The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap Review

The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (GBA)

Now, here is an interesting Zelda game for me to cover. Most people believe this to be my favorite Zelda game and sometimes think this is my favorite game of all time. Despite these ideas, I will - as always - keep this review as unbiased as possible.

I remember getting this game, accidentally, right after it came out. My family was going on a Beach trip, and I begged my mom if I could buy a new game for the ride. My mom ok’d the request and gave me some spending money. Now, I had yet to buy the Oracle Zelda games and was planning on buying those. However, when I walked into EB games I saw the displays for a new handheld Zelda title: Minish Cap. Without a second thought, I bought the game and hurried on my little way. Fast forward about 6 years, and with my 5th time of finishing the game I figured I would finally break it down into if it is actually good or not.

The game opens up with a back story about the Picori Sword and the original hero who had wielded the legendary blade. Afterwards, Princess Zelda is shown walking in the woods to Link’s house. Link’s grandfather, Smith, greets the Princess and tells Link to wake up. It is found out that Zelda has snuck out of the castle because she wanted to go to the Picori festival with Link (because meeting Link at the Town gates was too boring?), and that the festival only occurs every 100 years when the door to the Picori realm opens. Link then escorts her Highness to town, where she acts like a hyperactive monkey that Link must track down and follow.

After everything is said and done at the festival, Zelda and Link attend the ceremony for the winner of the sword fighting tournament earlier in the day. The winner of the tournament is allowed to TOUCH the legendary Picori blade; which seems like a lame prize and an obvious way of getting something bad to happen. The winner of the tournament is none other than a pale-skinned, purple haired, red eyed boy dressed in dark colours named Vaati. It’s as if the boy could have been wearing a sign that read “I’M AM A BAD GUY!” and Hyrule’s guards still would not have noticed. Upon giving his greeting of flinging a bunch of guards off the screen, breaking the Picori sword and unleashing hoards of enemies onto the land, Vaati turns Princess Zelda to stone and disappears in search of something called the “Light Force”. Link is then tasked with finding the Minish (aka the Picori) so that the sword can be fixed and Hyrule returned to normal.

The gameplay of Minish Cap is basically the same as every other 2D Zelda game. You have 2 buttons (A and B) to select and use items; with A also being used to talk to people. The directional pad is used to move things and control Link. L is used to fuse Kinstones (a new addition in Minish Cap) and R is used to perform actions; like grabbing objects. You can also use Select to talk to your new sidekick, Ezlo, for information about where to go next.
A few of the items in Minish cap are the same as other games but it also offers a variety of new things as well. Your biggest new asset is the White Sword (later Four Sword) which over the course of the game allows you to split Link into multiple beings. As far as inventory items, along with regular bombs, later in the game you are given the option of using Remote bombs; bombs that explode only when you want them. Working similar to the Remote Bombs, you can also get a Magical Boomerang; which is probably the precursor to the controls of the normal boomerang in later handheld Zelda titles. You can also obtain a Gust Jar which sucks and blows air, the Cane of Pacci which allows you to flip things over (because Link is apparently a weakling), the Mole Mitts which can be used to dig through the ground, and Roc’s Cape which gives you the ability to glide through the air. Other than that, you still have the classics: the bow, the light arrows, bombs, boomerang, mirror shield, lantern; and some older classics like the Pegasus Boots and Flippers.

Along with all of these items, there are also new items called Kinstones. Aside from small bits in the main story, Kinstones are mainly used in side quests. There are different coloured and different sized Kinstones that each correspond to particular randomized people in the game. Once you find the person, and fuse the stones together, good things are said to occur. This can range from revealing treasure chests to summoning golden enemies to making beanstalks grow to creating… butterflies? However, because most of the Kinstone requirements are randomized, there is a very big chance that you will end up with a lot of the little things left over at the end of the game. Aside from the Kinstones, you may also find Seashells which can be traded in the game for figurines of characters in the game (which seems a little creepy if you ask me).

The graphics of Minish Cap are styled after the Cel-Shaded styling of other Zelda titles. The 2D sprites are akin to those in the Four Sword titles; as which makes sense because of all of the games involving Vaati in some way or another. Despite that, every time I play Minish Cap I am constantly reminded of A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo, and it is not only the graphics that leave this impression on me. About half of the soundtrack to Minish Cap sounds like it was remixed from past Zelda titles; mainly A Link to the Past. However, there are enough new songs mixed into the game as well. Even if I don’t remember every little song in the game, there are particular ones that stick out for being good on their own.

Overall, the game is very good and is better than a lot of other Zelda titles. As far as it being the best Zelda title, I must disagree to this claim. The game has a little bit of Twilight Princess Syndrome where you don’t feel like the world is actually in danger. You do, however, help people here and there, but the world as a whole didn’t feel 100% threatened. Yes, Vaati is a strong villain (and all of this is reversed later when he becomes a pimp in other titles) but he felt more like a jerk than anything else. Another strike against Minish Cap is the abrupt (and I mean ABRUPT) ending. However, as I have stated before, if the gameplay of a game is solid then I can normally overlook most other features of the game.

Afterall, that is the magic of a game versus other media; because a game can have a great story, but if it isn’t playable then what’s the point?

Katamari Damacy (PS2) Review

Katamari Damacy (PS2)

There are certain games where someone will crack a joke or make a remark about how the developers of said game had to be on some kind of drugs to come up with the idea for that game. Katamari Damacy left me in a similar mentality and speechless upon seeing the opening cut scene. To be honest, I am quite surprised that this was localized outside of Japan, but I am thankful that someone decided to take a chance with it.

Originally when I was told of the “plot” of Katamari Damacy, my then-14 year old self thought it was stupid… I guess that just goes to show how idiotic teenagers can think. The plot of Katamari Damacy is that the King of All Cosmos has gone and destroyed all of the stars in the sky… OH NO! The King, who seems to constantly refer to himself as “We”, is so kind as to leave the job of fixing the universe to you, The Prince (or one of his cousins, if you choose to play as one of them). Well, how exactly are you going to fix the sky? By going to Earth and rolling up objects into big balls to turn into stars of course!

The gameplay of Katamari Damacy took me a little bit to grasp. Instead of using just using 1 button or 1 joystick to control things, it doubles the controls. To roll your Katamari you take use of BOTH analog sticks. Push both of them forward to roll forward, push back to roll backwards, push both left and push both right to roll to the sides. Pushing both joysticks down (R3) will cause you to do a 180 degree turn, and rapidly pushing opposite directions on each joystick will cause you to do a dash. This might not sound hard but things in this game can turn really fast really quick!

Not counting constellations or side missions, this game has 9 main levels. In each level, the King of All Cosmos demands that you reach a certain goal. Sometimes the requests are just "Reach X amount in size in X amount of time!" but then you can get some request like "Pick up ONLY 1 Bear!" You start the game rolling up small things... paper clips... erasers... birds... However, during the course of the game you can manage to get your Katamari big enough to pick up people, skyscrapers, and even entire land masses! Though, no matter what size you make your Katamari, the King will most likely always call your efforts "puny".

The graphics consist of 3D in a cartoon-esque style. As mentioned before, you spend all of the levels running around and rolling up as much as possible. During the load screens, a 2D drawing of the King’s head bounces around; sometimes mentioning odd things. At the end of each level, the King will either scold you for not completing the requirement (with some 2D animation of him looking scary in a lightning storm) or you and your Katamari will be pulled up on the ROYAL RAINBOW (a 2D animation of what looks like the King throwing up a rainbow and pulling you inside) where your Katamari will be judged accordingly.

Out of all of the series I have played, Katamari has to have one of the most memorable theme songs ever. Other than that, I don’t remember much of the rest of the soundtrack from the game. I remember it feeling appropriate to the game, and fitting as background music, but I honestly do not remember it beyond that. What I do remember are all the sounds in the levels… mostly of people screaming.

Overall, if you like weird things, then you will most likely enjoy this game. If you are looking for something completely random, then I also suggest this game. However, if you prefer your games being easy rather than hard and you get frustrated easily… Be warned: While the beginning of this game is easy, it does get hard by the end. It’s a bit annoying when you have to constantly redo a mission that is 15+ minutes because you barely missed the goal of the level.