The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

"A unique and interesting Zelda game, not to mention fun!"

This game was interesting, to say the least. It sets apart from the rest of the Zelda series, as it is unique. It was made so that you use four characters with one controller, or one character per controller, which interested me. What also interested me was the Gameboy-style graphics, which not only made it interesting, but also entertaining. Fans of the Gameboy versions of the Legend of Zelda would definitely consider this, even though it's for Gamecube, which works to an advantage, given how popular Gamecube is. Anyway, here are the ratings:

Graphics

As I said above, it uses Gameboy-style graphics. That's not a bad thing, either. I doubt that people would want to use four Links at once in a 3-D game. The graphics are similar to what was in Wind Waker: not exactly cell-shaded, but they were graphical with the characters and the attacks, such as the Flamethrowers and the water.

No one should ever expect perfect graphics, because graphics always need to be better, and the ones from this game could be, too. However, you can't expect nearly the best from a Gameboy-style, but they still managed excellent graphics.

It should also be noted that these graphics are probably the best 2-D graphics for the Legend of Zelda so far in the series. A Link to the Part wasn't bad, but it didn't match Four Swords Adventures.

Sound

The sound was well done as well. You got what was expected out of each level, whether it was a happy music for a field level, a rainy music for a rainy level, or an eerie music for a graveyard level. The sound was very well done.

Gameplay

Excellent gameplay. They out did themselves here. Like I said before, instead of one Link, you have four! Not to mention the system where you can use all four at once, as in using all four to attack at the same time. This quite interested me when I first played this game.

There is also the multiplayer mode, which was also very well done. Up to four players can play, and they fight to the death, which is what you should have come to expect from the Legend of Zelda, where mercy is a laughable term. You and three friends could have the time of your lives bashing each other in a fierce battle of Links. You'll definitely have a few fights about it, guaranteed (what game doesn't?), but it's all good, you'll still have fun.

Another unique feature is the extra strength you can give the four Links if you align them together and use all four at once to lift a heavy object, or pull a heavy lever, or whatnot. This added interest to this area of the game.

Replay Value

Easily a lot of Replay Value. Lots of people go for games where they can beat each other up, or the enemies up, time and time again. This is the perfect game for you to be able to do that. There are eight levels, with three sections to each level, in Adventure mode, so you'll have a lot to do, which is quite fun if you enjoy it. And if you don't, then, well, I don't know what to say to you, because I'm not one that doesn't enjoy it.

Multiplayer is where the replay value comes in, easily. The Adventure mode can be fun, depending on the player (I know I say those words a lot, bear with me there), but the Multiplayer mode has a lot of fun times to come with it. Once again, if you liked the other games in this series, you'll love this one, and you'll want to play it again and again.

Basically, there is a lot of replay value to this game. You'll be playing this a lot if you like it from the first time you play it. If you don't like it right away, it will most likely be collecting dust on a shelf in your room months later.

Difficulty

This game is pretty decent in difficulty, which can make a game better for a gamer, or worse, depending on what they prefer. I prefer challenging games myself, but not always, if it is a game that I'd like to finish fast. The Legend of Zelda is a series where the difficulty varies from easy to hard from game to game, so you will never know whether it will take a long time to beat, or if it will take a few hours, just by looking at the cover of its case. Moral being, don't judge a game by its cover; it may surprise you if you give it a chance.

As always, Multiplayer is only difficult if you are facing experienced players. It is this way for all games. You will always have a challenge on Multiplayer of you play different people. If you play the same people time and time again, it will not only be easy, but less fun for you. You'll want to play more and more people, even if you make your own little tournament for it, which doesn't happen nationally that I know of, but would be a fun and interesting idea.

The adventure mode itself will take at least ten hours to beat, easily. Note: This does not apply to everyone. Depending on the gamer, it can take a few hours, a few days, or even a few weeks, to beat the game. If you want to get as much as you can out of each level, it will take at least a few days to beat, guaranteed. Unfortunately, you don't get to keep any upgrade you may get after each level. Once you start a new level, you lose all your stuff except for your sword and four Heart Containers. This serves to make the game all the more challenging, and even all the more entertaining, depending if you like a challenge like that.

You'll find the game difficult if you are playing this game before any others in the series, but that is only natural: The first game is almost always the hardest. If this is one of the many games that you play in the Legend of Zelda series, this one will be a piece of cake, especially if you've played games like the Oracle Series or A Link to the Past.

Controls

The two-button system for the items is back, but this time, it's better. You have newer and better controls to go with it, and you won't have any switching between items to do this time, because this time, in the adventure mode, you'll have the one item that you find, and then once you find another one, the first one is replaced with the second one.

Link can roll in this game, just like in the 3-D versions. It is set apart from the two-button system on the Gamecube controller, so don't worry about having to switch for that, either.

Another neat control is the alignment control, where the four Links can make a formation so that they all move in one direction as one person. This made the four-person controls even better. Some obstacles in this game could only be solved with this, which means that you will use it often in the game.

As you can see so far, this isn't your average Legend of Zelda game. It is set apart from the rest of the Zelda games.

Final Rating

Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Replay Value: 10/10
Difficulty: 9/10
Controls: 10/10
Total (not averaged): 10/10

Rent or Buy

Definitely buy. It's worth every damn dollar. You'll have a blast with this game, whether it be now or ten years from now. It's just one of those games that made a good game series even better.

Well, that's all. See you at my next review.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/06