What do you Love about Four Swords?

My apologies to those who requested their favorite games to be reviewed next in this article series. But so far I have reviewed three Zelda games, all of which I absolutely adored (Skyward Sword, A Link to the Past, and The Wind Waker). This week I really wanted to challenge myself, and see what I could come up with for one of my least favorite Zelda games: Four Swords, the multiplayer “sub-game” packaged with the Gameboy Advance’s release of A Link to the Past. I say “sub-game” because I have heard countless fans address it as such, and frankly, I agree. It’s short, it’s linear, it lacks great puzzles, and you can’t play it alone (unless of course you purchased the eShop version on your 3DS). But enough negativity! Remember, this article series is intended to talk about what we love about the Zelda series, despite its occasional disappointments.

Multiplayer Fun Fest

Like I said, this game is very linear and therefore lacks exploration and intriguing puzzles. While I do truly feel this is a downside to the game, I can see the silver lining. It’s supposed to be fun enough to have four different Links running around, attacking enemies and collecting rupees. Zelda has always been a single player experience, so it’s refreshing and inventive to give us something new. Playing Super Mario Bros. or Donkey Kong Country with friends was always a blast when I was a kid. But I could never play my favorite series with anyone, until this game was released. Regardless of my overall thoughts on it, it was still mindless, chaotic fun. Plain and simple. I was Link; swinging a sword, using items, and solving puzzles. I was happy. And sometimes, we all just want an easy game to kick back with, right?

Working Together

The puzzles in this game may have been some of the easiest in the series, but at least they required teamwork, an obviously essential mechanic for the franchise’s first multiplayer game. Some particular ones that come to mind include the enemies you must pull apart from each side and the color tiles that fall through if anyone but the appropriate character steps on them. I also like the restriction of each character only being able to hold one item at a time. It makes it more challenging to remember item locations and go back if necessary. Working together becomes essential here, because if you each pick up different items, you’re less likely to get stuck on certain puzzles or enemies. If you have the wrong item, your friend can help you out.

What makes this such a great multiplayer game is that by the time you’ve gotten far enough into the game, you realize that this game is more fun with friends than it would be alone. Maybe you think that should be a given, but hear me out: take games like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Country, and Turtles in Time. The two former are turn-based, while the latter is simultaneous. Turn-based games are all well and good, and certainly two people can aid each other in completing a stage, but there’s a lack of direct help, or necessary help. Basically, there’s nothing in those two game that you couldn’t do without a partner. The same goes for simultaneous play games, such as Turtles in Time. There may certainly be more direct help, like jumping in to save your friend when he/she is overwhelmed by enemies, but the necessity is still missing. You can beat these kinds of games alone. In Four Swords, you absolutely need your friends. Maybe that makes the game less accessible to those without the proper accessories or friends to do so with, but if you’re lucky enough to have all the requirements available, this really is one fun as heck game!

Accessibility

No, I don’t mean accessibility in terms of gathering all the necessary equipment and people to even play this game, I mean accessibility in the sense that this is a game with little direction needed to get started. Newcomers can easily jump right in and get a grasp on the game’s controls and mechanics quickly. It can also be fun if you’re the veteran and you’re teaching newcomers, guiding them on how a Zelda game works. That’s actually my fondest memory of this game. This game is a good way to introduce someone to the Zelda series. I certainly wouldn’t recommend this game in terms of storytelling or puzzle-solving, but the game’s accessibility and relative ease makes it a strong candidate in hooking amateurs to this fantastic series. They’ll have more fun with a friend able to actually be in the game with them, rather than pointing at the screen and telling them what to do. It’s much more interactive. Four Swords may not be the series’ strongest game by any means, but it’s a great way to get your friends involved with something we love. Now hopefully they love it too!

But what do you all think? What did you love about Four Swords? Do you agree or disagree with the points above? And I promise to take requests for the next article so be sure to comment below which Zelda game you want to discuss next week!