The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Hyrulean Adventure is the main campaign of Four Swords Adventures, and can be played by one to four players. It consists of eight worlds, each with three stages and a boss battle. The graphics are similar to that of the Game Boy Advance version, but the maps are static rather than randomly generated, the top-down view is taken from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and gameplay includes effects from The Wind Waker. The graphics include enhanced atmospheric effects such as cloud shadows that slowly move across the ground, heat shimmer, dust storms, and fog. Music is based on that of A Link to the Past, but is rearranged in places.[2]

In Hyrulean Adventure, most of the same mechanics as the previously released Four Swords for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) are used. The multiplayer version requires each player to have a GBA, which is used as a controller and to which the action transfers when that player's character goes off the main screen, but the single-player game may be played with either a GameCube controller or a GBA. There are always four Link characters (differentiated by different colors: green, red, blue and purple) in play, regardless of the number of people playing; "extra" Links are attached to those directly controlled and positioned around the controlling character. Normally, the extra Links follow the player, but players can separate an individual Link and control independently, or put the four Links into formations. These techniques are required to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. Players are encouraged to work together to gather enough Force Gems to empower the Four Sword, and failing to do so by the time the boss is defeated or the dark barrier is reached results in having to go back to the beginning of the stage to collect more. However, once the requisite gems are collected, players are automatically transported to the dark barrier and therefore do not have to repeat the entire stage.[2]

Players can play minigames in multiplayer mode at Tingle's Tower, which appears in every world, to gain extra multiplayer lives. These eight games are earned by playing though certain stages in multiplayer mode. The minigames include horse racing, hammer tag, monster hunting and five others.[2]

Screenshot depicting the GBA-link feature

In Shadow Battle, two or more players battle each other until only one is left standing. As in Hyrulean Adventure, each player uses a different-colored Link character and wields various tools to attack the other Links. Initially, there are five stages which players can choose as the battle's arena. Five bonus maps are unlocked upon completion of Hyrulean Adventure (these "dark stages" are almost the same as the first five maps, but portals to the dark world appear and the player has limited vision). In each stage, items randomly appear, and are usually similar to the items in Hyrulean Adventure. There are many special objects in each stage, which can be used to the player's advantage. There is a time limit; when it reaches zero, the game is tied.[2]

Navi Trackers (formerly planned as a stand-alone game titled Tetra's Trackers) is a game only present in the Japanese version of Four Swords Adventures (Four Swords +). Multiple players use a combination of the television screen and Game Boy Advances to search for members of Tetra's pirate crew to gain as many stamps as possible within a given time limit. Action takes place on the Game Boy Advance used by each player, with the television screen showing a basic map and Tetra narrating the action. A single-player mode is available, which allows players to either collect alone or compete against Tingle.

The game takes place centuries after Majora's Mask, within the event of the "Child Timeline", and is the final game in this timeline, chronologically. The game features a separate incarnation of the Dark Lord Ganondorf/The Dark Beast Ganon to the one whose backstory is shown in Ocarina of Time, something which is unique to Four Swords Adventures.[3]

The game begins with the land of Hyrule in a state of fear because of strange happenings that have occurred recently. On a stormy night, Princess Zelda and the shrine maidens fear that the reason for these events is that Vaati's seal is weakening. She summons Link and brings him to the castle so he can protect her and the other maidens while they open the portal to the Four Sword Sanctuary. When they do, however, a shadowy figure appears, Shadow Link, who kidnaps the maidens of the Shrines and seals them inside their crystals. Link follows him to the mysterious sanctuary where the Four Sword lies in the pedestal, keeping the great evil sealed away. Link pulls the Four Sword out of its Pedestal, splitting into three clones of himself to destroy his doppelgänger. However, the seal that imprisoned the Sorcerer of Winds, Vaati, was broken and had released him from his prison once again, wreaking havoc on the once peaceful kingdom of Hyrule and bringing chaos and horror.[4]

As Link and his clones wander the overworld of Hyrule Field on their quest to restore peace to Hyrule, they learn that the creation of Link's evil counterpart and the release of Vaati is only a small part in an insidious plot to conquer the kingdom of Hyrule. Things complicate as the dimension of the Dark World appears and people are being abducted throughout Hyrule. The four Links learn that the knights of Hyrule have mysteriously disappeared and evil versions of them have been creating havoc, allowing Hyrule castle to be taken over and monsters to appear throughout the land. The four Links agree that they will defeat Vaati, and rescue Zelda to restore peace to Hyrule.[4]

It is revealed that the true villain is Ganon, the King of Darkness; a male Gerudo who obtained his powers after stealing a powerful trident containing dark energy that was previously hidden away within a pyramid, and used it to seize control over substantial portions of Hyrule. In order to further his plans and distract Link from interfering in his bid for further power, Ganon stole the dark mirror, previously used to banish a dark tribe that invaded Hyrule years prior, and used it to create Shadow Link, who was eventually sent to kidnap the shrine maidens and trick Link into releasing Vaati. In order to gain as much power as possible and build up his army, Ganon sought to take control of the shrine maidens' power as well, relying on the strongest monstrosities in his army to siphon their energy, and began using Shadow Link to abduct the kingdom's residents and send them into the Dark World, where they would become part of his army. Vaati unknowingly furthered his plans by creating monsters to add to his army and drained energy from the landscape of the kingdom itself, gradually transforming it into a wasteland. It is revealed that the Knights of Hyrule were murdered by Ganon, who proceeded to trap their souls in the World of Darkness, where they became creatures of darkness.

The four Links save the shrine maidens, retrieve the Dark Mirror with the assistance of Princess Zelda, stopping Shadow Link from respawning once and for all. The four heroes head forth to the Palace of Winds and defeat Vaati, leading them into their final battle with Ganon. Trying to stop him from plunging the world into chaos, the four Links use the Power of the Maidens of Shrines, including Zelda, to defeat Ganon, penetrating him. After penetrating Ganon, the four Links firmly seal him inside the Four Sword, bringing chaos and horror to an end. Peace returns to Hyrule, the souls of the knights are freed from their torment, and the people celebrate as all traces of evil that plagued Hyrule are vanquished.[4] With Ganon defeated and sealed inside, Link returns the Four Sword that sealed darkness away back to its resting pedestal and the four Links become one again. After the battle, The Maidens of the Shrine use their powers and create a barrier, which is strong enough for the Four Sword to rest before the six maidens leave. Thus, Link's journey has ended and both he and Zelda leave the Sanctuary as Darkness fades away and Light endures in the Land of Hyrule, bringing peace and prosperity.