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Short answer: the 2019 Nintendo Switch version keeps the same Koholint Island adventure, dungeon order, item-gated puzzles, bosses, and Wind Fish objective as the Game Boy game. What changes is almost everything around that core: the graphics are rebuilt as a toy-like diorama, the soundtrack is newly arranged, controls and menus remove much of the original’s inventory friction, optional activities are refreshed, and the new Chamber Dungeons mode adds a separate way to assemble dungeon rooms. It is a faithful remake rather than a new Zelda story.
Which version counts as the “original”?
There are three important releases, and confusing them leads to inaccurate comparisons.
| Version | Release context | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Link’s Awakening | 1993, Game Boy | The monochrome original and the strict baseline for a remake comparison. |
| Link’s Awakening DX | 1998, Game Boy Color | Nintendo’s “definitive Game Boy Color version,” adding color graphics and an exclusive color dungeon. |
| Link’s Awakening | September 20, 2019, Nintendo Switch | A rebuilt presentation and modernized systems, with the new Chamber Dungeons mode. |
When someone remembers “the original” as a color game, they may actually be remembering DX. That distinction matters: color graphics and the extra color dungeon originated in the Game Boy Color release, not in the Switch remake.
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What the remake keeps exactly recognizable
Link still washes ashore on mysterious Koholint Island after a shipwreck. The island’s residents, including its unusual talking animals, remain central to the tone. Link explores an overworld and eight dungeons, finds items that open new routes, solves trap-filled puzzles, defeats bosses, collects the Instruments of the Sirens, and ultimately seeks to awaken the Wind Fish.
The remake follows the same adventure identity and progression logic. A room, dungeon or character may look different, but the reason you explore, the order in which major objectives unlock, and the relationship between items and puzzles remain recognizably the same. Anyone who knows the Game Boy layout will find the Switch version familiar rather than a reinterpretation that discards the original structure.
That faithfulness also means the remake retains the original’s compact, directed adventure design. It is not an open-world conversion, and Chamber Dungeons do not replace the campaign’s fixed progression. The central objective remains collecting all eight Instruments of the Sirens and awakening the Wind Fish.
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Game Boy’s limited display
The 1993 release communicates Koholint through small monochrome sprites, a constrained screen, and the visual language of early Game Boy software. Its limitations are part of its identity: objects are abstract, rooms are compact, and the player fills in much of the world from animation and sound.
DX adds color, not a new 3D world
DX improves readability with color graphics and adds its exclusive color dungeon. It remains a Game Boy Color presentation, preserving the original’s basic visual grammar and map structure.
The Switch rebuild changes the camera feel
The Switch release replaces those sprites and palettes with a fully rebuilt, toy-diorama-like style. Nintendo describes Koholint Island as “reimagined in stunning detail.” Characters and terrain have rounded, crafted surfaces, and the higher-resolution presentation makes environmental details much easier to see.
This is a substantial visual change, but it does not turn the game into a different adventure. The remake preserves the same island logic and recognizable characters while changing how the world is framed and lit. The result feels more like looking at a miniature model than viewing an enlarged Game Boy screen.
The visual difference is therefore best understood as a change in presentation rather than a change in level design. Returning players can recognize the same locations and progression, while newcomers get a clearer view of the island’s terrain, characters and dungeon entrances from the start.
Music and sound: familiar melodies, new arrangements
The Switch soundtrack is a new arrangement layer for the classic music. The melodies and musical identity remain familiar, but they are presented with modern console instrumentation and recording quality rather than the Game Boy’s synthesized sound.
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That distinction is important for returning players. The remake does not replace the story with a newly scored sequel; it refreshes the sound of the same adventure. Players seeking the original’s hardware-era texture will hear a difference, while players who want the familiar themes with fuller sound get the intended benefit of the remake.
Audio is one of the clearest ways to separate the three releases. The 1993 game has the most constrained Game Boy sound, DX remains within the handheld generation’s sound palette, and the Switch version presents rearranged versions of the classic soundtrack. None of those changes alters the dungeon order or the Wind Fish objective.
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The original’s two-button problem
On the Game Boy, Link’s sword, shield, power bracelet, Pegasus Boots and other tools compete for two face buttons. Progress often means opening the inventory, swapping an item, using it, and repeating the process whenever the next obstacle requires a different tool. That friction is not a puzzle; it is a consequence of the original hardware.
More equipment at once
The Switch version lets you equip more items simultaneously and uses modern controls to reduce constant menu trips. The underlying puzzles are not replaced with automatic solutions. You still need to identify the correct item and use it at the correct location, but changing your loadout is less disruptive.
This is especially noticeable when moving between exploration and combat. The remake preserves the need to earn and understand each item, yet lets you keep more of the tools you are actively using ready for the next room. The result is less interruption without removing the item-based logic that defines the adventure.
Conversation review
The remake adds a way to review key conversations. This helps when a villager gives a clue, a trading-chain instruction or a location hint that you do not want to write down. It also makes the game easier to resume after a long break without changing what the characters tell you.
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Map improvements
The map is more useful as a navigation tool, with modernized ways to review areas and mark information. These changes reduce the need to repeatedly retrace the same rooms simply to remember where an obstacle or unresolved clue was found. They support the original exploration design rather than bypassing it.
Conversation review and map improvements address two different kinds of memory burden. The first preserves what characters said; the second helps you remember where you saw a blocked route or unfinished task. Neither system removes the need to explore or solve a puzzle, so players who prefer the original’s note-taking demands can still appreciate the remake’s structure while spending less time managing reminders.
Mini-games, rewards and optional content
Nintendo describes the remake’s mini-games as renovated. Optional activities therefore receive presentation and reward updates rather than being left as exact Game Boy reproductions.
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Rewards include Super Mario character dolls and Chamber Stones. The dolls add collectible appeal to familiar side activities; Chamber Stones connect optional play to the remake’s new dungeon-building system. These additions do not change the eight-dungeon campaign, but they give completion-minded players more reasons to revisit diversions.
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These rewards also clarify what is and is not essential. The main quest still revolves around exploration, items, dungeons, bosses and the eight Instruments of the Sirens. Mini-games, dolls and Chamber Stones are additional goals for players who want to see more of the remake’s refreshed activities, not prerequisites for understanding the central story.
Chamber Dungeons: the Switch version’s major new mode
What a Chamber is
Chamber Dungeons are the remake’s defining new system. Series producer Eiji Aonuma explained: “With Chamber Dungeons, each room of the dungeon is a single tile called ‘Chambers’, and you arrange these tiles together like jigsaw pieces to form a dungeon. It’s a completely new feature.”
Instead of entering one fixed dungeon designed as part of the main quest, you arrange rooms taken from completed dungeons into a new layout. The mode turns the game’s room structure into a construction puzzle.
How construction works
- Complete dungeons in the main adventure. Their rooms become the building material for Chamber Dungeons.
- Arrange Chambers into a connected layout. Each room is treated as a tile, so entrances and exits must line up.
- Build around an objective. Challenges teach construction rules and require a target arrangement or dungeon task.
- Play the resulting dungeon. The layout tests whether your connections create a workable route.
- Earn rewards. Conquered Chambers can provide rupees and useful items.
Why room connections matter
Chest contents are determined by how rooms are connected. Construction is therefore not merely cosmetic: the way you join Chambers affects the rewards and the route you create. The mode asks you to think about dungeon topology as well as combat and puzzle flow.
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This makes Chamber Dungeons different from simply replaying a completed dungeon. You are selecting rooms, checking that their entrances connect and considering how the resulting route satisfies the objective. The mode uses familiar rooms as pieces for a new kind of problem, while the main story continues to use its authored dungeon layouts.
amiibo functions
Zelda amiibo can unlock exclusive Chambers. Arranged dungeons can also be saved to a Zelda amiibo and shared with friends. These functions are optional additions to the remake; the main island adventure does not depend on building or sharing a Chamber Dungeon.
Because amiibo availability can vary by region and retailer, treat the figures as an accessory for the mode rather than a requirement for completing the story. If you do not own one, you can still play the core campaign and use the Chamber Dungeons system without treating amiibo as a condition of entry. If you do own compatible Zelda amiibo, their role is specifically tied to unlocking, saving or sharing Chamber content.
Original Game Boy versus DX versus Switch
| Comparison point | 1993 Game Boy | 1998 Game Boy Color DX | 2019 Switch remake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core story and Wind Fish objective | Original form | Preserved | Preserved |
| Graphics | Monochrome Game Boy presentation | Color graphics | Fully rebuilt, detailed diorama style |
| Extra dungeon | Not part of the original release | Exclusive color dungeon | Carries the expanded lineage and adds Chamber Dungeons |
| Item handling | Frequent two-button swapping | Still based on Game Boy controls | More simultaneous equipment and modern controls |
| Conversation support | Original presentation | Original-style presentation | Key conversations can be reviewed |
| Map tools | Original map functionality | Game Boy Color-era map functionality | Improved navigation and map use |
| Mini-games and rewards | Original activities | Color-era revisions | Renovated mini-games, Super Mario character dolls and Chamber Stones |
| Custom dungeon mode | None | None | Chamber Dungeons |
| Sound | Game Boy-era audio | Game Boy Color-era audio | New arrangements of the classic soundtrack |
The table shows why calling the Switch release merely a color upgrade is misleading. DX is the release that added color graphics and an exclusive color dungeon to the handheld formula. The Switch edition inherits that expanded lineage but adds a complete audiovisual rebuild, modern interface tools and a separate Chamber Dungeons system.
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How faithful is the Switch remake?
It is highly faithful in structure and substantially different in presentation and usability. The remake does not rewrite the premise, replace the island, reorder the eight-Instrument objective or turn the dungeons into unrelated content. Its largest changes are the visual rebuild, the new arrangements, less cumbersome item management, improved information tools and optional activities.
That combination explains why two apparently opposite opinions can both be fair. A player judging by story, map logic and puzzle progression will experience the same Link’s Awakening. A player judging by camera style, input, audio, menus and optional modes will experience a materially modernized game.
The safest expectation is not “identical pixel-for-pixel remake” and not “new Zelda adventure.” It is the same recognizable campaign rebuilt around a different presentation and a more accommodating interface. Players who value historical constraints may prefer the Game Boy versions; players who value accessibility and visual detail will notice why the Switch version feels substantially newer.
Which version should you play?
Choose the Switch remake if you want convenience
- You want the clearest modern presentation of Koholint Island.
- You dislike repeatedly swapping items between two buttons.
- You want conversation review and improved map tools.
- You are interested in arranging custom dungeons after finishing major dungeons.
- You prefer newly arranged music and refreshed optional activities.
- You want optional amiibo interactions for exclusive Chambers, saving or sharing, while understanding that the figures are not required for the main story.
Choose the 1993 Game Boy original for historical texture
- You want to experience the game within its original monochrome hardware limits.
- You are studying how the adventure communicates with minimal screen space and sound.
- You specifically want the unexpanded baseline before the DX additions.
Choose DX when color-era authenticity matters
- You remember the Game Boy Color version and want that specific presentation.
- You want the exclusive color dungeon in its original form.
- You prefer a classic handheld version while still having the color improvements Nintendo added to the definitive Game Boy Color edition.
For most first-time players
The Switch edition is the practical choice because it preserves the adventure while removing the most persistent hardware-era friction. The Game Boy versions remain valuable when the goal is historical authenticity, monochrome atmosphere or the exact DX experience, not because the Switch release omits the central game.
Returning players should choose based on what they want to revisit. If the appeal is remembering the island’s original visual and audio limitations, the 1993 game or DX is the better match. If the appeal is seeing familiar rooms in a rebuilt style, hearing rearranged music and spending less time in inventory menus, the Switch edition addresses those needs directly.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the remake does not change
- It does not turn the game into an open-world Zelda adventure.
- It does not discard the eight-Instrument progression.
- It does not remove item-based gating or the need to solve dungeon puzzles.
- It does not make Chamber Dungeons a replacement campaign.
- It does not make the DX color dungeon a Switch-original invention.
- It does not require Zelda amiibo to finish the island adventure.
These boundaries are useful when evaluating claims that the remake is either “just a graphical upgrade” or “a completely new game.” It is neither: the campaign is structurally conservative, while the interface, audiovisual layer and optional systems are meaningfully rebuilt.
Common points of confusion
Is the Switch game the same as the Game Boy game?
It is the same core adventure, not the same presentation. The island, objective, dungeon progression, items and puzzle logic remain recognizable, while graphics, sound, controls, menus, map support, mini-games and optional systems are modernized.
Did the Switch remake add the color dungeon?
No. The exclusive color dungeon belongs to Link’s Awakening DX, released for Game Boy Color in 1998. The Switch remake adds Chamber Dungeons as its major new mode and carries forward the expanded version’s lineage.
Are Chamber Dungeons part of the original campaign?
No. They are an additional construction mode built from Chambers taken from completed dungeons. The fixed island adventure and its eight-dungeon progression remain the main campaign.
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Do amiibo unlock required story content?
No. Zelda amiibo can unlock exclusive Chambers, and arranged dungeons can be saved to an amiibo and shared with friends, but amiibo functions are optional.
Bottom line for buyers and returning players
Buy the Nintendo Switch version if you want the definitive modern way to play the original adventure: it keeps Koholint Island, the dungeons, the items, the characters and the Wind Fish goal, then adds a detailed new art style, rearranged music, better controls, improved information tools, renovated mini-games and Chamber Dungeons. Play the 1993 Game Boy release for the unfiltered original. Play DX for the color-era version and its exclusive color dungeon. The most important distinction is not story versus story; it is original hardware texture versus modern presentation and usability.
Frequently Asked Questions
What changed in the Link’s Awakening remake?
The 2019 Switch version rebuilds the graphics in a toy-diorama style, rearranges the classic soundtrack, modernizes item controls, adds conversation review and improved map tools, renovates mini-games, and introduces Chamber Dungeons.
Is the Switch version the same game as the Game Boy release?
It preserves the same Koholint Island story, eight-Instrument objective, dungeon progression, items and puzzle structure, but presents them with substantially updated visuals, audio, controls and optional systems.
What did Link’s Awakening DX add?
The 1998 Game Boy Color version added color graphics and an exclusive color dungeon. Those additions should not be credited to the 2019 Switch remake.
Should I play the original or the remake?
Choose the Switch version for modern presentation, easier item management, information tools and Chamber Dungeons. Choose the 1993 Game Boy game for monochrome historical texture, or DX for the specific color-era version and its exclusive dungeon.
Are Chamber Dungeons required to finish the story?
No. They are an optional mode in which rooms from completed dungeons are arranged into objective-based layouts. The main island adventure remains separate.
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Do I need a Zelda amiibo?
No. Zelda amiibo can unlock exclusive Chambers and support saving or sharing arranged dungeons, but the figures are not required for the main campaign.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: the Switch remake keeps Link’s Awakening’s adventure intact while making it far more elaborate and convenient to play. Choose it for modern presentation and quality-of-life features; choose the Game Boy original or DX for their specific historical and color-era experiences.
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