THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: FOUR SWORDS, Nintendo
This new Zelda title offers a single-player option, but to get the full experience, you're going to need three friends to plug their Game Boy Advance handhelds into your GameCube (one adapter cable comes free with the game). Each of you controls one instance of the hero, Link: His possession of the famed Four Sword allows him to be in four places at one time, an advantage needed to defeat the evil wizard Vaati and rescue the kidnapped Princess Zelda with her six shrine maidens.
| | | | ___Personal Tech E-letter___ Washington Post personal technology columnist Rob Pegoraro answers reader e-mail and expands on themes he touches on in his weekly newspaper column. The e-mail version of this weekly feature includes links to the latest gadget and software reviews.
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In most cooperative games, everybody has to move as a group, but Four Swords' hybrid GameCube/Game Boy Advance setup lets each person do his or her own thing: While the actions of the rest of your group play out on the TV, you can take your own detour and get into your own fights on your GBA's screen. The same thing happens each time your character splits off from the rest of the group to enter a building, cave or some other place out of your comrades' sight. The constant shift infocus can be confusing at first, but with a little practice it becomes a natural extension of the game.
Old fans of the Zelda series, one of Nintendo's longest-running hits, will also appreciate the game's more traditional aspects such as the graphics, which pay homage to the two-dimensional look of older versions, and the cheesy, synthesized soundtracks. -- Tom Ham
GameCube, $50
SHREK 2:
THE GAME, Activision
This game tie-in picks up about halfway through the plot of the summer movie, when the lovable ogre Shrek must make his way to the ball that his in-laws, the king and queen of Far Far Away, have planned to celebrate his marriage to Princess Fiona (herself a zaftig ogre, in case you haven't seen the flick). Kids get to help Shrek and his pals Donkey, Puss in Boots and the Giant Gingerbread Man stave off attacks by peasants, bandits, elves, knights, trees and a mean Fairy Godmother as they head from Shrek's swamp shack to the throne room. (Note: If your PC is new to action games, it may need a free update to Microsoft's DirectX software.)
As in other so-called platform games, players control one character while the computer controls the other three, using the cursor keys to sidestep projectile attacks, jump across chasms and climb up ledges, vines and pipes. A health meter keeps track of characters' success; running through the Hero Energy Bars scattered throughout the game and collecting four-leaf clovers gives each character a boost. Scattered gold coins buy potions that offer additional sorts of help; Ka-Pow Extra Strength, for instance, gives the heroes a jumbo shot of muscle (a drug reference that might be in questionable taste, given sports-page headlines these days).
One could argue that this game teaches kids how to solve problems, but let's be realistic: It's simple, mostly harmless summertime fun. -- Hope Katz Gibbs
