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The Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap Game Boy Advance Flagship/Nintendo  'The
Legend Of Zelda' is one of Nintendo's strongest franchises. Link,
everyone's favourite little green hooded hero, has graced many a Nintendo
platform but all the GBA outings thus far have been NES and SNES ports.
Praise be to the gaming gods, then: we finally have an original Zelda
game for the Advance, and it's a glowing addition to the family.It seems that Princess Zelda is up to her old tricks again, and has been turned to stone by an evil sorcerer (ah, that crazy minx loves it!) so it's up to Link to once again save the day. He sets off on a quest to locate the Minish, a race of tiny beings who live among the Hyrulians but can only be seen by children who are pure of heart, which makes our straight-edge hero perfect for the job. Fairly early on Link is befriended by Elzo, a talking hat who has the ability to shrink Link to the size of a Minish at specific portals scattered throughout Hyrule. This new ability to shrink is the main focus for 'The Minish Cap'. Developers Flagship have done a great job of incorporating size-based puzzle elements within the game world. The challenge of knowing when to both smallify and embiggen oneself adds a very enjoyable element to the game, something that could have easily been an exercise in frustration. The game will sometimes break out of the standard world to zoom into Link's scaled size. This zoomed camera adds a refreshing look and feel to the game, as players will have to traverse over gigantic leaves, books, and other huge "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" items. The zoom element comes into play a lot during boss battles where standard forest creatures will become huge bosses, while other enemies require Link to literally crawl inside them to do some damage. Another gameplay enhancement in the Minish Cap is the introduction of Kinstones. These half-piece items are scattered throughout Hyrule and can be combined with another person's Kinstone like a jigsaw puzzle. When a Kinstone is successfully joined, they will activate something special somewhere in the game world. It's a clever idea that gives non-player characters more function within the main adventure and opens up a bunch of side-quests that can increase Link's abilities. Complete Kinstones can get you items such as heart pieces, a collection of shells, and Rupees. Flagship has also taken some of the elements from 'Zelda: The Four Swords' by incorporating puzzles that utilize two, three or four Links to accomplish. The Minish Cap has the same toon aesthetic of 'The Wind Waker', especially for Link himself, but the graphics really shine when in tiny Link mode as the areas are filled with bigger-than-life enemies, set pieces and spectacular background elements. This game embodies everything that makes the Zelda franchise so special: great gameplay, endearing characters, and an immersive storyline. If you're a fan of the Zelda series, you should definitely hand your pennies over for 'The Minish Cap'.  |
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