Link’s Awakening may charm you towards Switch Lite

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for Nintendo Switch is possibly Nintendo’s cutest adventure – and it threatens to use its charm offensive to push players towards Switch Lite, the redesigned console which releases on the same day.

Exploring the plastic playground of Koholint Island is like tinkering with your very own Zelda adventure playset. The remake’s toy-like art direction channels a tangible feel to the familiar series mechanics and there’s an overall sense that the whole thing is playing out as a child’s make-believe toy session.

Of course it helps that the gorgeous aesthetics are built on top of an already excellent and eccentric 2D Zelda game. If you haven’t played the original, you’re likely to find – assuming the quality seen in the preview builds is consistent throughout – one of the franchise’s most memorable 2D outings here. And if you played the original? The nostalgia from the soundtrack alone is just wonderful.

“Exploring the plastic playground of Koholint Island is like tinkering with your very own Zelda adventure playset.”

The remake also introduces the ability for players to earn Chambers – Dungeon Rooms – and arrange them to complete objectives in the new Chamber Dungeon mode. Using a grid-like menu, players can snap different rooms together to create custom dungeons, which is made more interesting by challenges requiring them to include a certain number of floors or treasure chests.

VGC was recently able to play a new build of the game and adventure through a previously unseen area, its third dungeon. You can see ten minutes of our gameplay session in the video on this page.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening will be released on September 20, 2019. It’s currently available to pre-order via Amazon and other retailers.