Short answer: the 2019 Nintendo Switch version is the same essential Link’s Awakening adventure rebuilt for modern hardware. Link still washes ashore on Koholint Island, explores eight dungeons, gathers the Instruments of the Sirens, solves item-gated puzzles and awakens the Wind Fish. What changes is almost everything surrounding that structure: the graphics, soundtrack, controls, menus, map tools, mini-games and optional content.
The comparison also depends on which “original” you mean. The 1993 Game Boy release is monochrome, while 1998’s Link’s Awakening DX added color and an exclusive dungeon. The Switch remake preserves that expanded lineage and adds a new dungeon-building mode called Chamber Dungeons, making it the most convenient and visually elaborate version without being a new story or a radically different quest.
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The three versions readers usually mean
There are three important reference points rather than one. Treating them as interchangeable can make a feature sound newer than it is or make the Switch remake seem less faithful than it really is.
| Version | Release and hardware | What defines it | Why it matters in a comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link’s Awakening | 1993, Game Boy | Original monochrome presentation and two-button item system | This is the strict original-versus-remake baseline. |
| Link’s Awakening DX | 1998, Game Boy Color | Color graphics and an exclusive color dungeon | Many players remember DX when they say “the original.” Its additions predate the Switch remake. |
| Link’s Awakening | September 20, 2019, Nintendo Switch | Rebuilt presentation, modernized controls and menus, renovated activities and Chamber Dungeons | This is a remake of the established adventure, not a sequel or a new island. |
Nintendo describes the Switch release as Koholint Island “reimagined in stunning detail,” while describing DX as the definitive Game Boy Color version. Those descriptions point to different kinds of revision: DX extends the original Game Boy game, whereas Switch reconstructs its presentation and usability for a current console.
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What did not change
The remake’s most important decision was restraint. Its world, objective and progression remain recognizably those of the Game Boy game.
The premise and Wind Fish objective
Link is shipwrecked on mysterious Koholint Island. The island’s residents, its talking animals and its strange dreamlike logic remain central to the adventure. Link must uncover the island’s mystery and awaken the Wind Fish, rather than pursue a new villain or a different version of Hyrule’s history.
The same adventure skeleton
The remake still asks you to explore the overworld, find entrances and keys, collect items that open new routes, defeat dungeon bosses and claim the eight Instruments of the Sirens. Progress depends on the same relationship between exploration and item-gated puzzles: an item found in one area often changes what is possible in another.
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The same dungeon identity
Dungeons remain trap-filled, room-based challenges with locked doors, keys, puzzles, minibosses and bosses. The Switch edition does not replace the original dungeon progression with a free-form system. Its new Chamber Dungeons are optional constructed layouts built from rooms you have already conquered; they do not erase the authored dungeons that define the main quest.
The same character tone
Koholint’s unusual cast, including its talking-animal residents and cross-series references, remains part of the game’s identity. The remake changes how these characters are drawn and how conversations are handled, but not the island’s deliberately offbeat atmosphere.
Visual presentation: from monochrome sprites to a diorama
The 1993 Game Boy look
The original uses the Game Boy’s monochrome display and sprite-based art. Its limited palette is not simply a technical footnote: it affects how rooms, enemies and objects are read, and it gives the island a stark, compact texture associated with the hardware.
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What DX changed
Link’s Awakening DX adds color graphics to the established map and characters. It also adds a color-specific dungeon. Those are DX innovations, not features invented for the Switch release. If your memories involve a colored Koholint Island or that exclusive dungeon, you are remembering the Game Boy Color version rather than the 1993 cartridge.
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The Switch version replaces the old sprites and restricted palettes with a fully rebuilt, toy-diorama-like presentation. Nintendo’s “reimagined in stunning detail” description reflects the scale of that change: surfaces, characters and environmental objects are rendered with modern detail, and the camera presents the island with a different visual feel.
Despite the new look, the remake follows the same map logic. A new camera perspective does not turn Koholint into a different world; familiar routes, dungeon entrances and item-gated relationships still organize exploration. The visual change is therefore substantial in presentation but conservative in geography and progression.
Music and sound
The Switch soundtrack is a new arrangement and recording layer for familiar material. Nintendo says the classic soundtrack has been reborn with new arrangements. You should expect recognizable melodies presented with modern console sound, not an entirely new set of compositions written for a different story.
This distinction explains why the remake can feel both familiar and newly produced. The musical identity remains tied to the Game Boy game, while instrumentation and audio clarity belong to the Switch presentation. The original hardware’s compressed, era-specific sound remains a separate historical texture that the remake does not reproduce literally.
Controls: the largest everyday quality-of-life change
The original two-button limitation
On Game Boy, Link’s primary actions and equipped tools compete for a very small number of buttons. You frequently have to open the inventory and shuttle items between two face-button slots before you can use the tool required for the next obstacle. That friction is part of the original interface, not a puzzle rule.
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Switch equipment changes
Nintendo explicitly contrasts the original item-swapping limitation with improved Switch controls. The remake lets you equip more items at once, so routine actions require fewer inventory interruptions. The exact button layout belongs to the Switch control scheme, but the practical result is clear: moving, attacking and using tools feels less like managing an inventory than it does on Game Boy.
This does not remove item-based problem solving. You still need to recognize which tool a room requires and obtain that tool through progression. The change removes repeated menu work rather than making dungeons automatically solve themselves.
Who notices the difference most
- First-time players: the Switch version presents the adventure without asking them to learn constant two-slot item juggling.
- Returning Game Boy players: familiar puzzles arrive with fewer pauses, so the same route can feel faster even when its logic is unchanged.
- Players comparing difficulty: reduced input friction should not be mistaken for redesigned dungeon layouts. The remake is more convenient, not a separate easy mode.
Menus, conversations and map navigation
The remake modernizes several interfaces that were constrained by the original hardware.
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Key conversations can be reviewed in the Switch version. This is useful in an adventure that gives you clues, instructions and story information through dialogue. On the Game Boy versions, missing a line generally meant relying on memory or revisiting the character.
Map improvements
Nintendo lists new ways to navigate the map. The remake’s map tools make it easier to understand where you have been and where an item or route may still matter. The underlying island is not replaced with a waypoint-driven open world; the improvement is in organizing information that the original hardware presented more sparsely.
What these changes mean in practice
Menus and maps now support the adventure instead of repeatedly interrupting it. You still have to interpret clues and decide where to go, but the game is better at preserving useful information while you do so. That is a quality-of-life revision, not a change to the narrative or puzzle sequence.
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Mini-games, rewards and collectibles
The Switch release renovates familiar mini-games rather than discarding the optional activities associated with Koholint Island. Nintendo also lists rewards such as Super Mario character dolls and Chamber Stones.
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The important comparison point is origin. Color graphics and the exclusive color dungeon belong to DX, while renovated mini-games, updated rewards and Chamber Stones belong to the Switch remake’s expanded package.
Chamber Dungeons: the Switch remake’s major new mode
How the system works
Chamber Dungeons are built from rooms taken from dungeons you have completed. Series producer Eiji Aonuma describes each room as a single tile called a “Chamber”; you arrange those tiles like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to form a dungeon. It is a completely new feature for the remake.
- Complete dungeons in the main adventure. Your authored dungeon progress supplies the rooms that can be used.
- Arrange Chambers into a layout. Rooms must be connected according to the construction rules taught by the mode.
- Meet an objective. A layout is not just a decorative floor plan; challenges ask you to construct a dungeon that satisfies a stated goal.
- Play the resulting dungeon. You test whether your room connections create a workable route through the challenges.
- Earn rewards. Conquered Chambers can provide rupees and useful items, giving the mode a gameplay purpose beyond experimentation.
Why room connections matter
Aonuma explains that chest contents are determined by how rooms are connected. In other words, construction choices affect the reward structure. Chamber Dungeons are therefore not merely a random-room generator: the way you join tiles is part of the puzzle, and the resulting route can influence what you receive.
Amiibo interactions
Nintendo says Zelda amiibo can unlock exclusive Chambers. Aonuma also explains that an arranged dungeon can be saved to a Zelda amiibo and shared with friends. Amiibo are consequently tied to optional Chamber Dungeon content, storage and sharing; they are not required to understand the main island story or complete the standard dungeon progression.
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What Chamber Dungeons do not replace
The mode does not convert Link’s Awakening into an editor-first game. The main campaign still uses its authored overworld, eight dungeons, item progression and Wind Fish objective. Chamber Dungeons are an additional layer for players who want construction challenges, replayable layouts and extra rewards after engaging with the original dungeon material.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How DX fits into the Switch comparison
DX is the version that most often causes confusion because it sits between the monochrome Game Boy release and the Switch remake.
| Feature | 1993 Game Boy | 1998 Link’s Awakening DX | 2019 Switch remake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monochrome Game Boy presentation | Yes | No; color hardware presentation | No; fully rebuilt modern presentation |
| Color graphics | No | Yes | Yes, through the Switch remake’s new art direction |
| Exclusive color dungeon | No | Yes | Preserved as part of the expanded version lineage |
| Modern multi-item equipment | No | Still based on the Game Boy-era interface | Yes |
| Conversation review and improved map tools | No | Not the Switch feature set | Yes |
| Renovated mini-games and Chamber Stones | No | No | Yes |
| Chamber Dungeons | No | No | Yes |
| Zelda amiibo Chamber interactions | No | No | Yes |
The safest way to describe the progression is: the original established the adventure, DX added color and a color-specific dungeon, and Switch rebuilt the whole presentation while adding modern usability and Chamber Dungeons. Calling every Switch feature “new to the series” would erase DX’s contribution; calling the Switch version merely “DX in HD” would miss its new systems.
Side-by-side: what changed on each comparison axis
| Comparison axis | Game Boy original | DX | Switch remake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faithfulness | Source version of the island, story and progression | Same core adventure with color-era additions | Same recognizable story, island structure, items, dungeons and puzzle progression |
| Presentation | Monochrome sprites and Game Boy-era sound | Color graphics with the same basic hardware lineage | High-detail, toy-diorama-like visuals and rearranged soundtrack |
| Input friction | Frequent two-button item swapping | Still tied to the Game Boy-style interface | More items can be equipped at once, with modernized controls |
| Additional content | No later additions | Exclusive color dungeon | Renovated mini-games, Chamber Stones, Chamber Dungeons and amiibo-related Chambers |
| Atmosphere | Compact, monochrome hardware-era texture | Color-enhanced version of that texture | Modern audio and a more elaborate visual camera while retaining Koholint’s unusual tone |
Which version should you play?
Choose the Switch remake if you want the smoothest first playthrough
The Switch edition is the practical recommendation for most new players. It retains the adventure’s defining structure while reducing item-management friction, preserving useful conversations, improving map navigation and presenting the island with current-generation detail. It also includes the remake-specific Chamber Dungeon mode and renovated optional activities.
It is especially suitable if you want to see the complete expanded lineage in one modern package: the established campaign, the color-era dungeon content and the Switch additions are presented together rather than split between older hardware versions.
Choose the 1993 Game Boy original for historical texture
The original is the right choice when the hardware-era experience is the point. Its monochrome graphics, two-button inventory routine and original sound are not flaws to be patched over; they are the conditions under which the adventure was designed. Expect more interface friction and less stored guidance than on Switch.
Choose DX when you want the classic version with color
DX occupies the middle ground. It keeps the Game Boy-era form while adding color and the exclusive color dungeon. It is the relevant choice for players who want the older design and presentation but do not want the monochrome baseline. Remember that it does not provide the Switch remake’s modern controls, map improvements or Chamber Dungeons.
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What to expect when moving from an older version to Switch
- Recognize the rooms, not the rendering. The camera, materials and character models look new, but dungeon and overworld logic remain familiar.
- Expect fewer inventory pauses. The remake’s multi-item equipment changes the rhythm of travel without removing item-based gates.
- Do not confuse optional construction with the main campaign. Chamber Dungeons use completed dungeon rooms and sit alongside the authored quest.
- Separate DX memories from 1993 memories. Color and the color dungeon belong to DX, while Chamber Dungeons and the rebuilt presentation belong to Switch.
- Expect familiar melodies in new arrangements. The soundtrack is modernized, not replaced with a different story score.
Buying recommendation
For a reader deciding which product to buy today, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening on Nintendo Switch offers the broadest and least-friction version of the adventure. It is the version to choose when you want the original quest’s identity with modern presentation, controls, map support and additional replay systems. An older Game Boy or Game Boy Color version is preferable only when preserving the original hardware experience—or the specific DX presentation—is more important than convenience and the Switch additions.
Zelda amiibo are relevant only if Chamber Dungeon unlocks, saving or sharing constructed layouts is part of your plan. They are optional accessories for that mode, not a requirement for the Wind Fish quest.
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