Back in 2019, the Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was remade for Nintendo Switch. With gorgeous visuals, an updated soundtrack and lots of useful quality of life features, it was one of the best ways to play the game, and a must by for Zelda fans.
But what if you want something more traditional?
What if, you want a HD recreation of the Game Boy Colour version, rather than a chibified one with a diorama inspired art style?
Well, if so, you’re in luck! Because earlier today, a PC remake of the Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX was posted online, complete with HD graphics, widescreen support and better frame rate options. Here’s a trailer showing the project in action:
As well as a link to their website where you can try it for yourself:
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX Remake (Itch.io)
It’s an impressive project for sure, and one that seems to replicate the original extremely well to boot. What’s more, it’s also a fan game that’s managed to do the seemingly impossible too.
That being, stay almost completely under the radar until it’s full release. Yep, despite our knowledge of the fan game and ROM hack development scenes for pretty much every Nintendo franchise you can think of (and constantly monitoring of video game disassemblies), we’ve literally never encountered this game until today.
And neither have the folks disassembling the original Link’s Awakening DX either! So somehow, the game just seemingly dropped out of the sky one day without warning. Or to use a more appropriate comparison, washed up on the shore of Koholint Island completely out of the blue.
It’s an intriguing project to say the least, and one which seems like it was run exactly like Reddit users suggest a fan game should be run (developed in secrecy, then released anonymously without any warning).
Unfortunately for the team however, that’s probably not going to save the game in the long run. Nope, while the team themselves seem fairly safe due to the anonymous release and the game itself is at least getting finished due to the release setup…
The chances of Nintendo just ignoring this project and letting it survive for the foreseeable future are miniscule at best. Especially since it falls victim to every possible ‘this is a bad idea for a fan game’ pitfall that game development site warn you about:
It’s…
- A shot for shot remake of a popular Nintendo title without much in the way of new content
- A remake of a game that’s actually being sold on Nintendo’s current system
- A game that’s been covered by literally every media outlet under the sun
- On Itch.io, which is receptive to takedown orders
- Has the exact same name as the game it’s remaking, which is also a game that Nintendo was selling just one generation ago
The only way you could invite the wrath of Nintendo’s lawyers even more would be to put up a page saying “Play Super Mario Bros Wonder for free in a web browser here!”
So yeah, we doubt either the game or YouTube trailer will survive online much longer. Better get it now if you want to try it out!
Still, kudos to this mystery team for the remake, it’s an amazing recreation of the Game Boy Colour original, and a lovely surprise for the holiday season!
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