This PC port of a classic 2D The Legend of Zelda game does some incredible things

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was first released in 1993 for the Nintendo Game Boy, the first major Zelda game developed for a handheld console and one of the very few entries in the series not to take place in Hyrule. In terms of style, the top-down action-adventure is an extension of the Super Nintendo classic The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and the DX edition of the game presents the adventure in full Game Boy Color mode.

This brings us to the brand-new Link's Awakening DX HD fan remake for PC, which does some pretty amazing things that we'd love to see applied to more retro 2D sprite-driven games. The big thing is that not only does it draw more of the classic pixel art to fill a modern 16:9 widescreen without loading from one screen to another, but you can zoom in and out of the entire Zelda map and still play.

Yeah, it's the sort of feature that fundamentally changes the experience while remaining true to the original. Instead of a sequence of screens, you're presented with a seamless world with an accurate 1:1 pixel recreation. It doesn't stop there, as the Link's Awakening DX HD also supports a smooth 120FPS presentation.

Link's Awakening DX HD was released on Itch.io earlier this month, and as of writing, it's still available to download. Considering Nintendo's history with remakes and unsanctioned ports and the fact that Zelda fans across the globe are currently talking about this PC remake, odds are this will be removed at some point.

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Zelda fans will recall that Nintendo remade The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for the Nintendo Switch a few years ago, updating the visuals. However, Link's Awakening DX HD is a very different thing and worth celebrating. With extensive options for resolution and scaling, the fact that you can see the entirety of the game's Koholint Island setting in one animated and alive shot is extremely cool.

We'd love to see this tech applied to every classic top-down 2D Zelda game and for Nintendo and others to incorporate it for future re-releases of classic 2D games.