Capcom made a lot of great games for Nintendo when they began the NES line.Mega Manwas probably their biggest franchise on the system and it was an original work. Capcom also worked on licensed-based projects as did many companies of this era. They were most in sync with Disney as they madeDuckTales,Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers,Darkwing Duck, and many other cartoon adaptations.
RELATED:The Legend Of Zelda: Things Fans Want To See In Future Games
Years later, Nintendo would recruit them for some licensed-based work on one of their big properties viaThe Legend of Zelda. AltogetherCapcommade four games in this franchise and they are still well-regarded. Though they’re all fantastic games, here’s how the four games rank up.
4The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Of Ages
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, along withOracle of Seasons, are the first two gamesCapcom worked onvia their subsidiary company Flagship. They were released in 2001 on the Game Boy Color. They launched just a few weeks shy of the Game Boy Advance release in Japan which is wild.Oracle of Agesbegins with Link waking up in a forest and being contacted by Impa who wants to return to Nayru, the sage to time in this game. After escorting her through the woods, Impa explodes with dark energy and she reveals that she was a dark sorceress all along named Veran.
Veran whisks Nayru away and the adventure begins after a now cured Impa gives Link his first sword. It starts wild but it slows down almost immediately thanks to a lot of wandering around. There is a nearby town and work facility that forces players to talk to dozens of NPCs just to get a shovel. It’s an odd way to start a Zelda game, but thankfully after this lull, things pick back up again. Compared to its cohort,Oracle of Seasons,Oracle of Agesis a slightly less engaging game simply because the gimmick of time had been done many times over intheZeldaseriesby this point.
3The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons
If players had to choose one game of these two,The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasonsis the one to start with. Thankfully, it has been made easily accessible thanks to the recent Nintendo Switch Online addition to the GBC library. The game begins similarly to Oracle of Ages except that Link is rescued and brought back to a camp via the sage of seasons, Din. She gets kidnapped by a different villain, General Onox. Players also get to see her chained up and turned into a Crystal, unlike Nayru whose fate is more of a mystery in her game. The beginning is a lot more challenging because this version of Impa does not give Link a sword.
RELATED:Every Legend Of Zelda Game, Ranked According To Metacritic
Players must instead venture into a quick dungeon, dodge enemies, and then retrieve the blade at the end. This is only one example of how this game gets players more engaged right away compared toOracle of Ages. Fans of the series will also get a kick out of the various homages in the adventures like the first dungeon. The outside is shaped like a tree similar to the one in the first game on NES and the boss is the same too, Aquamentus. The true star is the gimmick that allows players to manipulate the literal seasons. There are some fun puzzles associated with this mechanic, giving fans something different from the recenttime travel shenanigans.
2The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past And Four Swords
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swordsis a combo pack co-developers by Nintendo and Capcom. It was released for the GBA in 2002. The core game ofA Link to the Pastis a port of the SNES classic with a few upgrades and tweaks made to it. Link now grunts when he swings a sword like his 3D counterparts. Several new caves and NPCs were added too. It’s a faithful port to the GBA although diehard SNES fans still assuredly prefer the original. Capcom then handled theFour Swordsportion of the bundle which was the first dedicated multiplayer entry in the series.
RELATED:Nintendo: Things Super Mario Does Better Than Zelda & Things That LOZ Does Better
Two to four players could connect their GBAs to venture into several dungeons to fight monsters, solve puzzles, and collect rupees. The game was level based, with a winner being declared at the end of each stage. The idea was expanded upon by Nintendo withThe Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventuresin 2004on the GameCube. Four Swords was also ported to the DSi in 2011 with several new features including a single-player mode. Of the four Capcom games on this list, Four Swords is the only one missing on Switch which is unfortunate because the multiplayer was good in 2002 and it should still hold up.
1The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Capwas released in 2005on the GBAtoward the tail end of the portable’s life. It was the culmination of everything Capcom learned up to this point. All four games were developed close to each other and it can be assumed that inspirations bled in between these games. For example, an item called the Gnat Hat inFour Swordscould shrink Link down to size. Ezlo, a talking hat, could work his magic to shrink Link down inThe Minish Cap.
That was the big gimmick of the game as players could explore an overworld in classic top-down fashion along with a pint-sized version of the world. The rest of the gameplay is classic from solving puzzles in dungeons to helping NPCs for rewards in towns. It serves as a prequel toFour Swords, showcasing theorigins of Vaatiwho was the main antagonist in the multiplayer games. It’s not only Capcom’s best Zelda game, it’s one of the best entries in the entire series. For those that missedThe Minish Caporiginally, it can be played on Switch thanks to the GBA online collection.
