The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Game Boy Advance - USA - 1st edition.

Developer Capcom, Flagship Publisher Nintendo Published 2004-11-04 Platforms Game Boy Advance Genres Action-adventure, Exploration, Metroidvania Themes Adventure, Fantasy Series The Legend of Zelda Distribution Commercial

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is an action-adventure video game developed by Capcom and Flagship and published by Nintendo on the Game Boy Advance on 2004-11-04. The Zelda game uses an engine similar to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Once again, you play Link who must save the princess Zelda who, in this game, has been turned to stone by an evil wizard who plays only a passing role in the game. All of the typical 2-D Zelda tropes are here, upgrading sword and shield, boomerang, pegasus boots, bottles, octoroks, rupees, etc. The main gimmick of this game is that Link often must shrink down to the tiny size of the Minish, a race of miniature elves. While tiny, Link can perform tasks that will affect the normal sized world. Ultimately, the game seems to exist as the back-story of Link's hat.

This is one of the very few games that was released in Europe before being released in North America.

Personal

Own?	No.
Won?	Yes. I have beaten it with all major items, but not all miniatures or kinstones.
Finished	2013‎-02-18.

I never owned a Game Boy Advance, so I didn't play this game when it came out. However, as an avid Zelda fan, I made a point to beat it.

Review

8	8	7	6	8

Best Version: Game Boy Advance

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• I love A Link to the Past, and The Minish Cap adds more of the same, but it's still different enough to make it a uniquely enjoyable experience.
• The game has a lot of side-quests to give it more replay value.
• There are plenty of new monsters, items, and special moves to find.
• While some games create an item just for a single use, most of the items here have various uses on various enemies or objects. For example, the boomerang not only stuns enemies, and collects items, but also has special effects on sparks, bob-ombs, etc.
• Shrinking down to Minish size is really interesting and adds a new dynamic to the game.
• The kinstones add a lot of secrets to the game.
• The super strong gold monsters were a great addition.

Bad

• The game is really easy. Having never played it before, I made it all the way to the final boss before dying for the first time.
• Kinstones are overplayed. They're a reward too often, and, a lot of the time, you trade a kinstone just to reveal another kinstone, and all of the secrets are repeated too many times. If the total was cut in half, I wouldn't feel like I was missing anything. I also didn't like the idea of having to revisit every NPC in the game numerous times because they aren't willing to trade until later in the game. Thankfully, they're mostly optional.
• The collectable miniatures are a cute side-quest that reveal useful hints throughout the game, but they take -way- too much grinding and time to collect. If they could expedite the conversation and decrease the number of shells needed, it would be more tolerable. Thankfully, again, they're optional.
• Few of the NPCs have very much character to them. So they don't feel like real people.
• Since the villain doesn't really do much, he seems tacked-on and boring.

Ugly

• The chicken side-quest is especially annoying. It begins cute, but quickly becomes a controller-throwing frustration of the damn mailman getting in the way, and evil gold chickens pissing you off. I spent well over an hour on it, but still never beat it.

Media

Box Art

• 

  The Japanese box depicts a shrunken Link, wearing Ezlo, with the Minish, fearing something beyond the canvas. The box is expertly painted, and is my favorite box.

• 

  The European box shows Link winding up for an attack with a kinstone in the background. Not as detailed as the Japanese art, but still interesting.

• 

  The North American and Australian art is similar to the European art, but with a different action pose for Link.

Documentation

• 

  Manual - Japan - Digital.

• 

  Manual - USA.

• 

  Manual - USA - Digital.

• 

  Manual - USA - Digital - Revision.

• 

  Poster - Full Japanese box art.

• 

  Nintendo Player's Guide.

• 

  Manga - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

Maps

• 

  Hyrule.

• 

  Deepwood Shrine.

• 

  Cave of Flames.

• 

  Fortress of Winds.

• 

  Temple of Droplets.

• 

  Palace of Winds.

• 

  Dark Hyrule Castle.

Graphics

• 

  Link attacking.

• 

  Checking the map.

• 

  The ending art scenes.

• flickr.com/photos/historyofhyrule/albums/72157629392325377 - Official published art.

Fan Art

• 

  Fan art by Enigmasystem.

• 

  Fan art by Poketix.

• 

  Fan art by KIRU75.

• 

  Fan art by Finni.

• 

  Fan art by Nufonza.

• 

  Fan art by Jim Svanberg.

• 

  Fan art by Aquanut.

• 

  Fan art by Blopa1987.

Videos

Review - Hungry Goriya.

Son of a Glitch.

Longplay.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	There are several female NPCs, but none are important, and Zelda is again a damsel in distress.
Bechdel test?	Fail	No women ever talk to each other.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Although the Hylians aren't human, they all appear to be whitish.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
English	The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Japanese	ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎのぼうし	Zeruda no Densetsu: Fushigi no Boshi	Legend of Zelda: The Mysterious Cap

Links

         

• zeldadungeon.net/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_The_Minish_Cap - Zelda Dungeon.