This page walks you through the process of starting a new game of Link's Awakening, from naming your character to starting the quest.

Name Your Character

Press Start to go from the title screen to the Player Select screen. Choose an empty slot. (In the Game Boy version, choose Erase and select a slot to erase. In the Nintendo Switch version, select a slot, then select Delete, and hold down the buttons shown on the screen for three seconds to delete the saved game.) Then enter your name. (In the Nintendo Switch version, Link is the default name.) If you enter the name ZELDA (in all capital letters) a different song will play. In the Japanese version you can enter the name とたけけ to play Totakeke's Song. In the German version you can enter the name MOYSE to hear a different song.

After you enter your name, choose your game slot to begin the game. (In the Nintendo Switch version, your game will start as soon as you confirm your name.)

Meet Marin and Tarin

When you begin, you wake up in a bed. A girl next to the bed talks to you. She is Marin. In the Game Boy version, press the d-pad to get out of bed. If you talk to Marin again, she says to follow the path south to go to the beach where she found you.

Before you leave, talk to the guy, Tarin, to get your shield. (He won't let you leave before you talk to him.) In the Game Boy version, the shield is assigned to the B button, so you can press the B button to raise your shield. In the Nintendo Switch version, it is assigned to the R button.

How to Save the Game

In the Game Boy version, hold Select, Start, A, and B to open the save menu, where you can save and quit. In the Nintendo Switch version, pause the game and press L or R until you reach the System screen, where you can save the game.

Go to the Beach

Exit the house. You can follow the dirt road to go to the beach, or you can explore first. There is a shop to the east, but you don't have any money yet, and won't be able to get any right now.

If you don't mind being branded a Thief for the rest of the game (and, if you are playing the Game Boy version and don't mind missing a photograph), you can steal from the shop by picking up an item and walking behind the shopkeeper before he turns around and sees you. If you steal from the shop, your name will be permanently changed to THIEF, and if you try to go back into the shop, the shopkeeper will kill you!

When you are ready to move on, follow the dirt path from Marin and Tarin's house until you find some kids playing catch. Go south from them until you arrive at the beach. Be careful of the monsters on the way. Raise your shield to block their attacks.

When you arrive at the water, go southeast until your path is blocked by a spiky creature. Raise your shield and walk toward the creature to push it out of the way. Then go into the water and walk up to the sword. An owl will talk to you and say to go to the Mysterious Forest next. After the owl leaves, walk up to your sword and take it.

Get a Heart Container

Go back the way you came. In the area north of the two kids playing catch, there is a hole in the ground. You can go up on the ledge and cut the grass to jump down the ledge into the hole. In the hole, you find a Piece of Heart.

Get a Secret Seashell

Go east from Marin and Tarin's house and cut the bushes to find a secret seashell. Secret seashells will allow you to get helpful items later.

Fishing Game

If you go north from the house with the Chain Chomp in front, you will find a guy who is fishing. Talk to him and you can pay 10 rupees to play the fishing minigame.

Fishing in the Game Boy Version

In the Game Boy version, press a button to cast a line, and hold left or right on the directional pad to aim the cast. (Press right to aim close to you and press left to aim far away.) Tap the button to pull the lure upward and toward you. When a fish bites, tap the button repeatedly to reel it in.

You can catch the big fish underneath where you are standing to get a Piece of Heart. If you wait until you have at least 20 to 25 rupees, you can fish repeatedly until you have caught all of the fish and emptied the pond (or stop when you get the Piece of Heart). It's easier to catch the bigger fish if you get rid of the small ones first.

Fishing in the Nintendo Switch Version

In the Nintendo Switch version, the first time you catch a fish, you get a Piece of Heart. After that, if you catch a medium fish, you get a Piece of Heart. Then you can get a Middleweight lure if you catch a medium fish. You can also try to move the lure into the grass at the bottom of the pond to get a Fairy Bottle. After you reach a certain point in the game, the Fishing Pond will glow on the map and you can catch new fish for new prizes.

Get the Yoshi Doll

Cut grass and bushes until you have 10 rupees. Then cut the bushes around the building southeast of Marin and Tarin's house, and go in. This is the Trendy Game. Talk to the man and pay 10 rupees to play the Trendy Game. After you pay, stand in front of the buttons on the left. You want to get the Yoshi Doll. Press the buttons that are shown on the screen (in the Nintendo Switch version, if you wait a moment, it will show you which buttons to press). Keep playing until you get the Yoshi Doll.

Get the Ribbon

After you get the Yoshi Doll, go north until you can't go farther north, then go west to reach a house with two doors. Go into the door on the right and talk to the woman. Agree to give the doll to her baby. She gives you a ribbon.

Get the Dog Food

Go to the house with the Chain Chomp in front. Go into the small door on the right. Talk to the little chomp and give her the ribbon to get a can of Dog Food.

Get the Bananas

Go to the beach. There is a house north of where you found your sword. Go in and talk to the alligator to give him the dog food. He gives you bananas in exchange.

Go to the Forest

Now go north from the two kids playing catch and you will reach the Mysterious Forest.