The Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords

We sure have been seeing a lot of Link lately.  He startled the world when he showed up looking grown-up and ultra-realistic in a GameCube tech demo.  He made his official GameCube debut right after the system launched in Smash Bros. Melee.  Link became more immersive and controlled like an interactive Disney movie in his 2003 release, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.  At this year's E3 Nintendo unveiled a new Zelda game that took the gorgeous graphics of the Link tech demo and turned them into a full-fledged adventure.

This June Nintendo unleashed another brand-new game in the Zelda series, this time for GameCube and Game Boy Advance.  You don't have to have a Game Boy Advance to play this new adventure, but using it opens the door to new possibilities of interactivity and exploration.  It also shows you a taste of what game developers could do with the Nintendo DS.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is the first Nintendo-developed game that takes full advantage of the GBA-to-GameCube hookup.  You use a Game Boy Advance to control one of four Links through the game's many missions.  Nintendo allows single-players to use the GameCube controller in place of a GBA, but anyone who chooses to do so is missing out on a lot.

Game Boy Advance is a very important part of this game.  As any Nintendo fan knows, the Zelda series is packed with dungeons and countless hidden areas.  Whenever you enter a hidden area in Four Swords, you'll find it impossible to see where Link is on the television screen.  Where has he gone?  How do you find him?  Stop panicking and look down.  Not at the floor, at the screen!  There he is on your Game Boy Advance.

First and foremost, this is a fun feature that I very much enjoyed.  It was weird looking up and down at first, but after an hour or two of play it becomes second nature.  You stop thinking of it as looking up and down, and start thinking of it as entering another world.

And that's exactly where the game will eventually take you.  Early on the GBA is only used for dungeons, hidden spots, and other areas that Nintendo deemed worthy.  Later on you'll be able to enter an alternate world.  It looks similar to the main world, but it has many key differences that must be noticed in order to complete your mission.

That's another thing.  The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is not made up of one gigantic game world.  Multiplayer gameplay is strongly encouraged in this game, so the journey has been divided into several mini-quests.  The first one is a breeze – very short and very easy.  As a whole I wouldn't call this the hardest Zelda game, but there are moments when you and your teammates must work really hard to prevail.  The battles are mostly easy, and the puzzles are very basic (pull a switch, grab an orb, etc.).  However, many of the levels have complex layouts and few clues (if any), making it difficult to complete the quest in a timely fashion.  Not that you'd want to beat the game quickly – I'm the kind of person that likes to get the most out of each Zelda game.  But if your friends can't hang around for a long period of time you'll end up having to beat the quest on your own.

Being on your own isn't a bad thing though.  When your friends are around you have to depend on them to save the day.  You have to depend on them during boss battles, some of which require specific-colored Links to win.  You have to count on your friends to help solve puzzles, help push heavy blocks and pull enormous switches.

Playing alone means that all four Links are under your command.  Green Link leads the way, followed by Red, Blue and Purple.  You can command the four Links by pressing the L button and selecting one of four different formations: diamond, square, straight across vertically, and straight across horizontally.  Using these formations is very important.  Square (referred to as "box" in the manual) is necessary to move those big blocks, boulders and other objects that stand in your way.  Standing straight across, vertically or horizontally, is great for certain battles and is the only way you can simultaneously jump over deadly gaps.  Unlike other Zelda games, this one gives you a jump button!  But it's only accessible when you have the jump power-up (a feather that gives Link and his Link-lookalikes a spring in their step).

Four Swords is the first Zelda game that gives you unlimited bombs, arrows, slingshot ammo, etc.  The catch is that you can only use one of those items at a time.  The game is set up in such a way that you'll usually be able to acquire the appropriate items at the appropriate moments.  But there are times when you'll exchange a bomb for a lamp (which can set things on fire), and then run into a cluster of tree trunks that need to be burned down.  Then you'll have to remember where you made the exchange in order to acquire the bomb again, unless there is more than one point in the quest to obtain that particular item (sometimes there is, sometimes there isn't).

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is a clever, addictive, and sometimes frustrating adventure.  No one who starts a game will willingly quit, but they might give up because the goal isn't always clear.  That can be pretty aggravating, but it wasn't enough to detain me.  I kept coming back for more, lost a ton of sleep, and found myself engrossed in a 2D Zelda game that was designed for a next-generation console.  How can such a blasphemous thing be justified?  Play the game and you'll understand.  It may not be as technologically advanced as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but it's still worth every rupee you'll spend on it.

Gameplay: 8.5
Very hard to resist.  Four Swords takes you on a quest to save Zelda, six maidens, and to collect as many force gems as possible.  Force gems seem trivial at first – like an updated version of rupees.  Force gems, however, are not used for purchasing a new shield, a boomerang, or any other item in the game.  What force gems are used for, and what makes them so important is the power they fill the four Links with.  Once 2000 force gems have been collected, the screen will darken, and some unknown force will make the Links stronger.  They'll also be able to shoot a laser blast out of their swords (just like in the classic Zelda games!).

Graphics: 8.5
Wow...  I don't think I've ever been this impressed by 2D graphics before.  You could argue that Viewtiful Joe is more viewtiful, but that game has some 3D elements.  Four Swords is pure 2D gameplay and the graphics are purely two-dimensional, but the effects are like a cartoon come to life.  The smoke, fire, explosions – almost everything looks like it was taken from (or at least inspired by) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Sound: 8.5
Classic Zelda tunes, some remixed, some enhanced, some altered for the moment.  Nothing more should be said, except that you must turn up your speakers (on both the TV and the GBA) and listen carefully to all the wonderful sounds this game has to offer.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Enemies: mostly easy.  Puzzles: super easy.  Figuring out what to do next: AHHHH!  Four Swords isn't a hard game, but having less than four clues made it difficult to complete.

Concept: 9
The best use of the GBA-to-GameCube hookup yet!

Multiplayer: 8.5
Who would have ever thought that a concept like this would work?  Four Links, each of which is to be played by one person?  Only Nintendo would think up such an idea, and only they could do it.  If Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima teamed up we could have Metal Gear Solid: Four Snakes!

Overall: 8.5
No Zelda fan should miss out on Four Swords Adventures.  Your mind is on The Legend of Zelda Reborn, I'm sure.  Mine is too!  But after playing this game it's clear that as long as there are great game developers involved 2D gameplay will never be dead.  The game is technically shorter than other Zelda adventures, but there's no way you'll finish this one in a couple days unless you have a strategy guide at your side.  Believe me when I say that a strategy guide is no way to enjoy a Zelda game.  You'll get the most out of it – and feel much more rewarded – if you leave the strategy guide behind.