20 February 2026

It’s Time for the Underrated Zelda Co-Op Game from 2004 to Get Its Flowers

By newsgame

Nintendo has the perfect opportunity to revive the underrated Legend of Zelda title Four Swords Adventures now that the Switch 2 could make it more accessible. While The Legend of Zelda may be notorious for sticking to the same formula, it hasn’t been afraid to experiment with some features now and then, even well before Breath of the Wild broke things wide open. Four Swords Adventures was one of those experiments.

The big news in the Zelda universe right now is the live-action movie scheduled to release in 2027, but it’d be a shame to see 2026 come and go without any movement. After all, The Legend of Zelda turns 40 this year, and the Switch 2 is breathing new life into the GameCube era through the expanded Nintendo Classics. Fans have been begging for remasters or at least modern ports of several older Zelda games for a while, but there’s a case to make for the often-overlooked co-op Four Swords Adventures to get some love, too.

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The Switch 2’s Multiplayer Features are a Great Fit for Four Swords Adventures

Fans today may cite Four Swords Adventures as a C-tier Zelda game, but that’s not exactly indicative of the game’s quality. There’s a lot to love in the title, with the multiplayer element adding a unique twist on the classic Zelda puzzle-solving. Unlike its predecessor, the GBA’s Four Swords, it can be played solo, too, although the real fun is in working together to get through dungeons or goof off getting in each other’s way. The big problem with it is that the hardware at the time wasn’t a good fit for this multiplayer experience, but that wouldn’t be an issue on the Switch 2.

On the GameCube, Four Swords Adventures required players to use the Link Cable, with each player using a separate Game Boy Advance as a controller. That meant four GBAs and four Link Cables to get the full experience, which is not the most convenient setup, to say the least. These unusual hardware requirements are what stopped many from enjoying Four Swords Adventures when it first came out, but a Switch 2 port could swap it for standard local co-op or even online play. It’s a simple change that would immediately fix this underappreciated title’s biggest downside.

Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.

Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)

There’s already precedent to justify a Four Swords Adventures revival, too. Nintendo released the original Four Swords on the Switch Online Expansion Pack in 2024, replacing the GBA’s Link Cables with online multiplayer functionality. That was a great first step, but Four Swords Adventures took its predecessor’s core concept to new heights, so it deserves the same treatment. The 3DS’ Tri Force Heroes is another co-op Zelda without a modern port, but it’s also a far newer game. Nintendo would be wise to bring DS and 3DS games to NSO at some point, but it already has a growing library of GameCube titles, so bringing Four Swords Adventures to the Switch 2 wouldn’t be a huge leap.

The four protagonists raising their swords in Four Swords

Four Swords Adventures could also take advantage of one of the Switch 2’s best multiplayer features. The Switch 2’s GameShare works like the DS’ Download Play, letting multiple users play a game that only one person owns a copy of. Like Download Play before it, GameShare is a huge win for accessibility and multiplayer fun, as it makes it much easier for a group of friends to play together. It’s a handy local alternative for games without any split-screen functionality, which is right in line with the Four Swords Adventures experience. Each person would play on their own Switch 2, as they would play on individual GBAs with the original, but only one of them would have to own the game, and local networks would replace Link Cables.

Fans may be clamoring for Twilight Princess to finally come to the Switch or for the Wii U’s HD version of The Wind Waker, but some of the less-revered entries in the series shouldn’t go overlooked, either. Whether Nintendo will give Four Swords Adventures its due is anyone’s guess, but it’s a great time to do so.