What a banger can fit on such an ancient handheld. For obvious reasons the game looks and feels more simplistic than ALttP, but the world, the NPCs and the interactions with them are so much more interesting in LA. The dream island setting is so charming and a nice change between the classic Triforce/Zelda themed titles, also appreciated the references to other franchises.
The dungeons became less challenging, yet still really well designed and fun. Constantly changing items in two slots was a bit annoying sometimes, but that's understandable, considering that the Game Boy only has two face buttons. Some people don't like that you sometimes need to unequip your sword, but it actually adds flexibility - many puzzles would've been impossible if one of the buttons was strictly dedicated for the sword.
Easily my favourite game for the OG Game Boy.

I liked this one feeling more compacted in comparison to Link to the Past still had lots of depth to it and the story it had from the few lines and little cutscene is cute and compelling. I liked how this one has Mario and to an extent Kirby's enemies and had similar functionality in the gameplay like jumping on Goombas to get hearts like hey that's pretty neat also new power-ups and items were cool the roc feather was great, my boy Link got hops now. In conclusion, the Ballad of the Wing Fish song is goated.

Extremely ambitious in terms of size, storytelling and aesthetics. It is indeed a significant achievement in software development and game design that something like that even existed on the Game Boy so early in its lifespan. The black and white graphics are absolutely gorgeous--they fit the "dream" aesthetic wonderfully and leave a lot to be imagined by the player. Dungeons get extremely complex and labyrinthine near the end of the game, and the final boss fight is one of the coolest and most difficult I've ever experienced in retro gaming. Really well encapsulates the quintessential "frustrating and confusing, but satisfying and engaging"

Some of its structure frustrated me a bit; the overworld is filled with random cul-de-sacs and can be extremely frustrating to navigate even w/ the map and warps. Imagine Dark World in ALTTP but twice as difficult to navigate. At times this made me disconnect from the game and brought me significant frustration as there is so much backtracking and getting lost. Some puzzles in the dungeons are pretty dumb too, i.e. there is some Zelda 1-esque "go bomb this random wall that has no cracks" bullshit in some dungeons, which is unforgiveable in my mind for a game released after ALTTP.

Yet, Link's Awakening is indeed a statement in story telling for Zelda, it's difficult, and it's one of the most beautiful Game Boy games I've seen. It's a great game in many regards, and I definitlely want to try playing the remaster in the future.