The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures - Real Person Reviews
2Written review: http://hubworldhq.com/2016/03/31/the-legend-of-zelda-four-swords-adventures/
A multiplayer Zelda game you've probably never played.
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The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is a multiplayer-focused action adventure game for the Nintendo GameCube. It can be played alone with a single GameCube controller or cooperatively with up to four players using Game Boy Advance systems and special cables to connect them to the GameCube. There’s a loose plot to give you a motive to play through the game, but I honestly forget what it is exactly and it doesn’t really matter anyway. You do a lot of Zelda-type things in this game such as explore maps, fight monsters, solve puzzles, and defeat bosses. The interesting thing is that you have four Links to control. You’ll need them to work independently for some tasks and together for others. Now, I can imagine that having more players would make some things easier and others harder, but I got this game long after it came out and didn’t have the cables besides so I played it alone. The review will reflect this.
Playing alone has you controlling all of the Links. You can control a main one as the others follow in a line. You can also switch between individual ones and split them up. You can even control all four at the same time in a few preset formations. This can be a lot to wrap your head around, but you’ll be eased into it as you try to figure out what each puzzle and boss requires. You select levels from an overworld map that goes in a linear fashion, rather than being dropped into a big playable overworld like most Zelda games. Each level has its own decently sized map to explore. There are Triforce pieces to collect in each level. Collecting a certain amount of these will power up your swords, making combat easier. There are pedestals around the levels that carry different secondary weapons. You’ll often need to switch them out to complete the levels, and sometimes having a certain one can be very beneficial to fighting the level’s boss. Going into caves and houses will change the visual style to that of the GBA, which I’ll get into more later on. The main visual style looks like a mix between Wind Waker and A Link to the Past. It has almost a crayon-esque style to it, possibly similar to the original Four Swords on the GBA port of A Link to the Past that I never got to try out either. So basically each level consists of exploring, solving puzzles, getting items to progress, and fighting a boss. The bite-sized portions of these fun Zelda elements make for good multiplayer. You might not have hours at a time to play so playing in short, contained levels makes it easier to pick up and put down. You can even pick up a game with a different number of players than you started with and keep going without them if you need. The new thing to keep in mind here is color. Each Link has their own color. There’s green, red, blue, and purple. Some puzzles and bosses require certain players to take action rather than just anyone, which gives everyone their time to shine rather than one player carrying the team on their shoulders. Or if you’re by yourself you’ll just need to add the extra layer of color coordination to your puzzles and combat.
Even with the obvious pros and cons of multiplayer versus single player modes and the resulting design for the multiplayer focus, Four Swords Adventures is a lot of fun. If you want a simpler Zelda game with easy pick up and put down sections, or if you’re just looking for a lighter Zelda experience without all that open ended exploration, then The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is for you. Even if you’re a big Zelda fan you’ll probably still enjoy the cool combat, puzzles, and unique experiences from single player or multiplayer play. If you’re not interested in the idea of separate levels and not much exploration then maybe give it a pass. However, if you’re on the fence about it, I’d say give it a shot. It’s a pretty fun, well-polished experience that not enough people talk about. Check it out.