Nintendo Makes Shock Zelda Climb-Down
Iwata’s connectivity dream takes a knock as GBA now optional.
Nintendo Japan has made the shock announcement that it has pulled the until-now mandatory Game Boy Advance usage from the upcoming GameCube title Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords Plus in what has to be seen as a serious blow to the firm’s ongoing GBA/GameCube connectivity push.
The game, an excellent four-player co-operative/combative affair which first appears as a bonus with the Game Boy Advance remake of Link’s Awakening, will now be playable via the GameCube controller.
The game will also be split into four distinct adventures - Four Swords, Hyrule Adventure, Shadow Battle and Navi Trackers. Four Swords and Navi Trackers are faithful to the GBA games, with Hyrule Adventure comprising what has been described as a “substantial multiplayer RPG”. Shadow Battle is a survival mode game where players must defeat as many enemies as possible without being munched.
This is a dramatic, slightly embarrassing u-turn for Nintendo to make at this time, and is in contrast to the firm’s mantra of “The power of GameCube, the power of Game Boy Advance and the power of connectivity.” It was not revealed if any connectivity option will be included in the final version, expected in the US and Europe in time for Easter 2004.
The game, an excellent four-player co-operative/combative affair which first appears as a bonus with the Game Boy Advance remake of Link’s Awakening, will now be playable via the GameCube controller.
The game will also be split into four distinct adventures - Four Swords, Hyrule Adventure, Shadow Battle and Navi Trackers. Four Swords and Navi Trackers are faithful to the GBA games, with Hyrule Adventure comprising what has been described as a “substantial multiplayer RPG”. Shadow Battle is a survival mode game where players must defeat as many enemies as possible without being munched.
This is a dramatic, slightly embarrassing u-turn for Nintendo to make at this time, and is in contrast to the firm’s mantra of “The power of GameCube, the power of Game Boy Advance and the power of connectivity.” It was not revealed if any connectivity option will be included in the final version, expected in the US and Europe in time for Easter 2004.
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