The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

[Retro_Link]

 

Time for a new appreciation thread to discuss this game in and encourage others to play/replay it! :p

 

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So I held off playing this until I'd completed Skyward Sword, which I've now done and so yesteday I fired it up for the first time having never played it before!

 

Glorious!

 

Right from the title screen (which too also reflects the sword resting location in Skyward Sword) I'm enjoying this.

 

Even though Skyward Sword has now replaced this as the first game in the series, it's really fun playing this as somewhat as a sequel and seeing if you can find any links (no pun intended).

 

The fact they say something like 'many years the Minish brough a hero forth from the skies' is pretty cool!

 

Even if it's not Skyward Sword Link (who knows it could be), there's a connection there! And legends change over time.

 

Reading the sign posts the name Hylia crops up and it seems there are some similar weapons etc...

 

Progress wise I've just completed the second dungeon, and all has been a lot of fun up until now, even the dungeons have cool designs

 

Lily pads to ride on, barrels to run around in, tornado's to sail on and minecarts to wail in! :p

 

The Minish as a race are great, and I love their village!

 

I like the fact you can see all these areas within Castle Town and the like that I'm going to be able to shrink down too and explore at some point in the game; looks a lot of fun!

 

Also Castle Town has a nice ammount of life to it with plenty going on and people/animals running around.

 

All's good so far!!

Edited June 14, 2012 by Retro_Link

[Hero-of-Time]

Glad to see you're enjoying it.

 

When it comes to Minish Cap I think 'FUN' is the keyword. It has a mischievous charm to it, as you sneak about the everyday world and take it all in from a different angle.

[Fused King]

Right, I guess a new thread will do

 

Anyway, make sure to press select every now and then and experience the LEGENDARY WIT of Ezlo

It's quite unlike the Legendary Wit of Churchill:

 

 

Seriously, Ezlo's wit trumps that any day!

[Retro_Link]

I didn't realise you could press Select and have anything happen, so I'll take a look!

 

Honestly the 3DS Ambassador Scheme was worth it just to have Minish Cap on my 3DS alone! The game looks lovely!

[Jimbob]

Damn, i missed out on this. Wish i bought a 3DS earlier, this game is classic.

[Rummy]

I wish I knew where my Minish Cap cart was, I'd totally replay it

 

Iirc, this brought in a nice number of 'fresh' items too, some of which saw later incarnations?

Edited June 15, 2012 by Rummy

[Fused King]

I wish I knew where my Minish Cap cart was, I'd totally replay it

 

Iirc, this brought in a nice number of 'fresh' items too, some of which saw later incarnations?

 

Well, ...

 

 

- The Cane of Pacci never returned, I believe....maybe in one of the Oracle games but I''m not sure.

- The Gust Jar is in Skyward Sword, but it only blows air out instead of taking air in AND blowing it out like in this game.

- The Mole Mitts are in SKyward Sword as well.

 

And you also got Roc's Cape in this one, but that one appeard in previous handheld Zeldas as well. Only in the Oracle games IIRC.

 

[Rummy]

You're right, I'm a bit of an idiot. Man, Zelda games are so fantastic this thread makes me sad because they're so awesome.

[Retro_Link]

I feel I shouldn't be stuck after only the second dungeon... but I seem to be!

 

I can't find an unblocked way to either the next two elements.

 

There's a door next to the waterfall which requies a second half of a yellow kinstone which I don't have yet.

Nor am I able to use the shrinking ability (I assume) in the treetops yet.

And all the other paths on the map are blocked by those damn holes with boulders the other side of them!

 

The only lead I think I may have to go on, is Malon in Lon Lon Ranch asking me where her father [Talon] has gone?

Do I need to find him? because I can't! :p

 

Any spoiler free help, and a hint in the right direction would be very much appreciated!

[Fused King]

Nor am I able to use the shrinking ability (I assume) in the treetops yet.

 

What exactly do you mean by this?

 

As for a little hint:

Forget about the 'Waterfall' element for now, and focus on your shoes too!

[Retro_Link]

What exactly do you mean by this?

 

As for a little hint:

Forget about the 'Waterfall' element for now, and focus on your shoes too!

[Fused King]

Ah, I see.

 

Well, I believe you have to do some other things first before you can focus more on your shoes then.

 

Head West and explore in town as well.

 

I'm sorry, I'm not exactly sure what should happen after the 2nd dungeon despite having played the game myself only recently

[Grazza]

I have just completed Minish Cap for the 2nd time! We were having a discussion on Letterbox about how good Ocarina of Time was compared to the games that came free to early adopters of the 3DS - Legend of Zelda, Zelda II and Minish Cap. I replied that OOT was way better than those games... but was that fair? Ocarina of Time is certainly a brilliant game and I don't regret recommending it, but I thought I should play this GBA Zelda again to remind myself exactly where it places in the rankings.

 

It's been many years since I first played Minish Cap - on the GameCube, as it happens, as I didn't have a GBA at the time. After being wowed by Wind Waker, I bought a Game Boy Player and was eager for some more Zelda action. Well, for some reason the game didn't make much of an impression on me either way. I didn't dislike it but neither did I love it. Maybe it was wrong of me to expect another "Wind Waker" (or even another "Link to the Past", even though it has many of the same qualities of the latter). As such, I have never considered it one of my favourites, without having any specific criticism of it.

 

But then I played it on my 3DS XL...

 

It's been sitting there ever since I got it with the "Ambassador" initiative, but I always overlooked it. Until now. Playing it on a handheld, I got the feeling I was experiencing the game as it was intended for the first time. The first thing I noticed was that the sound (through headphones) is excellent - far better than it ever was on my TV. The music is beautiful and the sound effects crisp and vibrant. I found myself constantly using the items just to hear their effects!

 

The visuals are almost as beautiful, with gorgeous animation and dashes of sprite-scaling here and there, although the environments don't re-scale as you shrink. It is here that I could almost have a grumble, and I remember this is one of the things I wasn't keen on last time - whilst it's charming when the miniature world is presented on a large scale, there are other moments when Link is represented by only a few pixels. But hey, the GBA's resolution was what it was. The other gameplay mechanic I was never too keen on was the "Four Sword" technique, but again, it didn't bother me this time, and it does create some challenging puzzles.

 

Where Minish Cap really shines is that it's such a solid game: approximately 6 challenging dungeons - none too short, none too long - each with a boss that keeps you on your toes. It just feels like a perfectly well-rounded game. As has already been mentioned in this thread, the items are very original and fun to use.

 

Sidequests, meanwhile, are plentiful. I found myself repeatedly trawling the map to fuse Kinstones and find the rewards for doing so. There are several sword techniques, and some of them can even be enhanced. Bomb Bags and Quivers can be upgraded far more than in previous games (I had 99 arrows!) The speed at which you fire arrows can also be upgraded, along with some of your other abilities.

 

In fact, that's the one thing I am going to grumble about! Missables!

I missed out on the Light Arrow! I'll have to play it a 3rd time!

 

 

But other than that, my replay of Minish Cap has placed it in my favourite Zeldas, and it's right up there with Link's Awakening and Link to the Past. If Nintendo never does another truly 2D Zelda, with all kinds of sprite-scaling, that'll be a darn shame.

[Cube]

It's my favourite of the 2D Zeldas.

 

Although on my current save I'm missing one kinstone fusion. I spent hours trying to find it.

[Andyliini]

It's my favourite of the 2D Zeldas.

 

Although on my current save I'm missing one kinstone fusion. I spent hours trying to find it.

 

In PAL-version there is a bug with kinstone fusion with Meenie (or something like that). If you don't have the right kinstone with you the first time, he will not fuse with you again later. This was corrected in USA-release, but I'm not sure which one does the PAL 3DS have.

[Cube]

In PAL-version there is a bug with kinstone fusion with Meenie (or something like that). If you don't have the right kinstone with you the first time, he will not fuse with you again later. This was corrected in USA-release, but I'm not sure which one does the PAL 3DS have.

 

It's not that one, as I have the bottle and Mirror Shield which it blocks.

[Ike]

Took me ages to find my last one, think it ended up being Tingle if I remember right despite the fact I checked with him multiple times before it showed up.

[Agent Gibbs]

Its not my favorite Zelda as i think its far too short for a 2D Zelda, but its one of the best ones,

1 is ALTTP

2 is Minish Cap

3 is Oracles

 

Always loved the style the music and all the fun little elements of the game, for me i'd be happy if the next handheld zelda was a top down (this style Zelda) New super mario bros has proved a 2D game can work very well on the 3DS, plus 2D zeldas are usually considerably longer

[Rummy]

Its not my favorite Zelda as i think its far too short for a 2D Zelda, but its one of the best ones,

1 is ALTTP

2 is Minish Cap

3 is Oracles

 

Always loved the style the music and all the fun little elements of the game, for me i'd be happy if the next handheld zelda was a top down (this style Zelda) New super mario bros has proved a 2D game can work very well on the 3DS, plus 2D zeldas are usually considerably longer

 

Naaah! Oracles should top that! LttP only gets it for nostalgia with me, being my first, but the Oracles took the top down formula and kicked the shit out of it with new innovations that were simply marvellous!

 

All this minish cap talk makes me wish I knew where my cart(and possibly my micro) was though, would be right to give it another playthrough, as I think it's only ever had one!

[Ronnie]

Not played the Oracle games since they were released, hope they bring them to the eshop soon

[Jonnas]

Minish Cap is so good. Amazing 2D graphics, perfect art style, great music (especially for the GBA), fluid&fun gameplay, generally cohesive game, a lot of things to explore, plenty of sidequests, several references to other games in the series, Ezlo is still a refreshing partner...

 

It's not my favourite 2D Zelda, but only by very little. I can hardly find any faults in it (the missables being the only one).

 

1. Link's Awakening

2. Both oracles

3. Minish Cap

4. Oracle of Ages

5. Oracle of Seasons

 

(I'm not judging LttP yet, since I disliked it when I first played it, but might give it another chance)

[pratty]

I've had this on my pile of shame for some time now. I must get around to it but I have Link's Awakening to finish, plus both Oracle games and A Link To The Past to play first.

 

It does look great though, really looking forward to getting around to it.

 

I don't have it on the 3DS, but I just popped it on my DS Lite and it does look good back lit, I'll probably play it on my Gameboy Player though.

[Rummy]

Not played the Oracle games since they were released, hope they bring them to the eshop soon

 

Sad to say, they probably won't. It makes me wonder though, how did/do they handle porting games with link cable functionality? Not that this *needs* link cable functionality, given the code system.

 

Minish Cap is so good. Amazing 2D graphics, perfect art style, great music (especially for the GBA), fluid&fun gameplay, generally cohesive game, a lot of things to explore, plenty of sidequests, several references to other games in the series, Ezlo is still a refreshing partner...

 

It's not my favourite 2D Zelda, but only by very little. I can hardly find any faults in it (the missables being the only one).

 

1. Link's Awakening

2. Both oracles

3. Minish Cap

4. Oracle of Ages

5. Oracle of Seasons

 

(I'm not judging LttP yet, since I disliked it when I first played it, but might give it another chance)

 

For a sec, I was all like 'wait what is he drunk' then I was like 'oh no wait I'm drunk and I see what he did there that is cool'

[Ronnie]

Why don't you think they'd release them? Too 'obscure'?

[Agent Gibbs]

yeah seriously why don't you see the oracle games coming? i need those back in my life (on my 3DS)