The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

"Great Multiplayer Fun, but ONLY multiplayer fun."

Zelda: Four Swords Adventures: Multiplayer10/10
Singleplayer 5/10
Introduction:
I have never played the original Four Swords. This is because of the fact that I couldn't convince my brothers and sisters to buy Lttp (Link to the Past) and you cant play it alone. Back then it didn't matter because I was more into PS2 and Xbox. Recently I've started to pile up my Nintendo collection and when I heard of this game and its TV to GBA feature I couldn't help but buy it. I made the right choice.

Gameplay: 10/10
The whole concept of this is amazing. Basically you and you're fellow links run around big maps solving puzzles and moving from the TV to the GBA as you go through caves, holes and houses. So as you may know you need each need a GBA and cable to do any form of multiplayer. No more do you all have to follow a person when they go into a house. They just go onto their GBA screen. It may not sound like much but it really eases the pain. This allows for some people to get secret items while others cant. Heck, you could even be swimming through a magical lake to find a Great fairy while you're friends are all testing their wits at a puzzlish batch of enemies. Even though all the characters have to be at the edge of the screen to move onto the next part of the map it still provides much fun. So to make things clearer, your goal is to run from level to level, TV to GBA in search of Force Gems and Maidens. Force Gems are the new rupees but they are not currency. They are used to power up you're sword. When you get enough you're swords are filled with the power to vanquish evil and you are stronger and able to shoot from you're sword (like you could in the old Zelda's when you had full health). Although it only lasts to the end of each level (more on that later) it is still a mad rush for all the players to get the gems. This provides competitive yet cooperative Gameplay at the same time giving us a new experience. At the end of each level(more on the level system later) players are given rankings depending on how many enemies they kill and how many lives are lost etc. A bonus feature added to the three and four player modes is the secret ballot. Here you can vote for who was the most bothersome and who was the most helpful. This helps change the way the scores will go. I have no idea about what scoring does yet because I haven't finished the game yet. Now about the levels, the game is set in levels. Each level has three stages which will take you approximately 1 hour to complete depending on how many players you have. This is a change from the classic Zelda games but makes the multiplayer aspect a lot easier. Of course the game doesn't have to be played with four players. It can be played with any amount of players you like. In single player you control all four links setting them into formations to get through different parts of the game. In two player each player controls two links and the ability to steal the other persons link proves to be quite fun. In three player one person controls two links while the others control one. In Four player everyone has one link each. At the end of each Level you rescue a maiden. There are seven in all who were all kidnapped by Vaati. So the game has some great Gameplay elements and it even comes with a versus mode called Shadow Battle which proves to be good fun. This definitely deserves 10/10

Story: 6/10
Vaati definitely seems to be a popular villain now doesn't he?. With Vaati being the main villain lately you can guess that he's the bad guy for this game. This game has a terrible story with nothing special. One night Zelda calls on link to “WATCH” her and the maidens reseal Vaati's seal. Of course something go's wrong and shadow link comes out of the seal and takes Zelda and the maidens away. Link jumps into the portal after him to find the Four Sword. He is tricked into taking it which splits him in four. Vaati then comes from the rock which contained the sword and blows the links away. They awaken in a grassy field and are told by that stupid owl that they must collect force gems to repower their swords, which were weakened during the Vaati incident. This starts on the first level. I don't see the story as a main point of any multiplayer game but they really could have tried harder with this games storyline. I give it a 6/10

Sound/Music:8/10
This game has some nice music but It is highly recognisable from other Zelda games. Some people may like this while other may not. I enjoyed it because it makes it feel more like a Zelda game unlike the Minish Cap. I give it an 8/10

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics in this game are 2D. This may turn some people off but It actually makes the game better. How could they translate a 3d character model to the GBA screen. I like the graphics 2d and wouldn't have it any other way. Although they aren't GBA graphics. The game includes the Wind Waker style water effects and fire effects. It even has that purple smoke when you kill enemies. The graphics are great for this sort of game and really make it feel like a Zelda game. I give the graphics 9/10

Replayabiltiy:10/10
This game has plenty of fun levels to go back to. All the levels are fun and are easy to come back to. And plus, with the addition of versus mode with 10 different battle maps (5 of which need to be unlocked) who could complain? This area definitely deserves 10/10. It's a great party/friend game.

Quotes:
Sister: This game is so fun, hey you stupid tingle give me back my gems!!!!!!!!!
Other Sister: Heheh look at the little guy go WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
Brother: Come on you idiots this way, cant you follow simple instructions
Me: Yay lets all kill the chickens!!!!!!

Conclusion: This game has got me back into the Zelda series, what can I say its BRILLIANT. A 10/10 from me and I hope this review helps. But as you can see from my scoring single player isn worth it. This is because of the fact that most of the puzzles and stuff are not fun and are designed to be fun for multiplayer so you should really only buy this game if you have people to play with.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/14/05