The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)

First of all, the visual effects and smoothness have drastically improved in relation to The Oracle of A/S. Zelda fans will be delighted at how close nintendo and capcom have managed to keep the gameplay and style to the original GBC counterparts, whilst adding on a superb graphical improvement, which makes the game a lot more pleaserable to play. Yes, Capcom have done an excellent job in keeping the game exactly how the fans want it.

The gameplay is spot on, however the plot is sadly not up to standard . A student wizard becomes corrupt with greed, and consequently, using all the wizardry his teacher had taught him, turned it against him. Not the best of plots but decent considering that he turns his master into a hat(hence 'minish cap') and helps Link along his quest to rescure Zelda and the world. A new addition to the Zelda universe are the picori(minish) which are microscopic life forms which link can communicate with once he becomes supersmall. Despite the games apparently vague and uncompelling story, the gameplay and tilt make up for this, as well as the beautifull soundtrack and graphics.

For any Zelda fan, this is an absolute must. For RPG fans, this is also a necessary buy. For casual gamers, still buy it and play it.
A quality Zelda title like this is not to be missed, and if current predictions are correct, this could be the last Zelda game on the GameBoy which adopts the overhead view which has worked so well with the Zelda games, ever since the first title spawned and flourished into the gaming world.


Zelda the Minish cap   July 9, 2005
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

When i bought it i didn't think it would be that good, but it's Zelda so obviously it was amazing. You save this annoying talking hat from these weird things throwing stones at it and then it lets you use him to get advice and turn microscopic so that you can talk to the tribe of tiny people called the minish (hence the name). It still has all the classic weapons like the master sword and the boomerang and it also has some new weapons like the gust-jar and the running boots. The gameplay is great and nothing is too complicated which makes it a simple, enjoyable game. It proves that Zelda still works on GBA not just N64 and Gamecube!


A simple but great game!   June 30, 2005
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

There have been lots of negative reviews for this new Zelda game, saying it does not live up to Zelda reputation. I totally disagree. The game is in the best Zelda tradition, with plenty of great dungeons, sidequests, funny characters etc. The graphics are better then any Zelda Gameboy game ever made. The music is traditional but still very nice, the setting - villages, forests and castles - is stunning. The game carries over from The Oracle series in terms of creating several worlds you can explore, only instead of time or season here the alteration is your size. You can turn into a Minnish and explore their world (they are adorable!) or remain big and have the entire Hyrule to explore still. Fusion pieces are an exciting innovation to keep you occupied collecting, fusing and remembering to collect your rewards! The puzzles are, in truth, no match for the usual Zelda ones, the plot sort of flows itself, without you having to use your brain much to push it forward. Also, rupees and shells seem to just jump into your hands, not at all hard to find. The game might seem easy for the Zelda masterminds but for a newbie this is a great, engaging piece of software. Link's fans should buy it too, if only for the cool new items. Great game overall!


good game   June 5, 2005
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is definatelly a great game, worthy of the zelda title. This game is very entertaining, the dungions are fun and the kinstone fusion adds more to the game, but the reason i have only given it 4 stars is because the map is far too small, which destroys the feeling of exploration. Also the puzzles really are incredably easy (excluding the end boss) and need next to no thought at all, as someone, or thing, always gives you the answer. Is this game aimed at children because it is on the gba? Well it's still a great game, get it.


Not so legendary   April 29, 2005
 5 out of 7 found this review helpful

I first encountered The Legend of Zelda when played Link's Awakening all those years ago on an original Gameboy and have been hooked ever since. I even bought a Gambeboy Colour solely so I could play both the 'Oracle' games. These games were immensely satisfying with brilliant dungeons and had that something special that puts a game into the top bracket. The Minish Cap, much to my disappointment has neither of those things. The dungeons are sadly lacking in substance and in comparison to the previous hand held titles the story doesn't seem to move the game along.

As with a number of recent titles on the Nintendo platform, the game play relies on a gimmick that doesn't really enhance the game play at all, and is in fact lazy. Whereas before you would have to progress through a series of trials to acquire an artefact, it is now simply a case of making yourself small and finding the right entrance to a room. Which is tiresome. I feel that they included this 'feature' at the expense of genuine puzzle design.

Later in the game, the activities become timing exercises and reflex tests. After trying for a couple of hours to progress beyond what should have been a trivial obstacle I finally gave up on the game altogether. So this game is sitting in its box, unfinished, on my shelf. I don't think I'll be taking a second look anytime soon. It failed to engage me and make me want to follow the story to its conclusion.