The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, an action-adventure game for the GameCube, launched in Japan on March 18, 2004, and in North America on June 7 of that year. European and Australian releases followed on January 7 and April 7, 2005, respectively. Developed and published by Nintendo, it is the eleventh main entry in The Legend of Zelda series. The game uses the Game Boy Advance as a controller, connecting via a link cable that came bundled with North American and European copies. Its gameplay and presentation resemble those of its predecessor, Four Swords. The story follows Link, who, after using the Four Sword, creates three clones of himself. Together, they must restore peace to Hyrule after an evil counterpart, Shadow Link, appears and releases the villain Vaati. Nintendo Power ranked it the 48th best game ever made for a Nintendo system, and Metacritic gave it an aggregate score of 86 out of 100. In North America, it was the third best-selling game of June 2004, moving 155,000 units, and has since sold 250,000 copies there. In Japan, it sold 127,000 units.

The main mode, "Hyrulean Adventure," is an episodic cooperative multiplayer campaign that adapts traditional Zelda gameplay. A second mode, "Shadow Battle," is a competitive multiplayer battle mode. The Japanese version also includes "Navi Trackers," a multiplayer stamp rally race. Hyrulean Adventure supports one to four players across eight worlds, each containing three stages and a boss fight. Its graphics are similar to those of the Game Boy Advance Four Swords, but maps are static rather than randomly generated, the top-down view comes from A Link to the Past, and effects from The Wind Waker appear. Enhanced atmospheric effects include cloud shadows, heat shimmer, dust storms, and fog. The music is based on A Link to the Past, with some rearrangements. Most mechanics from Four Swords return. In multiplayer, each player needs a Game Boy Advance, which serves as both controller and screen when a character moves off the main display. In single-player, either a GameCube controller or a Game Boy Advance can be used. Four Links—colored green, red, blue, and purple—are always present; extra ones attach to directly controlled characters and can be positioned in formations or separated to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.