Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap Review

It seems as if one of my goals is to be a Zelda fan’s worst enemy. Some say I’ve already reached this goal. I have come to see that people are only misunderstanding me. I give Zelda games “bad scoresâ€? and talk poorly about the entire series is because I find that most of the series is extremely boring. This isn’t because I hate Nintendo, as some claim, it is a result that most game critics out there are biased because most likely one of the first games they ever played was Legend of Zelda. It seems as if they don’t realize that the newer generation of gamers isn’t so enthralled with old-school gaming as they are. Now that Nintendo has released the latest Legend of Zelda game, how does it fare when compared to other Zelda games?

Minish Cap’s plot has to be one of the most realized stories in the series yet. Long ago, there was group of small people called the Minish. The Minish crafted a powerful sword that can drive away darkness, and gave it to a man to drive away the demons. Every 100 years, there is a festival in Hyrule to celebrate that event. And every time this festival takes place, there is a secret passageway to the Minish world. Through some twists and turns, Zelda is turned to stone and a plethora of demons are released in Hyrule due to our main villain, Vaati. The king of Hyrule decides he needs the help of the Minish, but the Minish only talk to kids. So he sends Link, and our story starts off from there. The game has an excellent beginning, but the storyline meanders through most of the middle, making it a near-chore to play it. It’s only when you get to your last hour of gameplay does it pick up again.

As far as gameplay counts, it’s pretty much the same as Link to the Past for the GBA, just without a magic system. I know, I know. A Legend of Zelda game without a magic system has great potential for being a disaster, but Nintendo actually made it work. The controls are simple, but effective. The bosses are also very creative. It is just that in the middle of the game, the dungeons get somewhat repetitive and boring, making some not want to play. The Minish Cap doesn’t really separate itself from games like Link to the Past, but is only a minor gripe.

The graphics are near perfect. Nintendo obviously learned a thing or two from their success with Wind Waker. As for the audio, I wouldn’t say it was near as good as other Zelda games, but it comes close.

The length of the game is where it really kills it for me. I beat the entire game in less than 7 hours. Of course, if I wanted to do all the sidequests, it could easily have taken 12 hours. However, few will decide to do every single sidequest. Minish Cap is severely dwarfed in this area when compared to other Zelda games.

Overall, Minish Cap is my favorite 2D Zelda game, which includes Link to the Past. Of course, I never did like Link to the Past, and I grew to like this game. With an excellent start and ending, the only problems I found with this game were that the middle was boring and that it was too short. I suggest that any Zelda fan should try this out. Anyone who is looking for a fun GBA game, I suggest you get this after its first price drop. While Zelda fans might get angry at me for this review, I am telling the truth. And if telling the truth gets me hate mail, well, then so be it.