Head on inside for the latest news on Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords on the Gamecube!

Nintendo has finally announced a firm date for their Gamecube-Game Boy Advance Multiplayer extravaganza! The press release is here in full:

26 November 2004 � Everyone's favourite hero Link, returns to the Nintendo GameCube on 7 January 2005, when The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures launches in the UK. In this first multiplayer Zelda game for the Nintendo GameCube, up to four people can battle together to save Hyrule, by using their Game Boy Advances with Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Link Cables.

Link's latest adventure starts as Vaati the wind sorcerer stirs trouble having been locked away long ago by the power of the Four-Sword. When Princess Zelda mysteriously goes missing, Link is tricked into releasing Vaati from his prison. Now our hero must use the power of the sword to split himself into four and once again lock Vaati away.

The four identical Links have to battle their way across eight classic areas of Hyrule powering up the Four-Sword by collecting Force Gems. Once the sword regains its power to repel evil, Link can destroy dark barriers and uncover the ominous secret behind Zelda' s kidnapping.

This game fully utilises the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance interconnectivity, allowing players to have exciting multi screen adventures using both competitive and cooperative gameplay. Up to four players can simultaneously take part in Link's adventure, using their combined skills and abilities to solve problems. When using multiplayer, the benefit of using the Game Boy Advance is the excitement of the independent search for new areas upon entering palaces, caves, buildings and holes, where players can find force gems and special items to use against other players. When entering these areas, play moves to the individual Game Boy Advance screens and when you emerge, the action goes back to the main TV screen.

You can still fully enjoy the adventure in single player mode too, where a Game Boy Advance is optional. Instead players can choose to use a Nintendo GameCube controller to control all four Links.

Team work is the key to completing this adventure, with many puzzles that can only be solved by all four Links combining their strength or skills. Multiplayer mode offers the additional challenge of a Hero ranking. Players have the option of voting for the best and worst players, giving great rewards to co-operative people and penalties for the bad guys.

The additional Shadow Battle mode allows players to settle grudges in a two to four player death match. The concept is simple, the last Link standing is the winner.

The game is in a classic 2D style reminiscent of the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but with stunning special effects and backdrops that will have fans of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker jumping with joy. Well known enemies and locations from the Zelda series return in this game, including favourites from the original The Legend of Zelda, reborn in full Nintendo GameCube glory. The classic overhead viewpoint is ideal, allowing players to retain the same perspective whether they are viewing the action on the main screen or on the Game Boy Advance.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is exclusive to Nintendo GameCube and launches in the UK on 7 January 2005, bundled with a free Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Link Cable for the estimated retail price of around �40 pounds.

Considering that this has been out in Japan and the US for a VERY long time, one wonders why on Earth Nintendo didn't strap on their Pegasus Boots and get this game out to us a little faster? Hopefully the long delay has been due to the addition of the new features to the package.

This said, the multiplayer connectivity should be an exciting prospect for anybody lucky enough to have played "Pac Man Vs" as Nintendo showed everyone how the connectivity features can be more than just a gimmick.

It is good to see that Nintendo is not just touting the mulitplayer aspect, but also catering for the single-player audience at the same time. However, say what you will about the admirable connectivity features and single player, it remains to be seen how popular outside of the core Nintendo audience -and will it inspire consumers to purchase both machines?

With shortages of a certain rival machine likely to last until after christmas and a killer price point at most retailers throughout Europe, this could be a good time for the Big N to capitalise on the duality of its consoles. We'll watch and wait.