The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition (DS Review) by Carl B.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo/Grezzo
System: Nintendo DSiWare, 3DS eShop
Release: September 28, 2011

September 29, 2011, by Carl B. - The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords originally released on Game Boy Advance as a side-game with the port of A Link to the Past. Using the system's archaic link cables, up to four players were able to play the first ever multiplayer Zelda title. That alone was appealing in of itself – multiplayer and Zelda aren't exactly two synonymous terms. To the enjoyment of fans worldwide, the mash-up worked brilliantly and eventually led to another similar title on GameCube, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. As part of the Zelda 25th Anniversary celebration, Nintendo released an enhanced port of Four Swords on Nintendo DSiWare and 3DS eShop for free.

I beat the original Four Swords with iNintendo's Nathan D. and a few of our friends when the game first came out. Playing Four Swords Anniversary Edition brings back plenty of nostalgic moments, simply because the marriage of multiplayer and Zelda works so perfectly in this game.

The beauty of Four Swords is that it's not only cooperative, but it's competitive as well. Most of the fun of the game comes from trying to collect the most rupees – at the end of each stage the player with the most rupees will earn a medal. It's made even more fun because there are only so many rupees in each level of the game. Depending on how many players there are will dictate the number of treasure chests in an area. Playing with the minimum two players would spawn two chests in different sections of any given level, with one chest containing 20 rupees and the other containing 200. Naturally, if one player gets to treasure chests first they can take all the rupees.

That's when I would pick up that player and throw them into a river or lava.

There were four different stages in the original game, each of which is present in this new version: Sea of Trees, Talus Cave, Death Mountain, and Vaati's Palace. The first three are pretty standard: forest, ice, and fire based, respectively. Vaati's Palace is a more traditional Zelda dungeon placed in the sky. Every stage features a handful of levels plus a boss fight at the end. Levels in each stage will morph based on how many players are in the party – there are specific puzzles to be solves for each number of players, two through four.

Those puzzles are pretty clever, forcing every player to play a part in solving it. Some puzzles will force one player to throw the other across a chasm in order to flip a switch, while others will require players to move another player to the other side of the room through the use of the Magnetic Gloves. Puzzles and boss fights are where the game is strictly cooperative, though there is a competitive element to them. Bosses will oftentimes drop rupees when they take damage, so instead of helping out in the effort players can snag some extra rupees when their teammates aren't paying attention. Each level also only has one Heart Container at the end, so depending on how players play the game, they can either split each one or give it to whoever reaches the Heart Container first.

Several new stages make their way into this version of Four Swords, each one based off of locations in classic Zelda games. These include levels from The Legend of Zelda, Link's Awakening, and A Link to the Past.

Sadly, Four Swords Anniversary Edition does not feature online multiplayer. There's absolutely no excuse for this version of the game not to feature such a simple addition. I half expected Nintendo to require players to use a new DS/3DS link cable, but luckily, local wireless connection will suffice. For players who don't have anyone to play with locally, they can play through the entire game in single player.

Single player plays similarly to Four Swords Adventures, only there's only one extra Link instead of three. Formations also didn't make their way into the game – another feature that would have been easy to add – so that means the extra Link will only follow the main character. When there's an enemy around, it'll continue to follow the player, completely ignoring the threat. To make up for this, the lifeless companion will assist the player in certain puzzles that would have required an actual player. Some enemies need two players to defeat – one example is a ChuChu that wears a helmet. To take down the enemy, one player has to attack it, pick it up, and throw it at their companion, who then slashes it in mid-air. The CPU controlled Link will run a good distance away and wait for the player to throw it to him.


The bottom screen was lacking on the GBA version, but this title makes full use of it. Four Swords Anniversary Edition displays the location of the Heart Container, seed upgrades for speed, attack and defense, and the number of rupee shards collected.

Running through the game the first time will unlock a new set of levels for the four main stages, giving the game quite a bit of replay value, especially if players can gather some friends to play with.

The Verdict

Sound
12/15 - There's not too much variety in the soundtrack. The few tracks in the game are very nice.

Graphics
18/20 - One of the better looking GBA games of its time, and it's aged well.

Appeal
22/25 - Plenty of levels to play through, each of which is different depending on the number of players in the party. No online multiplayer is inexcusable.

Gameplay
36/40 - Zelda and multiplayer is a perfect mesh with Four Swords. A mostly lifeless CPU companion and lack of Four Swords Adventures-style formations are a bummer.

Overall
90/100 - Four Swords Anniversary Edition is a great version of an already fantastic multiplayer title. There's really no excuse as to why it lacks online multiplayer, but the single player mode is a more than welcomed addition.