Do you remember the overwhelming glee when you first played one of your now-favorite SNES games? Do you remember 16-bit ingenuity so fresh it oozed out of your hands? Nintendo’s astounding multiplayer Zelda adventure rekindles that sense of nostalgic innovation, and is the killer app of the GameCube-Game Boy Advance connectivity movement.

Fellow staff member Mike Suzuki and I began by exploring the Japan-exclusive Navi’s Trackers. Although the characters on-screen provide aural tips and instructions, and the game includes an impressive amount of text, I was surprised at how easy it was for me to play.

After an initial pot-throwing mini-game to distribute rupees and items, the game amounts to one big treasure hunt on the GBA. Players primarily compete by scrambling around the arena to pirates holding numbered signs in order, but scattered collectables also contribute to the overall score. Items such as x2 score, cloaking, and a pirate position scrambler keep things interesting. A rough map on the television screen displays characters’ locations, but not the contour of the arena itself. When time runs out, the player with the highest score wins. Its humorous voice work gives Navi’s Trackers a unique Japanese appeal, and the game is a quirky diversion, but its omission in future international releases should not be mourned by the masses.

After our brief experience as pirates, we continued onto Hyrule Adventure, the primary mode. Hyrule Adventure blends the competitive and cooperative multiplayer gameplay found in the handheld original with superior level design seasoned well with a nostalgic feel.

Since the game uses GBAs as controllers, basic controls are identical to Four Swords on the handheld: players can swing their swords, use a special weapon (once acquired), grab items or Links, and open chests. Link has many moves from his 3D outings as well, including a D-pad rotation sword spin, the powerful but chaotic charge-spin from Wind Waker, the roll, and the jump attack.

When two or three gamers play together, each player controls at least one Link at all times. By grabbing one of the extra, ghost-like Links with R and pushing L, a player can absorb a second or third Link, who will follow the leading Link. Once a player controls multiple heroes, he or she can make use of vertical and horizontal formations in which the Links move and attack in tandem. Players can drop and alternate between individual Links via the select button, and other players can grab and acquire a player’s extra Links.

Like Four Swords on the Game Boy Advance, Hyrule Adventure is much more linear than prior Zelda installments. The game is partitioned similarly to classic Super Mario games, with seven levels subdivided into three stages each. So far, Mike and I have only explored the first level.

The stages themselves are brilliantly designed. Although players must cooperate to complete puzzles, defeat enemies, and progress to the end, the player with the most rupees is also deemed winner, spurring fierce competition, even swordfights, depending on the crowd playing. Much of the action takes place on the television, where the camera zooms in and out to accommodate all players. The game makes use of the GameCube’s impressive sprite capabilities to display showers of rupees (which players will undoubtedly quarrel over), whole armies of enemies, and impressive visual effects inspired by The Wind Waker. Areas are designed to accommodate clever uses of the special items, like putting the fire wand near a field of flammable grass. As another example, bombs often give a player a tactical advantage over others when hunting down valuables. However, bombs are not good weapons, and clumsy bombers will find themselves dead and rupee-less.

Although sold as a GameCube title, over half of the game takes place on Game Boy Advance screens. The GBA requirement is not a gimmick. While all players must stay on the same room on TV, most rooms contain multiple GBA sub-rooms which players can explore together or on their own. These sub-rooms often include branched paths or mazes, and directly affect and are affected by their parent GameCube room. For instance, a series of sub-rooms similar to the side-scrolling passageways found in Link’s Awakening may serve as a route across impassable terrain on the television screen. A switch on the TV screen can influence the status of a sub-room on the GBA. One player can explore a secret passageway for treasure without disturbing other players from other on-screen action. If the gang is waiting at the edge of a room for one person, the game even displays the GBA action on the television to ease the waiting process. The connectivity is used for much more than an unobtrusive menu system or map; it is fully realized and integral to the gaming experience.

Hyrule Adventure also includes mini-games, with Tingle as host. So far I have only unlocked a horse-racing mini-game, where the action switches from the TV to the GBA when you enter covered sheds. Like Tetra’s Trackers, it is a fun diversion, but not nearly as deep as the main game. There are many mini-games to unlock, however; when combined they could provide an enjoyable diversion for friendly get-togethers.

Even though I have only spent three hours with the game, and have yet to explore the battle mode or Hyrule Adventure alone, I am already satisfied despite the steep import price tag. Four Swords’s inspired level design, refined player interaction, and crisp controls have me hooked; it will be hard to let go for my full review.