One of the reasons why I have not been updating this site is I have been fighting a super hard core cold and I have been preoccupied playing The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap. This is the latest game from Nintendo's Flagship studios. This is the collaboration of Capcom and Nintendo that produced The Legend of Zelda : Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda : Oracle of Seasons for Gameboy Color.
This is a 2d overhead Zelda game like Zelda : A Link to the Past for GBA and SNES and Zelda : The Four Swords Adventures for Gamecube. The story of this game stands alone and is not an official sequel to any of the other Zelda games. The graphical design is more of the kid link of the Four Swords and The Windwaker than the grown up N-64 Link. That is totally cool with me and it fits the over head 2d graphics perfectly. The graphics are superb and really push the GBA.
The premise around this game involves Link being able to shrink down to super small sizes to get the help of a race of small folk called the Minish. A super bad ass wizard turned Princess Zelda into stone and was generally a dick to everyone involved. Link is tasked to stop him and lay some smack down. Link has found a good wizard who was turned into a talking hat so Link is off to do good with the help of this talking hat and the wee Minish folk. The game play is classic 2d Zelda that is familiar and fun but it is enhanced with new tools and toys. I particularly enjoyed this vacuum cannon. This game has a new thing called Keystones. Keystones are half of a special token that unlocks a hidden chest or something. You end up finding a hell of a lot of these and all the towns people that you meet will want to combine keystones with you to gradually unlock stuff. When every you get stuck you can ask the hat for a clue and there is a pretty nice map system to this game. The map system will mark things that were uncovered with the Keystones.
This game progresses nicely and I will have nothing but scorn and admonishment for those who will check a FAQ or walk through guide to breeze through this game. I have had some folks complain that this game is to short but I wonder if they cheated by looking up puzzles in a guide. I mean what the hell is the point of trying to solve all the puzzles and mazes if you are going to cheat and use a guide. You are generally preventing yourself to enjoy the problem solving process and the sense of accomplishment when you figure it out. It is like reading the last chapter to a mystery book first before reading it. Most of the puzzles can be solved if you think about it and if you cheat you are only hurting yourself.
This is a damn fun Zelda game and is one of the best Gameboy Advance games ever. I would rank this up with a Link to the Past and those who want to complain about it's relatively short length should pick up a copy of The Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages and quit their complaining.
Nintendo has done a wonderful job in maintain a high level of quality with the Zelda games and The Minish Cap is no exception. This is a great choice for any gamer with a GBA, Gameboy Player and a Nintendo DS. In fact I wholly recommend this game to hold over Nintendo DS owners until a new batch of games arrive for the Nintendo DS. Some of my best gaming memories were playing Legend of Zelda games and this delivers for gamers age 6 to 60. God knows we need games like this these days. Nintendo I tip my hat to you for this one.
I've always jumped at the prospect of a new Zelda game, but was (for the first time, ever) a bit hesitant about this one--somethihng about a talking hat that makes you shrink, it sounded a bit fruity. But since I had nothing else to play (and my DS was hungry for attention), I went ahead and picked it up--and it's definitely an enjoyable game. I'm still not crazy about the talking hat, wish his jaw could be wired via the options, but that's small stuff.
It's a bit short, but not short enough to complain about--and, yes, I'm pretty sure the whiners all cheated their way through it. The art of exploration is largely lost upon them.
--about those "keystones", though, aren't the "Kinstones"?
Yeah I guess your right about the "Kinstones"
Then again I have never been disapointed with a Zelda Game
Oh lord Pete give it a rest. You're no better. All you do around here is bitch, toss out insults and call people names. And yet you continue to insist that it's only everyone ELSE who is angry and childish.
"Nintendo has done a wonderful job"
I heard it was made by a third party developer (Capcom? Konami?) for Nintendo.
Nintendo's "Flagship Studio" is a colaboration with Capcom and Nintendo.
I've thoroughly enjoyed this game. As Jake mentioned, I picked it up to play on my DS until more games are released later this quarter. I am currently in the 'Palace of the Winds,' which contains the last element needed. I guess I can't be too far from the end of the game, but it didn't seem all that short to me. I discourage using guides as well, and they probably do shave off quite a bit of time from completing the game.
This is the first Zelda game that I haven't picked up on launch day since before I played Ocarina of Time, and I'm not even sure why... I know I'll get it eventually since I could never pass up a Zelda game, but it just doesn't entice me as much as the A Link to the Past remake, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages did. And as for my DS, it has been very busy lately with all of those old GBA games that I started and never finished (currently Mario & Luigi). For some reason it's just so much more of a joy to play than the GBA was (I never had the SP), so I can finally enjoy GBA games to their fullest.
PLEASE HELP ME!!! i am really stuck on this zelda level it is where you have got to talk to the melari on mount crenel, PLEASE HELP!!! So far i think that it is really good but i am pulling my hair out! please email me (down below), i have filled the plant with water i have seen the faries, i have flown across the cliff to the other side with the hat as the parashuite but WHAT DO I DO NEXT!!!!!! PLEASE HELP thankyou.