This product is like new. At NexWave Games, like new means:
Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords for Game Boy Advance
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords for Game Boy Advance contains two action adventures starring Link. In A Link to the Past, you answer a nighttime call from Princess Zelda and investigate what the wizard Agahnim is planning for Hyrule. You explore the land from above, search dungeons and find items that open new passages. The Light World and Dark World are two connected versions of the same kingdom.
With a sword, boomerang, bombs and other equipment, you tackle enemies and puzzles in different ways. A new discovery can turn a previous dead end into your next destination. Four Swords centres on Vaati and several differently coloured Links. Together you move large objects and operate switches, while also competing for rupees. You therefore have to help one another to progress, but the highest individual score remains a reason to grab treasure quickly.
You play A Link to the Past alone and save your progress on the cartridge. Four Swords requires two to four players, each with their own Game Boy Advance and their own copy of this game. Two, three or four players respectively need one, two or three Game Boy Advance Game Link cables; these are not included. You cannot play Four Swords on this cartridge alone.
Region and language
Our Game Boy Advance games are European editions, unless stated otherwise. This product contains a loose cartridge for the European market. A box is only included if explicitly stated in the product details. We note any different region in the product details. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
With The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords for Game Boy Advance, you receive a loose cartridge. A box and manual are not included unless we explicitly state otherwise in the product details. This is the standard way we supply this copy.
The history of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords
A Link to the Past originally appeared in Japan in 1991 for Super Famicom and reached the European Super Nintendo in 1992. After Zelda II, the adventure returned the series to a top-down view. The large kingdom, dungeons and interaction between two worlds became important parts of that third Zelda game. For Game Boy Advance, this existing adventure received a portable edition alongside a separate new game on the same cartridge.
Nintendo released the combination in Europe on 28 March 2003. Four Swords was the first Zelda adventure in which several players cooperated simultaneously. Familiar equipment therefore gained a different purpose: an obstacle sometimes required different Links to act at the same time. Rupees also created competition between players. This combination made cooperation part of the puzzles without removing the contest for a better individual result. Both adventures retained their own story and structure.
Completing Four Swords can also unlock extra content in A Link to the Past. This connection between the games gives the collection more cohesion than just a shared selection screen. Four Swords Adventures for GameCube and Four Swords Anniversary Edition for other handhelds followed later. The ability to play Four Swords alone in those later adaptations is not part of this original Game Boy Advance cartridge. Here, the link cable remains part of the shared adventure.
Similar games for Game Boy Advance
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap on Game Boy Advance also offers dungeons, sword fights and items that open up more of the world. Link can shrink to investigate familiar places at a different scale. A Link to the Past changes the same surroundings mainly through the Light World and Dark World. Four Swords additionally introduces cooperative play, whereas The Minish Cap remains one continuous adventure for a single player.
The Legend of Zelda from NES Classics also lets you explore a kingdom and search for dungeons yourself on Game Boy Advance. The first adventure gives fewer clues and uses a simpler world structure. A Link to the Past tells its events in more detail and lets two worlds interact. Both reward remembering suspicious places, but the original Zelda does not have the separate shared adventure of Four Swords.
Sword of Mana also combines exploration, combat and a fantasy story on Game Boy Advance. There you switch between weapons and magic, and your character’s attributes play a larger role. A Link to the Past makes progress depend more strongly on discovered tools and solved dungeon puzzles. You notice the difference at an obstacle: with Link, you often look for a useful item, while Mana asks you to pay more attention to your combat equipment.
Metroid: Zero Mission on Game Boy Advance also has you return to earlier areas when new equipment makes a passage usable. Samus moves sideways through one connected alien base, using shots and jumps. Link explores his world from above and searches separate dungeons containing keys and puzzles. The similarity lies in gradually understanding a map better, not in having the same combat or way of moving.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on Game Boy Advance also asks you to combine different abilities to travel through a fantasy world. As the sole player, you control both brothers, and battles take place in turns with timed button presses. A Link to the Past keeps combat directly in the world. Four Swords instead divides cooperation between real players, each with their own handheld, rather than between two characters under one person’s control.
