OVERALL {95%} ---> (VIP Golden Award)
Difficulty: Easy
Gameplay (9.5/10)
Graphics (10/10)
Sound (9/10)
Life-Span (8.5/10)
Yet another third party developers working on one of Nintendo's biggest characters, but it's not Namco this time, it's Capcom!
Hyrule was sinking in shadow and darkness a long time ago when Picori (a tiny fella) appeared and gave a man a sword and golden light in which the man used to draw away the enemies and lock them in a chest sealed by the Picori Blade. Since then, the Hyrule locals celebrate their victory with a swords battle tournament every year where the winner gets a special sword and is allowed to touch the Picori Blade. Vaati was the unfortunate winner of the latest tournament and his greed and need to feed on evil awaited the chance to touch the blade and as he got closer (acting honourably), he suddenly and quickly beat the guards and broke the sealing blade with his wizards power that turned princess Zelda into stone and unlocked all evil from the chest to take over Hyrule! This is the story at the beginning which is displayed in a nice layout and presentation as you take Link to bring peace to Hyrule and return the waters into their paths.
Only 1 player can play the game, but it still has all the good elements that made the previous GBA Zelda games successful. However, I can't imagine finding a boring Zelda game as freshness is the unique common factor in them and although it's quite the same in controls and gameplay as previous ones, it adds a huge new feature to keep it fresh, which is actually tiny as you have the ability to minimize you size to get access to new areas. This process occurs as you enter the Minish Portal that will cause you to shrink yet new areas are now available and waiting for you. However, we know that the smaller you are, the more danger you are in and here even the animals that causes you no harm will attack you when you are small causing it to be more challenging as care and caution is required. The game does have some coming back to solve puzzles and you can assign two items as A and B for a quick cast or action. Part of the puzzle solving is to interact as you will often find Kinstones that can be fused with other characters stones to unlock gates, open blocked passages, etc.
So you have a pal in most Zelda games and this is no different! Elzo an elf's hat with a duck head is basically your must have partner in this game.
As usual, the GBA/ Zelda graphical style never fails to amuse as it's even considered as an improvement over the previous one!Beautiful animations with nice enemy twists as we are used to. The game actually succeeds in bringing some Wind Waker elements including animations and explosion effects. It's a side scrolling game working at it's best. The major gameplay addition also updated the graphics as you can get tiny! The game then offers the players two ways of playing in this mode. A close up view or a normal view. In the normal view, you'll see the environments in their usual size while you can barely see Link. While the close up view allows you to see Link in his normal size, the environment will be massive, huge and detailed. However, it'll be difficult for you to know your path as it's difficult to tell what's beyond you. Basically you'll have to trade between both views in order to complete your objectives. Both the graphical sides of these aspect are amazing! In the close up view, Link is seen as normal, however, the levels are now zoomed in and you will see it in an ants way! What is good about it is the fact that the levels are beautiful and detailed whether in close up view or normal view. When you shrink, Link can be seen as a tiny thing and animations can't be noticed although you can still see him moving and slashing. The bad thing here is that when you are tiny, Link is easily lost between obstacles like leaves, etc! This way you will bump into enemies more often.
Yet with the beautiful animations and level designs we mostly like, and graphically, it has great elements from Wind Waker for the GC and Four Swords (previous GBA title) adding some improvements on them and Minish Cap uses the graphical power of the GBA to the best.
The game takes the best bits of previous titles in the gameplay and graphics and adds a whole new experience to them. That's the same case with the sound system as it has memorable tunes from Four Swords, Wind Waker and other Zelda titles. That's not all! It adds some superb tunes that are played excellently on the GBA. The in game music is amusing as different tracks are played at the right moment and at different levels to make battles more intense. Even links voice is performed superbly as you'll hear him do a couple of "yeah" as you slash around. The sound effects are great and at it's best! Footsteps, weapon slashing, shrinking, and all are just simply great. The sound system to ears is like sweet to mouth! Unless you don't like sweet, you can go with the meaning of sweet rather than the sweet to eat.
The game is one huge GBA game with many mini-games and side quests that'll take much of your time. It's great for veterans and new comers as the controls are simple and easy to learn. The new shrinking mode will keep it fresh for casual players and adds a lot of depth in graphics and gameplay. The game becomes addictive as you progress and it actually becomes better and better so you'll want to play it. The game may require you to draw back your steps to solve puzzles but it's always new as it's difficult to get bored of wondering around. It also features like two worlds, when you are tiny and when you are normal each enjoyable to explore and with it's own enemies and areas. The 4 links are available here although you can't play with a friend. You can bring them to help in moving large boulders, etc. It simply takes all what is good from previous GBA games and adds a new experience over them to keep it fresh and enjoyable and Capcom did a great job I must say. It's an adventure game at the peak of gorgeousness and if it was released in the NTSC and PAL regions at the same time, then it'd have definitely earned the VIP GBA Game of The Year Award!
Advice:
Zelda fan? Adventure genre fan? Are you looking for a fun game that will serve in long and short terms? If yes then this game is un-missable. The shrink idea sure keeps the game fresh but may not appeal to everyone in the short term. However, as they progress, they'll love the game more and more! One of the must have GBA titles!
Good Points:
1- VIP Golden Award.
2- Shrink ability keeps it fresh.
3- Contains some nice humour.
4- Huge and detailed levels.
Bad Points:
1- No multiplayer mode.
2- When tiny, Link is easily lost causing him to bump into unwanted enemies.
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