Zelda - the most consistent series of all time - is always brilliant, creating the best mixture of action and puzzle. Minish Cap is no exception. With Zelda: Oracle Of Ages/Seasons, Capcom proved that they know what it takes to create a good Zelda game. So Nintendo gladly handed the reins over to Capcom, to devise yet another handheld adventure.
The gimmick in Minish Cap is perhaps the most intriguing yet. Link finds a talking hat that gives him the ability to shrink himself to the size of the Minish at will. The Minish are a gnome like race that live throughout the land, unnoticed by most of the townspeople. consider putting this sentence as a parenthetical after the first mention of Minish - rt> Link can delve into the land of Hyrule as they see it, and reach areas he couldn't before.
The dungeons are imaginative, as always, combining new types of puzzles and enemies with the familiar. Of course, finding tools and utilizing them in their respective dungeons still plays a major part.
The third dungeon is packed with sandy walls waiting to be dug through with the coolest new item, the mole mitts. The Zelda underworlds are what make the games so majestic. They exercise the brain in a fun way, while at the same time you're being forced to fend off monsters. Unfortunately, Minish Cap has only six dungeons, which is weak considering Link to the Past for Super Nintendo had 11, each of equal size as those in Minish.
The overworld is also considerably small in comparison with previous Zeldas, but there are secrets around literally every corner. Throughout his quest, Link will find kinstone pieces, which he uses in conjunction with villagers and other inhabitants to unlock secrets. A door might open, a treasure chest may appear somewhere, a path may be cleared.
The game plays in the same fashion as the other top-down Zeldas, but it would have benefited from a few changes. As in the other handheld titles, you can equip only two items at once. Of course nobody wants to unequip the sword, so it's basically one item at a time. This means a lot of pausing to equip items you need, and it deters from the game's flow. We now have six buttons with the GBA, and the "L" button could have easily been used as an item spot. Link also moves a tad too slow.
Overall, Minish Cap is a solid release that should please any Zelda fan, but don't expect it to be one of the best you've ever played.
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