In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap you play a guy named Link who is sent off on a quest to save a princess named Zelda. Sound familiar? Well, it should. This is only the 12th game in the series to feature that approximate storyline. So how does it stack up?
Well first, a little more about the story behind this game in particular. Link and Zelda are children this time around. The king, Zelda’s father, is still alive and well and in command. Link’s dad is a blacksmith, but not just any blacksmith: He’s the Royal Blacksmith. And he’s really your dad, since the game inserts whatever you have named your save file whenever someone or something refers to you. But enough about him. A mysterious swordsman turns Zelda to stone shortly after the game starts, and then breaks the ancient sword required to set things right. I won’t go into how he gets into a position to pull this off, because it’s really kind of silly and actually pretty funny when it happens. The Minish Cap is an animated piece of headwear named Ezlo that Link meets in the Minish Woods whilst searching for a minute race of people called the Picori. These people, according to legend, made that sword Link needs fixed, and will only reveal themselves to children (and any mysterious talking, magical hats those children might find in the wild).
Gameplay takes place in two worlds, a theme veterans of previous Legends will likely find familiar. There is Link’s apparently normally sized world, and the miniature world of the Minish which Link can access through special portals and the aid of Ezlo. Each world has unique hazards and challenges, and switching between the two is vital to solving many of the puzzles that stand between Link and the various artifacts the Picori need to help Link with his quest.
There’re also a number of side quests obtainable by taking to the right villagers, and the Kinstones. What are those? Well you know those “Bestest Friends 4 Ever” charms that split into two matching necklaces or bracelets or what-have-you? Same idea. Except you sort of find them at random, if you look around, and then you’re off to find an NPC with the matching piece. Finding the matching pieces unlocks various secrets.
So there’s certainly a lot to do for a young lad. Luckily for Link, not a lot of it is all that difficult. Unfortunately for us, this makes the game feel short. That isn’t to say that it’s an easy game, but it’s definitely the least difficult game in the series.
Speaking to the quality of the sound in the game, it’s above average for sure, but it’s nothing revolutionary. As part of the overall presentation it’s appropriate and more than satisfying, but nothing standard setting in light of other recent Game Boy Advance releases.
The visual style of the game is something of a departure, particularly when compared to previous iterations on the Game Boy Advance, namely A Link to the Past and The Four Swords. This game has a very bright, vibrant look that takes full advantage of the Game Boy Advance’s ability to do detailed, smoothly animated 2D graphics. The look Capcom and Nintendo pursued is fully realized, and any apprehension towards the style chosen melts right away once you start playing.
On that topic, it’s certainly not unthinkable that the art direction taken, combined with the fact that you do play a child Link might generate a certain amount of trepidation. It wouldn’t be the first time a game in the series was subjected to unkind speculation, but any suspicions that this might be a child’s game should be forgotten immediately. This is every bit as valid a member of the franchise as any of the classics, including the timeless A Link to the Past.
Overall it’s a fun game that looks great, sounds good and is worth playing by anyone who claims to be a fan of the series, despite being less difficult than one may expect. I’ll also go one further and recommend that anyone with a Game Boy Advance buy it, but I’ll stop short of calling it a reason to run out and buy the system.
