Final Glimpse: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy meets sentient hat.
The Legend Of Zelda is a series that sets gaming standards. Each time a Legend of Zelda title is released, adventure gamers everywhere take notice. Nintendo loyalists are in for a double Link treat this year, as we get the long awaited Gamecube release of the realistic Legend of Zelda, a game that is spoken of in awed and hushed tones, and we also get another Game Boy Advance title starring a younger, smaller, shrinkable Link.
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap for the Game Boy Advance once again places players in the role of young Link in one of his many heroic adventures. This time, players get to see the story of how Link discovered the elven cap that he always wears. Link actually begins the game, oddly enough, without his ever-present cap. There is a slightly unexpected twist, however, in the fact that the cap is a sentient being that becomes a valuable ally.
As with most Legend of Zelda titles, Link must rescue the beautiful princess Zelda from a horrible fate imposed upon her by some devious villain. In this story, which begins with Link and Zelda as children, Zelda’s fate is being turned into stone, and the villain is the swordsman Vaati, who is responsible for the princess’ curse and also for breaking the legendary Master Sword. After this awful turn of events, the King charges young Link, who is Zelda’s friend, to help them by finding the Minish people, a magical race that can only be seen by children.
The titular Minish cap, Link will discover, is alive, and able to help him in a number of ways. The cap can shrink Link to a tiny size, which allows him to enter holes in the ground and cracked walls as well as entering the tiny Minish village. An interesting twist to this is that the minor enemies obviously become much more difficult to defeat when Link is shrunken, since they become much larger than Link. This offers a new perspective on the game world, as things become more ominous to a tiny Link than to the full-sized Link, but the shrinking is often necessary to progress.
The cap also allows Link to speak with animals and can double as a parachute. Ezlo, the cap’s name, often gives young Link advice and talks regularly, usually offering humorous conversation. The graphics look good, which is always to be expected of a Legend of Zelda title. Link animates well, and the world is colorful and well detailed with a number of environments, from the woodlands to the swamps
Kinstone pieces also offer a new gameplay element and sidequest. Spread throughout the land are kinstones, which are broken into halves. Link must collect the kinstones, then reunite each kinstone with its other half, which is usually held by an NPC. When Link reunites a kinstone, he is rewarded, sometimes with an item, a new kinstone, a new area opening on the map, or a number of other surprises.
