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The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords Impressions

The minigame from the last Legend of Zelda GBA game is coming to the GameCube.

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Nintendo is working on an updated version of The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords for the GameCube. The original Four Swords was a multiplayer mode packed into the last Zelda GBA game, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Now it's been expanded to require a GameCube as well as Game Boy Advances for each of your four players.

The same basic concepts found in the GBA game, as well as in other four-player multiplayer quests like Phantasy Star Online, apply here. You, as one of four different versions of Link, are out to collect the most rupees you can, making it a competition. However, some sequences will require the four Links to cooperate. The four players will move big rocks together; you'll have to stand on different buttons at the same time; and all players must be present to scroll the screen from one to the next. But you don't always play on your television screen.

The Four Swords requires each player to have a Game Boy Advance. Whenever you leave the overworld, either by entering a house or falling into a pit, the action moves to your Game Boy Advance. Here you'll explore dungeons in search of treasure or other items. Most of the classic Zelda items are present, but you'll be able to carry only one at a time. So you'll occasionally have to decide whether you want to keep your boomerang or trade it in for a hammer, winged boots, or another helpful item.

At the end of each stage, you'll encounter a boss, and you'll occasionally have to cooperate with other players to defeat the boss. After that, you'll be taken to a score and reward screen, which totals up the rupees you've collected, the damage you've done to enemies, and so on.

The graphics in Four Swords mix two distinct styles and make for a somewhat strange effect. Most of the action is on par with what you'd expect from a Game Boy Advance Zelda game, and most of the art is drawn in the same style as A Link to the Past. However, some Wind Waker-like effects are used in the game, which makes for better-looking fire and explosion effects.

The Four Swords was a pretty nice addition to the last Game Boy Advance Zelda game, but it remains to be seen if that multiplayer is strong enough to carry an entire game on its own. We'll have more when it becomes available.

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