The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past/Four Swords

The Good
If you've never played Legend of Zelda for the NES, or "A Link to the Past" for the SNES, I would suggest you stop reading right now, go buy a Nintendo and Super Nintendo and play through these games so you can come back here with some dignity. These two games in the Legend of Zelda series are some of the best console games, and I might even go so far as to say THE best console games, ever created. You can hardly call yourself a true gamer without having played these games. Get in the loop, man!

The Game Boy Advance is one of the coolest little things to come our way in some time. It's not as powerful as, say, an XBox, and that's why it's such a great thing. It brings back the simple 2D gaming of old console games, with enough added power that you don't experience the same "slowdowns" you would in the old console games. And it fits in the palm of your hand. Well, the palms of both your hands put together.

And it seems logical that Legend of Zelda would be coming to the Game Boy Advance. With the recent "Ocarina of Time", I'm rather happy they didn't bother releasing a "new" Zelda game, because I think those are pure crap. The last good Zelda game was "A Link to the Past", and I was thrilled that I was able to play it in my Game Boy Advance, since I no longer have an SNES to play it on.

The port is almost flawless. It runs just like the classic game, but with great additions. It might just be my imagination, but it sounds to me like the entire theme has been redone. It sounds much better than it did in the SNES version, and the SNES version sounded great. It's another one of those catchy console game tuns that you get stuck in your head.

Also, some graphics have been changed or improved. When you attack someone, they turn blurry for a second, rather than just...well...not. Small details like this bring a small, but noticible change in the game that adds to the experience.

Otherwise, this game is just like the classic. It also includes a multiplayer game, but I didn't bother with that because I don't know anyone else who has a Game Boy Advance.

The Bad
Almost perfect port. This game is great...except for one, horrible, horrible flaw that almost makes me not want to play the game at all:

The addition of a four year old kid's voice for Link.

Well, I don't actually have any proof that the jerk who did Link's voice is only four years old, but I would be surprised if it were done by anyone older...or by a male at all, for that matter. In short, Link sounds like a girl. A little girl. A four year old girl.

One of the reasons I hated Ocarina of Time so much is that it portrayed Link as a kid, maybe eight years old. EIGHT YEARS OLD! Maybe Link was always supposed to be an eight year old kid saving the world. I don't know. But in all the previous games he at least SEEMED older, or the graphics were just bad enough that you didn't really care either way. I always thought of Link as an adult, or at least a teenager. But Ocarina of Time ruined that image for me. And with the added "voice" to Link in the GBA port, it's ruined it for me again.

Every time you swing your sword, run, hit a wall, or jump off a ledge, you'll hear an annoying four year old kid go "Yah!" or "Whee!" or "Unf!" or "Ahh!".

Sigh.

WHY did they have to do this? Why are they trying to make Link a little kid, instead of the hero we've always known him as? Is Nintendo trying to appeal to a younger and younger audience?

Next thing you know, Mario's going to be portayed as a little baby out saving the world.

Oh wait, they already did that.

The Bottom Line
If you loved "A Link to the Past" for the SNES, or if you've never played it, you'll love this. However, if you still OWN an SNES and the game, just stay clear of the GBA port unless you want to play the multiplayer game.

Link's voice ruined an otherwise perfect port of the SNES classic.

The Good
I've experienced the fun that the SNES version throws your way as a kid and got this version for my birthday years later and I have to say that pretty much everything is good. If you played the SNES version of LttP, you pretty much know exactly what to expect this time around, but there were a lot of changes which I'm proud they added, such as being able to kill enemies with the Lamp when you're too lazy to use your sword, and being able to break pots and jars when you get a stronger sword when lifting and throwing isn't fast enough. The graphics haven't changed and they're pretty nice to look at. The dungeons and bosses and enemies were also pretty decent and the puzzles and challenge were a nice gaming experience. The music that plays in this game (especially the Zelda theme music that plays in the Light World overworld) is a worthwhile listen.

Since I don't have more than one Game Boy Advance or the connect cable (or whatever you want to call it), I don't have an opinion about the Four Swords.

The Bad
This game is so great, I can't think of a single thing I didn't like. But Link's constant yelling and screaming (taken directly from Ocarina of Time) when he swings his sword, falls down a pit, etc. can get annoying after a while.

The Bottom Line
OVERALL RATING: 10/10 This is yet another port of a popular Nintendo game that I recommend to all Zelda fans.

The Good
Zelda is a true classic. Since bunking of school for a week to play this for 10 hours a day iv always had a good association with the game on the Snes, and seeing it out for the GBA makes it an essential purchase. Materially this is not dramatically different to the snes original. The graphics seem sharper, but that could be my hazy memory combined with the lovely GBA sp screen. I've seen it on a regular GBA but I guess it'll look pretty similar. Gameplay wise its concentrated classic Nintendo - do tasks to get abilities to do tasks to get prizes. Not just as simple as that though, as the concept is taken all the way to the logical extreme. The combat is generally pretty good, though the bosses tend to be somewhat easier, at least in comparison with some of the other Zelda games (that dastardly dark link from ocarina for example). Sounds effects are nice, but the music is great, a good number of classic themes - the rising triumphant theme when wandering around the light world is a true Nintendo classic. Add in to the game dozens of secrets, lots of NPCs to meet, the usual plot twist and the gameplay twist of the two worlds, and overall this is great fun. On top of this is the cool 4 swords game. Iv only played this with two, i guess 4 player is the real biz, but its till good old Zelda fun. There's no proper plot as such, just dungeon puzzle solving, which can be both co operative and competitive. Great fun, but iv not really rinsed it so I'll leave it at that.

On top of this is the cool 4 swords game. Iv only played this with two, i guess 4 player si the real biz, but its til good ol zelda fun. Theres no proper plot as such, just dungeon puzzle solving, which can be both co operative and competetive. Great fun, but iv not really rinsed it so il leave it at that.

The Bad
no major complaints, just a few niggles. Not being able to shoot/swing your sword diagonally is annoying, given that baddies can run into you from that angle. The bosses are generally pretty easy - two bottles of health will usually allow you to complete em first go, or occasionally die once THEN beat em.

Plus the fact that we've since played the brilliant Ocarina plus the latest Windwaker means tastes are a little more refined. None of the secrets are particularly complex compared to, say, collecting that damn last bottle in ocarina (tho its an arguable point whether shooting all those poes is fun as such, or whether its just filler material). Furthermore I think the dark style of Ocarina and Majoras mask, criminally cast aside in windwaker, is not in here. I know these games were after the snes release, but this is a new release for the gba, so it must be compared. but having said that, tho we all want the dark manga anime style of adult link in ocarina, or the E2000 demo, nintendo are the bosses so we stick to that. They've hardly let us down so far.

The Bottom Line
If you've got a GBA I'd make this no.1 priority. the dungeons are great for short blasts i.e. on the bus, and the over ground sections are much longer and stand up to serious playtime. highly recommended.