For the new generation of gamers out there, here's what it's all about. Zelda, a princess in the land of Hyrule, has been kidnapped by an evil wizard and is going to be used in an arcane ritual, along with three other maidens, to cement the wizard's dark powers. It's up to you to play as the hero, Link - a young woodland born lad - to stop the evil scheme of the mad mage and rescue Zelda in the process. It's a fairly simple and fairytale-like story, which hides some of the cleverest, most enjoyable, most frustrating and most compelling game design you're ever likely to come across.

The game itself is a top down role player along similar lines to Golden Sun or Pokemon. You guide Link through a very large playing area called the Overworld, chatting to people you come across, avoiding the various guards and denizens out to get you, digging out dungeons, checking out villages and generally roaming around exploring and puzzle solving. It differs from a game like Golden Sun in that there is no turn based combat - all your enemies are on screen, there to hack at with your sword, stun with your boomerang or shoot with your bow and arrow.

The controls are fairly simple - your in-game actions are A to fire ranged weapons like arrows or boomerangs, B to swipe with your sword and the right shoulder button to perform an action, such as push, pull or dash. Besides that you also have your select button, which pulls up your inventory and allows you to swap items and the left shoulder button, bringing up either the overall map of Hyrule or the dungeon you are presently exploring. They are really simple controls and can be picked up very quickly. This is great, as it allows you to get involved in your quest without mashing the buttons of your Gameboy too much.

The quest itself is absolutely immense - there is just so much squeezed into this one land! The main objective revolves around collecting certain mystical artifacts from several dungeons but you can pick up items along the way to help you. These include power-ups that extend your life, glass jars to catch fairies or fill with potions from local alchemists, books that help you translate the inscriptions on certain temples and all kinds of other items.

However, you're not really going to get far unless you brave the big dungeons at some point. In each you find a maze of rooms and passageways, some filled with denizens out to eat you, some with fiendish puzzles and some with both. Either way, you're not going to get through a dungeon the first time, or the second or third time probably! This is where the new save feature, something missing from the original, comes in handy. When you die you can save the game so when you restart it, you begin (if you choose to) at the entrance to whatever dungeon you were trying to tackle, with any keys or power-ups earned still in place. I have to say this is a great help and a welcome addition to the game.

Besides the main dungeons there are also sub-dungeons to find. If you see a crack or chink in a wall, plant a bomb there and run through the hole it creates - on the other side you could find new weapons, rupees to buy stuff at the village, nasty monsters or advice on where to go next. In fact, these suggestions about what to look out for are invaluable, as often you're going to find yourself running from one place to the next, wondering what you should be doing. Okay, the map helps by pinpointing certain things you should be looking for and also aids you in finding unexplored areas, but the game can still be frustratingly difficult at times. If you are a gamer like me, who prefers to enjoy the journey rather than the beating your head against a brick wall over puzzles, I'd recommend getting one of the many online hint or walkthrough sheets available.

The journey is helped along by some lovely graphics. It's clear that almost as much thought went into these as into the gameplay. The key to their success is their simplicity - they are pared down to primary colours and pastels; given a rounded feel without the overcomplication of realism or expression. If you have the original Gameboy Advance then you're going to find this helpful, as even a poorly lit screen doesn't hinder you when the visuals are laid out in such a manner.

The visuals do seem to be a direct port from the SNES game of yore but that's no bad thing. The sprites are small and fairly simple but there is no mistaking what each represents, be it Link, a guard or some bundle of wriggling, bloodsucking worms heading straight for you. The sprites are generally surrounded by a thin black outline, so it's easy to differentiate between the background and the your on-screen opponents or benefactors. The end-of-dungeon baddies are big, brassy and well animated, which gives you something to look forward to if you are a graphics aesthete such as myself. It's quite nice just letting yourself get nobbled by them so you can take them on a second time and enjoy their artistry and design!

The Overworld layout is nicely done too. The forests and trees are again simple but effective, being lovely rounded things. When you come across a village, the houses are straightforward but decorated in a variety of fashions and are very easy to differentiate between. There are many other Overworld features, including a graveyard, a river system complete with waterfalls, a rather rocky and dangerous mountain and a misty wood filled with hidden dangers. The dungeons are nicely rendered as well; the tiling on the floor is fairly unobtrusive but definitely a departure from the sandy floor of the desert or the grass of the plains. The variety of statues scattered liberally around each location add an air of foreboding and adventure.

The sound helps along the feel of the game as much as the graphics do. There are a variety of different tunes for each section you are in, be it a peaceful melody for the Overworld village, a triumphant marching song as you wend your way across the plains, or an eerie low key nerve tingler as you explore a dungeon. Again, this seems to be a direct port of the sounds from the SNES but there does seem to be one notable addition - Link's voice whenever he swipes at someone. It's a nice new touch to an already well-rounded series of sounds. In fact, the overall ambience and feel created by the audio is remarkably well done for a handheld such as the Gameboy Advance.

With the second half of the cart, Four Swords, you and up to three other friends get the chance to explore dungeons that are randomly arranged each time you visit them, making the gaming experience different on every occasion. The gameplay revolves around co-operative puzzle solving - you don't get far if you don't help each other out. However, you are each competing to collect the most rupees too, so this leads to some fairly frenetic and tense moments between friends. There are a few differences between the graphics of this new version and A Link to the Past; the background graphics are more detailed and the Link characters look more like the cartoonish creation on the new Gamecube title than the old SNES version.

For sheer lastability, this one is going to run and run, particularly if you have a link up cable and three willing compadres. Four Swords really adds something to an already vast adventure in A Link to the Past. Once you complete the single player version, which is going to take you absolutely ages due to it's ingenious design and difficulty, you have the opportunity to take on whole new dungeons with your friends.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past/Four Swords is superb value for money. Not only do you get the all-time SNES classic with a couple of tweaks including a better save system, but you get a brand new multiplayer game on top with limitless lifespan due to the randomly generated dungeons. If you have played Zelda before and want to relive the amazing gaming experience, then get this game. If you are new to Zelda and want to see what all the fuss is about, then get this game. It really is that simple!

Reviewed by Dave Wynn for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).