Collection essentials #552 & #553: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC) and GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable

Here’s a rather peculiar Zelda release. Previously, the GBA remake of A Link to the Past included “Four Swords” as a multiplayer-focused bonus game of sorts. The existence of such a thing is pretty normal, but it’s very interesting how they decided to make a full-on, standalone sequel for it on a console. The game uses 2D graphics, which wasn’t really the norm for console games at the time which were mostly focused on the latest cutting-edge 3D visuals.

But what really makes Four Swords Adventures stand out is the way it utilizes a certain accessory, the GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable. This little cable does what you’d probably guess, it connects a Game Boy Advance to the GameCube for special compatibility with certain games. Sometimes this is a way for GBA games and their GC counterparts to talk with each other in some way, such as with storing and trading Pokémon. In this case, Four Swords Adventures doesn’t interact with any GBA title, but instead just uses the Game Boy Advance hardware for its capabilities as a controller with a screen.

To properly play Four Swords as intended, you’ll need a party of four players, and each one must have their own Game Boy Advance and link cable to use. Players work together to progress in the adventure, while also competing at the same time for the highest gem count. The screen on the Game Boy Advance is utilized to let players independently go into caves, buildings and such and continue the action on their GBA screen while other players remain in the overworld. This creates a more seamless and well-paced experience rather than some other arrangement such as waiting for EVERY player to enter in order to change areas.

I remember when Four Swords Adventures came out, but I didn’t buy it back then. The game’s sales figures weren’t too high…and honestly it’s not too hard to see why. The fact that you needed FOUR Game Boy Advance systems and FOUR cables to connect them was highly inconvenient. The best-case scenario is that you knew a group of friends who each had their own Game Boy Advance (fairly reasonable) and their own cable to bring (less reasonable). For a lot of people, especially kids and teens, this just wasn’t realistic. I would have loved to have played this game with my younger siblings, but I just didn’t have the extra money to spend on three more GBAs and three more cables just for that purpose.

However, in the early 2010s, the stuff required to play this game was at its all-time lowest cost on the secondhand market, which probably will never be matched again. I took advantage, and was able to secure extra cables and GBAs for cheap. And so, I finally got to experience this game. I played with three of my sisters for a bit, though they weren’t too enthusiastic about seeing it all the way through. Then I got my youngest sister and two friends to start a new file with me. We made it somewhat far, but then those two friends moved away and we were never able to finish. And so, I’ve never actually beaten this game. I hope to change that at some point

Four Swords Adventures is quite a fun game, with some clever level design and unique gameplay that makes for a quality multiplayer experience. In terms of complaints, I have a couple. A very annoying thing is that if any player’s GBA becomes disconnected during a stage, it immediately ends and erases all your progress in that level up to that point. It can be kinda easy for this to happen depending on your setup. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, a game that also uses the GBA link cable for multiplayer, lets players freely disconnect their GBA without losing progress, so why was it necessary here? I also feel like there should have been some kind of alternative for four-player play with GBAs to connect. You can play one-player with just a GameCube controller, but bring another player into the mix and suddenly everyone needs a connected GBA. Why not have an optional split-screen version where players can use normal GameCube controllers, or some other compromise? It would be less than ideal, sure, but better than nothing. This also makes the game harder to port and preserve in modern times, since you need so much old tech to play it properly.

Unfortunately, the prices for this game and the materials to play it have gone up significantly since the early 2010s. It’s now quite an investment if you really want to play Four Swords Adventures as intended. Is it worth it? I’d say it can be, if you have the extra money and three willing friends to take the plunge with you. As for me, one of the things I love about my collection and game room is having access to cool unique stuff like this. Four Swords Adventures is a really neat game and a deserving essential in my collection.