Four Swords

Four Swords was the first multiplayer Zelda game. It came on the same Game Boy Advance cartridge as A Link to the Past. The sorcerer Vaati, once sealed inside the Four Sword, breaks free and kidnaps Princess Zelda. Link draws the Four Sword, which splits him into four, and with the help of the Great Fairies the four Links storm Vaati's palace, defeat him and seal him back inside the sword.

How It Plays

• Two to four players each control a Link (green, red, blue or purple), each using their own Game Boy Advance and game cartridge connected by link cables.
• The players work together to solve puzzles, and many of them need everyone to cooperate. The puzzles change depending on how many players are connected. The dungeons are randomly put together each time you play.
• Each player carries one item at a time, swapping it at item pedestals.
• The players also compete for Rupees. At the end of each stage, whoever has collected the most wins a prize.
• Each dungeon has three levels, with the boss in the third. Vaati waits at the end of the final stage.

Anniversary Edition

For the series' 25th anniversary in 2011, Four Swords was re-released as a free, limited-time download for the Nintendo DSi and 3DS. The Anniversary Edition added a single-player mode, in which you control two Links and switch between them to solve the puzzles. It also added two new areas: the Realm of Memories, with stages based on The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, and the Hero's Trial, a set of much harder stages.

The Palace of the Four Sword

On the Game Boy Advance cartridge, the two games are linked. Sword techniques you learn in one carry over to the other. If you finish both A Link to the Past and Four Swords on the same save file, a new dungeon opens in A Link to the Past: the Palace of the Four Sword, hidden in the Pyramid of Power in the Dark World. Pay the fox at the entrance 20 Rupees to go in.

Inside, you face stronger versions of four Dark World bosses in turn: Arrghus, the Helmasaur King, Mothula and Blind the Thief. Each one you beat powers up your sword. The final challenge is a battle against four dark copies of Link. Clear the palace to see a new ending.