NAME: Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
SYSTEM: Game Boy
MAKER: Mintendo
PRODUCER: Shigeru Miyamoto
GENRE: Adventure

GRAPHICS: 9. Nice particle and wavering effects
MUSIC: 9. Very catchy
FUN: 10. The Zeldas keep getting better with each game
REPLAY: 7. It's a fun game, so you go back just to play it again
DIFFICULTY: 9. The dungeons are intense
ENDING: 10. FMV-ish
STORYLINE: 10. More fantasy-oriented and lighthearted than normal, but great
MULTIPLAYER: n/a
ORIGINALITY: 6. Another Zelda, but the setting and some items are new
REALISM: 4. No crap, Sherlock
CONTROL: 9. Highly responsive, but the hit detection could be a tad better
MATURITY: 3. As mentioned earlier, the most fantasy-oriented Zelda in the series

Can the Zeldas be anything less than excellent? (Besides, of course, the CD-I games and 
possibly Zelda II.) Think about this: It doesn't have any connection to the Zelda storyline 
whatsoever, and besides that, it's an 8-bit sequel to a 16-bit game. And it's the best of 
the 2-D Zeldas! The storyline, while it doesn't quite fit in, is well-written and funny. 
The ending is superb. The music is cool (like the Mysterious Forest and the final battle), 
the graphics are nothing to sneeze at, and most importantly, it's just fun to play. The 
ever-important talking owl Kaepora Gaebora is introduced here, as well. Although I haven't 
played the DX (color) version yet, I'm sure it's even better. You should definitely 
consider getting the DX version, since it's backward-compatible, has the photographer 
thing, plus you can do all the color stuff if you have a GBC.

OVERALL: 90% *********

Reviewed on 4/1/1999