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Released for the GameCube in 2004, this is the first standalone Zelda title to built around multiplayer. It expands (I presume) on the concept debuted as a bonus adventure in the port of A Link to the Past on the Game Boy Advance.
The story is pretty basic and is almost intentionally trying to repeat A Link to the Past. Evil sorcerer guy, Vaati, kidnaps Zelda and six other magical maidens, imprisoning them in crystals. Link must embark on an adventure to rescue them so he can defeat the sorcerer. But isAghanim Vaati really the big bad? The twist this time is that as part of said embarkation, Link draws the Four Sword, which quadruplicates him, providing playable characters for up to 4 players.
The game unusually has a level based structure. The quest divides Hyrule into 8 "levels" each with 3 areas or stages or whatever we call them. This breaks down the experience into discrete chunks that is probably more suited for multiplayer. It also completely removes any of the traditional progression elements. Pretty much nothing gained in a level carries over to the next, be it items, heart containers, the powered up four sword.
When playing multiplayer, it is necessary to use a Game Boy Advance for each player rather than a GameCube controller. When entering a house or a cave or in some interior levels certain rooms, the action for the player is transferred to their GBA screen, an early version of the WiiU concept. This allows players to be in different parts of level at the same time, which occasionally is needed to solve puzzles.
The game does offer a single player mode too, where the GameCube controller can be used. In this mode, the output normally given on the GBA is displayed on the TV as a PIP. You control all Links in multiple ways. The normal way is to be green Link and have the other three follow you in a conga line. You can then adopt various formations to solve puzzles or fight more effectively, particularly in enemy ambushes lifted out of Hyrule Warriors. You can also separate the Links moving them one by one. A quick squeeze of L magically brings them all together with your currently selected Link.
In terms of presentation, it is clear this game reused much for Four Swords, which in turn reused much from A Link to the Past. The visuals are very anachronistic for a GameCube game as they mostly look like they belong on the SNES but there are elements taken from the Wind Waker such as the HUD, explosion effects and even some bosses. The contrast between the pixelly look of most of the screen with the smoother look of the Wind Waker assets is kind of jarring. The Phantom Ganon sprite, modelled on his WW appearance looks like a separate piece of paper floating over a different canvas. It's kind of like watching bad green screen.
I managed to pick this up for £90 on ebay. It is my 18th Zelda game leaving only Four Swords yet to be played. I did not expect to like this as much as I did. In fact, I'd probably rank this experience above some more notable single player titles.
The single player mode really works remarkably well. The use of the formations makes operating with the four Links really smooth. It is smoother than Triforce Heroes where during traversal you either have to move each Link individually or totem up. On the other hand, it really needed to get it right because the level design plays much more similar to a single player top down game than TFH which is a much denser gauntlet of multiplayer obstacles. In fact, if I didn't know better I would have believed the claim the game was designed as a single player game with multiplayer added later once they released the opportunity of quadruplicated Link.
The level design is quite delightfully varied. Some are pretty linear gauntlets while others are more interesting navigational challenges. I also really liked the change of pace with the levels that were basically towns where you had to solve a mystery to progress.
The use of the GBA screen was quite clever too. As the GBA screen rooms were sub-layers to the main screen, it meant that you could do things like shoot an arrow out of the door of a house and have it hit a switch outside.
There were some frustrating moments. A couple of times you needed to dig to find a secret grotto but the location was a bit obtuse. In each level, you need to power up the four sword by collecting 2000 force gems, which are mostly earned similar to rupees. This needs to be done in order to activate the goal at the end of the level. They are drizzled on you so it was ultimately never a problem but you can lose them. One room I entered with 1950 force gems only to have a wizzrobe suck out nearly half of them nearly made me rage quit. But I still made it up in the end. I also get easily flustered so I'm not a good judge of what's too frustrating.
Special mention goes to how adorable it is when swapping between Links. The "hey" noises they make it cute and the unselected Links are shown just sitting on the ground with adorable looking sprites.
I would rank this in the middle third of the series, which is higher than I expected given it is a multiplayer. Definitely pleased I sought it out.
The story is pretty basic and is almost intentionally trying to repeat A Link to the Past. Evil sorcerer guy, Vaati, kidnaps Zelda and six other magical maidens, imprisoning them in crystals. Link must embark on an adventure to rescue them so he can defeat the sorcerer. But is
The game unusually has a level based structure. The quest divides Hyrule into 8 "levels" each with 3 areas or stages or whatever we call them. This breaks down the experience into discrete chunks that is probably more suited for multiplayer. It also completely removes any of the traditional progression elements. Pretty much nothing gained in a level carries over to the next, be it items, heart containers, the powered up four sword.
When playing multiplayer, it is necessary to use a Game Boy Advance for each player rather than a GameCube controller. When entering a house or a cave or in some interior levels certain rooms, the action for the player is transferred to their GBA screen, an early version of the WiiU concept. This allows players to be in different parts of level at the same time, which occasionally is needed to solve puzzles.
The game does offer a single player mode too, where the GameCube controller can be used. In this mode, the output normally given on the GBA is displayed on the TV as a PIP. You control all Links in multiple ways. The normal way is to be green Link and have the other three follow you in a conga line. You can then adopt various formations to solve puzzles or fight more effectively, particularly in enemy ambushes lifted out of Hyrule Warriors. You can also separate the Links moving them one by one. A quick squeeze of L magically brings them all together with your currently selected Link.
In terms of presentation, it is clear this game reused much for Four Swords, which in turn reused much from A Link to the Past. The visuals are very anachronistic for a GameCube game as they mostly look like they belong on the SNES but there are elements taken from the Wind Waker such as the HUD, explosion effects and even some bosses. The contrast between the pixelly look of most of the screen with the smoother look of the Wind Waker assets is kind of jarring. The Phantom Ganon sprite, modelled on his WW appearance looks like a separate piece of paper floating over a different canvas. It's kind of like watching bad green screen.
I managed to pick this up for £90 on ebay. It is my 18th Zelda game leaving only Four Swords yet to be played. I did not expect to like this as much as I did. In fact, I'd probably rank this experience above some more notable single player titles.
The single player mode really works remarkably well. The use of the formations makes operating with the four Links really smooth. It is smoother than Triforce Heroes where during traversal you either have to move each Link individually or totem up. On the other hand, it really needed to get it right because the level design plays much more similar to a single player top down game than TFH which is a much denser gauntlet of multiplayer obstacles. In fact, if I didn't know better I would have believed the claim the game was designed as a single player game with multiplayer added later once they released the opportunity of quadruplicated Link.
The level design is quite delightfully varied. Some are pretty linear gauntlets while others are more interesting navigational challenges. I also really liked the change of pace with the levels that were basically towns where you had to solve a mystery to progress.
The use of the GBA screen was quite clever too. As the GBA screen rooms were sub-layers to the main screen, it meant that you could do things like shoot an arrow out of the door of a house and have it hit a switch outside.
There were some frustrating moments. A couple of times you needed to dig to find a secret grotto but the location was a bit obtuse. In each level, you need to power up the four sword by collecting 2000 force gems, which are mostly earned similar to rupees. This needs to be done in order to activate the goal at the end of the level. They are drizzled on you so it was ultimately never a problem but you can lose them. One room I entered with 1950 force gems only to have a wizzrobe suck out nearly half of them nearly made me rage quit. But I still made it up in the end. I also get easily flustered so I'm not a good judge of what's too frustrating.
Special mention goes to how adorable it is when swapping between Links. The "hey" noises they make it cute and the unselected Links are shown just sitting on the ground with adorable looking sprites.
I would rank this in the middle third of the series, which is higher than I expected given it is a multiplayer. Definitely pleased I sought it out.