The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords is a multi-link video game for up to 4 players on the GBA. The game does not have a single player mode, so it is required that one plays with at least one other player, who must also own their own copy of the game. The game also does not come on its own cartridge; instead, it is more of a bonus for purchasers of the Game Boy Advance port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Unlike most Zelda titles, Four Swords was designed not by Nintendo, but by Flagship.

Four Swords ostensibly belongs to the Legend of Zelda series, but its gameplay is significantly different. Featuring Link in 4 different colored tunics, the player and 3 friends must work together to stop the evil wind mage, Vaati.

Storyline
NOTE: The easiest way to tell the story is to quote from the game itself. The spoken parts (in quotation marks "") are directly quoted, verbatim, from the in-game text; the rest is not. The unusual capitals (after a "...") occur in the original text whenever a screen of text is cleared and replaced with another, so this has been reproduced here as-is.

At the beginning of Four Swords, Princess Zelda has a bad feeling about the seal holding Vaati, the evil Wind Mage. She takes Link to the sanctuary and explains its history to him.

"We have arrived. That is the sacred blade I spoke of, the Four Sword. Sealed away in its forged steel is Vaati, the wind mage. Lately I have been sensing weakness in the seal. It worries me. That is why we have come here... Be careful. It is said that the body of one who touches this blade will be shattered to pieces. It has mysterious powers. Legends say that when mighty Vaati attacked, a hero arose and saved the people from destruction. They go on to say that by using this sword, the one was as four, and the four combined their strength! Let's check the seal... Step back a moment."

Zelda then approaches the sword, and it moves to one side. It grows dark and an evil laugh comes from somewhere. While they look around for the source of the laughter, a hand comes down and grabs Zelda. Link looks up to see her held in the grasp of an indescribable monster. Then it speaks.

"Hoh hoh hoh hoh. Have you some business with me? So, you noticed that the seal was weakening?"

"How rude! Release me!" Zelda demands.

"Eh? I sensed a great power approaching, so I hid myself. But my, what a lovely catch! Surely you must be some noble maiden. My name is Vaati. I am the great wind mage! The seal is broken... so I shall rage yet again! Hoh hoh hoh hoh! And what a gift awaits my return! I shall make you my bride! Onward we go, to my Palace of Winds! Hoh hoh hoh!" Vaati flies away, then suddenly makes a return pass and knocks Link out cold. Then three fairies appear and call out to him.

"Open your eyes... Young hero... The Princess Zelda has been carried off to Vaati's Palace. Hurry! You must go to her... But you cannot go alone... You have need of the Four Sword... Draw out the blade..."

Link does so, and splits into four, Red, Blue, Purple, and his original Green self. The fairies continue.

"No matter how mighty the enemy, with the power of four, you can defeat it... The Great Fairies ahead know the path to his palace... If the Great Fairies acknowledge your abilities, they will show you the way. If you are able to gather many Rupee along the path to the Great Fairies, they will likely acknowledge your courage... Please rescue the princess..."

Sequels
Four Swords inspired another game that was released for the Nintendo Gamecube called The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, which features similar gameplay elements. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass also has similar elements to Four Swords and has an online multi-player mode.

Gameplay
Creating a file for the Gameboy Advance game gives players a profile in both The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords. A Link to the Past is single player, but Four Swords is for 2-4 players. Some of the features in the two games are linked. For example, when players learn a new sword move, the sword move is transferred between games. Also, Link must complete both games in order to unlock a secret dungeon in the Link to the Past. Player 1 is the green Link, player 2 is the red Link, player 3 is blue, and player 4 is purple. Once everyone is connected, Player 1 gets to choose one of the four basic stages to play on. All of the stages require teamwork to complete them. The stages are:

A tutorial covering most aspects of the game. There are fairies to help players, as well as instructions on how to play. Although first time players should play through this stage once before they enter the other stages, this stage is completely optional.
 * Chambers of Insight -

A forest type area with grass and shrubs. There are several unique enemies here, including the stage boss.
 * Sea of Trees -

An icy cave with bottomless pits. An electric boss awaits anyone who can make it through the cave.
 * Talus Cave -

An active volcano full of fire and magma. The stage boss is found at the end of the level.
 * Death Mountain -

Each area (not counting the Chambers of Insight) has three levels. After completing one of the levels, the players will find a portal. All of the players must reach the portal before they can warp to the next level. The first player to reach the portal will be rewarded with a Heart Container that expands and restores their life energy. The first two levels are randomly chosen out of three that can appear each time the area is played.

The third level is not a regular level, but a boss battle. Each of the three levels has a unique boss that requires teamwork to defeat. After the boss is defeated, a portal will open up.

During the levels and boss battles, players might come across Rupees. A certain amount of Rupees is required to complete the level. If one of the players runs out of hearts, they will be revived at the cost of 50 Rupees. The cost goes up by 50 Rupees after every death. All Rupees go into the same wallet, and if the players go bankrupt, they will get a game over and will have to restart the level. The person with the most Rupees will get a special prize at the end of the level.

After players finish an area, they will be taken to the Great Fairy. She will give all players a silver key to add to their profile if they work together to get enough Rupees. After all of the players have all 3 silver keys, they will be able to go to Vaati's Palace, the final level.

Bosses
Guardian of the Sea of Trees is the boss at the end of the Sea of Trees. He attacks by swinging around dangerous flowers. These can be destroyed if the player with the right tunic color attacks them. After the flowers are gone, players must pull both levers at the side of him in order to expose the central flower. This can be destroyed if both players with the correct tunics hit the flower at the same time. Once the central flower is destroyed, Kalle Demos will be defeated.
 * Sea of Trees -

 Guardian of Talus Cave is the boss of the caves, but he first appears inside of a robot suit and attacks by bouncing around. The game periodically displays the message "Dash into the ice wall". Players must use the Pegasus boots to dash into the boss, knocking him into the ice wall. Once he's frozen, they can destroy the robot suit with their swords. When the robot suit is gone, he will be in his true form. This form has four light bulbs. Players can defeat him by striking the light bulb that matches their tunics. However, all except one bulb will appear grey to each player. The one bulb that isn't grey won't match the players' tunics, so they will need to communicate with each other to figure out which light bulb matches them.
 * Talus Cave -

Guardian of Death Mountain is the boss here. In his main form, he attacks by throwing colored balls of energy. If the balls match the players' tunics, they can hit them towards their fellow players. They will hit them back and forth until it starts flashing. If the flashing ball of energy hits the boss, he will explode into a bunch of tiny flame creatures. Players must find the creature that really is the boss in disguise, then hit it until the boss is defeated.
 * Death Mountain -

Vaati is the boss, and he attacks with a cyclone. Players can defeat him by throwing bombs into the cyclone, causing them to hit Vaati and lower the cyclone. Once Vaati is on the ground, he can be defeated with sword attacks.
 * Vaati's Palace -

After Vaati is defeated, he will reappear and use attacks similar to the other 3 bosses. He can be defeated with the same strategies.

Items
Unlike most games, each Link can hold only one item. These items are found on pedestals scattered throughout stages. Most items appear in other Zelda games, but there are exceptions, like the Gnat Hat.

Connection to A Link to the Past
The games are connected in several minor ways. New moves learned in A Link to the Past are transferred over to the other game. Also, there is a bonus dungeon in A Link to the Past for after both Ganon and Vaati are defeated. See Palace of the Four Sword.

Trivia
This was the first time a Zelda game offered multiplayer.