The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is an action-adventure game developed by Capcom and Flagship and released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan and Europe in 2004, and in North America and Australia in 2005. The game serves as a prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, showcasing the origins of the Four Sword and the villain Vaati. With a lot to offer in all aspects of game design and player enjoyment, the game itself is without a doubt one of the best games in the franchise, yet one of the least known.
The Minish Cap is fun. So fun, in fact, that I’ve played it to completion not just once, twice, but three times. The world is large and open, with each powerup and item you unlock in dungeons and in hidden areas, the more you can explore and access. Every little crevice in this game has items and secrets waiting for you to figure them out. The casual combat is one of the lacking aspects of the game though, as it’s two-dimensional top-down movement seems less built for quickly and skillfully fighting off enemies as you traverse the mostly open world and more for the fun boss fights and dungeon crawling chunks of the story. The bosses are the greatest part of this game though, with creative gimmicks to each battle. To me the most memorable was the Gleerock, a giant lava plesiosaur, who is defeated by turning its shell upside down and pulverizing its squishy body. Overall, the game is a fun experience for most.
The Minish Cap is fun. So fun, in fact, that I’ve played it to completion not just once, twice, but three times. The world is large and open, with each powerup and item you unlock in dungeons and in hidden areas, the more you can explore and access. Every little crevice in this game has items and secrets waiting for you to figure them out. The casual combat is one of the lacking aspects of the game though, as it’s two-dimensional top-down movement seems less built for quickly and skillfully fighting off enemies as you traverse the mostly open world and more for the fun boss fights and dungeon crawling chunks of the story. The bosses are the greatest part of this game though, with creative gimmicks to each battle. To me the most memorable was the Gleerock, a giant lava plesiosaur, who is defeated by turning its shell upside down and pulverizing its squishy body. Overall, the game is a fun experience for most.
The gameplay and mechanics of The Minish Cap are fairly standard in terms of top-down fantasy games and other games in the series, finding items and exploring the world, and fighting enemies for items and money. But there is a new and different mechanic in the game – shrinking yourself. This mechanic was utilized very well across the world, with the devices used to shrink hidden in the map, and much of the terrain becoming more difficult to traverse while mini. The upsides make it worth it however, with a huge number of small areas to explore, and many parts only accessible while small. Additionally, the control scheme of the game is generally pretty good and feels right, though some aspects of the menu and switching between the items and weapons are not particularly natural.
What ties the experience together is the visual style, music, and sound design. The sounds are what you would expect from an adventure game, which is certainly a good thing. Music in The Minish Cap is very similar to previous games and may result in a sense of nostalgia for those who played the previous Zelda games, but for me it was just a good soundtrack that fits well with the vibes of the game and the stylistic choices by the developers. The art style itself is refreshing and cute, with each section of the map and each dungeon having distinct themes in both graphics and music.
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is a simple game with simple components. The game is enjoyable to most and definitively one of the best games in The Legend of Zelda series, with pretty graphics, a nostalgic soundtrack, and great gameplay that promotes exploration and curiosity. The story is interesting and engaging, with a big world to explore filled with dangerous creatures and diverse characters. It isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty close.
