The Minish Cap Review

Written by Akira

First Impressions: 3.5/5

At first, sometime in December of 2004, I didn't believe that I was going to buy the game. By the time it came out, however, I was convinced that it would be a good deal, mainly as something to chew on until TP came out. When I first played the game, the graphics weren't at all eye-popping; we've seen 'em before. I did like the opening story, though. Very interesting to think of how it may tie this game in with the "big picture".

Gameplay: 7.5/10

There are quite a few items that you can use in tMC, but they are slow in the coming and feel rather useless. The two new items, the Gust Jar and the Mole Mitts, feel like a breath of fresh air (pun intended), but if you keep playing for just 15 minutes after getting them, they feel just as archaic and pointless as everything else. Stale air, if you will. I think the Cane of Pacci was the nicest item, but that's been used before, under a different name, I believe. The controls in general were fine, though.
The actual gameplay, however, is an all-too-familiar tune. It feels smooth and pretty self-explanatory in dungeons, but choppy and undirected everywhere else. The game as a whole just doesn't give you the classic "Zelda torch" to stumble after (which is nice for some and tedious for others, I might add).

Graphics: 3.5/5

These cel-shaded graphics annoy me. Really, they do. Mainly because they're 2D, meaning that they're not like tWW's cel-shaded graphics, which are awesome. ALttP's graphics were much better for 2D systems. Too bad we'll probably never see those in a new game again.

Story: 18/20

The story isn't that bad, really. It's a precursor to FS and FSA, so it isn't without a point, and I for one think it has a better backing then FSA's story. When I review that game, you'll find out that I'm not the nicest critic. At all.

Challenge: 5/5

This game isn't extremely difficult, and yet it's certainly harder than any 3D game out there, thus sticking with that annoying pattern which needs to be broken. Some of you will like scratching your heads as Ezlo yells the obvious at you, not helping you at all, of course. (Much like Navi, but more like Tatl, because he's horrificly rude; he is funny sometimes, though.) That would probably refer to the out-of-dungeon part, where you wander around like a homeless man, wondering what to do and begging for advice.

Interaction: 12/15

There's more people to talk to and "interact" with in this game than in ALttP, and the people have "personalities", but the characters are almost all re-used and the game doesn't feel one bit realistic; a feeling that goes hand-in-hand with 2D games, I'd say.

Side-Quests: 2/5

I must say that many a time I felt as if I were participating in a side-quest, only to find out afterwards that what I was doing was necessary to complete the game! There were too many small parts in the plot and I really can't recall more than a few (about five) side-quests. Can anyone say, "Yikes!"?

Continuity: 5/5

This game can hardly be faulted for its continuity; it is, after all, the first game in the Four Sword series, explaining the other two quite nicely.

Music: 5.5/10

Now let's say a new word, class: Reusable! Yep, that's what Nintendo thinks of its music, which must be why this game is no-holds-barred grope-a-thon, taking tunes from every other Zelda game out there; it's almost like a quiz to see if you can guess from which game each song came! Of course, the re-used songs are the better ones from the series, which is good, and the few new songs aren't bad, but overall, it just wasn't the smartest move Nintendo could have made. (Or is Capcom to blame?...'Cuz if they are, they'd better constantely look over their shoulders! Heh heh heh...)

Overall Feel/Originality: 15/20

No, just no. This game does not feel original in the slightest, for starters. It does play somewhat like a Zelda game, but the re-used characters, re-used songs, and re-used dungeon puzzles spell out one thing: A re-used game. And that just about sums up tMC, at least in terms of originality.

TOTAL: 77/100; a C

Wow. That surprises me. That's why these things are interesting to do, people. You say, "Well, the game's not that bad; I'd give it an 85%." Then you review the individual parts, add it all up, and realize that it got one letter grade below what you expected. Scary. Oh well, if you have a GBA, it's not that bad of a buy, and then at least you can say that you have it. However, it certainly isn't a game that would make you want to go out and buy a GBA, just so that you can own it.

Buy It?

Yes.