Draft:The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX is a 1998 video game developed by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. The game is a colorized version of the 1993 Game Boy video game The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, with gameplay additions including an additional color-themed dungeon and support for the Game Boy Printer. A version of the game for the 3DS with additional enhancements, including analog controls and save states, was released on the Nintendo 3DS eShop in 2011. Upon release, Link's Awakening DX received positive reviews, with critics commending the game on the strengths of the original title and welcoming the addition of color graphics and new features, although noting the additions were largely insubstantial compared to the original game. The DX version of Link's Awakening has retrospectively been cited by critics as one of the best games for the Game Boy system and Game Boy Color.

Gameplay
Link's Awakening DX is a version of the game that features fully colorised graphics to take advantage of the features of the Game Boy Color, although it is backward compatible with the original Game Boy. The game includes features compatible with the Game Boy Printer accessory through the addition of a photo album. After visiting an in-game Camera Shop, the player collects pictures taken over the course of twelve locations in the game that can be viewed by the player in the photo album or used to print out stickers using the Game Boy Printer connected via a Game Link Cable. An additional hidden dungeon, named the Color Dungeon, is also included in the game, featuring color-based puzzles including color-coded enemies and switches. Completion of the dungeon allows the player to select one of two items: the Red Tunic, which increases the player's attack power, and the Blue Tunic, which decreases the damage taken by the player. Link's Awakening DX also features additional dialogue-based hints throughout the game.

Development and release
Development of Link's Awakening DX was led by director Yohinori Tsuchiyama undertaken by the Nintendo Research & Development 2 team, a small team dedicated to hardware peripherals and software. The game had minimal supervision from Takashi Tezuka, the director of the 1993 game, who was involved at the time as a supervisor for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. For the Color Dungeon, Yuichi Ozaki created a musical piece based on Kondo's dungeon theme from the original The Legend of Zelda.

Link's Awakening DX was re-released on the Nintendo 3DS eShop on 7 June 2011. The game received minor updates compatible with the Nintendo 3DS, including the extension of the game's display to the larger 3DS screen, analog controls with the 3DS Circle Pad, and the inclusion of options to suspend, save and restore gameplay at any time. In July 2013, Link's Awakening DX was offered as one of several Virtual Console games which "elite status" members of the North America Club Nintendo could redeem as a free gift. A high-definition remake was developed by Grezzo and released for the Nintendo Switch on September 20, 2019.

Reception
Link's Awakening DX received positive reviews from critics upon release, with many critics recommending the game on the basis of the merits of the original title and its continuing appeal both for new and returning players. Reviewers generally agreed that the game's additions were welcomed but minimal in substance, with Electronic Gaming Monthly finding it "isn't all that different from the original game", and Colin Williamson of Allgame describing the game as a "paint job" and "essentially the same game".

Critics praised the colorisation of the game. Electronic Gaming Monthly described the graphics as "sharp" and adding "vibrant life" to the game. Total Game Boy stated that the game's color was a "vast improvement" on the graphics of the original game and helped objects and enemies in the environment "stand out tremendously". Although noting its graphics were "primitive" by the standards of 1999, Jes Bickham of Planet Game Boy considered the graphics to also be "more sharply defined" and "smoother-scrolling" compared to the original. RPGFan commended the "fair graphical improvement" of the game, but considered the colorization to be "shallow" and lacked detail in the design of Link and enemies.

The addition of the Color Dungeon received a mixed reception. Describing it as "lame" and a "total disappointment", Electronic Gaming Monthly considered the dungeon to be too short, easy to complete, and had limited variety in its puzzles. Paul Davies of Computer & Video Games considered the new dungeon to be "not so amazing". RPGFan critiqued the decision to confine color-coded objects such as switches to the Color Dungeon.

Retrospective reception
Many critics have retrospectively named Link's Awakening DX as one of the best games released for the Game Boy system, including Game Boy Official Magazine, Pocket Games, GamePro, and Nintendo Power. The game has also been identified as one of the best Game Boy Color games by Digital Trends, GameSpot, and TheGamer. Luke Albiges of Retro Gamer considered the game's addition of a "vivid" color pallette and new features to "breathe new life" into the game, highlighting the Color Dungeon for "expanding upon what was possible" in the original title. However, writing for Nintendo Life, Gavin Lane stated that whilst the game is "bursting with colour" and commended the pixel sprites, it "just didn't add anything unmissable" to the original, with Stuart Gipp also considering DX to be a downgrade from the original due to its "unenjoyable extra dungeon" and "garish lick of paint that doesn't do the visuals any favors".

Several critics also provided favorable reviews of Link's Awakening DX upon its release on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. Nintendo Power described the game as one of the "best titles available" on the eShop, with reviewer Chris Hoffman stating the game had a "simplicity" and less immersive world due to its age and platform, but featured a "more pronounced" sense of fun, "unbridled imagination" in its design and a "surprisingly poignant" story. Jacob Crites of Nintendo Life found the game's port to the 3DS to "play better" than its predecessors, citing the "more fluid" analog controls and the inclusion of restore points. Similarly, Lucas M. Thomas of IGN considered the new features contributed to a "wonderful gaming experience", although considered the upscaled graphics to not be as sharp as the original and lamented the omission of the Game Boy Printer features. Abraham Ashton Liu of RPGFan similarly commended the value and quality of the game's addition to the eShop and the additional functionality of a save state compared to the "unwieldy and archaic" design of the original save system.

Legacy
In December 2023, a fan-made port of Link's Awakening DX was released for PC, containing widescreen, zoom and high-framerate support, allowing the game to be played without transitions between screens. The port was shortly taken down following release after a takedown notice was issued by Nintendo on the basis of copyright infringement.