The legend of Zelda continues once more onto Nintendos handheld in what is one of the greatest gameboy games to date.
User Rating: 9.2 | The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap GBA
The legend of Zelda series has always been known as one of the best adventure game series on the market. It has always proven time and again to be one of the very finest games in overall quality. The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap continues that tradition of excellence onto the GBA. The Minish Cap follows the story of your character, a young boy named Link who is close friends with princess Zelda. According to ancient Hyrule stories, there once was a hero who defended all of Hyrule and vanquished the evil in the land using the power of a magical sword. Thus, every 100 years, a celebration is held in honor of such a glorious time. Zelda and Link decide to attend the celebration in Hyrule town. It is here that all mayhem breaks loose. An evil sorcerer by the name of Vaati has cast a spell of stone upon the princess turning her into a statue. Responsibility for Zelda’s well being is then bestowed upon Link to restore the princess and save all of Hyrule. And thus the adventure begins. The Minish Cap is a magical hat that enables its wearer to shrink down to “minish” or miniature size. This is vital to progression in the game. Many of the worlds areas are inaccessible unless in small form. There is also an entire race known as the Picori, which are said to be an ancient race of creatures, which inhabit Hyrule. These Picori or “minish people” are small and can only be interacted with when tiny. They help you along your journey and can be found throughout the world. The gameplay in The Minish Cap follows the same tradition that is present in all Zelda games with a few unique side quests thrown in for good measure At its core, the gameplay involves Link traveling from dungeon to dungeon, defeating bosses. The dungeons themselves are diverse and very interesting. The frequent puzzles are good and they never feel to difficult to figure out. Each dungeon has a new weapon, which must be utilized to conquer the dungeon and defeat the boss. Classic weapons such as the bow and arrow and boomerang along with new additions to Link’s arsenal such as the Gust Jar and Dig Claws make up the inventory. The boss battles are amazing in a sense that it is never a straight forward way to defeat them. You must cleverly utilize you weapon’s abilities to find an opening to strike and fell the foe. The sad thing is that the game isn’t all that difficult. It is more on the easy side and, although it is fun, it isn’t much of a challenge. However, although it isn’t difficult, the gameplay in the Minish Cap is overall solid and very enjoyable. If ever one gets tired of parading around saving Hyrule, there are also some other things to get distracted by. Link can collect mysterious shells and trade them in for figurines. These figurines resemble people and enemies that you encounter throughout the game and it is fun to try to get a full collection. It is enjoyable to try because some of the figurines are very rare and look pretty cool also. Another pastime in the Minish Cap is fusing Kinstones. Kinstones are magical stones shaped in strange formation. Each kinstone has a matching piece that fits perfectly into it like a puzzle. Exploring the world and finding people and things to fuse with can be fun and results in the occurrence of an event. Anything from new passageways to chests appearing out of nowhere can happen. Both fusing kinstones and collecting figurines are enjoyable pastimes. Graphically the Minish Cap stands out amongst other GBA titles. There is a great attention to detail and the environments are stunning. The characters are all remarkably well done for a GBA title and everything in the game is well done. When in minish form, the world seems to be much bigger and even the slightest obstacle such as a leave etc can prove to be a big problem. Also, it is very nice to see that when in minish form, tall, stalking blades of grass tower over your character and provide beautiful scenery. It is nice to see the little things such as this placed in the game. The graphics also have a whimsical look to them, which is reminiscent of the cell shading found in the Wind Waker and make the graphics very pleasing to simply look at for a few moments at a time. Altogether, the graphics are one of the games strongest points and they truly showcase what the GBA is capable of. The Minish Cap’s audio is also very impressive and beautiful. The sound comes out through the speaker very clearly. The dialog is all written in the Minish Cap so there are no real voiceovers. However, when you walk up to a character such as a townsfolk or a Picori, they actually say the first word in the dialog such as “Hey!” or “Oh” and it is a nice touch to be greeted as if you were speaking to an actual person. Link also speaks phrases while out in the field or in battle like “Hi-ya!” etc. The background music is very good and sets the tone and mood very nicely. Overall, the Minish Cap once again proves that it is one of the top GBA games in production value. The Minish Cap is a great game and makes an excellent addition to the library of any GBA collection. It is indeed worthy of the Zelda name and carries on the tradition of the legend of Zelda series in tried and true fashion. 
