After four years without a new handheld Zelda, we get The Minish Cap.

User Rating: 9.1 | The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap GBA
By TonicBH | Review Date:
Okay, it's been about time we get a new 2D Zelda. The last one we got was the Oracle of Ages/Seasons series back in 2001. the Four Swords multiplayer addon with the GBA rerelease to A Link to the Past made us whet our appetites for more 2D Zelda. And we get it, with the release of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. The story goes like this: Link, being with his father who's a swordsman, takes Princess Zelda to a fair in Hyrule Town. While there, a sword-fighting contest is won by this mysterious man in all-black named Vaati, who's in all actuality, an evil sorcerer who breaks the Picori Sword and sets Zelda to stone. You, as Link, are told by the King of Hyrule to go find out how to break the curse in the Minish Woods. You later find out about the "Picori", people which were told as a fairy tale, are in actuality, the Minish, small elf-like people who live all around the outskirts of Hyrule. Their home is in the Minish Woods. While you're there, you meet up with an Ezlo, a... talking hat, who actually has more of a back story later on. He's essentially your "guide" throughout the game. Sometimes he isn't particularly useful, though. This game is a hodgepodge of Zelda games past and present. It features things found in games like A Link to the Past like the Pegasus Boots, and the item system of Link's Awakening and Oracle of Ages/Seasons, where anything can be your A and B button. Also returning from The Wind Waker is Tingle the fairy, who isn't particularly useful here, but he can help get you an improved version of an item you acquire within the game. The graphics borrow heavily from the Four Swords game, which in itself holds a cartoony appearance similar to The Wind Waker. Of course, when Link starts out, he's weak and can't do much, but as you get more spirits and items, you can easily get through most areas with ease. The sound is exceptional, even on the GBA sound chip. The main fields play a fanfare-style version of the famous Zelda theme, as well as some tunes from Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past. Of course it has some tunes of its own. Link's yells are recycled from Ocarina of Time, and a few other sounds are recycled from Four Swords, but that's not bad. There's a nice balance between them, so that sounds aren't louder than the music. Introduced in this game is the "Kinstone Fusion". You acquire pieces of a "kinstone", which various people around Hyrule have a matching half. If you get a kinstone together, you could find more goodies like rupees, items, and pieces of heart. However, these pieces aren't rare, they're littered everywhere, and you could easily get Kinstone pieces just by cutting a bush down. I personally think they should've made it a little rarer to get a Kinstone piece. This is a great concept and I hope it's branched out more in future Zelda games. There's only a few problems I have with this game: The first one is that Link can get hurt too easily. He isn't given very much "stun time" when he's hurt, and can get hit a multitude of times within seconds. This can annoy certain players used to previous Zelda games, where you had about a second or two, and it did for me. Another problem is its length. This game is short. It's about as long as the original Legend of Zelda. It's not as long as other games of the series, and just when everything's about to get real good, the game's over. While the length isn't necessarily bad, it could've been somewhat longer. And I find it weird that this game, being based off Four Swords, doesn't have that multiplayer element from A Link to the Past. Personally, this would've been a great move as players with this or A Link to the Past could link up and play Four Swords, just like how players can link up most Mario GBA games to play Mario Bros Classic. While the game is enjoyable on its own, it could've increased the longevity of the game. However, these things should not detract you from buying the game. The game itself is very fresh and innovative, and if you need a new Zelda that's on your GBA, look no further. Snatch this game up. You won't be disappointed. Pros: Fresh and Innovative, a mix of old and new, Kinstone pieces a wonderful addition. Cons: Link can get hurt too easily, game is too short, game lacks a form of multiplayer.

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