I have to start this review with a dirty confession – I never completed the original Link’s Awakening on the Game Boy. I have officially made it further into the game in its remade format on the Switch, than I did back in the days of the original black and white game.

As you’ll soon see, the game has had a massive overhaul, but don’t be fooled – the bright, glossy and frankly gorgeous new graphics have not come at the expense of game play.

The new Link’s Awakening is beautiful in a way that defies words. It’s adorable. The graphics, the music, the sound effects from Link and from enemies and all the people – it is all absolutely charming. However, it’s very clear that Nintendo did not change the core game – oh, it’s been tweaked – Link can now move diagonally, for example – and the extra buttons on the controls allow for some more versatility, but the game itself is still pretty much the same. It requires a pretty linear approach (Link’s Awakening is where this approach truly took hold in the Zelda series), but I can forgive this is if the game is good enough, and so far, it is.

The game play is fun. That’s it in a nutshell. It’s fun. It’s uncomplicated. You run about, poking around in different corners, uncovering various secrets, and as you get new items, you can get to different areas of the map. As with any Zelda game, you can spend a lot time finding things. Walls can be blown open with bombs, slicing apart grass might reveal a staircase… it’s all classic RPG stuff.

It’s simply fun. I can say no more. 9/10.