Link Cable Exclusive Multiplayer Games That Should Get Ported To The Switch

Multiplayer games that required Link Cables are a relic of the past now, but many of them deserve a modern Switch port.

If there is one thing Nintendo is known for, it’s that they are unpredictable. Their approach to simple things like controllers or consoles can be wondrously sleek or mesmerizingly obtuse. The Switch is on the better end of their investments and it has paid off. It melded home consoles and portables together effortlessly. Here's a look at the GameCube and how it connected to another portable device aka the Game Boy Advance.

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Certain multiplayer games required the use of Link Cables and GBAs to play in sessions. It was unique but also needlessly complicated and expensive. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was one of these games but it can now be played without Link Cables and GBAs thanks to the remaster. A lot of GameCube games used the GBA functionality, but not a lot of them used the GBA as a multiplayer resource. So, some of these entries skirt the line on the co-op front, but they could still be cool to see on Switch.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is the ultimate example of a dedicated multiplayer game setup using the Link Cables and GBA. It's the second game in the series following The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords which appeared as a GBA game. As the name suggests, Four Swords was a pack-in with a GBA port of the SNES game, A Link to the Past. Two to Four GBAs could be hooked up for a level-based quest set in Hyrule with multi-colored Links.

Four Swords Adventures was a more refined experience than its predecessor. Characters were controlled using the GBA and the inventory was displayed on the portable as well. The console displayed all of the action though. It was a fun multiplayer title on GameCube that Zelda fans have been itching to play again.

Four Swords Adventures was not the only Zelda title on GameCube to offer fans a multiplayer experience. The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker had a co-op option wherein players could control Tingle. After meeting him in the game, Tingle will give Link the Tingle Tuner item. After this, a second player could control Tingle via the GBA.

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The second player could help map out areas, destroy obstacles, solve puzzles, and so much more. It wasn’t a full co-op mode but it was close for the time. The remaster on Wii U removed this functionality and replaced it with a message in a bottle-like system. If the game ever gets ported to Switch, hopefully, the original Tingle Tuner option will be restored.

Surprisingly, there have not been a lot of original games based in the Harry Potter universe that were not tied to the films. Besides the latest entry Hogwarts Legacy,

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup is the only big one for consoles that comes to mind. It’s also the only dedicated game based around the fake sport of Quidditch which is astounding.

If players owned the GameCube and GBA versions and hooked them up, they could create a dedicated setup to find the Snitch during the match. It was easier to have a friend find the Snitch on the GBA screen instead of interrupting the main match to play a mini-game on the TV to find it. A remaster of this game or a new Quidditch game with this idea in mind could be huge.

Medal of Honor became a big series for Sony via the PS1. First-person shooters weren’t perfect on consoles yet but the game offered players an exciting World War 2 experience with a cinematic perspective. This was made clearer in Medal of Honor: Frontline on PS2 which was praised highly by critics and fans alike.

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun was the ultimate successor to that game and moved the campaign to the Pacific Theater. If players had that game and Medal of Honor: Infiltrator on GBA, they could unlock a map. The functionality resembled the Tingle Tuner mode in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker but with less interaction. It was not a co-op mode exactly, but having a friend read off pertinent information could help players feel more immersed in the war scenario.

The original trilogy in Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell series was brutal on the GameCube, PS2, and Xbox. Players had to be careful about how they got around in the darkness because one wrong move could lead to the mission getting aborted. It was a stark contrast to the Metal Gear franchise which was more open with its gameplay.

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GameCube players did have a leg up on the other two consoles though. Hooking up the GBA versions of the first games could unlock rewards for those titles along with a map and radar system for the console game. Like Metal of Honor: Rising Sun, players could get friends to act as their navigators. The third game, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, also had GBA functionality with the GameCube even though there was no GBA version of Chaos Theory.

Amazing Island is probably a game most have never heard of before. It was published by Sega and worked on by two of their subsidiary developers. Hitmaker, for example, developed a lot of racing and driving games such as Crazy Taxi. Ancient worked on everything from Sonic titles to Streets of Rage.

Amazing Island itself was a colorful adventure game wherein players could customize and collect monsters for mini-game purposes ranging from races to sports-like scenarios. It was weird to be sure and it didn’t land with a lot of people. Those that did enjoy the game could unlock a card mini-game via the Link Cable called Monster Cards. This card game could be played with up to four friends via the GBA.

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Tristan Jurkovich began his career as a journalist in 2011. His childhood love of video games and writing fuel his passion for archiving this great medium’s history. He dabbles in every genre, but he’s particularly fond of RPGs and portable consoles. Aside from writing, Tristan also produces a plethora of videos on his YouTube Channel, ReActionExaminer. Check it out!