The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Four Swords Adventures
Developer	Nintendo
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo Gamecube
Release Date	JPN March 18, 2004 US June 7, 2004 EU January 7, 2005
Genre	Adventure
Gallery	Gallery
Rating	ESRB: E

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is a game for the Gamecube. In Japan, it's called Four Swords +. The game was designed to be played by multiple players, but can also be played alone. For multiplayer mode, each player needs a Game Boy Advance and a Gamecube/Game Boy Advance link cable.

Story

While opening the portal to the Four Sword Shrine, Zelda and the shrine maidens are kidnapped by Shadow Link. Link gets the Four Sword so he can defeat Shadow Link, but releases Vaati in the process. Link must defeat the villains and save the maidens as well as Zelda.

Gameplay

The game is divided into several modes. Hyrulian Adventure is the main mode. In Hyrulian Adventure, players explore different areas and battle enemies on a quest to save Zelda. Although this game has more elements from traditional Zelda games such as a stronger plotline and the presence of non-playable characters, it still follows Four Swords in splitting the game into levels where players are encouraged to both cooperate and compete. Force Gems instead of Rupees are the main collectible goal, which empower the swords. The Links can also swap their secondary items at pedestals and temporarily upgrade these items through Great Fairies.

Extra players must connect their Game Boy Advances, and they will enter a Game Boy Advance screen when entering certain areas. A single player can still play the game and control all four characters at once. In this case, the D-Pad could be used to change the characters' formation.

The second mode, Shadow Battle, pits two or more characters against one another. Items appear in the stages, so that the players could use them against each other with different tactics. Navi Trackers was only included in the Japanese version of the game. In the Wind Waker-based Navi Trackers, players must find hidden pirates and collect stamps from them. The first person to get all the stamps won the game.

Continuity Notes

• Four Swords Adventures forms the end of a trilogy; Four Swords is referenced in the backstory, and The Minish Cap was later established as a prequel to both games. All of these games are connected by the Four Sword and the threat posed by Vaati. The official timeline released in the Hyrule Historia has shown that while Four Swords Adventures still takes place after both games, it is separated from both of them by two other games and is set on one of the alternate timelines stemming from the ending of Ocarina of Time. Specifically, it takes place in the child timeline following Twilight Princess, and it is the last game set in this timeline.
• It seems that this game's storyline was initially supposed to be a new version of the Imprisoning War backstory from A Link to the Past, which Ocarina of Time was originally supposed to cover. Unused lines refer to the Master Sword and the seven sages along with other elements from A Link to the Past. There are also other factors in the game which seem to line up with the Imprisoning War backstory, as the Knights of Hyrule play a role, and this game features the rise of Ganondorf for what seems to be the first time. The Hyrule Historia reconciles this by showing that this Ganondorf is a reincarnation following the original's death at the end of Twilight Princess.
• This game features seven Shrine Maidens, who are similar to the maidens in A Link to the Past. It is unknown if they are also related to the sages, but they seem to serve the same function as the sages in this game. They also have the same colors and abilities to change into fairies as the sages shown in Ocarina of Time.
• Ganon is referred to as the "ancient demon reborn". In the context established by Skyward Sword, this may refer to Demise and the endless reincarnation cycle that he set for Ganondorf.
• Tetra Trackers appears to be non-canon, especially in light of the dismissal of spin-off games from the official timeline. It is based on The Wind Waker but is impossible for it to take place after The Wind Waker due to the King of Red Lions being active.

Legacy

Sequels

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is the next game to be released and acts as a prequel for the Four Swords sub-series.