The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening offers Nintendo Switch owners a beautiful remaster of a classic and a refreshing follow-up to its series’ predecessor, Breath of the Wild. 

On Sept. 20, players found themselves stranded on an unknown island without a sword or shield. After retrieving these two trusty items, they can set out on their adventure, which happens to be to collect seven different instruments to awaken a creature known as the “wind fish.”

This remake of the 1993 Gameboy game presents a twist on the classic “Legend of Zelda” formula. Players, with control of Link, will explore a beautiful 2-D world from a top-down perspective while searching for and completing dungeons to obtain items to help them progress in the game. For example, hard-to-reach areas may only be accessible after gaining the ability to swim, which will happen upon completion of the fourth dungeon. 

Players may notice that unlike most entries in the Zelda series, this game does not feature Zelda, Ganon, or the Triforce. In their place, players may notice that scattered around the island are other familiar faces from Nintendo such as goombas, chain chomps, and even Kirby. 

The game is in both the Switch’s docked and handheld mode, performs great aside from the occasional frame rate stutter that can happen while players explore the overworld. However, where the game really shines is its art style: replacing the original 8-bit looks with a 3-D rendering that is reminiscent of other Nintendo games like “Animal Crossing.” The cute art style will surely appeal to the younger gamers out there, and those who grew up with Nintendo will get to experience a beautiful rendition of a childhood classic.