Plot. A long time ago, there was a war where Hyrule was about to be consumed by darkness. That is until the tiny Picori descended from the sky, and bestowed upon a young boy dressed in green the legendary Picori Blade, and a shining golden light. With wisdom and courage, the boy drove the darkness away. Now, 100 years later, Princess Zelda sneaks out of her castle to invite Link to the Picori Festival, a festival where the Picori arrive with a large fair, and a sword-fighting tournament. A mysterious participant enters, and breaks the Picori Blade, opening the Bound Chest, flooding Hyrule with monsters, and for the worst, turning Princess Zelda into stone. Now Link, with the help of a mysterious cap named Ezlo, sets out to save Hyrule and defeat Vaati.
Concept. Players guide Link throughout the Hyrule Overworld and it's many dungeons. Link can shrink to Minish size with the help of Ezlo, crossing through places that seem inaccessible. Players go through quests and sidequests as well, in order to master the game and defeat the main antagoinst, Vaati. Link can learn a variety of sword techniques that are found in different locations of the world.
Design. Though it has it's eagle eye perspective overview, The Minish Cap has the cartoon looks of The Wind Waker, featuring the inspired visuals of the game. However, some elements from 3D games like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are featured, such as Link being able to roll and more. There are some beliefs that Link being able to shrink and the idea from the Picori, came from a character from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
Music and Sound. The music of the game is composed by Mitsuhiko Takano. When Link travels through Hyrule, the classic theme is played. The Minish Woods theme is like a beautifully composed music, it's very calm, soothing, and epic. There is also some voice acting in which laughs, screams, and grunts can be heard. The music in every dungeon is great, as it captures it's environment.
Memories. I remember playing this game in 2005, I was about to graduate from high school. I only played the game until my computer got messed up, and I was not able to play for a while. But when it got fixed, I played it again, and finally managed to beat the game.
Rantings. My problem with this game is that it's too short, even with the sidequests of the game. I mean, players could beat all the dungeons from 5 to 10 hours, and I think it was a bit too easy, except for the final boss. Also, what bothered me as well was the Kinstone fusions, which I found dumb and overly repetitive.
Good Aspects. I was happy to see that Link had a sword zap, after being absent from the other games since Ocarina of Time. Also, Link standing on cloning platforms causing to divide into four, was a great reference to the Four Swords games. The animation style of the Wind Waker game, was a great addition to this game, even if I was not too fond of it. But it actually fitted the setting for this game.
Overall. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, is one of my favorite Zelda games of all time. It has moderately high replay value, and it is worth playing. This game gets an 8 out of 10