The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap

Almost to two years after the release of The Wind Waker, Nintendo released the next handheld adventure for the Zelda Series, this time around making use of the cel-shaded Link from the previous title as well as having similar death animations for enemies in the form of "poofing" smoke. Using an improved version of the interface found in the Gameboy and Gameboy Color titles, The Minish Cap has many unique items that have more intense animations than previous games.

This game introduced a new race to the series which hasn't been seen in any other games since, the Picori (or Minish). These small creatures can only be seen by children, meaning our young hero can interact with them throughout the adventure. Early on in the game, Link meets up with Ezlo, a transfigured Minish who joins Link as his iconic cap and giving tips along the way. Using Ezlo's mystical powers, Link is able to shrink down at various portals throughout Hyrule and enter the small world of the Minish, solving puzzles and entering dungeons that were previously inaccessible.

One of the game's primary features is to gather the Four Elements in order to restore power to the Four Sword, allowing Link to progressively split into mirror images of himself in order to battle enemies and solve puzzles. That, along with the final boss, reveals that this game is the prequel to the Four Swords games, setting the stage for those adventures.