Some games just take you back, and for me, that game is The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. I can picture it now: the fine mist had left a skimmer of dew on the nearby playground equipment, melancholy and alone as it waited for the day's first children. The wheels of our bikes still spun slowly, the energy of peddling to our little get-together still caught in the gears.
Cold nipped at our nose and our toes, and worried our fingers as we frantically swung our swords with rapid button presses. My best friend and I were already on the schoolyard by 6:30am, far earlier than any right-minded 11 year old would agree to be up and out by. We didn't mind. With our Game Boys in hand, why would we?
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening earned its stripes not for its ambition, but because it understood that smaller can be better. It's widely regarded as one of the best Game Boy games ever, and thanks to a keen understanding of its strengths, the remake proves it one of the best Nintendo Switch games of all time some 32 years later. You don't need to mess with perfection, and it turns out that all Nintendo's first handheld Zelda game needed to delight a new generation of schoolyard kids was a bit of polish, a bit of love, and a ton of respect.
