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The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure Review - Gamecube

The Zelda series has intertwined with itself with respect to the storyline on several occasions now, and Four Swords Adventure is no exception. Various Zelda game timelines are popping up all over the internet with some that claim Four Swords Adventure as being the first game in the series, whereas others state that it is one of the last, and Ocarina of Time is the first. Either way, it doesn't really make any difference as there's no clear follow-on to pay attention to, such as a To Be Concluded or Continued at the end of one of the titles. Four Swords Adventure seems to be set before the rest of the games however, as they're only just realizing Ganondorf is evil. There's not much more we can tell you about the storyline without ruining it, so read on to find out about how the game plays.

Gameplay

The gameplay essentially revolves around the controller, working out the best ways to enter in to different combat situations using four Links at the same time. For those unfamiliar with the Zelda series, Link is the main character and usually there is only one of him; however, as the tale unfolds you end up multiplying. Link comes in different colours but not different sizes: Green, Red, Blue and Pink/Purple (he can look different under different lighting), and throughout the game you'll find yourself having to use different Links for different tasks. For instance, occasionally there are buttons that you must gather all your Links on to; sometimes the buttons are close together, other times they can be on opposite sides of the room. Also sometimes you can only use a particular Link on each button, however this is rare as it means you'll be pushing different colour blocks around.

The basic Zelda combat is still there though, you have all the famous weapons such as the Boomerang, Bow & Arrow, bombs, Shovel, Pegasus boots, Feather, Magic Hammer, Fire Rod and Lantern, but you can only carry one of them at a time. What does this mean? Nintendo decided it would be more fun to make you go back and forth from where you collect weapons to where you use them. Sometimes there will be a room full of all the weapons you need and you'll have to keep coming back there when completing the next part of the game, but usually this is not the case thankfully. If you want to collect all the items in the game though, then most likely you'll have to use a variety of weapons in different parts of the game (usually a bomb to blow a hole in a wall).

Items include Heart containers, Bracelets, Medallions, Carrots, Moon Pearls, and of course keys. Carrots are rare but they activate the horse mode where you can run incredibly fast and jump over fences. There is a Lon Lon Ranch (continued next page)