Link's Awakening Miscellanea


In this section I've collected together some various bits and pieces related to Link's Awakening that may be of nostalgic interest to viewers. Check out the three VERY different TV adverts aired for the game - it's amazing what companies thing will appeal to potential buyers depending on the country! Link's Awakening also has a massive amount of easter-egg cameos - have you spotted them all?



Link's Awakening TV Advert - UK Version

"You play a medieval elf named Link..."

The classy looking advert starts out looking like its going to try and sell us some kind of sophisticated lifestyle product... cue Rik Mayal (UK comedy genius of Bottom, Blackadder and The Young Ones fame) who seems to think Zelda is the answer the the boredom of being, rich, talented and handsome...

We get to see Rik playing the Gameboy istelf with a few screenshots of the action. The gamebox along with the LttP box are shown at the end along with logo. Nintendo continues in the present day to use celebrities to endorse their games.



Link's Awakening TV Advert - US Version

"The power's in ma head... and the power's in ma hand... Zelda!"

In the early 90s hip-hop was VERY popular in America... and therefore used to promote Link's Awakening for the US advert back in 1993! The rapper is filmed in a flashing, dark dungeon setting with screenshots of the game flashing on the walls. He does some kind of rap dance and various 'gangsta' gestures while moving around the dungeon perfoming the song.

The game box artwork is featured prominently as well as the sword/shield logo that appeared in LttP and of course, an image of the Gameboy.



Link's Awakening TV Advert - Japanese Version

This is Japan's advert of Link's Awakening aired in 1993. It actually shows the various characters from the game including Link, Marin and Tarin, even a Stalfos having various frolics on a lush-looking Koholint Island. The characters are some kind of clay puppets on sticks. Some of the video shows the beginning of the game where Link's boat is destroyed in the storm and Marin then finds him washed up on the beach.

There is only one point where the game screenshots are featured and its only for a few seconds but the puppets are very good likenesses of the characters! Some kind of song is sang to the background music but as its in Japanese I sadly have no idea of the lyrics!



Cameos and Easter Eggs

Link's Awakening features lots of Super Mario Bros. easter eggs! The vast majority are enemies of Link and are seen in dungeons, the side-scrolling action sections and out and about exploring the island. A few examples are;

  • Blooper - A squid that swims around under the water.
  • Boo - This ghost will chase you dark rooms so light a torch to scare it away.
  • Cheep-Cheep - A fish that swims back and forth in the water.
  • Goomba - A little mushroom that walks back and forth, if you jump on its head you are rewared with a heart.
  • Piranha Plant - A toothy flower that pops out of pipes during the side-scrolling sections.
  • Pokey - This multi-tiered cactus is encountered in the Yarna Desert. Slash to remove segments of its body then finish off the head.
  • Shy Guy - Called a Mask-Mimic in the game, this monsters copies Link's movements. It can be beaten by charging up your sword.
  • Thwomp and Thwimp - Malicious stone blocks that try to flatten Link when he moves under them. Link can climb atop the Thwomps to get to higher platforms.

As well as enemies there are other Mario characters featured too;

  • Christine the Goat sends a picture of Princess Peach to Mr Write. He has no idea that Christine is a goat and thinks he is corresponding with a beautiful woman!
  • Madame Meow Meow owns two pet Chain Chomps - unlike in Mario Bros, they are friendly in Link's Awakening and called Bow-Wows. The Chain Chomp's name in Japan is Wanwan, which is the noise a dog is said to make. Hence "Bowwow" in the English version.
  • Tarin, Marin's mushroom loving father is quite clearly a cameo of Mario himself. He even gets turned into a racoon!
  • Wart, Mario's nemesis from Super Mario Bros. 2 also cameos as a toad called Mamu. Mamu has his own band and after treating Link to their u-released song, Mamu then teaches Link his third Ocarina song, the Frog's Song of Soul which brings certain things and/or beings back to life.
  • In the Crazy Game the grand prize to be won is a Yoshi doll. The item's description says that Yoshi has been showing up in all sorts of places recently.

Plus check out these other random cameos!

  • Mr Write is a cameo of the same character who featured in Sim City on the SNES (game creator Will Wright). When you enter his house the Sim City theme music plays. If you enter the house of his penpal, Christine, another tune from Sim City plays.
  • Kirby also features in the game lurking in dungeons as an enmey called Anti-Kibry who tries to attack Link by sucking him up!



Takashi Tezuka, who worked on Link's Awakening commented "I remember that we made Link's Awakening in a really peculiar frame of mind. We began in the free spirit of an afterschool club, so the contents are quite unrestrained. If you look at it, you can tell. Characters similar to Mario and Luigi appear and Yoshi Dolls appear. It was for the Game Boy, so we thought, "Oh, it'll be fine."

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata admitted that Tezuka and co wouldn't be able to mess around with its lead characters in such a away today. "Today, if you just barged ahead using characters resembling Mario and Luigi - even if it were for a Nintendo game - it would be quite a problem."



 

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 This page was created by Juliet A. Singleton © 2010. All rights reserved.