Link's Awakening
Ranked 12 of 12 action adventure games by recommenders
Recommended for its 2D experience and its own distinct world, and fans often call it the best Zelda game.
Recommended for its 2D experience and its own distinct world, and fans often call it the best Zelda game.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Called the best Zelda game
“Link's Awakening is the best Zelda game.”
Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “How we made hit video game Prince of Persia” Lots of fun to have
“Lots of fun to be had with skipping important stuff with that.”
Comment from 19 Apr 2026 in “Game Devs Explain the Tricks Involved with Letting You Pause a Game” Strong 2D experience
“Link's Awakening for the 2d experience”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: The Zelda timeline to catch up before the Ocarina of Time remake” Its own distinct world
“Links Awakening is its own world”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: The Zelda timeline to catch up before the Ocarina of Time remake”
Other action adventure games people recommend
The four most recommended other action adventure games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breath of the Wild | 27 | 8 | 77% | 9 | — | Approved |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | 17 | 3 | 85% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Shadow of the Colossus | 14 | 2 | 88% | 4 | — | Approved |
| God of War | 12 | 6 | 67% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Link's AwakeningThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Link's Awakening for the 2d experience”
“Links Awakening is its own world”
“Link's Awakening is the best Zelda game.”
“Lots of fun to be had with skipping important stuff with that.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.