Closing out today's Nintendo Direct, a special announcement was made. Nintendo is remaking The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for the Nintendo Switch. Originally released in 1993 for the Game Boy, Link's Awakening was directed and developed by the same team as A Link to the Past. Now Nintendo is modernizing the lost-but-not-forgotten classic, mixing 2D gameplay with 3D visuals. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening will release exclusively on the Switch in 2019.

To announce the new remake, Nintendo showed an announcement trailer featuring a short animation of Link at sea. His ship, caught in a storm, crashes and Link is stranded on Koholint Island. It's a striking scene that The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening players will immediately recognize, especially once the egg atop Koholint Island's Mt. Tamaranch comes into view. Link's latest adventure is just beginning.

In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Link will be tasked with waking the creature that rests in that egg by gathering the eight instruments of the Sirens. It's a classic 2D Zelda game filled with exploration and unique gameplay, as well as a lot of beautiful music and artistic design. Nintendo will have the opportunity to do some really amazing work bringing Link's Awakening into 3D without too much expectation given the game's age.

Nintendo has shared little information regarding The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening as of yet, beyond its short announcement trailer. However, there were some interesting rumors in early 2018 that may lend some light on this project. The Link's Awakening remake was originally rumored to be for the 3DS and not the Switch, developed by the same team, Grezzo, that remade the 3DS versions of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. It's entirely possible that the 3DS release was canceled due to the platform's decline and re-remade for Switch.

No matter Link's Awakening's origins, excited Zelda fans can expect to hear more information in the months to come. A "2019" release date implies a fall release, so mark it down in calendars and pay special to Nintendo's always eventful E3 Nintendo Direct in early June.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening releases in 2019 exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.