Review

Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Review by Niroht for ZeldaPower.com

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is Nintendo's second GameCube Zelda game, and the second of Capcom's Four Sword subseries. It's not your typical Zelda game, as it is multiplayer, based on the GameCube to Game Boy Advance link cable. In this game, Vaati has escaped again, and it is up to Link to defeat him, splitting in four through the power of the Four Sword. The game shares many visual elements with A Link to the Past, though with upgraded graphics and effects reminiscent of The Wind Waker. Overall the controls are very simple to use. When using the GameCube controller in single-player mode the control stick or directional pad may be used to move, the A and B buttons used for the sword and items, and several other buttons are used to make formations with the four Links. When playing multiplayer or alone with Game Boys, the directional pad is used for movement, the A and B buttons are the swords and items, and the triggers may be used for formations if there are less than four players. The controls are very simple to get used to and intuitive. The difficulty curve of this game is quite low, it's really more of a party game than anything else. This is not to say that you won't be dying. You will. A lot. Especially if you're playing multiplayer and the other players think it's funny to throw you into lava. But you collect so many fairies in this game, who appear at death and heal you, that there really won't be any problem with game overs. The map system of this game is very different than other Zelda games. Instead of one large map that can be explored freely, Four Swords adventure has eight regions, each of which is divided into several smaller locales, which must be completed in order for the player to proceed. This is due to the multiplayer system, in order to prevent other players from wandering away from the party. Overall this is mainly a party game. Playing single player is entertaining enough, but where the game really excels is in four-player play, especially when they players obviously do not cooperate well.

Graphics: 9/10
Quite good, considering the top-down format. The graphic effects are quite good and the game has a fuzzy quality that goes quite well with the series.
Sound 7/10
Some good sounds, remixes of A Link to the Past, and a marvelous intro theme, but overall not terribly memorable.
Gameplay 8.5/10
Single player I'd give it about an eight, maybe a seven point five. Considering that it's meant to be multiplayer, though, it gets more points.
Story: 7/10
Pretty standard of Zelda games. Someone's captured the princess and threatens the lands and only you can stop him. Has a plot twist in there, but it's incredibly predictable.
Feel: 8/10
You really don't get all that involved in the game overall, but there are some very memorable dialogues and several worlds are a nice break from normal.
Overall: 7.9/10
Pretty good, but there's better games out there. Get it if you really like Zelda, or if you have enough Game Boys, connectors, and friends to play multiplayer. Otherwise, you can pass on this one.

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