I already just made an entire post raving about how much I love Link's Awakening, so I'll cut to the chase. This game's got some strong dungeons. Not my favorites in the series, they can feel a bit samey at points, but they're consistently engaging to navigate, get better as the game goes on, and pretty much established the dungeon formula we all know and love. Compasses detecting treasure, the dungeon item being used to defeat the boss, midbosses breaking the dungeon into distinct halves, the Boss Key solely unlocking the boss door, that was all introduced in Link's Awakening. I also love how open these dungeons are, it makes them really satisfying to unravel and figure out. So, let's talk about them.
Side Note: I think I'm going to stop ranking the bosses in these Dungeon Reviews and instead just briefly mention them when talking about the dungeons themselves. I feel like they're somewhat distracting from the thing I'm actually trying to analysis first and foremost, which is the dungeon design.
Dungeon 1: Tail Cave
Like most of the first dungeons in the series, Tail Cave is a pretty basic tutorial to how dungeons work, but it does that well. You get the compass and map early, and most of the dungeon takes place in a fairly wide open central area with a lot of areas you can only access with the Roc's Feather. So once you get the Feather and the ability to jump, you're excited to explore all those areas, along with being able to take advantage of all the shortcuts laid out throughout the dungeon to mitigate any potential backtracking. I also quite like the blue and pink color palette, it really fits the cave's seaside location. I will say that Tail Cave feels really short though, and I think a big cause of that impression is the fact that the miniboss and boss are directly back-to-back. If the final stretch of the dungeon had a bit more to it, Tail Cave would've probably felt a bit more complete. And as for the bosses, I think the Spiked Roller is a really fun and satisfying first midboss to fight, and while Moldorm still isn't some great boss, this is a much version than the fight in LttP. Beyond Link's more polished control in this game, Moldorm moves slower, has less health, and you can jump over his tail, so it doesn't feel nearly as punishing or unfair if you do happen to fall.
Dungeon 2: Bottle Grotto
Bottle Grotto is another fairly basic dungeon, but it's a lot more linear than Tail Cave was in terms of how it's built. Instead of having a big central area to explore, Bottle Grotto mostly directs you along a path with various side rooms locked behind the dungeon item, the Power Bracelet. Thankfully, Bottle Grotto does introduce a bunch of neat new mechanics to make up for the more restrictive navigation, particularly the colored tiles which already get some fairly fun puzzles. The bracelet itself is also put to good use with how much there is to toss around, and the dungeon even brings back the Pols Voice who can now only be harmed with tossable objects. The miniboss is just a Hinox, it's nothing too memorable, but the main boss Genie is actually the highlight of the dungeon for me. The fact that it has two phases and even some in-game dialogue taunting you before giving in once you turn the tables on the boss makes the Genie one of the better and more memorable fights of Link's Awakening for me.
Dungeon 3: Key Cavern
Key Cavern has always been my least favorite of the main Link's Awakening dungeons and it's not even all that bad. It's got some really clever isolated puzzles, like figuring out that a wall can be bombable by looking at the other side from a higher ledge or hitting a switch in one room to affect another. The Pegasus Boots is also a neat dungeon item that gets used fairly well here, as you'd expect. However, what I think holds this dungeon back is its overall structure and central gimmick. As you can tell, this dungeon is all about keys. You will be flooded with them, and you need to accumulate four by the end of the dungeon to reach the boss. But even more, the dungeon is even shaped like a pair of keys, which ends up causing Key Cavern to feel really disjointed and claustrophobic, and backtracking to get collectibles feels a bit more tedious than it should be. It really feels like Nintendo thought of the dungeon shape first and created the rooms around it, and while this ins't the only dungeon in the game like this, this is easily the worst execution. I'm also not a fan of the pick-a-door room, even the dead ends basically give you your key back, it feels similarly gimmicky. The bosses are also a mixed bag, I really don't like the Baby Dodongo fight (or really just Dodongo fights in general), but the Slime Eyes fight is actually quite fun with a decent amount of moving parts that utilize the Pegasus Boots well, though the elasticity physics added to the remake means its version of the fight is far better in my opinion.
Dungeon 4: Angler's Tunnel
Angler's Tunnel marks a solid bump in quality as far as dungeon design goes, as well as yet another strong water dungeon within the Zelda series. Angler's Tunnel isn't as mindbending as other water dungeons though, it's less focused on manipulating water and more focused on water as a threat. You come into the Angler's Tunnel without a means to swim, so the first half of the dungeon has you careful navigating around giant pools of water trying not to drown. It's the same philosophy that the other dungeons have been using, but I like how whether or not you have the flippers affects the way you traverse this dungeon so dramatically. As usual, there's a few neat puzzles like solving a tile-puzzle in one room and memorizing the solution for a duplicate puzzle in another room, or dropping a key into a pond and remembering to retrieve it once you get the Flippers. And the general aquatic atmosphere of the dungeon is also quite pleasing, especially in the remake with its fantastic redone music. My only gripe with this dungeon is ultimately the fairly weak bosses. The Big Octo (apparently he's called Cue Ball in this one?) is fine, but pretty easy with the Roc Feather, and the Angler Fish is infamous for being insanely easy in the original game. Thankfully, the remake does improve on this by having him attack faster and bounce you off whenever you hit him.
4/5 Stars
Dungeon 5: Catfish's Maw
Catfish's Maw is a fan favorite dungeon in Link's Awakening, and it's not hard to see why. It's easily one of the most clever dungeons in the game, packing a pretty cheeky expectation subversion. The first half of the dungeon is spent essentially chasing the miniboss, Master Stalfos, around to try and get the dungeon item from him. This basically forces you to not only explore the entirety of the dungeon without being able to use the dungeon item, but it also serves as a fun puzzle as you need to use context clues to figure out where Master Stalfos is going to be next. The dungeon itself is quite mazelike to explore as well, as there's a decent amount of 2D pathways to get you lost, so you'll really need to have memorized the layout by the end. It also helps that the dungeon item, the Hookshot, is historically one of the most fun items in the series, and it's put to great use here. From ripping masks off enemies, to pulling bridges, to using the Hookshot to zoom past spike traps that are too fast to navigate normally, the sheer fun of using the Hookshot elevates Catfish's Maw. I already praised the miniboss for how it affects the dungeon as a whole, but there's also a more standard miniboss in the returning Gohma, and the main boss, Slime Eel, is one of the better ones in the game. It's satisfying to rip it out of the wall and try to land as many hits as you can, and he's the first boss to start planting seeds about the game's twist. Overall, Catfish's Maw is a fantastic, incredibly well-realized dungeon elevated by a strong and inventive premise, and its endlessly fun dungeon item.
Dungeon 6: Face Shrine
Hoo boy, do I have a lot to say about this one.
The thing I most recall about Face Shrine is its atmosphere. It immediately follows the game's big dream twist, so the music is somber and contemplative and the dungeon's color scheme is a bit more garish. It's a place for you to ruminate on what you just learned, and it does that very well. But how is it as a dungeon? Well, I think this is the best execution of Nintendo modeling a dungeon after something, this case being a face. The layout of the Face Shrine looks just barely enough like a face to be recognizable, but takes enough liberties so that it still works as a cohesive dungeon layout. Face Shrine looking like a face even plays into a very clever puzzle where you need to realize there are secret rooms where the eyes are. Unfortunately, this kind of puzzle banks on you having a dungeon map, and I often find myself getting lost because the dungeon map is in a pretty hard-to-find spot. Face Shrine is also the obligatory Wizzrobe dungeon and a lot of chests, keys, items, and doors are hidden behind killing every one in a room, the Dungeon Map included. Wizzrobes in this game aren't as frustrating to deal with as in Zelda 1, but they require a lot more effort to defeat so taking a bunch out can feel a bit tedious so I subconsciously don't want to deal with them and end up skipping out on something important.
In general, Face Shrine somewhat feels like the trickster dungeon of Link's Awakening, focused primarily on cheap traps and minor inconveniences like those infamous chess puzzles, rooms with floating floor tiles that you have to wait for, and the aforementioned eye puzzle. Not all of it works, but there's a fair amount of setpieces I did still like. Primarily, Face Shrine really amps up the colored block usage, and some switches are positioned awkwardly enough that even finding away to switch the blocks with your current status becomes a puzzle in itself. The dungeon items from here on out do start to get a bit more situational, with Face Shrine's item being a souped-up Power Bracelet that you get fairly early, but I can't deny it isn't immensely satisfying to chuck giant statues at stuff. I also like how you need to toss a pot at the chest with the Nightmare Key to open it, that's a very clever subversion there. And the bosses are generally quite fun. Smasher is a solid bit of tug-of-war as you toss a big wrecking ball at each other, and while Facade can be easily beaten with a few bomb placements, I like how he attacks you by completely warping, shaking, and destroying the room you're both in.
Face Shrine is a mess of a dungeon, it reaches incredibly high highs and some real lows as well, but ultimately settles around the middle of the pack for me as far as Link's Awakening dungeons go.
Dungeon 7: Eagle's Tower
Eagle's Tower is far and away the crowning jewel of Link's Awakening. I'd even call it one of the best 2D dungeons in the series, maybe even one of the best dungeons overall. This is the only dungeon in the game to have multiple floors, and on one hand, that's a bit of a shame since puzzles built around jumping between worlds is an easy way to encourage the player to learn the dungeon and how it connects. But on the other hand, it also makes Eagle's Tower feel all the more special. Eagle's Tower has easily the strongest spatial reasoning puzzles in the game. The entire dungeon is flooded with colored blocks but there's only like 3-4 switches across every floor, and there are several chests that must be obtained by dropping from a higher floor. However, the main hook is that you need to cart around a giant wrecking ball and use it to break four columns to collapse the fourth floor onto the third floor. So now, not only do you have to keep the different floors in mind, but you also need to figure out how to bring the wrecking ball to each column, a process that can get genuinely challenging by the end. I also love how much of this dungeon you can do out of order, there's a shortcut you can take with the Boomerang that'll let you get the Mirror Shield early, and you can choose to get the Nightmare Key right off the bat or wait until the upper floor has collapsed. I also appreciate that combat is a lot more minimal in this one, few rooms are locked behind enemies, and the one original miniboss is a joke. The boss fight against Evil Eagle is a genuinely solid challenge, though. My only gripes with Eagle's Tower are minimal. You don't spend much time in the third floor pre-collapse, the Mirror Shield isn't used until after the dungeon, but otherwise, this is top-tier Zelda in every sense of the word.
Dungeon 8: Turtle Rock
Turtle Rock is a great final proper dungeon for Link's Awakening, going for sheer scale over anything else. This dungeon has the most rooms out of any in Link's Awakening, and since it doesn't have multiple floors, it also takes up the largest radius. However, while its size may seem overwhelming at first, I didn't find Turtle Rock quite as tough to navigate as the previous two dungeons. It's very wide open and aside from some one-way doors, it's not especially hard to get where you need to go. Rather, Turtle Rock is more focused on testing your combat abilities, and as such it's flooded with minibosses. Most of them are returning, but the new one Blaino is a pretty fun fight as well. That's not to say Turtle Rock is lacking in good puzzles though, the moveable blocks serve both as interesting one-way doors as well as micropuzzles within themselves as you need to figure out how to fill in every hole in the room. And the Fire Rod is a great idea, both because its lack of magic makes it super powerful in this game and because the ice block puzzles that spawn from it are really clever and fun. The boss, Hot Head, is a bit of a joke, sadly, but overall, Turtle Rock is a strong finale that tests you on pretty much everything you've learned throughout the game without just feeling like a rehash of previous dungeons.
Dungeon DX: Color Dungeon
Link's Awakening DX introduces a new secret dungeon called the Color Dungeon, which is pretty much just a showcase of the fact that the Game Boy Color has... color. Okay, look, I know this sounds lame but it's actually quite a fun little dungeon. Pretty much every room has some sort of inventive, unique color-themed setpiece, from fragile blocks that bounce you around, to enemies that blend in with the ground, to marbles that you need to toss into the right holes. The actual structure of the Color Dungeon is fairly straight-forward, but the individual rooms are fun enough to make up for it in my opinion. The bosses aren't anything special, though. Giant Buzz Blob doesn't have much to it beyond spamming Magic Powder, and Dekudon is a legitimately fun and challenging fight as long as you don't use any item other than the sword to completely trivialize it. However, the main boss, the Hardhit Beetle is easily my least favorite in the game. You have to hit it repeatedly to make it turn red so it can be vulnerable to damage, but it bounces you back every time you hit it so it just turns into an exercise in frustration. Still, as a whole, I like the Color Dungeon and Link's Awakening would feel incomplete without it.
Dungeon Final: Wind Fish's Egg
So, whether or not the Wind Fish's Egg counts as a dungeon to begin with is up for debate. You can argue it's the final dungeon, or you can say it's a mini-dungeon like Kanalet Castle, or you can say it's just a glorified cave. Personally, I treat as a dungeon since it's followed by a boss, though that's still quite nebulous. All this area consists of is a very basic maze that you can navigate easily by jotting down the directions that you find in the library, it's the first of many looping maze rooms within the series, but it doesn't make for the most compelling gameplay. Thankfully, everything else picks up the slack. The final boss of Link's Awakening is one of my favorites as far as the 2D games go, it's a lengthy six-phase behemoth consisting of back-to-back rematches from Link To The Past, and while a good amount of the phases can be cheesed pretty easily if you have the right item, the frenetic pace still makes for a really fun encounter. And of course, I've praised the ending of Link's Awakening to no end back in my review of it, so in terms of storytelling and emotion, the Wind Fish's Egg does its job perfectly.
And here's my final ranking:
10. Wind Fish's Egg
9. Key Cavern
8. Bottle Grotto
7. Tail Cave
6. Face Shrine
5. Color Dungeon
4. Angler's Tunnel
3. Turtle Rock
2. Catfish's Maw
1. Eagle's Tower
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