Before Link’s Awakening, creating Zelda games was painful

This comes from a recent issue of Iwata Aska:

“I thought it was a tradition for working on a Zelda title for it to turn into a kind of exercise in suffering.” – Satoru Iwata

“I remember it was fun working on it (Link’s Awakening), and when it was over, I remember us talking to each other about how fun it was.” – Takashi Tezuka

“I’m certain it was a breakthrough element in the series. If we had proceeded from A Link to the Past straight to Ocarina of Time without Link’s Awakening in between, Ocarina would have been different.” – Eiji Aonuma

Well, that’s interesting to hear! I actually haven’t had the privilege of playing Link’s Awakening, but I’d definitely draw some major similarities between Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past! Maybe it’s about time I grabbed a copy…