Wow, where to begin huh?
OK, I love all this connectivity stuff -- gives me wood. Just get that out of the way first
I love the new Zelda artwork too, and Nintendo have done us all proud with an amazing mix of "traditional" 2D Zelda, new style artwork and some new fancy 3D effects. It works and it works well.
Right - game comes in a nice, slightly larger than a PAL SNES/N64 box with link cable tucked inside, along with a normal NTSC-J game box with The Four Swords game, containing the usual Club Nintendo stuff and instruction book. Sticking it in the 'cube, with a couple of GBAs hooked up (only necessary for multiple players... more in a bit) presents the now familiar Four Swords logo, along with the instantly recognised (although somewhat slow, ballad like) Zelda-theme playing in the background. Nice SNES-like music too. Nice, I filled up a bit here
Pressing starts gives a typical menu of options; Four Swords, the Shadow Battle thingy and Tetra's Challenge. Four Swords goes straight into the save stats and then player select. Several configs here, from 1 to 4 players. Single player can play a combo of normal controller and GBA, while multiple players use GBAs.
Now, the missus and I jumped straight in there. It opens up in similar fashion to the GBA game and plays kinda the same. Don't worry about getting lost, maps etc... because they aren't needed. It seems fairly linear overall, with each level (only got as far as level two, played for a couple of hours) being split into sub-areas. Progress through the areas is a played on a large environment, split into tiles. Players progress through each section, until the boss in Four Swords fashion; solving puzzles, collecting stuff like weapons, fighting bad dudes, etc...
One thing to note is that, while players can go into tunnels, houses, etc... where play continues (flawlessly) on the GBA, players cannot leave the overall section they're in until both choose to move on.
2-players control all four Links, with the 'teams' being configurable; e.g. 2 Links per team, but you can grab one off the other team for a 3vs1 configuration. The 'drone' Link will follow behind, you can split then apart (using the select button) for individual tasks or change into a horizontal/vertical formation. Link can be picked up, thrown, set on fire and beaten-up by other players
Link is quite an agile fellow too, with a few decent attack moves, like the normal Zelda-game attacks, in addition to a quick-dash attack (quickly press a direction and attack), jump attack and a few others.
Special weapons come in the form of pick-up points, just like the GBA game. Link can hold just one at a time, so you have to pick carefully. Various things, like the Fire Rod and Lantern, etc... all the usual suspects.
Graphically, the game is amazing to look at. Lots of zooming in and out on the individual sections. Tons of sprites on screen (even early on, players get attack by around 100 guards!) with some crazy things happening that'll make anybody go "cool!". Gameplay is pretty much like the GBA game, only on a much greater scale. Not as open-ended as I'd have imagined but still mucho fun. Plenty of little mini-games throughout (thanks, Tingle!) and lots of gameplay elements (combos, for example). Not a hardcore RPG by any means...
Couple of things about the Four Swords deserve a mention. The sound is great -- when everyone is "off-screen", you still hear stuff like you're hanging around outside, with muffled sounds making their way out of the buildings and such like. Sounds great with some massive fighting going on!
The other thing is the interaction between GBA and the TV. Sometimes, you need to thing about the larger impact of the environment, which is great. Example -- the missus and I were inside the castle, both playing on the GBA and she shot an arrow thru the door to the outside. The arrow goes off her screen (GBA), appears on the TV and hits the switch, opening the way on the GBA. Cool or what?!
On completing stages, players points and a run down of their rupees, etc... so the rivalry between players is ever present thoughout.
Language wise, I doubt anyone has too much to worry about. Clues are highlighted, mostly written in Katakana, so a chart/guide will help if you get stuck. Control hints are obvious, nobody will get stuck there. Granted, most of the story is kind of wasted but it doesn't hinder play as it is a fairly linear game so it's not like anyone will be oblivious to what is happening (Rescue the maidens, banish bad guy, etc...) It isn't like LttP-text heavy, just little prompts and hints in game mostly.
I think that's enough for now, it's all very slick and good fun.
Haven't tried the battle mode; it looks a bit mad though (overview when selecting game modes) although we did try Tetra's Challenge. It's a little different to The Four Swords, right down the the graphical changes. You can tell it was a separate game at some point. No idea what was going on, seems like a massive collect 'em up where you have to locate certain things to get better points. Lots of little things happening all the time, with Tetra and crew barking all kinds of orders/applause/etc... on screen. Totally lost on me, although it was kind of fun. We got quite a few things, although the stats screen at the end has Tri-Force pieces on so there is obviously loads more to it.
Er, blimey.... I've typed loads there, quite a lot to digest! Hope others get their games tomorrow... it's all good.
OK, I love all this connectivity stuff -- gives me wood. Just get that out of the way first
I love the new Zelda artwork too, and Nintendo have done us all proud with an amazing mix of "traditional" 2D Zelda, new style artwork and some new fancy 3D effects. It works and it works well.Right - game comes in a nice, slightly larger than a PAL SNES/N64 box with link cable tucked inside, along with a normal NTSC-J game box with The Four Swords game, containing the usual Club Nintendo stuff and instruction book. Sticking it in the 'cube, with a couple of GBAs hooked up (only necessary for multiple players... more in a bit) presents the now familiar Four Swords logo, along with the instantly recognised (although somewhat slow, ballad like) Zelda-theme playing in the background. Nice SNES-like music too. Nice, I filled up a bit here
Pressing starts gives a typical menu of options; Four Swords, the Shadow Battle thingy and Tetra's Challenge. Four Swords goes straight into the save stats and then player select. Several configs here, from 1 to 4 players. Single player can play a combo of normal controller and GBA, while multiple players use GBAs.
Now, the missus and I jumped straight in there. It opens up in similar fashion to the GBA game and plays kinda the same. Don't worry about getting lost, maps etc... because they aren't needed. It seems fairly linear overall, with each level (only got as far as level two, played for a couple of hours) being split into sub-areas. Progress through the areas is a played on a large environment, split into tiles. Players progress through each section, until the boss in Four Swords fashion; solving puzzles, collecting stuff like weapons, fighting bad dudes, etc...
One thing to note is that, while players can go into tunnels, houses, etc... where play continues (flawlessly) on the GBA, players cannot leave the overall section they're in until both choose to move on.
2-players control all four Links, with the 'teams' being configurable; e.g. 2 Links per team, but you can grab one off the other team for a 3vs1 configuration. The 'drone' Link will follow behind, you can split then apart (using the select button) for individual tasks or change into a horizontal/vertical formation. Link can be picked up, thrown, set on fire and beaten-up by other players
Link is quite an agile fellow too, with a few decent attack moves, like the normal Zelda-game attacks, in addition to a quick-dash attack (quickly press a direction and attack), jump attack and a few others. Special weapons come in the form of pick-up points, just like the GBA game. Link can hold just one at a time, so you have to pick carefully. Various things, like the Fire Rod and Lantern, etc... all the usual suspects.
Graphically, the game is amazing to look at. Lots of zooming in and out on the individual sections. Tons of sprites on screen (even early on, players get attack by around 100 guards!) with some crazy things happening that'll make anybody go "cool!". Gameplay is pretty much like the GBA game, only on a much greater scale. Not as open-ended as I'd have imagined but still mucho fun. Plenty of little mini-games throughout (thanks, Tingle!) and lots of gameplay elements (combos, for example). Not a hardcore RPG by any means...
Couple of things about the Four Swords deserve a mention. The sound is great -- when everyone is "off-screen", you still hear stuff like you're hanging around outside, with muffled sounds making their way out of the buildings and such like. Sounds great with some massive fighting going on!
The other thing is the interaction between GBA and the TV. Sometimes, you need to thing about the larger impact of the environment, which is great. Example -- the missus and I were inside the castle, both playing on the GBA and she shot an arrow thru the door to the outside. The arrow goes off her screen (GBA), appears on the TV and hits the switch, opening the way on the GBA. Cool or what?!
On completing stages, players points and a run down of their rupees, etc... so the rivalry between players is ever present thoughout.
Language wise, I doubt anyone has too much to worry about. Clues are highlighted, mostly written in Katakana, so a chart/guide will help if you get stuck. Control hints are obvious, nobody will get stuck there. Granted, most of the story is kind of wasted but it doesn't hinder play as it is a fairly linear game so it's not like anyone will be oblivious to what is happening (Rescue the maidens, banish bad guy, etc...) It isn't like LttP-text heavy, just little prompts and hints in game mostly.
I think that's enough for now, it's all very slick and good fun.
Haven't tried the battle mode; it looks a bit mad though (overview when selecting game modes) although we did try Tetra's Challenge. It's a little different to The Four Swords, right down the the graphical changes. You can tell it was a separate game at some point. No idea what was going on, seems like a massive collect 'em up where you have to locate certain things to get better points. Lots of little things happening all the time, with Tetra and crew barking all kinds of orders/applause/etc... on screen. Totally lost on me, although it was kind of fun. We got quite a few things, although the stats screen at the end has Tri-Force pieces on so there is obviously loads more to it.
Er, blimey.... I've typed loads there, quite a lot to digest! Hope others get their games tomorrow... it's all good.
EDIT Ah well, postman has just been, but no Four Swords. Pants, but expected. Roll on Monday or Tuesday 
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