1 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,880 Shrink in size and embark on a huge adventure in The Legend of 2 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,200 Zelda The Minish Cap, only on Game Boy Advance. 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,960 Welcome to Remember 64, where this week we shrink down to 4 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:43,940 minish size. Welcome to the show, everyone. 5 00:00:43,940 --> 00:00:45,740 My name, of course, is David Petrangelo. 6 00:00:45,740 --> 00:00:48,260 And this week. It's a special. 7 00:00:48,260 --> 00:00:52,580 Edition of Remember 64, if you have been listening to the 8 00:00:52,580 --> 00:00:55,660 episodes as they are released, not everybody does and that's 9 00:00:55,700 --> 00:00:58,620 part of the point, honestly. So you can go and reference any 10 00:00:58,620 --> 00:01:01,420 of these games at anytime. But in recent weeks I've had a 11 00:01:01,420 --> 00:01:04,180 couple of things. Life gets in the way, My furnace 12 00:01:04,180 --> 00:01:07,220 broke and I was away for a couple of weeks, blah blah blah, 13 00:01:07,220 --> 00:01:08,140 don't have to. Get into it. 14 00:01:08,140 --> 00:01:11,620 But really, what's happening here is I'm going to talk about 15 00:01:11,620 --> 00:01:13,260 one of the. Games that I mentioned on 16 00:01:13,260 --> 00:01:17,700 Patreon a few weeks ago when I began to play The Legend of 17 00:01:17,700 --> 00:01:21,660 Zelda The Minish Cap. I played that on the Nintendo 18 00:01:21,660 --> 00:01:25,300 Switch Online expansion pack and this is sort of an expansion 19 00:01:25,300 --> 00:01:27,580 pack episode, which you may have seen on your feed. 20 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:31,760 And on the Patreon feed as well. And I had my initial thoughts on 21 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:33,040 Patreon, so you can check that out. 22 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,480 But I thought right now it would be time to dig into Minish Cap a 23 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,160 little bit. I have this Switch online 24 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,640 expansion pack now. This is one of the Legend of 25 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,360 Zelda titles I've never played. This is going to be a little bit 26 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,520 of a different episode. I would say normally take a few 27 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:49,840 minutes here and there on Patreon every few weeks. 28 00:01:50,470 --> 00:01:52,750 To talk about some games that I'm not playing on the Nintendo 29 00:01:52,750 --> 00:01:55,550 64, and this is going to be one of them, but I'm going to dig 30 00:01:55,550 --> 00:01:57,750 into a little bit of the development, some comments from 31 00:01:57,750 --> 00:02:00,910 developers and some reviews along the way as well. 32 00:02:00,910 --> 00:02:02,910 I thought I would do something slightly different and not leave 33 00:02:02,910 --> 00:02:04,830 everybody hanging on the podcast feed. 34 00:02:05,590 --> 00:02:08,110 But yeah, you know, without further ado, let's head back to 35 00:02:08,110 --> 00:02:18,260 January of 2005. Today's show is brought to you 36 00:02:18,260 --> 00:02:21,820 by EPOS Gaming Audio. 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You can use the power of The 55 00:03:43,710 --> 00:03:47,830 Minish Cap to get small unlock clues and save High rule The 56 00:03:47,830 --> 00:03:51,110 Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap only for Gameboy Advance, 57 00:03:51,510 --> 00:03:55,070 Greater D for everyone. Released in January of 2005 in 58 00:03:55,070 --> 00:03:59,270 North America, The Minish Cap is one of several titles now under 59 00:03:59,270 --> 00:04:01,150 the Capcom label. Yes, the. 60 00:04:01,650 --> 00:04:04,970 Same studio that brings you the Resident Evil and Street Fighter 61 00:04:04,970 --> 00:04:06,970 series. They had their hand and other 62 00:04:06,970 --> 00:04:10,530 Legend of Zelda games such as Oracle's and seasons on the Game 63 00:04:10,530 --> 00:04:14,490 Boy Color, but Minish Cap was one of the latest ones that they 64 00:04:14,490 --> 00:04:20,370 did around this time and in an interview in 2005, the director 65 00:04:20,370 --> 00:04:23,530 and supervisor of Minish Cap from Nintendo said quote. 66 00:04:23,950 --> 00:04:27,750 Our two development themes for a Zelda on GBA were one, to do 67 00:04:27,750 --> 00:04:30,870 something no one had done before, and two, make something 68 00:04:30,870 --> 00:04:34,030 that would really bring out Capcom's style. 69 00:04:34,310 --> 00:04:37,990 And this personally is one of the things that I loved about 70 00:04:37,990 --> 00:04:41,230 this game love about this era of games as well. 71 00:04:41,710 --> 00:04:45,990 The GBA just has this certain aesthetic and Sprite style to it 72 00:04:45,990 --> 00:04:50,230 that not every game has, but many do and I really love the 73 00:04:50,230 --> 00:04:52,600 art style in this. And they also added in this 74 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,120 interview with Minish Cap. We started off by asking how can 75 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,400 we make this feel like a Capcom game? 76 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,920 Our answer was the feature Capcom's talent for beautiful, 77 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:06,240 exquisite 2D graphics. Again, my opinion, they nailed 78 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,600 that part right out of the park. They also spoke to Capcom about 79 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,160 making this quote more ominous than linked to the past. 80 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,280 So what would have a similar feel at times to the classic 81 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:18,560 link to the past? But. 82 00:05:19,010 --> 00:05:21,610 They wanted aspects of this to feel a little bit darker, a 83 00:05:21,610 --> 00:05:25,690 little bit more Moody, and I think at times I felt like this 84 00:05:25,690 --> 00:05:28,010 game had that. It didn't really run away with 85 00:05:28,010 --> 00:05:32,010 that concept, but every once in a while you'd be in a dungeon or 86 00:05:32,010 --> 00:05:34,610 an area that were a little bit more gloomy, such as the marshes 87 00:05:34,610 --> 00:05:37,490 and things like that. But this is exactly what 88 00:05:37,490 --> 00:05:39,450 Nintendo wanted to do with something different. 89 00:05:39,450 --> 00:05:43,570 And that's, to me, What I think Minish Cap excels at is doing 90 00:05:43,570 --> 00:05:45,650 something different, bringing you to high rule. 91 00:05:46,010 --> 00:05:48,890 Your Link Zelda needs to be saved, The world needs to be 92 00:05:48,890 --> 00:05:50,690 saved. And this time there's, you know, 93 00:05:50,690 --> 00:05:53,850 an evil wizard sort of speak, and all of that stuff is still 94 00:05:53,850 --> 00:05:57,810 there, but literally a different perspective on the Legend of 95 00:05:57,810 --> 00:06:02,050 Zelda series, you shrink down to miniature size or in this Minish 96 00:06:02,050 --> 00:06:04,410 size. And you see the world in a 97 00:06:04,410 --> 00:06:06,730 different light, at a different perspective. 98 00:06:07,050 --> 00:06:10,370 And you can do and interact with so many different things, do a 99 00:06:10,370 --> 00:06:13,730 lot of different fun things, and be able to traverse around high 100 00:06:13,730 --> 00:06:15,770 rule and parts of high rule in different ways. 101 00:06:16,130 --> 00:06:19,610 And sure, maybe that's just, you know, the puzzle gimmick or 102 00:06:19,610 --> 00:06:22,970 mechanic and all of that kind of Mcduffin, You know, some people 103 00:06:22,970 --> 00:06:26,490 would use that term. But I think it never felt tired 104 00:06:26,490 --> 00:06:30,050 and never felt forced. There was always rewarding when 105 00:06:30,050 --> 00:06:32,970 you were able to shrink down and then come back up to human size. 106 00:06:33,930 --> 00:06:37,010 I think honestly that Minish Cap is what now one of my favorites. 107 00:06:37,010 --> 00:06:39,650 It is one of my favorite Legend of Zelda titles. 108 00:06:40,290 --> 00:06:43,330 I have not played them all. I have played probably about 60% 109 00:06:43,330 --> 00:06:46,370 of Legends of Zelda titles out there, but the series is 110 00:06:46,370 --> 00:06:49,690 fantastic. I love 2D Zelda's as well and 111 00:06:49,690 --> 00:06:51,890 this one is right up there for me. 112 00:06:52,610 --> 00:06:54,970 And another interview just before the game released. 113 00:06:54,970 --> 00:06:57,530 So this interview was taking place in 2004. 114 00:06:57,990 --> 00:07:00,230 The creators said quote with Menish Cap we. 115 00:07:00,230 --> 00:07:02,750 Decided to include. A number of things that were 116 00:07:02,750 --> 00:07:06,790 really more geared towards 3D, but we tried to make them on a 117 00:07:06,790 --> 00:07:10,070 2D plane. We wanted to impress players. 118 00:07:10,470 --> 00:07:13,390 For example, one room there's a small staircase on top of a 119 00:07:13,390 --> 00:07:15,870 bookshelf. When you become small, you can 120 00:07:15,870 --> 00:07:18,350 walk across the joists on the roof to get there. 121 00:07:18,510 --> 00:07:21,470 The first time I saw this scene, I was taken aback and said, 122 00:07:21,470 --> 00:07:24,110 whoa, that's amazing. The joists themselves were 123 00:07:24,110 --> 00:07:27,590 depicted with great detail and they're very realistic. 124 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,880 At this time, of course, as you sit here and listen to a 125 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:36,640 Nintendo 64 podcast, you know that. 3D. 126 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,600 In Zelda games was massive at this point, A Green of Time and 127 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,320 Majora's Mask were massive, massive hits. 128 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,040 You know you can hear our thoughts on Majora's Mask on 129 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,760 your podcast feed. It's just a great deep dive and 130 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,120 great discussion we had on that. It was the first time I played 131 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,340 it. And the creators also added to 132 00:07:54,340 --> 00:07:57,940 this and mentioned the fact that 3D was sort of now what people 133 00:07:57,940 --> 00:08:01,460 were thinking when they thought of a Link Zelda adventure. 134 00:08:01,660 --> 00:08:05,620 They said, quote, Zelda games are interesting in 3D, but we're 135 00:08:05,620 --> 00:08:10,260 aiming for Minish Cap on the 2D GB, a field and game that can 136 00:08:10,260 --> 00:08:14,740 compete with the 3D Zeldas. Utilizing all our technological 137 00:08:14,740 --> 00:08:18,260 expertise, we're trying to make something that will be called 138 00:08:18,300 --> 00:08:22,590 the pinnacle of 2D gaming. Now for anyone. 139 00:08:22,590 --> 00:08:26,990 Who may be? Listening to this in Europe or 140 00:08:27,310 --> 00:08:31,550 grew up in Europe at the time, this was the first time that a 141 00:08:31,550 --> 00:08:35,110 game in the Zelda series was released in Europe before it 142 00:08:35,110 --> 00:08:37,669 headed to North America. Fun little thing there. 143 00:08:38,710 --> 00:08:42,190 The main reason was that the Nintendo DS. 144 00:08:42,190 --> 00:08:45,790 With the European DS launch scheduled for Spring of 2005, 145 00:08:46,190 --> 00:08:49,070 Nintendo of Europe wanted to make Minish Cap. 146 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,840 Get there before this they wanted to hit that Christmas 147 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,640 holiday season and that's exactly what they did. 148 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,360 So just a couple of months before in 2004, that's when this 149 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,040 hit European shelves. Sadly, this is something that, 150 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,720 especially at the time and especially in the 80s and 90s, 151 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,720 never happened. Europe always got stuff later. 152 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,440 This was the first exception in the Legend of Zelda series. 153 00:09:12,770 --> 00:09:16,410 Just a few months after its complete worldwide release, The 154 00:09:16,410 --> 00:09:21,250 Legend of Zelda The Minish caps sold over 1,000,000 copies. 155 00:09:21,610 --> 00:09:25,290 That is one of the fastest selling handheld Zelda games of 156 00:09:25,290 --> 00:09:29,690 all time. Reviews at the time gave it very 157 00:09:29,690 --> 00:09:31,970 high scores. It sits anywhere between the mid 158 00:09:31,970 --> 00:09:34,930 80s to mid 90s if you're looking at numbers out there and 159 00:09:34,930 --> 00:09:38,260 Metacritic for example. But some of them criticize the 160 00:09:38,260 --> 00:09:41,540 fact that Minish Cap was a little too short, especially 161 00:09:41,540 --> 00:09:44,580 compared to previous titles. And sure, if you compare that to 162 00:09:44,580 --> 00:09:47,500 the Nintendo 64 games, I could agree with that. 163 00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:52,980 But I actually, personally, and my unofficial review here, think 164 00:09:52,980 --> 00:09:56,460 that that's actually a bonus. I think that Minish Cap excels 165 00:09:56,460 --> 00:09:59,060 at being a little bit shorter than others and being a little 166 00:09:59,060 --> 00:10:02,850 bit more compact. Literally a great experience for 167 00:10:02,850 --> 00:10:04,690 a handheld. Sure, when I played it on the 168 00:10:04,690 --> 00:10:07,210 Switch online, I had Safe States, for example. 169 00:10:07,210 --> 00:10:10,050 You know, you can sort of just put your Switch to sleep, and at 170 00:10:10,050 --> 00:10:12,650 the time you play on GB A. Sure, there's a little bit of a 171 00:10:12,650 --> 00:10:16,090 different experience there, but I actually think that regardless 172 00:10:16,090 --> 00:10:18,970 of how you saved things and how you experienced the dungeons and 173 00:10:18,970 --> 00:10:22,370 exploring and everything, I actually like that this game was 174 00:10:22,370 --> 00:10:27,050 smaller in scale, not literally with diminished abilities, but. 175 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:29,160 Just the fact that it was a little bit quicker. 176 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,320 I played this over the course of about 7 to 10 days to completion 177 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:35,920 and that was great. I I loved that experience. 178 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,880 I love the fact that I could get through this and you know what 179 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,520 would essentially be a vacation if it was on vacation at the 180 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,600 time. Despite a little bit of 181 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,600 criticism, every game has it. Not every game is perfect. 182 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,600 It did receive a decent amount of rewards. 183 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,440 GB a game of the year at Game Spy, GameSpot. 184 00:10:52,870 --> 00:10:57,190 And IG N and then on Nintendo Power, the 2005 GB a game of the 185 00:10:57,190 --> 00:11:01,110 year and the 24th the best game on a Nintendo console. 186 00:11:07,070 --> 00:11:09,750 Well thank you everyone for joining me on this sort of mini 187 00:11:09,750 --> 00:11:13,030 package size of a remember 64 episode. 188 00:11:13,150 --> 00:11:16,550 I know it wasn't about a 64 game, but I really want to get 189 00:11:16,550 --> 00:11:20,070 the word out about Minish Cap. I think that's part of it and 190 00:11:20,190 --> 00:11:22,270 just sort of share my experience of. 191 00:11:22,850 --> 00:11:25,330 Playing games that are not part of the 64 lineup. 192 00:11:25,330 --> 00:11:27,930 That is something you'll definitely hear on the Patreon 193 00:11:27,930 --> 00:11:30,690 page. patreon.com/remember 64 show. 194 00:11:30,970 --> 00:11:33,850 No, it is not always going to be a Nintendo title, not always 195 00:11:33,850 --> 00:11:35,530 going to be something that you can find on Switch. 196 00:11:35,810 --> 00:11:38,090 But at this time I figured you know what? 197 00:11:38,090 --> 00:11:40,330 I want to share my thoughts, something I've been playing in 198 00:11:40,330 --> 00:11:43,250 the last over the course of the last month and didn't want to 199 00:11:43,250 --> 00:11:46,130 leave anybody hanging in the feet a little quieter than it 200 00:11:46,130 --> 00:11:48,330 normally is. But back to the regular stuff. 201 00:11:48,690 --> 00:11:51,650 In just a little bit. If you want to support the show, 202 00:11:51,650 --> 00:11:53,730 you can head over to Patreon as little as a dollar a month. 203 00:11:53,730 --> 00:11:56,690 We'll get you episodes early, including video content on our 204 00:11:56,690 --> 00:12:01,610 YouTube page, YouTube is Remember Dash 64, and then 205 00:12:01,610 --> 00:12:04,970 everything on social media is at Remember 64 show. 206 00:12:05,250 --> 00:12:09,650 If you are listening to this in June or July of 2023, you'll 207 00:12:09,650 --> 00:12:12,330 know that there's a whole lot of stuff going on on social media 208 00:12:12,330 --> 00:12:14,790 at the moment. I'm going to try and secure all 209 00:12:14,790 --> 00:12:17,910 the Remember 64 show handles across the board. 210 00:12:17,910 --> 00:12:19,870 That includes other things like Blue Sky. 211 00:12:20,390 --> 00:12:22,110 I will keep you posted right now. 212 00:12:22,110 --> 00:12:25,270 You can find everything on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok at 213 00:12:25,270 --> 00:12:29,030 Remember 64 Show and other than that, I really appreciate 214 00:12:29,030 --> 00:12:31,870 everyone for joining me on this journey so far and Remember 64. 215 00:12:32,350 --> 00:12:36,190 I can't wait to share the slew of amazing games, guests and 216 00:12:36,190 --> 00:12:38,830 topics that we're going to be talking about on our podcast 217 00:12:38,830 --> 00:12:41,470 feed on Patreon and on social media. 218 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:44,840 All right, everyone, Have a great week. 219 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:46,240 We'll see you next time.