Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures review

Multiplayer Zelda? Sheer craziness

12DOVE Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Party game and Zelda? In one place?

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    Simple graphics still have appeal

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    Actually worth the connectivity trouble

Cons

  • -

    Four GBAs? Four link cables? Sigh

  • -

    We loved Link to the Past

  • -

    but c'mon

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    If you're dedicated

  • -

    this is a short legend

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To really enjoy the four-player slapfest that is Four Swords Adventures, you're gonna have to sink some serious cash. It's one of the few titles that trumpets the now-useless Game Boy/GameCube connectivity feature. To get four people going, you'll need that many friends, four Game Boys and four link cables. Should all these requirements be met, get ready for an item-hording, sword-slashing good time that carries all the magic of classic, overhead Zelda.

Instead of wandering Hyrule's many dungeons in search of clues, you select areas off a map and complete them with your buddies. Thanks to the separate GBA screens, you can explore different parts of each area simultaneously, without interrupting the flow of the game. When you enter a house, cave or anything else not on the main TV screen, your Link pops up on the Game Boy, ready to keep exploring. The only way to progress is by teaming up, so you quickly learn how to divide and conquer in an efficient way: a key one of you found three floors down suddenly allows the rest of you to push ahead.

This makes the game sound like a friendly, co-op extravaganza. Not quite.Sprinkled throughout Hyrule are Force Gems, the end-all, be-all treasure to hoard in the game. The more you collect, the higher rank you achieve at the end of the level. It’s the healthy mixture of rivalry and togetherness that makes the trip so much fun. Join together to topple a dungeon boss, then scramble to collect the gems for yourself. Or just continually toss your pals into a bottomless pit.

More info

GenreRole Playing
DescriptionLike all games dependent on GBA Connectivity, it needs multiplayer to stay alive, but there's no denying the vintage Zelda gameplay.
Platform"GameCube"
US censor rating"Everyone"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE.