I ever played. Everything about the Game is perfekt. The bosses are easy But that is ok. The Game is a comfort-game.
Jul 25, 2026
7
7 - Great.
The whole game is so dense, which is a product of it being a handheld title originally. The world is like a compact puzzle box. Everything is a puzzle, or a riddle. The dungeons get fairly complicated in design as well. Optional content adds to this as you try to uncover deeper secrets. I had to look up quite a few things to progress and in that way it reminded me of my time with some FromSoft titles. The story is sparse but impactful, with a beautiful bittersweet finish. Game looks and runs amazing on Switch 2, I’d highly recommend playing on one if you can.
May 28, 2026
7
This game was a very faithful remake to a T. Even keeping it equally as difficult
Jan 18, 2024
4
The game is fun for a while but is difficult and is kind of boring. I don't recommend it.
Nov 2, 2021
4
In 2021, i think this game only deserve 4/10. Just to be clear this is first time i play zelda link awakening, so no nostalgic here. Buying this game after BIG LOVE to zelda breath of the wild. 1. Frame rate dropping issue is annoying. 2. Very hard to complete without watching youtube walkthrough. (maybe just for me?) 3. If u play without walkthrough, u will waste a lot of time to find the correct npc/place so the story can continue (or is it just me again? For example the pushing cemetery tomb thing) 4. Too small a game for this price. ( 5-7 hours to complete) 5. Hard to resale (if comparing to Zelda BOTW, Mario series,Pokemon series) THis game does remind me of the old classic RPG game, 20-30 years ago when u willing to spend a tons of time to searching the correct way/npc/place to continue, but in 2021, not applicable for me anymore.
