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Zelda: A Handheld History

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Zelda: A Handheld History

8-Jun-2009 Part One: From Link's Awakening To Four Swords!

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The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks looks set to be another fantastic entry into Link's continued globe-trotting quests on Nintendo's handheld systems. The sword-wielding hero hasn't always kept to the familiar lands of Hyrule either, travelling through time and seasons, across waters and through uncharted worlds for 16 years now. And each new handheld incarnation of Nintendo's classic franchise has proven that sometimes it's good to break from tradition.

From the original Game Boy all the way to the Nintendo DS, we look back on those games that prove that bigger doesn't always mean better. The Legend of Zelda has been adept at bringing out the best in Nintendo's handheld systems, cramming more excitement, dungeons and beasties than any other title around. Even on the small screen, the Triforce burns bright.

Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Link's Awakening
Game Boy, 1993
A world map that could contend with the one found in A Link to the Past. Every screen packed with familiar friends, evil monsters and mysterious secrets. Eight dungeons. New and classic items. A storyline that lingered long after the final credits rolled. The only question we asked, once we picked our jaws up off the floor, was how Nintendo had managed to cram so much into the island of Koholint.

There were no corners cut and nothing scrimped as Link leapt into his first ever handheld outing. The adventure contained within the tiny cartridge was just as big as any Zelda before it. Link washes up on the shore of Koholint Island after getting caught in a storm. Gradually he uncovers the secrets of this intriguing new world and its mysterious guardian, the Wind Fish.

Medallions and Triforce shards are replaced with eight instruments that Link is charged with collecting in order to awake the island's slumbering giant, encased in an egg atop Tal Tal Mountain at the north of the island. Once his enormous quest was finally completed, the pieces fall together as the island slowly disappears, revealed to be only a dream of the Wind Fish.

It was a brave and astonishing ending to the lengthy adventure, shots lingering on those you'd met along the way, areas you'd been through numerous times. As a dreamer awoke, friends disappeared forever.

Yet our time on the island is still a memorable one. From Talin and his daughter Marin, whose archetypes we'd meet years later in Lon Lon Ranch in Ocarina of Time, to the unsuccessful attempt at stealing an expensive bow leading to the shop owner, and everyone we met hence, to label us "thief" forevermore. And what about those unique side-scrolling sections that harked back to Zelda II?

The game received an update with a DX edition on the Game Boy Color (pictured), with Nintendo adding a brand new dungeon based around the handheld's new colour palette. But for our money it's the original green-tinted version that remains the best, if only to show what was possible on Nintendo's first handheld. Link's Awakening stylishly began the great Zelda tradition of pushing Nintendo systems to their limits. A miniature gaming masterclass.

Play It Today
The DX Edition on eBay, but remember that you'll need a Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance to play it.

Legend Of Zelda: Oracles Of Ages/Seasons

Oracle Of Seasons & Oracle Of Ages
Game Boy Color, 2001
Two is better than one, yet it seems two is also better than three. That was the decision made by Nintendo as it worked on one of its most ambitious projects, creating an interlinked Zelda adventure across three separate games. Connectivity between the three titles became a huge headache to program and one was eventually dropped mid-development. Out of the aftermath came the two cracking titles, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages.

Yet that arguably wasn't the most ambitious part of the project. This was one of the few times that Nintendo had passed the development torch of a flagship series over to another company. Street Fighter creator Capcom stepped up and like the gamble Nintendo took with Sega on F-Zero GX, proved the risk was worth the reward.

Capcom kept true to the franchise, but also created a really unique take on the Zelda experience. It created two separate storylines and tied them together through transferring codes on each cartridge, which enabled players to take part in Oracle's 'true' final battle sequence and see the proper ending. Genius.

The games distilled down the Zelda elements into two distinct parts. Oracle of Ages was a more cerebral affair, staying true to the series' heritage for head-scratching puzzles, while Oracle of Seasons kept Link's sword arm busy with more of a focus on combat. The former offered a nod to the template set down by SNES classic A Link To The Past, allowing Link to travel between the past and present versions of the world of Labrynna. The latter, as the name suggests, let Link cycle through the four seasons of Holodum with a mystical rod.

Yet there are parallels throughout the games that tie in with the tried and tested series traditions. The overarching quest had you collecting eight Essences across the lands in order to overcome evil. The sentient Maku Tree has its roots in Ocarina's Deku Tree, while the puppet master behind the various plots was revealed to be Twinrova (seen in previous Zelda games) who was trying to resurrect Ganon using Princess Zelda.

The Oracle series proved that trying something new was never a bad thing, a hallmark that followed in Link's next handheld adventure.

Play It Today
Again, your best bet is checking the likes of eBay. Make sure you get the two adventures bundled together though.

Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords

Four Swords
Game Boy Advance, 2002
Otherwise known as Link goes multiplayer. Released in 2002 as a double pack with the re-released GBA version of A Link to the Past, Four Swords was the first Zelda title to incorporate multiplayer play.

By linking up four separate Game Boy Advances via a system link cable (well, nobody said it was going to be a cheap game to play), players would witness the birth of an exciting new take on the traditional Zelda myths that would spin out to two other titles two years later: the GameCube expansion Four Swords Adventures and the GBA release The Minish Cap.

The game's central idea was that a powerful new artefact, the Four Sword, would divide the wielder into four exact copies, differentiated only by different coloured clothing. The many faces of Link then had to team up together to fight waves of enemies and help each other solve puzzles that only four sets of hands and brains could solve. Suffice to say, it was quite a departure.

Lacking the massive sprawling overworld and in-depth adventuring of previous Zelda titles, the game could perhaps unfairly be deemed the least impressive of all of Link's handheld entries. But the randomly-generated dungeons and areas,
along with the chance to finally enjoy Hyrule with friends, not to mention in a way unseen before, made it another example of how Nintendo continued to stretch the boundaries of Zelda's long-held traditions.

And of course, let's not forget the not insignificant fact that the game came bundled with a port of SNES classic Link to the Past in all its majesty, adding some stunning audio lifted from the 3D Zelda titles. Packing both titles into one relatively humble GBA cartridge is a revelation to this day, especially when you consider that what we could play today on a credit card-sized Game Boy Micro needed a TV, SNES and large game cartridge ten years ago.

Four Swords Adventures, released on the GameCube in 2004, successfully fleshed out the idea and improved the experience, adding deeper gameplay and allowing GBA connectivity with its big brother. New multiplayer modes challenged Link against Link - but it was the introduction of new baddie Vaati that was of key importance. He'd come back to haunt Link in a prequel, The Minish Cap, two years later...

Play It Today
You can pick up second-hand copies for as little as seven quid through online stores like amazon.co.uk. Beware: it won't work on your DSi!