The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures [GC]

In an industry dominated by fancy-pants 3D graphics, the top-down 2D look of Four Swords Adventures seems anachronistically simple -- and yet, it's still among the very best Nintendo games, and certainly the current high-water mark of GBA connectivity.

In this newest addition to the Zelda series, players control the four enigmatic "Links-who-are-one" through a succession of detailed and challenging areas set in the familiar Hyrule Kingdom. Long-timer gamers have seen these general areas before -- Hyrule Castle, Kakariko Village, Death Mountain, etc. -- but the particulars and details have all been changed.

Four Swords is no re-peddling of the gameplay from Super Nintendo classic Link to the Past, but rather an entirely new adventure. Even the old-school top-down, super-deformed approach has been tweaked a little, with a cartoony, artistic touch reminiscent of The Wind Waker. Take down an enemy, for example, and they disappear in a roiling cloud of cel-shaded smoke.

The biggest difference lies in the four-Link mechanics. The challenges of each area are designed for four players to run around like happy idiots and do all the things Zelda players spend so much time doing: Hacking through foliage for gems, picking up rocks, hurling brittle pots, revealing secret areas, and of course, attacking monsters with blades, bows, and boomerangs.

The game involves a lot of (mostly) good-natured Gauntlet-style competition, but you'll just-as-often have to work together. There are many traps and secrets that require the four Links to simultaneously stand at different switches, and other times when the screen is suddenly flooded with a surprisingly large army of enemies. An even better sight comes when certain hidden zones are tapped, and a fountain of force gems sprays the screen with dozens of goodies.

Four Swords is an example of Game Boy Advance connectivity done right. As each player moves into a building, cave, or other off-screen interior locale, their character seamlessly drops into the world of their respective GBA. One word of caution: There's no incorporated save system for multiplayer--so if one player's Game Boy batteries croak in the middle of a fracas, you're done.

Incredibly, the Hyrule Adventure -- the main adventure game -- works well even for solo gamers, thanks partly to an on-the-fly formation system. One toggle of the right directional stick and your four Links rearrange themselves into back-to-back defensive formations, or shoulder-to-shoulder lines for making short work of incoming enemies.

If need be, the four Links can temporarily separate and act on their own (each one even has a uniquely pitched little "Hah!" voice). The Links can also interact with each other, which leads to some clever puzzle-solving. A four-player game that manages to work as a solo affair is a remarkable achievement.

As in all Zelda games, there's some great level and puzzle design at work. There will be times when you're ready to tear your hair out, certain that the creators missed a bug and produced a no-win level design... and then you'll discover the one crucial detail that makes it all sensible.

The new mechanics also allow the Links to charge around on horses, tearing through shrubbery and jumping over fences, which is just cool. We can't even tell you why. The whole alternate dark-world scheme is back too, but it's more subtle this time. The other world isn't some dreary, obviously ill place, but more like another channel you can switch to at key locations. One gets the sense that there's some ambiguity as to which world is more "real," or valid. Heavy philosophy time on the GameCube tonight!

There are some compromises necessitated by the four-Link scheme. Firstly, solo gamers must have their Links carry only one item at a time, which can lead to some backtracking. Secondly, the game progresses in isolated, modular sections, rather than the mostly free-roaming macro-world players are probably used to. It's a small price to pay, but the hardcore will notice it.

Speaking of the hardcore, all of the classic Zelda ambient tones and tunes are here, like that little "deedle-ee-deedle-ee-DING!" when you unlock a secret. Even the darkest dungeon produces a feeling of "coming home."

Every time we play a Zelda game, we're floored at what an involving, fascinating sense of world the designers evoke with deft little details. The bottom line is, if you've got GBA-owning friends, get Four Swords Adventures. If you live by yourself in a cave -- with electricity -- you should still get this game, because it caters to your needs, too. Goofy old-school, big-headed sprites or no, Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is what great contemporary gaming is all about.