I really should be going to bed. The wait is killing me and sleep would be like fast forwarding several hours to when the game is released. XD

'cos the back-end drop-down says "Legend of Zelda: Four Swords A". Rectified now.

Will we be seeing a review of this?

This needs to come sooner to America
Also Aviator, you are on the other side of the pond and the game is free, whip out your DSi,DSiXL or 3DS and download that suckah

No. We've decided to stop writing reviews from now on. Just too much work and trouble.

Good for you Europe! Hopefully mine will be downloadable soon. @Corbs Are you being serious? 0.o

Laughs hysterically in a corner, recovers, then posts
No Portista, he was not serious. Reviews are what 50% of the site is about!

I've already started playing it.

It's almost criminal that Nintendo give away so much of their best downloadable software for free.

@sillygostly Oh no you didn't.

@Kolma I have downloaded it, and it ain't that flash.

@Corbs Oh you.

the file is huge. It just halved the remaining space on my 3DS and took about a fifth of my XLs space. Ah well, it is worth it.

Anyway, it is a fun title and the single player (although slightly different control to the gamecube single player) plays quite well

I'm looking forward to this tomorrow! (I'v got a US DSi XL, so I have to wait).

It's always nice to get free stuff.

Awesome! I guess it's an insta-download for me then!

‎4 Swords, Ocarina of Time, and Link's Awakening on my 3DS... That's a lot of Zelda

4 copies downloaded. Now I just need to hire some hookers to play it with me...

I was wondering what was going on. lol. First thing I did this morning (5 am here), and couldn't find it. Got a little scared for us NOA. Thanks for clearing that up. lol

I tried the single player for few minutes. It's crap, not worth playing.

imma run home from school today and play my 3ds and download this :D

I dont wanna wait

@James Will it include Link to the Past like in the original Four Swords? Just worried that it won't as I heard nothing of it yet

What Milkman-123 said.

@Ninjaboy666: Of course it doesn't! LTTP would be a huge money-maker for them, no way they will give it away for free.

@Wheels2050 Seriously?

@Ninjaboy666
Seriously

@Ninjaboy666 Why did you think it would be included? 4Swords was a bonus game with ALttP on GBA, not the other way around. This was always about 4Swords.

I'm so excited!
@expa0 COME ON!

dont worry about him @rudydog13
he doesnt know what hes talking about. hes a hater. let him do his job.

@LJM How dare you speak ill of The Legend of Zelda! Don't make me hit you with a highly-flammable stick from an ancient talking tree with a weird moustache! >: [

I've played a little bit of the single player and actually found it to be quite enjoyable, obviously the game is geared more towards multiplayer but for a free game this is pretty good.

The single player is the best single player a multiplayer game can have

I had to delete another DSi game to make room for it on my 3DS system memory. I copied it to my SD card first, but does that include the save file? Or do you have to start the game from scratch when you put it back on system memory? Not actually a problem right now as I hadn't actually gotten round to playing said game (Reflect Missile), but could be a bother in future.

Anyhoo, despite that niggle this is super duper generous of Nintendo! Here's to another 25 years of Zelda, and more!

FRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE GAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I just moved to Europe with my NTSC 3DS, so everyone here is playing it and I haven't even downloaded it yet. Hurry up NOA!

I download it its cooooooooooooooooooooool its freeeeeeeeee

@dimlylitmonkey uuh, Reflect Missile is a pretty good game. And the Save-Files are usually copied along when you move the game to and from SD.

Aaaahhh! Its like someone saying im their going to shoot you and they SLOWLY pull the trigger SHOOT ME NINTENDO!!!

Free or not, I'm still meh about this because I have no local friends to play with. I'll get it later today but since the file is apparently huge, if single player mode doesn't wow me, I'll be deleting it.

@Mully: Enjoy your free game

Brilliant :3

Woah, I didn't think it would be released until tomorrow. Gonna download soon.

This is awesome. I've already played a little of it. Love it.

just got it its topnotch.its a lot better than links awakening puzzles are real good.basically cant fault it and its free★★★★★

I want.

Already downloaded it, but didn't have the time to play it. I've got so many tasks to do now, and a few of them are just tedious, ridiculous or devious. Sigh..

CAN'T WAIT!

Looking forward to this, but NOA doesn't update their stuff until later in the afternoon. It would be nice to have this as a morning treat. Still, if it's free, I guess I shouldn't complain.

Hmmm, it seems like I said something recently about North America and the low end of totem poles. Maybe I dreamt it. Maybe I'm a Wind Fish. I dunno. Not complaining. Just being right.

@Flutter: Or it's the time zones

I wasn't really impressed by this on the GBA, but I'm gonna give it another go tonight on multiplayer and see how we do.

Still hoping we see a Crystal Chronicles release on the 3DS.

it is now available in the US DSi and eshops

after downloading it on my dsi, dsi xl and 3ds, now ready to play

@Mully the file is only 101 blocks, only slighly above my dsiware and half the amount of an E3 trailer.

115 blocks on mine

Why won't they let us put this on the SD Card??!

It's out in NA too Nintendo! So an article should be posted for us now!

115 for me too. The two Rytmiks I have are bigger though.

@FluttershyGuy I'd hardly consider people in the US to be on the "low end of the totem pole". A day or so is NOTHING to wait. Come to Europe for a few years; you'll never complain again.

We have it now, i download it about to play now!

I have a lot of content on my 3DS so I just hope I don't have to delete anything. Again, the game is free so I'm not complaining; however, I just hope the single player mode warrants the file size. Also, this kinda makes me wonder about how much memory we'll have for the GBA ambassador games. If a small game like Four Swords is this big... I think it's safe to say to ambassadors to go ahead and invest in a bigger SD card.

Downloaded mine. Hope the singleplayer is good, don't have any nearby friends with DSi's or 3DS'.

I just checked my 3DS and NA has it now too.

Wow! Much better than expected!

I got and its good so far

I have just been reading some reviews of the original that was released on the GBA called 'Zelda: A Link to the Past w/ the Four Swords' now am i correct in thinking that this version leaves out the 'Link To The Past' game ?

@Mully It won't make a difference. DSiWare games are saved in the system memory, while 3DS specific games like the ambassador games are saved to the SD card. So unless you're planning on getting a lot more DSiWare games, you don't have much to worry about.

I guess this is DSiWare (can't be played from SD card)?

Timing couldn't be more perfect. Going on a 5-hour road trip to the OBX this Saturday. I think I know what my brother and I'll be doing in the car-ride up.

@VyVoX: Yes this version is only Four Swords and does not include ALttP.

Took about a third of my free space. By the time I run out of space I'm sure to have more than a few DSiWare titles that I'd be okay with storing away on the SD card.

I really appreciate how they made the game work with only one player, but it really makes me want to play it with other people. Which I reckon is a good sign.

@Katzii
I was pretty much just pointing out the current trend of other branches of Nintendo increasingly getting titles that NA doesn't and sometimes (but not always) getting them sooner. I know Europe has had it rough in the past, and I'm sorry for that.

North Americans ARE finding out what that's been like, because the roles seem reversed now. The Wii here is pretty much dead, except for Skyward Sword, Kirby and Mario Party upcoming.

I'm not complaining in the least that Europe is getting more games. God knows it's time you received better treatment! I am complaining, however, that NoA is depriving us in comparison to other branches of Nintendo. In a perfect world, all territories would be treated equally.

But, I'm straying from the article topic. Wonderful to now have a single player version of GBA Four Swords to play now!

No mention of it being out in Japan too?

@Adamant - Yes, it's out in Japan, apologies for any confusion.

@Adamant: Not many people have Japanese 3DSes and those that do probably already know it's out

yes!!!! i have it and is excelent!!!! now i need some brave heroes with me to save zelda and hyrule!!!

Is this only multicard?

Awesome, downloading it know.

Grezzo helped make this? With Nintendo's confidence in letting them develop Zelda games, could they become a 1st-party developer?

Buying out Grezzo and Good-Feel will really help Nintendo's development efforts.

This is full of win!

@ImDiggerDan: lol, you've got kids though — that's free labor right there. no need to pay any hookers

yay zelda

@FlutterShyGuy (69)

Sony treats their regional markets much better than Nintendo does.

YEAHZ JUST DOWNLOADED IT!!! School was a half-day, that much more time!

How long will this be free to download?

Going to get it now.
@Kreegs07 February 20 2012 I think.

even thought I don't play Zelda games since I play Mario games,im still going to get this. I never deny a free offer!

Luckily I live in a 3 x Dsi & a 3DS household so the local multiplayer is fine, but im suprised by how well the single player works.
Having two young children in the house the single player mode is a great way for them to learn the game and then we are all up to speed when playing multiplayer.

So far I am loving it... already gathered the 3 silver keys, onward to Vaati's palace gotta save SOMEthing for later.. A+ so far! Great graphics, sound, design.. makes me long for Minish Cap, though. (Btw, i love how they call the Minish Cap the "Rat Cap" in this game, what's that about? Why not just call it the Minish Cap? Lol I can tell how it looks like Link To the Past/Minish Cap, same great design.

@expa0
Don't you think you should play a game for more than a few minutes before passing judgement?

Swwweeet!!!! Can't wait to download when I'm done with my homework!
_{Curse you NL for distracting me!}

I played through two stages so far. I've enjoyed it! Pleasantly surprised by the one player experience, although of course it would be WAY more fun with friends. Still yet, it's been a fun game and you can't beat the price. I take back all of my negative nancy commentary about this game.

Been playing this all afternoon and evening with my 2 of my sisters and their DSi's. Wish we had another one here. This game is excellent.

I don't see why everyone is complaining about the file size. I downloaded it and it took 115 blocks on my 3DS, which is SMALLER than the ambassador certificate.

THIS IS YESHTASTIC!

I think I'll wait a few days so that I can download it on my birthday on October 1st. It'll be the awesomest birthday present that didn't cost anyone anything!

its only free for a limited time ( well at least till feburary 2012) so a load of people will probably get this game. havent played it yet, but its awsome that its free and for both 3ds and dsi. it would be awsome if nintendo would put a link to the past gba on eshop. (i know, not for free, but still it would be awsome!)

@grumblegrumble: This game was made long before Minish Cap so they had probably not yet come up with that name. I thought Four Swords called it the gnat hat?

@uel That's what I thought. I always knew it as the gnat hat.

@calooom this saves on the system (which is limited in size). The ambassador certificate is saved to the SD card (which has way more space). That is why we are complaining.

@theblackdragon you know, if i didnt read diggerdans comment before reading yours, im afraid id have to call dateline nbc on you.

Wow. Opinions of the single player really vary. I think it's wonderful. Also @bugaham, I think you're overreacting big time. There are plenty of worse Nintendo games.

The realm of memories is just too awesome! But Ièm stuck at the Gameboy part... =/

@99 i thought it was pretty awsome... Besides its free what did you expect?

Im stuck on Vaati any advice?

so dsi software cannot run directly off of sd cards? yeah yeah know i'm late to realize it.

Go to the Four Swords thread for help, Shadow.

It's refreshing to be able to say, "Thank you Nintendo. I appreciate this very much," and be completely sincere. They put some work into this one and it's free! Online may have made it perfect but I'm happy to have something to help distract me until Skyward Sword comes out. Not to mention it's nice to finally see wtf was in that half of A Link to the Past/Four Swords I never got to play. Now if we could only get Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons for added diversionary power.

I got it for both my 3DS and my DSi XL. I'll play it later after I get some homework done. Meanwhile, I was able to run a speed test to see which console downloads games faster (spoiler: 3DS won by a wide margin).

I got it as soon as I got out of bed XD. Its gonna be awesome!

I am really enjoying this game. So far I finished the tutorial dungeon and now I cant wait to tackle a real dungeon.

I am living in Mexico right now and I get back to the USA on 25th of Oct. I just want to make sure I can Download it when I get home!!!

@ 107. Thomas ive done the same and downloaded it for both my 3DS & XL and was comparing the Graphics on both i have noticed that you get to see a bit more of the screen on the Left & Right hand sides on the XL and that the colours look slightly washed out on the 3ds whereas the XL picture looks much more vibrant and punchy.

@uel Yes, that's right. The gnat hat! LOL I guess Minish Cap borrowed the shrink hat thing from this game, then? Hrm. Interesting!

@XyVoX I noticed the same thing. set your brightness to 5 and turn power saving off and the colours wont look washed out.

I had a neverending battle with vaati until I realized that you can blow up the bombs when ever you want.

Cool I put Four Swords on my 3DS and DSi. I don't need 2 copies but since its free Why not

@ TheAmazingRaccoon i had already done that with the brightness and power saving mode and the 3DS still looks much more washed out than the XL though.

I'm playing alone.
Damn

I LOVE IT!