Daily Debate: Should Four Swords Adventures Be One of the First Games for Nintendo’s Next Console?
Posted on March 20 2024 by Josh Wittmershaus
Multiplayer Zelda games are regularly ranked in the bottom third of our Best Zelda Ever lists, with last year’s ranking being no exception. It’s maybe no coincidence, either, that roughly a third of the voters haven’t even had the opportunity (or desire) to play the two bottom-ranked games, Four Swords and Tri Force Heroes, which are both multiplayer. Nowadays, these multiplayer games are increasingly hard to play in their original formats; but even in considering the games in their heydays, I don’t think I’m taking liberties when I say that, historically, playing them in those formats was rather… arduous.
However, that was then, and this is now. We live in the world of Nintendo Switch Online, where playing multiplayer games with friends locally and across the world is as easy and accessible as ever. That reality leaves me wondering if it’s time to bring back one of these often forgotten multiplayer Zelda games from the past. And what better game to start with than the more fondly remembered Four Swords Adventures?
I’m going to get a little controversial and say this: not only do I think that Four Swords Adventures should get a modern port or remake, but it should be the next port or remake to be released on a new Nintendo console. Yes, even before we see rereleases/remakes of The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, or any of the other well-deserving top-down Zelda games, Four Swords Adventures deserves that moment in the limelight. The community has been asking for more two-dimensional Zelda releases, and this would be a great and accessible way to incorporate multiplayer fun back into the franchise. Four Swords Adventures would likewise make an excellent demonstration of how Nintendo’s next console can take an old game and recreate it into something new, showing off the company’s ability to produce quality Zelda games that exist outside the “traditional” structure we find in more well-known stories from the series.
If you disagree with me, hopefully soon we can exchange our Switch Online codes, and you can take the opportunity to pick my Link up and throw him into the void. We all know that’s the real fun to be had in Four Swords Adventures. Would you want to see Four Swords Adventures get a makeover for a new Nintendo console? Throw your thoughts down into the comments section!
Josh Wittmershaus is a writer at Zelda Dungeon. Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, he now resides in Northern California. Aside from Zelda, Josh enjoys playing music, seeing live music, music history, and all other things music. He also enjoys skating, hockey, and the occasional political or philosophical thought exercise.
