The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Switch Remake - Absolutely Unmissable

Developer Grezzo had the unenviable task of remaking and modernising one of the greatest Game Boy games of all time. Have they succeeded? Yes! Some noticeable frame-rate drops are unfortunate, but don't detract too much from what is a magnificent achievement as good today as it was 26 years ago!
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[@flowerthencrranger3854]

Imagine being a father, playing this when you were a kid and loving it. And then seeing your child play this on the Switch and loving it.

[@stopthesniff8676]

Gonna buy it today, not for my kids, they are too old for, for myself

[@flowerthencrranger3854]

@@stopthesniff8676 Hope you have a good time!

[@dairyfreemilkyway239]

Imagine being a father.

[@LVL100RED]

that’s exactly how it went down for me, it’s really something amazing.

[@bulja80085]

@@stopthesniff8676 you’re never too old for zelda games, I mean you’re playing it.

[@davidartrip85]

Came here after the GameXplain video. Amazing the quality difference. No one makes these kinds of videos like you, John. Your ability to explain the technical side of things clearly while also showcasing the finer details that make these games special is second to none.

[@646464mario]

I hope John never leaves Digital Foundry. I know this isn’t a review channel, but this is my favorite review channel lol

[@NathanPrattNappingRat]

I really appreciate the history as well, as someone who didn't own a lot of these older consoles and portables. Wonderful video - so much care and love poured into it! Thanks

[@ionseven]

While true, GameXplain is independent and is far better than going to ESA Mafia partner paid channels like IGN (J2 Global, Ziff), Gamespot (CBS), Polygon (Vox Media), or other pop sites that simply behave as ad hoc advertisers on behalf of scamming and predatory publishers.

[@MisterReen]

You can hear the love that the team puts in all these videos in every word and every scene. It’s every time a pleasure to watch DF videos.

[@FagnerLuan]

The whole team of DF are superb, but john is really special... Amazing guy

[@KarlRock]

I’m playing it right now. It’s fun, but the frame rate issues are noticeable and jarring - else it’d be perfect. Still perfectly playable though. I hope the Switch 2 will have backwards compatibility that will fix these performance issues!

[@quiet451]

I seriously can't believe that you can't use the D-Pad. Major oversight.

[@paulclinton6414]

Especially since the Lite released on the same day with a real D pad.

[@user-hk6dh8of3n]

Especially when the original only used a dpad 😂

[@axelfiedler]

In the remake you can move in 8 directions, thus the D-Pad wouldn't give you all possibilities.

[@harroogabutagain468]

Well I mean they you could only move in the four cardinal directions

[@sialia385]

@@axelfiedler You can move in 8 directions with a D-pad if the game supports diagonal movement, so there is really no excuse for not having D-pad support in this game

[@andyhoov]

Maybe an option to lock the framerate at 30 would be a nice feature seeing how it looks like it never drops below that.

[@MasterMayhem78]

I would prefer that over unstable framerate.

[@powerfulaura5166]

@@MasterMayhem78 It wouldn't be an issue if Switch had G-Sync. Nvidia should hook Nintendo up already.

[@totalvoid6234]

Given it seems to be CPU bound that might give them room to add anti-aliasing and maintain a more consistent resolution too.

[@MasterMayhem78]

Powerful Aura ok

[@mcgman8058]

I would rather they just go to triple buffer and unlock the framerate. 60 to 45 would work great. Without a free moving camera you would never notice the variation. Its when you hit the wall from 60 to 30 is when you notice it. Monster hunter on console smoothly moves from 60 to 45 and its fine on console.

[@DragAmiot]

This is genuinely one of the best games I've ever played. Even better than the original. You honestly forget about framerate issues after playing it for a few minutes. It doesn't feel too bad even if it's noticeable.

[@Oceanandskylinevidss]

I watched my cousin play this game all the way through, he never noticed it. I did but I dont care i just want to see him figure out the puzzles I was stuck on my first play through. If you dont want to pay that nintendo price, just get the gameboy color version for 5 bucks or for free with emulation.

[@Vntichrist]

Yup

[@itzdcx7991]

🐑🐑🐑🐑

[@khfreak5531]

Now we need “Oracle of Seasons” and “Oracle of Ages.”

[@AliceJameson]

Oracle of Ages*

[@khfreak5531]

Alice James I must’ve been tired. Thanks for the correction.

[@xenonenigma8314]

Hmm 🤔 I absolutely agree!

[@codo8584]

It'll probably come as a double pack in the best few years, they have the engine, and the success of Link's Awakening has given them financial incentive

[@Hassan06675]

A link to the past remake is What I want

[@Primate541]

Looks awesome. Now they have this engine and these assets, they should give the Oracle games the same treatment. Pity about those controls though, 8 way control on an analog stick is horrible and it boggles the mind why you'd do it that way. And this is my personal preference, but I think it'd be better to keep the game at low resolution or scale down the effects to maintain framerate, especially on such a small screen where resolution isn't a huge deal. The swamp area sounds like this game's Blighttown.

[@SuperNero791]

This game does look pretty, the art style is unique as well

[@samgao]

This easily was the best story of them all... to give up everything/everyone you once loved to only to leave with just the memories of them...

[@MysteryD]

My 6 year old daughter is going to love this. Her first Zelda game was Breath of the Wild, but she's dabbled in Link to the Past on the SNES classic.

[@duxnihilo]

She's 6 and played BOTW? Is she some sort of prodigy?

[@Beavernator]

All 3 of my daughters started early as well... They all had their own DS's at 2... Was fascinating watching them find their own favorite stuff... My oldest love action and shooter games, my 12 year old loves action adventure games, and my 10 year old is a racing simulator junkie... Built her a racing rig for her 10th birthday... Gaming families FTW!!!

[@Christoph22KakaFan]

Link to the past is the better game anyway 🤷‍♂️

[@jacobreed47]

Whaaaa??? 6 years and playing BOTW??!! WTF that seems WAY too advanced for a 6 YO to really play and understand the game. I have a 10 year old child been gaming for years can barely truly play that game.

[@ionseven]

That's awesome. Not all, but most other AAA "E" IPs are monetized scams and just sad for kids to experience the art form in that manner today. Imagine having memories of loot gambling and microtransactions - and little to no actual "adventure" or content. The art has certainly taken a turn for the worse and it's publishers like Nintendo (and a few others) that remind me of how great it can be when devs and investors truly see gaming as an art and not _just_ a perpetual wallet siphoning mechanism.

[@Slytzel]

Great video. I haven't been this excited for a game in a long time!

[@SianaGearz]

Breath of the Wild had the exact same global illumination trick. It sampled cardinal directions around the character and converted them into the light field to hit the environment. Go somewhere where you see a cliff, and then walk onto grassy and dirt areas and notice how the cliff changes hue between green and brown. Furthermore walk near walls and notice their colours sampled too to light up the opposite direction.

[@SianaGearz]

@@toad8840 Depends. BOTW has to deal with displaying a lot of diverse geometry due to high draw distance and it's constrained by being designed for the the WiiU, and i'm sure the PBRT solution they use here is significantly more advanced, since BOTW can largely rely on diffuse and celshaded surfaces, plus occasional metallic/shiny surfaces of a mere couple types, but i think the global illumination trick mentioned here is fundamentally the same. I think BOTW does it with a cubemap that it then samples down to arrive at a light field, likely as spherical harmonics, and it stands to reason that they're doing the same thing here, in fact since due to downsampling and lightfield fade-in the alignment of the cubemap is not critical, they likely distribute its computation over 6 frames in BOTW. So it's actually more advanced there than i described in simplified explanation above.

[@TheSammy58]

@@SianaGearz wait just a minute here, are you the same Siana Gearz that develops my favorite Second Life viewer? 😂 That's so funny that I read through your whole analysis before even realizing who it was that wrote it.

[@SianaGearz]

@@TheSammy58 Well "develops" might be a bit of a stretch as of right now, but for sure used to!

[@luuketaylor]

The end of the video really shows how much John has a passion for games, especially from his beginnings in its world as a simple player. Now look at him! This was another great analysis. Thanks, John.

[@demantim]

I like that the constrains you mention in the end of the video also apply to the music. There's an intimate, small-scale feeling to the arrangements, often using small wind or string ensembles. It gives the game a lot of character that a bombastic orchestra or plain ol' MIDI probably wouldn't have.

[@samvimes9510]

The frame rate issues are disappointing, but I'm still really excited for this. The handheld Zeldas have always been some of my absolute favorites in the series.

[@JamesSmith-dn8lb]

Ages/seasons were my favorite. I wouldn't be surprised to see a remake.

[@duffman18]

@@JamesSmith-dn8lb that'd be cool actually, and considering the originals looked so close to link's awakening, it'd make sense to use the pre existing engine and art assets for this remake of links awakening for remakes of those two games, thus saving tons of time and effort. Like how they're making Breath of the Wild 2, and how back in the day they made Majoras Mask in less than a year because they just reused the engine and assets of Ocarina

[@Wingedmagician]

Wish they’d fix the frame rate issues

[@yasskb]

18:45 : WOW What is that remix of Ballad of the Wind Fish ? It's so good ! ☺️😍

[@jesusasecas]

I felt in love with it! Is it from the remake OST or is it a remix? Does anyone know? ._.

[@rusty6285]

Would love to know what version this is too

[@yasskb]

I found it guys. It's a remix by Fox Amoore, check it on KZbin.

[@rusty6285]

Thank you!

[@natedavies954]

The art is quite catching, and some moments have improved, but yeah. The enhanced music and audio are outstanding. By far the best part of the experience. It's why I'm excited for DQ XI S.

[@MB20978]

The only problem that’s really stuck out for me is the jarring stutter when you exit buildings. Otherwise it’s a fantastic experience.

[@johnpreston230]

so true. The stutter is very ennoying

[@creativebusinessunit7506]

Did they patch it

[@MB20978]

@@creativebusinessunit7506 no :(

[@ot9523]

It’s a cheap looking game for today’s standards i have the game it came out a month after i got my switch

[@JFinns]

@@creativebusinessunit7506 No stutter playing this on PC with Yuzu :P

[@Rationalific]

John, you're done it again! Your videos are some of the best entertainment I've had! I always look forward to them!

[@bubmario]

The joy Jon feels describing this remake is palpable. Thanks for sharing your passion! This is definitely one of the best Zeldas…that is, it is one of the best of the best.

[@michaelmay9728]

Links Awakening is one of favorite games of all time, had the original on Gameboy as a kid.

[@Nick_Jarrett]

same, completed the original and dx many years ago, amazing what theyve done in the remake

[@Blah-blah-sure]

Michael May, help me understand, I've never owned a Zelda game and I'm reading about all the rave reviews. I purchased this game and don't get it. Ex. Unless I hadn't watched a walkthrough I would have never knew where to get anything or anywhere: the sword, the pipe walkthrough to get the treasure, having to go back through the pipe? What am I missing & how can I get in on the fun?

[@Steven18634]

They should've just locked it at 30 fps and called it a day, or added the option and used the extra hardware real estate to bump up the resolution some. Consistent frame rate is always better than variable frame rate in my opinion.

[@BenRiley83]

Excellent video! Thank you as always John!

[@Granhier]

The DF Music Player looks really high-end, where can we download it?

[@a-dutch-z7351]

Winamp killer.

[@johnmarstall]

Proprietary code. They want that competitive advantage.

[@Owlero]

Its probably just animated by hand.

[@kdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkd]

@@Owlero wooosh

[@ionseven]

really setting the _bar_

[@blackrat1228]

Never played the GBC version (only the pea green original) but it stands up nicely after 20+ years, very vibrant colors.

[@StiffAftermath]

In 2023, this game looks absolutely beautiful and timeless as far as I am concerned. So glad to still own this amazing masterpiece! Now, imagine a Zelda II Remake!

[@born_to_play]

This is a labor of love what you are doing here... I grew up with this game and with this video it was hard for me to contain the tears, despite the performance problems that I hope Nintendo knows how to solve, this game will always be a masterful 10 for me .. Congratulations John!

[@slingshotdon]

Check out strafefox if you like retro game production like mario sonic street fighter mortal kombat etc

[@bisugzzz]

Thank you so much for this DF

[@BeowulfCav]

Man I can't wait to get my hands on this beautiful game. The music is amazing too

[@Itzsfo0]

Yea music's pretty good you will like it

[@alexanderjurjens]

Are you guys going to do the Switch version of Grid Autosport as well?

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

GRID Autosport certainly deserves the Digital Foundry treatment, it's a superb port.

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

@Sagistar Easily.

[@ShanGamer1981]

im sure they will, i preordered it

[@tgnoat910]

And Spyro as well!!

[@PrinzEugen39]

@Sagistar yesss that's what really makes me happy. Most developer these days don't even care the ges they port, however codemaster is different

[@andrehena]

Man, the way the review is constructed and the love poured in is amazing

[@jimmysgameclips]

I appreciate your technical take on these things, very nice!

[@kaiserpr0728]

Good that you explain the framerates. That was the first thing I've noticed. I hope they patch that. It's my only complaint.

[@ArtofWEZ]

A glossy look like this would be dope for a modern donkey kong country

[@antm6970]

Yes

[@DarthChrisB]

Please no! I didn't even like the new DKC games' art style. I want a darker looking DKC like the originals.

[@metacube9913]

nonono

[@MrBl3ki]

@@DarthChrisB Glossy goes perfect with the darker atmosphere of the originals.

[@ninja_tony]

@@DarthChrisB 2 of the 3 original DKC games were NOT dark. Sure individual levels were, but overall themes and visuals, no. Only DKC 2 was dark.

[@SGE-xe4ux]

Greets from Germany. Very good video and summary. The last few minutes I had goose bumps, because I feel the same way. Thanks :)

[@Real88Mad]

Can we take a moment & Appreciate both The Game IP Awesomeness & The Content Creator Analysis of the game with a mixture of Professionalism & Compassionate Point Of View, Great work on the video Buddy, You nailed it Again as always So Keep up the Good work.

[@Starfals]

Still waiting for the day when every Nintendo game runs at 60 fps 1080p. That will be a glorious day. Their games are gorgeous, colorful and badly need the full HD. I swear, most Nintendo first party games look better to me than most PS4 games. The resolution is the only thing holding it back. A PS4 power inside the Switch would be a day 1 purchase for me. Just thinking of that makes me wanna sell my other consoles (but not the PC lol)

[@Itzsfo0]

Not me games look. Better to me on Xbox One X. Such a nice beast of a device. 2160p (native 4k) / 60 FPS [locked] / HDR. Looks amazing on gears of war 5 and forza horizon 4 and the upcoming Ori and the will of the Wisps. Besides many nintendo games do run at 1080p or 720p and run fine. Especially many of the great indies. Dont really think Nintendo needs any changes besides joy con drift issues and a few online feature changes. Mario kart 8 deluxe runs 1080p/60 fps solid same with splatoon 2. But as nice as the games are....to me I've seen better on PS4 Pro and even better on Xbox One X The one X especially is so nice I skipped over original one and one S, went straight for one X in 2019. It's great...such a small box yet 60% more powerful then ps4 pro. It has several advantages 1. True native 4k gaming. Unlike ps4 pro which does "supersampling" to enhance resolutions beyond 1080p...1440p, 1600p, 1900p etc. It looks ok but thing is the ps4 pro needs to download a patch off your wifi network to supersample and increase resolution[s]. Whereas xbox one X has BUILT in 4k/UHD discs....so no need for image trickery...just raw true 4k (in numerous titles). Granted sometimes games are running at 1900p but nonetheless looks a def step up from Pro. 2. Xbox one X remains the only device on console/handheld market that has VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) support which is similar to Freesync. And many modern 4k TVs have support for FreeSync/VRR....and what that does is reduce motion blur/on-screen judder and overall smoothness when rotating around a character panning out, etc. Allows developers to further optimize their titles...many of the current LG OLED sets and Samsung QLED UHD TVs now support this. It's nice and further reduces input lag on character movement 3. Xbox one X despite the increase in raw performance is a quieter system then the competition and consumes less wattage. In fact if you think about it the X1X is a pretty nice well designed package that Digital Foundry even had a video recently giving credit to some of Microsofts design choices. They even said Gears 5 is a technological feat and sets the bar for console title optimization Its true that both ps4 pro and xbox one X are still using the antiquitated AMD Jaguar chip set/CPU but the One X is a step in right direction and let's face it...once those quality ps4 exclusives are out of the way...what's left ? All the remaining multiplats/ 3rd party titles..and they make up 60% of a systems sales...and almost every multiplat runs and looks better on Xbox One X. Not everyone has a decent PC, nor the room esp if were talking desktops (a full setup). And lately the Xbox One X which is normally $499.99 has been on sale left and right..I've seen the One X Gears limited edition (the cool looking icey special edition) on sale for $349.99. I got the One X for $350....you cant beat that. You aren't finding anything in the $300, $400, $500 range in that small of a box and that quiet that will run games like that. I'm no fanboy either cause I have a variety of devices but in truth...my other systems have been collecting dust since getting One x. And with series X and ps5 literally less then a year away now and both of those devices will be even FURTHER step ups from Xbox One X. I'll prob play most games on Series X 2021 and forward. Do you know how much better the Zen 2 architecture is the CPU / chipset inside ps5 and series X is night and day difference literally capable of 3 to 4 times the workload. Besides we may very well see a Switch Pro/XL variant in 2020 or 2021. Ps5 and series X tho....zen 2 architecture, 120hz panel support, SSD drives, both VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and VRS (Variable Rate Shading) support. And HDMI 2.1 high speed support will allow a level of quality console gamers are just not used to lol.

[@footl0se]

@@Itzsfo0 What the hell

[@Swarfega79]

After reading the title of this DF video... the hype is real. Can't wait to play it tomorrow!

[@fireface8377]

Another fantastic video John. Really you are a quality content creator. Such passion and knowledge. Thanks for bringing me countless hours of entertainment.

[@Racefan81]

Great Video John. Fantastic work!!

[@StarlinkNova]

I'm looking forward to waking the Wind Fish once again. Only this time, in a new light.

[@arslanmalik151]

I bought this game in 2022 for the holiday. I did heard there were some framerate drops when it came out in 2019 . Well in 2022 it still has framerate drops on dock and handheld. And it's only at version 1.01 so pretty much post launch patch .

[@seekingsolutions7078]

wat?

[@arslanmalik151]

@@seekingsolutions7078 many issues why I dislike about Nintendo

[@amerikaOnFire]

You knocked this video out of the park John, great video with excellent comparison between the GBC game and this new remake!

[@wallyrocket87]

Top shelf quality video right here. Keep up the great work. Subscribed.

[@colinr2550]

Stunning world. Love the look of it. But either fix 60fps. Or lock at 30.

[@XeronWilshire]

Colin R why not have 2 options?

[@colinr2550]

@@XeronWilshire both options are fine. I just think it hurts devs when the 60fps is so lacking. Seen it on pro and x titles. But yes choice is always a good thing:)

[@paulclinton6414]

This game was months away from being ready to ship. Can't believe Nintendo would ship it like this.

[@ot9523]

Still not fixed nearly 3 years later lol

[@milhousevanhouten3796]

Can't wait for the 1080p 60fps version on Super Switch

[@superwii2008]

super switch lmaooo

[@paulclinton6414]

God, the Switch is weak if it would take a Super Switch to run this Zelda game at 2013 standards.

[@jovanjovanovic7610]

Now that's what I call review! This has to be the most detailed description of a game in the world. Awesome job man!

[@Geezerachi]

Great video. Done with a lot of care and thought!

[@ThibautMahringer]

Finally !! Can't wait to play this tomorrow.

[@mauryj.3415]

It's running like crap

[@ThibautMahringer]

@@mauryj.3415 Anything related to streaming issues can be solved in a patch really easily. And the game is fantastic so yeah. I'm excited.

[@Jason-ut3ou]

Just yesterday I saw you on a post saying this game is ridiculous for its frame issues and how it was blurry smh now you wanna bandwagon it when a main channel shows how beautiful this game is

[@cabrejos96]

This is what Square Enix should have done with Secret of Mana

[@HeelPower200]

That franchise is no where near Zelda. Its a miracle it got remade at all.

[@GELTONZ]

Personally I think the Secret of Mana remake is better than this. It adds more new stuff and the art style is more detailed despite being lower end. I see no reason to own the Links Awakening remake when you can get the original for cheaper and it's better in every way.

[@nocturnalag7695]

GELTONZ It’s Nintendo, they get a free pass at everything these days. I feel the recent secret of mana on the PS4/PC is the best way to play the game. The speed and navigation have improved and the snes one feels like it’s underwater compared to the newer one. It’s not perfect but I liked it

[@AlexKidd]

@@nocturnalag7695 I'm not a fan of these type of re-makes but... Secret Of Mana was never a good game to begin with

[@nickwallette6201]

This was my first thought on seeing Link's Awakening. This is how SoM should have looked.

[@akaimizu1]

Nice coverage of the game. This was my very first Zelda game I played and finished as I didn’t have an NES but a Gameboy at the time. That remake of the Ballad of the Windfish, though. Goosebumps, I tell you.

[@MartinBarreby]

Also have as nice relationsship to this game since I got it for Christmas one year. Really love the remake and have learned to live with the framedrops now. Great video as always!

[@dan_loup]

It's quite visible why they chosen to not do free scrolling on the gameboy game. Full screen scrolling on the OG gameboy is quite smeary. And for a game with a lot of combat and puzzle solving etc like LA, it's a better choice to be able to see everything sharply.

[@zainmushtaq4347]

not to mention it would probably be slow to constantly load new parts of the level as opposed to loading everything once and have a smoother experience in that part

[@dan_loup]

@@zainmushtaq4347 You don't have to "load" on the gameboy. The storage as "fast" as the main memory. And well, there are many games on the gameboy that have large scrolling levels like pokemon for example.

[@zainmushtaq4347]

@@dan_loup thanks for clarfication, TIL :)

[@mbc07]

Well, the follow-up Oracle games do feature full screen scrolling, though...

[@hardeeharhar18]

Oracle of Ages and Seasons had scrolling on Gameboy Color though. But yeah ghe original Links Awakening was limited on the old Gameboy.

[@loganhall8010]

This makes me want a remaster of the original Legend of Zelda on the NES! It could be amazing!!

[@byronbae8606]

Love your videos guys! Best channel on KZbin.

[@straydog4048]

Excellent presentation as usual DF. This will be my first time playing this game

[@SireDragonChester]

Rather have it locked at 30fps then all over the place. Yes wish was butter smooth 60 all the time. But if you remember BOTW still has issues at times. While bit better then launch. More sound options would be nice too. John can’t you get in contact with the dev and ask if they will continue to try optimize it more. But good video. :)

[@OzgardenTsuge]

Another great video. Thank you for your work. Been playing it for the last 3 hours and appart from these framerate drops, it's a perfect match. Should we expect a fix from Nintendo ? I guess.

[@Owlero]

How do you have it already?

[@coreyoliver3182]

@@Owlero Hacked switch. Game was leaked yesterday.

[@charlespeach]

Or the fact timezones are a thing... Lol I am already on the 20th Sep, game released here officially at 12.01 last night

[@sammyg4806]

Nintendo did patch BotW to fix some frame rate issues...perhaps they will do so here too since it is so jarring at times.

[@Teteus]

Congratulations! What a great and compleat review. It was superb to see the Game Boy screen aside with the remake. Great work!

[@StevenCasteelYT]

Really enjoy your content. You're a pleasure to listen to.

[@julikidman6954]

playing it right now in docked mode the constant 30 fps drop is really bugging me they shouldve just made the game 30fps other than that the game is beautiful and fun to play

[@MaoThe1st]

Now I want a Switch. Just have to convince my wife, we need one :D

[@troll2161]

Did you get one? :D

[@CyberTrump-co1ml]

? :)

[@Isoquant]

My all-time favorite Zelda game. As a kid, I started this and Donkey Kong on my b/w gameboy, and finished them both within the week. This was peak Nintendo in the mid 90s, hitting homerun after homerun. Magical times.

[@jecoharman]

I loved the mini critique at the end, nice touch.

[@HidroPig]

I don't play Nintendo stuff, but I just love this look. The plasticky toy-like look is just so cute. Like your childhood toys just sprang to life.

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

Excellent! I really hope that you're also going to carry out a thorough analysis of the just released GRID Autosport on the Switch, it's a really excellent port.

[@mauryj.3415]

Runs like crap on the switch

[@HugoStiglitz88]

@@mauryj.3415 lol no it doesn't. It runs amazingly well on switch and completely destroys the original console versions of the game. Even the 60 fps mode looks and runs great

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

@@mauryj.3415 Eh? Have you played it? GRID Autosport runs extremely well on the Switch. For one thing it's a real technical achievement, for another it's loads of fun to play.

[@mauryj.3415]

@@SlartiMarvinbartfast don't need to play it to see that it runs like crap, so many videos outhere show how bad it runs.

[@mauryj.3415]

@@HugoStiglitz88 yes it does, it drops frames like crazy, its not a smooth experience overall, not really PC version destroys it, you're comparing it to last gen consoles which is sad to say the least.

[@Wiizpig]

DF is my favorite channel ever on KZbin, these analysis are better than reviews. Great job John

[@skins4thewin]

It's not silly at all man! I also originally played this game when it first came out as a kid, and it was one of only a handful of games form back then that I can honestly say blew me away. This was most definitely a game that broke boundaries at the time and was an absolute marvel when it was released. We had never seen anything this amazing on a portable system up to this point, and I remember being absolutely floored that such a game existed on the Gameboy, and for one of my favorite franchises at that. It's an amazing game that MANY kids remember fondly and consider to be one of the best titles they played as kids. This is without question the best game to ever come out for the Gameboy, and one of the best games in the entire Zelda franchise.

[@Catgodray]

I still can't Understand how gameboy that was such a Tiny and Limited hardware ran such awesome games.

[@mauryj.3415]

They were pixelated that's how

[@Plasmacat1]

Because it's never about the hardw9. You can have the most breath taking visuals and tech but have shit games. E. G. EA games

[@Catgodray]

@@mauryj.3415 Still The world of Zelda LA's feels too big for a gameboy

[@mauryj.3415]

@@Catgodray not really

[@Catgodray]

@@mauryj.3415 maybe I'm just too dumb and like to drop my jaw in awe on every little thing

[@SolidNeodark]

This game looks adorable

[@plume...]

Thanks John, Your videos are always super informative and passionate about the source material. (Same goes for all of the DF team to be honest). I get to play it in a few hours as I'm getting it delivered to my workplace, and I'm lucky enough to be able to bring my Switch in. I get payed while I'm playing Switch! Living the dream... That being said, I'm a bit gutted about the framerate drops to 30fps for a few seconds and back up to 60fps between transitions of areas. If this happens consistently, surely this is an issue with loading and unloading assets to the limited RAM rather than a CPU bottleneck? I hope there is an option in a future patch to keep the game at a 30fps limit, but this will never happen. Nintendo generally don't do stuff like that in post release updates :(

[@Nitroxity]

I'm so relieved that this remake didn't get screwed up considering just how much I adore Link's Awakening. It seriously means the world that the team at Grezzo seems to have just as much passion for this game as I do. It'll be a bit of time before I get to play the Switch version, but I guarantee that when the time comes tears of nostalgia and love will be shed.

[@alexanderchilton911]

Game looks awesome. Love the art style.

[@Hamood113]

Does anyone know if you can disable the blur effect?

[@retrogamer64007]

Chung Ree terrible on a 55 inch OLED.

[@CKVideoGames]

The only setting I would have wanted. A real shame, it's the same effect that kept me from Octopath. (I've since heard that Octopath allows you to disable this in settings, something that Link's Awakening does not have at ALL.)

[@TDamsma]

awesome as always! Keep it up

[@josiahgarber3761]

I’ve never played the game, but there’s something unique about this video. You guys really love this game, and it shows.

[@marekvrbka]

I find it kinda bizzare that portable consoles screens don't have adaptive refresh rate screens. (FreeSync/G-Sync)

[@NYCJoeBlack]

Marcuss2 - Please explaining what exactly that means, how it would effect games/game development & the benefits of it.

[@rio-kt7ut]

@@NYCJoeBlack Just search on KZbin for "how FreeSync works"

[@NYCJoeBlack]

Chris Rokich - Ok!

[@MsJeffreyF]

I too bought my first system on my own! Got the ice blue Game Boy Pocket with Link's Awakening. All that birthday and allowance money, well worth it!!

[@TheKickboxnico]

I love the remix of "the ballad of the wind fish" we can hear at 18:50 ! Where can we find it ? It's so beautiful !

[@polycube868]

Me too, it has a Donkey Kong Country sound to it.

[@7njap]

Gotta love the leaf background behind the Switch at 18:22. Oh, you know, just playing my Switch while out for a morning walk among the dewy leaves :P

[@d.waller9722]

Link to the past ! Heck all of them should get similar treatment.

[@Christoph22KakaFan]

Link to the past must be much darker imo. That art style is not a good fit for Lttp

[@d.waller9722]

@@Christoph22KakaFan Just an overall remaster would be great !

[@luuketaylor]

If they get Windwaker... I might just buy a Switch.

[@Y0URGRANDMA]

please no

[@teehundeart]

Or they should pour their efforts into making new games. And please give the abandoned franchises some love. I don't want just Zelda and Mario

[@BandShoes]

This is honestly the kind of remake that games like pokemon Ruby and Sapphire deserve

[@johnn6681]

Holy shit yes! Even Red and Blue

[@Crushenator500]

I would buy the hell out of that. Just like I'm going to buy the hell out of this.

[@chillhour6155]

STraight up 8-16bit to 3d animated remakes for all the popular Nintendo games of old would be epic, imagine Chrono trigger all 3d'd up, or any of the mother games

[@CanaldoZenny]

Honestly, i dig this aesthetic way more than the "realistic" or Gen 6 look of ORAS. I would like a new Pokémon game fully made with 2D Sprites again. But most Pokémon fans aren't open to new things like the Zelda and Mario fans are.

[@ZidaneSAID]

I played Zelda ALTTP first time in german (and I don't speak a single work of german!). I had to wait until I grabbed a copy in a language I could understand to finish it. Thanks for another great episode.

[@dylanmo8180]

I actually can’t stop watching this specific video

[@Pillokun]

This was the best Zelda: Link's Awakening review I have seen and probably one of the best game reviews out there, Nintendo should be glad that DF is covering it.

[@TonyJenn]

I doubt Nintendo cares

[@servantbyday]

You should check IGN's. Joe has set a new standard.

[@Pillokun]

@@TonyJenn Mm but who knows, maybe they have a carrot ready for good content around their IP. Well instead of claiming the video :P

[@Pillokun]

@Syuna Well DF is pretty big channel even if you compare it as a gaming review/hardware or "game tester" channel. Almost 1M subs.

[@trueblueclue]

@Syuna it's pretty popular anyways. For me it's quickly becoming my favorite review/testing channel.

[@darkpoethd9913]

Absolutely beautiful... I don't own any Nintendo hardware but this game I think will make anyone who can't play it a tiny bit jealous :)

[@mauryj.3415]

I'm actually not jealous at all, I've seen better looking games on cellphones

[@alejandropradalozano6525]

@@mauryj.3415 No you havent

[@duffman18]

@@mauryj.3415 Lmao you sound incredibly jealous by saying that. Like there's nothing else you could say that would actually make you sound more jealous. This and your other comments on this video. It's very revealing. Like if you weren't jealous and didn't actually care, why would you make so many comments about how non-jealous you are. Someone who didn't care wouldn't even bother commenting about it. The lady doth protest too much, methinks

[@teehundeart]

@@alejandropradalozano6525 this game doesn't look good. I'm pretty sure there are better looking iphone games

[@1pape0]

teehundeart please mention some cellphone games that are better that this, I mean is zelda there isn’t any games better than zelda, zelda is culture is revolutionary 😅😅

[@pshearduk]

What a great remake. Buying my copy tomorrow with a Switch lite.. my choices mainly due to both of yours and Richards reviews on the products 👍😎 ty

[@FernandoMaldonado]

Great video as always. Quick question though, what mod did you do on your Gameboy? That backlighting looks awesome.

[@adamblue2980]

The game looks amazing. Still, performance wise it's pretty surprising for a Nintendo first party release.

[@sebastianfeola8772]

I cried with the end of the video... I love this game!!

[@kenkabob3082]

I absolutely love Link's Awakening on my yellow Switch Lite, preordered both of them so goy them both on fri. the 20th. The Switch Lite system is the iteration of the Switch I have been waiting for since the Switch came out, has the new Mariko Tegra SoC, and the new LPDDR4X RAM found on the V2 Switch. Only the Switch Lite is the most solidly built portable ever made, holding everything together in the middle of the Lite is a ULTRA Rigid and strong brace that both the front plastic screw to and the rear plastic outer shells, the motherboard is mounted to the back of it on the left side looking at the back and the battery is held down to the brace by adhesive, there are more screws holding the Switch Lite together than the V2 Switch which is built the same as the original. Take off the big metal shield right underneath the back panel which has a lowered air channel to feed cool air frim the left air intake into the center of the blower fan exposes the cooling system and front of the mobo. On the right side is a separate pcb board just for the left controls, the battery is right to the left of that, take everything out and unscrew the brace from the front plastic shell the battery comes off with it assyming you have everything unplugged revealing the almost mirror like rear of the InnoLux display panel which to me looks night and day better than the V2 Switch's InnoLux display panel, they arent the same display panel just shrunk, I truely do believe it to be a higher quality panel. There is no center plastic brace that you can't even make flex with normal human strength. That was my biggest surprise when I watched a teardown of it is how they managed to make a plastic brace run through the middle of the Lite that is very lite yet sturdy as a rock. It made more sense because I knew it wasnt the plastic casing, although one piece with the controls, making it as dang rigid as it is, Nintendo has perfected making portables and the Switch Lite is the best portable ever made, I even have big hands and can play it for over 2 hours straight and I completely forget I'm playing a handheld, all I see is the screen and its so much more ergonomic to hold and so much lighter that I'm so glad I got rid of my original Switch a long time ago because I hated the lack of solidness in handheld play which is all I ever used it for. So I took it back and was the second person at my local Gamestop to reserve a yellow Switch and the filled every preorder so they had none at launch for people that didnt preorder but walmarts in town have already gotten second shipments, and even 3rd I believe, these are easier to manufacture because its just the Switch Lite and same A/C adapter the regular Switch uses, this has been my first time playing Link's Awakening is the Switch remaster, Im old enough that I had the original gameboy, the Gameboy Pocket, than a Gamegear, loved that thing, than a purple Gameboy Color. I believe my gameboy Pocket was yellow like my Switch only a different shade of course, I remember the bigger much clearer screen on it and how it didnt have that yellowish tint to the dot matrix screen. My Favorite was when I got the Gameboy Advancd SP 2nd revision with the backlit screen instead of the front lit, I waited long enough going from my white regular gameboy advance to the SP that they were all the backlit ones, that one was the really pretty red. Than went to the DS when I played the first games for a portable that were truely 3D like Super Mario 3D on it, and Super Mario Kart DS, I couldnt believe I was playing 3D games on a portable console, than I got the DS Lite and that was such an improvement over the standard DS. Now I'm Playing the identical games the V2 Switch takes (but a couple that arent compatible, but I play portable systems so they are solely mine and I dont have to worry about someone else abusing my crap. So party games would be out anyway and I'm 33, so Labo with a buch of cardboard crap sounds ridiculous. I prefer playing my portable on my recliner playing my copy of Link's Awakening, Ive been purposefully going through it slow so I get the most out of the game as I can, I just run around the world stopping at pretty areas watching the trees and grass blow in the wind, Breath of the Wild was too open worlded for me, it basically said, heres a map that takes you days to traverse, have fun, I would love a remake of a link to the past on Switch. I would love to see a similar tilt shift prospective with maybe a different graphical theme, like more realistic but still the overhead tilt shift prospective, I love the toy like look to Link's Awakening but it would be neat to see if they could make a more realistic graphical presentation with the same camera angle, oh and the slowdown is not at all caused by the CPU, its due to the memory bandwidth limitations, which are much less with the revised hardware which both has a more power gpu, more powerful CPU's we dont know the exact changes but Nvidia showed a chart comparing the GPU Teraflops and CPU power between the original Tegra X1 and the Mariko Tegra, its not just a die shrink they have made changes to the CPU's and GPU if you forget used to be a 256 cuda core Maxwell based GPU which it still is, but their could have been more cuda cores added and the 64bit ARM CPU'S updated to newer more power efficient and also more powerful Cortex cores that would be completely compatible with the original Switch's off the shelf Tegra X1. Digital Foundries, why havent you given us a die shot of the new chip yet, a microscoped X-Ray die shot of the new chip like you would have normally done by now, I'm dying to see the internals of the new Mariko Tegra silicon. Please please give us hardware nerds something that makes sense to us but no to most people, you always do die shots of new chips, why havent you done the Mariko Tegra SoC yet?

[@ionseven]

Damn John, you reminded me of how much I loved this game and your ending nearly brought a tear. I'm such a sap.

[@spikey556]

I wish they would give this kind of attention to super metroid

[@ner7215]

Wait, no d-pad support???!

[@remij_9487]

I think the frame drops when transitioning or moving into another area may due to the resolution scaling. You noticed that it will start at 1080p and then drop resolution right? I think when you exit a building or dungeon and go to the overworld, it start rendering at 1080p and then smooths out after the res fully drops to 720p.

[@HeavyMetalSonicRM]

I can't wait to see how surround sound is used. It would be great if the fronts are for the top corners of the screen and the rears for the bottom corners. Then the center could be for Link's voice effects and sounds.

[@RoboP]

Good little video John. Any chance anyone at DF is planning to do a comparison on Ni no Kuni ports that came out for Switch and PS4? Would be curious how they stack up and compared to the PS3 original release!

[@Psydrre]

Switch is a (poor mind you) port, PS4 is a remaster.

[@michaelfrost3357]

@@Psydrre Yep, a real shame the Switch port is the same price as remasters. I'd pick it up for 30/40

[@DuckAlertBeats]

Any word of a patch to improve the framerate yet? Why have they rushed it out like this I wonder... Pretty sure Nintendo can afford to make sure this ran properly before throwing it out there.

[@BMW-sd6nn]

Getting it tonight couldnt be more excited

[@toberl01]

Great work, as always!