Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past / Four Swords Screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 9.5 Graphics 9.5 Sound 9.0 Value 9.5 Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past / Four Swords  - reviewed by Tory Favro Review Date: 04 December 2002 Review Score: 9.5/10  Distributed By: Nintendo

The game that was touted by many as the best game ever made for the Super Nintendo makes it's way to the GameBoy Advance and I am here to tell you that although never having played the original, A Link to the Past is an amazingly good game, indeed almost a perfect game. Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past / Four Swords Features 1 - 4 Players Simultaneous GBA Link Cable First Zelda Game to support 4 players Genre: Adventure 2 Games on one Game Pak Skills transferable between games Skill Level: Medium to Advanced From the moment I started this title I was entranced. You play the part of the hero called Link who is awakened by the Princess Zelda who has been imprisoned in a dungeon by Lord Ganon. Unsure if the voice is a dream or something that truly occurred, Link leaves his small home and makes his way through the land and into a secret passage leading into the castle. It is there that his uncle hands him his destiny in the form of a sword and shield and sends Link on his way through the Light and Dark Lands in the kingdom of Hyrule. Of course there is always a main villian to defeat and this comes in the from of the evil wizard Agahnim. He has been sending his monsters across the land and Link must battle his way through them in order to survive and also to save the princess. Graphically this game looks brilliant and whilst not as complex as some of the titles out there now, the style works on the GBA and makes the game easy to see and navigate on the reflective screen of the Advance. Don't get me started on that screen! The title is ported  over from the SNES and works wonderfully on the portable format. Gameplay is engrossing and has been mapped with a great deal of care to the GBA control system. I found the controls to be intuitive to the point that the manual wasn't needed to get me up and running. Although simplistic, the control system is perfect and you can accomplish everything with a great deal of ease. The heads up display on the screen shows you Link's status at all times, yet is unobtrusive to gameplay. In order to get a better view press the select button.

Pressing the select button will bring up the sub screen  that allows you to swap items and use them as needed. It's easy to navigate and is essentially a matter of using the D Pad and A button to highlight an object and use it.

Pressing the L shoulder button brings up the map on your screen, pressing it again shows a view of the whole of Hyrule. You can switch from local map to full map by pressing the R shoulder button. Objectives are usually highlighted as blinking objects on the screen. Above ground there are Area Maps in which Link can see himself and his location on the map and there are also dungeon maps that show complete dungeon information.

Be sure to explore everything in this game as there are many hidden areas and Link can break through some walls to find secrets. Other areas needed to be activated by pressing switches or using keys. The puzzles are delightful and take nothing away from the fun action component of the title.

I couldn't complete this review without mentioning Four Swords, the multiplayer game that can be played cooperatively with up to 4 friends each playing a different coloured Link! There are also competitive modes where you have to collect rupees to rescue the imprisoned Zelda. That girl is always getting locked up! In order to play Four Swords you will need a Game Pak for each GBA and the right number of Game Link cables.

An impressive part about Four Swords is that you can transfer the skills that your Link picked up in the single player adventure. So if you learn a special attack in Link to the Past, you can use it to your advantage in Four Swords. I thought this was exceptional.

Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past / Four Swords is yet again another must have game from Nintendo! Recommended!

- Tory Favro

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