In celebration of The Legend of Zelda’s 25th Anniversary, Nintendo’s given one of the more obscure games in the series a second chance at life. Returning in the form of a DSiWare / eShop download is the original The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, Nintendo’s experiment in making a multiplayer Zelda game. Many people might have been unable to play the 2002 game, because it required each player to have their own Game Boy Advance and their own copy of the cartridge. Fortunately, the new version can be played single-player, but unfortunately this doesn’t lead to a great single-player game.

- The addition of single-player is nice, but the game shines with friends -

Zelda games have traditionally been solo affairs, with the player as a small hero exploring a vast fantasy realm. In the transition to multiplayer, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords altered the formula by creating linear dungeons, and having the emphasis placed on friendly competition. Each player controls a copy of the hero Link, and they not only have to cooperate with the other characters to complete the level, but also acquire more Rupees (Hyrule’s unwieldy gem-like currency) than any other player. The fun of the multiplayer was in the delicate balance between knowing when to work with your comrades, and when to sabotage them so you claim the rewards for yourself. This aspect is completely absent from the single-player DSiWare Four Swords; in fact, solo gamers don’t even get to control four characters. The single-player mode is limited to the main Link plus an AI-controlled partner.

Thus, solo Four Swords plays like a severely reduced version of a classic Zelda game. There are no towns or overworld areas, only dungeons that exist on a linear plane. The standard Zelda gadgets are all present (including the shield, the bow-and-arrow, the bombs, and the jump-enhancing Roc Cape from Link’s Awakening), but only one can be held at a time. The goal to acquire as many Rupees as possible remains, but the importance is dramatically reduced when the player is competing against their own score. Single-player Four Swords is basically a Zelda score attack mini-game.

This is not to say, however, that Four Swords is devoid of merit without a partner. The overall design of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords was very clever, and some of its most unique traits still shine through in single-player mode. Even with only two Links, the levels require you to work in unison, and use the copy in ways that stretch your brain in classic Zelda fashion. You might have to attack enemies with only specific Links (indicated by convenient color-coding), or you might have to use both Links to literally pull an enemy apart. In single-player mode this can actually become more intense, because with only half the Links (and with only one of them controlled by the player at a time), quicker responses are necessary. The enemy hordes are massive, and the bosses are colorful and challenging.

- This Zelda spin-off is cleverly designed, though devoid of an overworld -

Unfortunately, this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that you cannot game over in Four Swords unless you run out of rupees, and rupees are absolutely everywhere. The challenge in completing the dungeons is doing so with a high score, and without the competition of other players, many players may find this trivial. As a multiplayer game, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition is a wonderfully frenetic adventure that will keep gamers entertained. But finding multiple DSi / 3DS owners might not be possible, and while the game features a strong design, it was not intended for solo play. Solitary gamers might wish to look elsewhere, as there are plenty of better single-player titles on these handheld systems.

GameDynamo's Score for The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition (DS/DSi)

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