Hello, fellow Zelda fans. Allow me to take you to back in time to the year of the very first true multiplayer Zelda game: Four Swords Adventures. This game was technically predated by the GBA version of A Link to the Past that was released in December 2002, which first introduced the multiplayer concept with the short side adventure that was included which was called Four Swords. This most likely served as the blueprint for Four Swords Adventures which was released about two years later in 2004. The Four Swords was an amazing concept, so many of us fans were extremely excited when we heard about the upcoming new title.
When news of Four Swords Adventures first came out, I was ecstatic. I was a huge Zelda fan at the time, while most of my friends had either dabbled in a Zelda here or there, or were big into other games like Final Fantasy or Super Smash Bros. At first, I was hoping that the game would be a multiplayer game that you could play with four Gamecube controllers and players looking at the big screen, such as how it was for Super Smash Bros. Melee and other games at that time. However, when the game released, it only supported gameplay for up to four players that had access to a Game Boy Advance and a Link Cable. Thankfully, the game came with a link cable, and I had already had another from a previous game, so all I needed was two more to have a proper four player session. I was also fortunate that Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles had come out a couple months before which also utilized the same link cable and GBA system for their multiplayer system, so my friends were already acquainted with it. On June 7, 2004, Four Swords Adventures was released, and boy what a time it was to be a Zelda fan.
Four Swords Adventures was one of the most exciting times I ever had playing a Zelda game. This was the first time I could get my friends (and girlfriend at that time) to play a Zelda game with me, let alone a Zelda game at all. I could finally get them to experience all the wonder, joy, and excitement that came from traversing the world of Hyrule and fighting Ganon and his minions. It was going to be an epic adventure where we worked together to solve puzzles, explore dungeons and defeat enemies as a strong and capable team. And even though we did end up beating the game, I couldn’t have been more off the mark.
In proper Nintendo fashion, it seemed that they had another concept of how they wanted Four Swords Adventures to be played. Of course, it would still be a game where you could play with your friends and save Hyrule, but when I tell you that they are some mischief makers over at Nintendo, I can not stress that enough. This game had two modes in it, one called Hyrulean Adventure, where you could go along with up to four players on a quest to stop Vaati and save Hyrule. The other was a versus battle mode that pit the four players against each other in a Last Link Standing situation. Very fun to play, I’ll admit but the Hyrulean Adventure had it all.
Seeing as I was the main Zelda fan and it was my GameCube and television we played on, they had no problem letting me be the main Green Tunic Link. However, two of my friends would battle it out in proper rock, scissors, paper style for who got to use the red or blue link. However, whenever my girlfriend was playing with us, she would definitely always get red tunic Link, as that was her favorite color. When we first started, I was so excited! I was playing my favorite series with good friends and company, and we were going to beat this game and save Hyrule as a single minded unit. I could not have been more off the mark. What ensued was one of the craziest times I’ve ever experienced in any game, let alone a Zelda one. The true secret behind this game is that you must TRY to work together to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and things of that nature. What they didn’t tell you is how challenging it would become. For one, this game had friendly fire turned on. Meaning you could attack and hurt your friends whenever you wanted, intentional or not. That one thing in particular is enough to cause chaos, but it wasn’t the only thing. This game also had a 1 item per person system, which would make the scramble for who gets what get hectic at almost every turn. You’ve never seen a game get more chaotic than four players fighting for the right of who gets the Fire Rod!
This game also had players collecting little triangle shaped pieces reminiscent of the Triforce, called Force Gems, which players had to collect a certain amount of to complete most stages. Each player had their own count of force gems that would all add up in the end collectively but having more as a individual meant being ahead in the rankings. You’ve never seen four Links battle each other harder than you would see them going for a couple of force gems. My friends and I would battle each other to the death, throwing each other in pits, burning one another with the Fire Rod or just straight up attacking each other crazily just to get one good size Force Gem. It was such a chaotic event, but it was still some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a Zelda game. It would take us forever to beat a stage sometimes because we would just simply be fighting over items and Force Gems or behaving mischievously. Each stage also had an ending ranked mode that tallied up how many Force Gems each player had, how many times they died, how many enemies they defeated, and how many hearts they had remaining. There was even a secret voting ballot that showed up on each player’s GBA where you could vote for which player was the most helpful and which one was the most bothersome. You’ve never known betrayal from friends more for being good at Zelda than you did in these moments. Half the time my friends would all pick me as the most bothersome just to try to lower my rankings since I was the Zelda master. The title of the Hero of Light would go to the person who was voted the most helpful and they would gain points. The title of the Hero of Darkness would go to the player voted the most bothersome and they would have their points taken away. We would all laugh at how I would still come out as the top player mostly even though they almost always voted me as the most bothersome. Thank goodness for those Force Gems!
Battling it out for the top spot most definitely kept us from swiftly getting through the levels. The good thing is that at some point we all decided to forgo the act of becoming number one all the time and started to focus on beating the levels. This was mostly due to the fact that these levels were not always easy to beat. A lot of them had puzzles that we needed to work together on to get through like finding the right switch and all being on top of it at once or having the proper item such as the Fire Rod to clear the way of an impeding object. Figuring out these different challenges after a certain point forced us to stop the in-fighting and actually put our collective minds together. Especially after we uncovered the unspoken villain of this game, Tingle. Tingle quickly became our worst enemy as he would steal the Force Gems that we all sought after. We’d all burst into laughter every time my friend John would holler, “Stupid Fairy!” Traveling through the different stages and locales with my friends was something that I had hoped for ever since A Link to the Past, and it was something I will never forget. After awhile, we became so good at it that sometimes we would hardly need to communicate on basic things such as who gets what item or who will step on what switch. One of the most challenging tests of our teamwork was the fabled escape with Zelda from the crumbling tower. It took us a couple tries to get through it, but we got better each time.
After rescuing Zelda from Vaati, we finally came to the final fight. And to no one’s surprise it was none other than the big bad himself, Ganon. This fight in itself was some of the most exciting moments in this game and I was experiencing it with my friends. This fight was hard! All I can say is that I’m extremely grateful for Force Fairies. This fight claimed our lives so many times, but we were true gamers from the NES days, we weren’t going down that easy. It took us awhile to figure out that fight and some of the mechanics to it like shooting the arrow at the light ball. Once we figured it out it was game over for the Prince of Darkness. We did it! We had beat the game and we did it together! Hyrule was saved again!
I’m not sure how many times we would beat the game after the first time, but it was a couple more. Mostly after we beat it, we would spend our days battling it out in Shadow Battle though as it became a much easier way to relax and play. I had hoped that more Zelda games would follow the multiplayer formula, seeing as how successful it was but not many would. Triforce Heroes would come out years later and continue in the spirit of Four Swords Adventures; however, you could only play with up to three players. Hyrule Warriors was another game where you could play multiplayer, but for whatever reason it didn’t shine as a multiplayer game the way Four Swords Adventures did. As much as I love the Warriors series, it seems Nintendo hasn’t figured out or decided how they would approach a new multiplayer Zelda yet, but hope still persists that they will. Maybe we will get lucky and they will port over Four Swords Adventures to the rumored Switch 2 and players will have the chance to experience one of the best Zelda adventures to exist. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
Four Swords Adventures turns 20 years old on March 18th, 2024, so come join us as we celebrate the quirky co-op romp all throughout the week!
