Secrets of the Gamecube GBA Link Cable | Punching Weight | SSFF

[@TheCrewExpendable]

5 TVs, 5 Gamecubes, 4 GameCube GBA players, 4 GameCube GBA link cables, 4 GameCube controllers, 1 copy of 4 swords or Crystal chronicles, 0 actual GBAs.

[@zolikat4458]

Why do you need 5 gamecubes, but only 4 gameboy players

[@Takr13]

@@zolikat4458 Id imagine 4 gamecubes are acting as a GBA and one gamecube is well, a game cube

[@TheLeggedOne]

Now your playing with power

[@trueskatemafucker4251]

awesome dome

[@nysato]

Me and my friend kinda did this, he had a GBA and I had the Gameboy Player so we had 2 TVs, 2 Gamecubes, 1 GBA, a copy of Final Fantasy CC and a power strip to run it all. it wasn't bad but I can see it getting confusing with Zelda Four Swords as you are moving from TV to TV

[@Leon14344_]

So, the actual intended way to play Crystal Chronicles is to run a whole campaign with the same four people, usually with at least one person who has done it before. You tend to decide on party composition at the beginning, and the bucket is often left to the "white mage" player, who more than likely doesn't need to heal at the start of encounters anyway. Think of it like a D&D campaign; you get three other players to sit and play it for a multi-hour session. It is NOT a party game. It's an absolutely fantastic time; I run at least one campaign a year with my friends, cycling out people from year to year sometimes in order to keep the run fresh. As i'm the most experienced, I play the white mage, and tend to the chalice, acting as a pseudo Dungeon Master. I highly recommend it to everyone. I went out of my way to get 4 GBA SPs just for these sessions.

[@xpl0d1n]

Ive started a few campaigns with some buddys but havent yet been able to have everyone organized enough to come back and beat the whole game. I love the game to death though and am really exited for the day i can say i finally finished it with a whole group!

[@animuswiese5533]

Thats a badass way of thinking of it. I used to have 3 friends that we just go in building different stories all the time. I played more of the red mage side and tended the bucket.. Boss fights were funner that way. Good times.

[@kryzethx]

Same, basically, except me and the friends I was playing with all graduated before we could beat the game. Sad to leave it unfinished; it was an amazing time together

[@Ffancrzy]

CC is a great game that I'm super nostalgic for. My friends and I played it during some of our hurricane days and it was a super innovative game, really took advantage of the fact that each players controller also had a screen on it. I was often the heal bitch which I didnt mind so much.

[@TheLazySamurai]

Including the 3 of the GBA to GC cables I've seen in youtube videos, I've only seen 5 in total. They were too rare to get so that I could play FF:CC with friends, and thats all I wanted to do :( Glad to hear others are able to enjoy, that game was well made

[@andressacapuntas9523]

The Tingle Tuner was so good. It basically turned Wind Waker into a bizarre co-op game where the GBA player could bomb enemies or just bomb Link and it was really good.

[@AdamTheGameBoy]

Yeah, it was a blast. It's one of the reasons I'm not sure if the HD remake is actually an improvement.

[@SakuraAvalon]

HD is an improvement. One minigame a good chunk of people never played excluded. I mean, if you like WindWaker the game itself that is.

[@Shadowwand]

@@SakuraAvalon still seems silly, that with a built in second screen console not to put that functionality in.

[@Lakersdude7]

@@Shadowwand I know I was shocked they removed that feature

[@SeshohoCian]

On the front of the Game Boy Player is a link cable slot, intended for multiplayer stuff like pokemon. But, with two Gamecubes, (or a gamecube and a wii,) you could hook up the Gamecube-GBA Link Cable to the Game Boy Player, and have a Gamecube + TV act as a giant GBA in any of these games! Playing four player Four Swords Adventures with one Wii, four gamecubes and five tvs? Now THAT's ambitious and unnecessary. Oh also, Pac-Man Vs. has been included in the Nintendo Switch Namco Classics collection, although it requires two separate Switches to be played.

[@S0larisPrime]

That has actually been done! Check out the Let's Play Archive for Pokecapn and Friends' LP of FSA!

[@unnameablename]

SeshohoCian this was done in the RunawayGuys Lets play of four swords adventure

[@Ds_is_i]

Well finally I can play pac man vs except it’s not my gamecube copy

[@CassietheReal]

Pac-Man Vs. was also in the DS Namco Collection

[@scamila17]

The link cable i have to trade Pokemon between 2 GBA is not like the one shown in the video. Why is that?. oes it mean that there is a different Link Cable that works with The Gamecube?

[@AdvancePlays]

GBA's Four Swords and GCN's Four Swords Adventure aren't different versions; they're different games.

[@screamingfalcon71]

Exactly what I was thinking when he said that. The ACTUAL Four Swords game was rereleased on the DS to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Zelda with the ability to finally play it alone.

[@Caidren]

@@screamingfalcon71 Clarification: it was re released on the Dsi, not the ds/dslite.

[@jamcdonald120]

And GBA 4 Swords came out 2 YEARS before 4 Swords Adventure (p.s. just try to find a 4 swords playthrough that isnt 4 swords adventure)

[@gregorymirabella1423]

@@jamcdonald120 it sure as hell ain't easy.

[@allenserna1290]

Is it possible to just play 4 sword with 4 gamecube controllers no link cable

[@kaimcdragonfist4803]

Pac-Man VS is such a good time. A friend of mine got a copy of Pac-Man World 2 for his birthday that had Pac-Man VS in it, and honestly, we had no idea how amazing a pack-in (or Pac-in) it would be. Also, Pac-Man VS was actually designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, which is probably why they thought having Mario as an announcer would be a good idea.

[@gameguy73]

Pac-Man VS. was ported to the switch recently in Namco Museum.

[@GatorRay]

+JimF It also got ported to Namco Museum on the Nintendo DS.

[@Ariesguy41499]

Kai McDragonfist I've got Pac-Man Vs. for the GameCube along with Pac-Man World 2(which I think is an amazing platformer btw) but I've never played it. I dont have a gba but would like to get a gba sp someday so I could play it.

[@PhirePhlame]

There's also a standalone Switch version of Pac-Man VS for free.

[@totallymady42069]

I remember when I was a kid I borrowed pokemon channel from a friend but didn't have the gba cable, upon unlocking Jirachi I immediately ran to my friends house ( who lived about 15 minutes away) to borrow his cable, unfortunately he wasn't in so I had to sit around for a while until he arrived home. Upon recieving the cable my eyes lit up and I ran all the way home again. It was at this moment I completed my 100% pokedex in Sapphire. Ooooh good times. A friend of mine later erased my save.

[@KristofferEk]

owch.

[@EposVox]

I loved my link cable for Pokemon, had didn't realize at the time that it did all of this too!

[@minimalchill]

Honestly, Id love a part 2 and 3 of this exact topic...just exploring more games. Appreciate the quality entertainment guys. Spectacular as always. :)

[@willdill4987]

Part 2 is up

[@eandjproductions2]

Surprised he didn't mention the e-Reader at all. Love to see an episode on that also.

[@GameTacoFTW]

I remember back in elementary school, I'd connect my gba to animal crossing so I could design flags and shirts.

[@rwiseart2269]

Game Taco That’s the best reason to have the link cable, except for playing NES games on the GBA

[@mandymom2800]

Don’t forget the tiny chao garden :)

[@joe_schmoe_420]

You could go to the island if you connect the link cable Its the only way to get coconut palm trees

[@aguchamp7766]

I love using this in Pokemon Colosseum. A huge upgrade from what the N64 did.

[@SoberDwarf]

Man, whoever did the editing for this video is amazing! Probably good looking too!

[@StopSkeletonsFromFighting]

SoberDwarf No kidding! Check him out fam! kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4fYooFmh6d5mbs

[@TimewornUncle]

I followed the link and found a hideous sasquatch. Enter at your own risk. But if a sasquatch can compile something that sophisticated, they will soon be off the monster myth list.

[@MixAndMash]

Best joke 2018.

[@annmosely8863]

Good looking, talented, brave and probably one of the nicest people on youtube. Your stuff is some of the best I've seen! Anyone who tells you otherwise are just trolls who are too busy spending time spewing vitriol in the comments section to do anything worthwhile in their lives!

[@SoberDwarf]

Thank you! I really appreciate hearing that! It's always nice seeing you comment on my stuff, even when it's not on my channel! To be honest, those comments don't bother me, they have their right to their opinion as much as anybody. Besides, two comments out of 59 thumbs up and being the top rated comment? I'll take that any day of the week!

[@kduhtdkzrt]

Four Swords. So many memories. Cant believe its been 15 years.

[@chfgn]

Pac Man Vs is second only to Mario Chase for the title of Best Party Game Ever. Animal Crossing had a bunch of good uses for the GBA link, and Rayman 3 had a minigame where the person on the Game Boy played Tetris to create a racetrack for the person on the TV who was playing some kind of racing game. If you want a good idea for something weird, ambitious, or unnecessary to take a look at, check out Quest for the Rings on the Magnavox Odyssey 2. It's half board game and half video game, and if you're willing to use your imagination it's a whole lot of fun.

[@mspeter97]

each time I have friends around we end up playing Pac-Man Vs for quite a long time. This game is so great (if you can forget Mario's voice)

[@Igorcastrochucre]

Honestly Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles is at its best with four people, the experience is akin to a couch MMORPG. But the sheer thought of gathering four people, four GBAs and four adapters is probably why many skipped this game.

[@tacituskilgore2016]

Explains why it was so hard… I played solo.

[@TheShangryLlamas]

Quick correction for ya. Four Swords on the GBA is not the same as Four Swords Adventures on the Gamecube. They take place in completely different points of the timeline, with Four Swords happening after Minish Cap and Four Swords Adventures happening after Twilight Princess.

[@RealityXP_]

The reason why I subbed to this channel

[@shamwowser6449]

Not sure why this is still a big misconception, but Four Swords is a different game entirely than Four Swords Adventures. It is not just another version or a port. They have different stories, levels, items, bosses, music, graphics, and modes. Even Hyrule Historia, the official Nintendo book that lists the Zelda timeline, lists the 2 games as separate events. They aren't even close to each other in the timeline branch either. Not mad, but a little research goes a long way. :) otherwise great video!

[@KrunkCobain]

You sound fucking mad bro

[@shamwowser6449]

Nope! Just wanted to clear it up. It's a fun Zelda game just wanted to make sure people didn't write it off as the same thing. :)

[@Valtharr]

Pac-Man Vs is actually on the Switch, as part of the Namco Museum (which also includes Splatterhouse!)

[@moth.monster]

The third party cables work just fine. One that i have has some durability problems, but it's almost fifteen years old now so I can accept that honestly. The other one is new and works great as well. They're really just cables.

[@topo8444]

Pac-Man vs. was also included in the namco museum for the DS. Its a lot like the one for GameCube though everyone needs their on DS but only one game card. Worth getting the game for just that!

[@GameplayandTalk]

Ouch. Requiring the link cable for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was a major oversight. The Gamecube was the party system of choice for many back then and so I bet the game would have been much more popular with Cube owners had the cable not been required.

[@BologneyT]

I guess they thought that was gonna sell that cable. They bet wrong and should maybe have bundled it. I own Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (got it back in the day) and it was pretty cool, and I actually owned one of the cables, too! MY unfortunate problem was I had no friends to play it with. :( So I had to test it by myself to see how it worked... and it actually works alright as a two player game played alone, because one player has to be on bucket duty anyway... so it... ALMOST works. If you play 2 player alone, you get to swap characters, at least.

[@tomstorm255]

Gameplay and Talk I think it would have been way too annoying to play without the cable unfortunately. Having the GBA screen meant everyone could easily use menus and setup skills and such without having to pause the game for the other players. While they could've made it work otherwise, it would have felt much slower and more clunky with 4 players I think (ie: Diablo 3's menus on 4p coop on consoles) That said, they definitely should have bundled a cable or two with the game

[@KevinTwiner]

I agree ☝️

[@KuraIthys]

Yeah, I love the thought of these games... But getting that setup together is nuts. Plus, I literally had no friends at the time so... There is that. I have the link cable. Possibly even two of them. And a gba. And... Well, technically a Wii (but that still works) I even remember playing that game with 3 people once... But... to do it justice, you need a gamecube, 4 people, 4 cables, and 4 gba systems!? Yeah, good luck with that. XD

[@noahmccann4438]

I found the game’s magic system to be very ingenious for a multiplayer RPG - it was very rewarding to perfectly time a spell with your friend to get a more powerful spell, and even cooler the first few times you unintentionally overlapped unrelated spells and in so doing cast a new spell (ex. Fire + blizzard + thunder to cast graviga). The hardware requirements were a huge hurdle though, and getting enough interested people together to play it didn’t help. I can’t help but think that (with many tweaks) it could work well as a modern day online multiplayer game. Or possibly with an accompanying phone app (although those never really work well). The most important change would be ditching the bucket. Or at least converting it from a requirement to a nice-to-have (like an AoE buff).

[@ovolmase6724]

I actually had these devices back when I was a wee boy. I actually did a full windwaker play through with the tingle tuner and even got all the secret bonuses from it (don't remember what they were but I got them)

[@Discoh]

Pac-Man VS was also included in Namco Museum DS. That version’s pretty fun.

[@lilwyvern4]

This video gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling I haven't felt in a long time. For a brief moment, I was playing Gamecube games with my sister again. Things weren't quite as horrible in my world (but still far from great), and I still felt magic in my gaming habits. Thank you for rekindling that feeling, if only for the briefest of moments.

[@AllUsernamesTaken]

Pac Man VS. is actually available on the DS too, as a part of Namco Museum.

[@Knuxfan24]

Pac-Man VS was remade(?) as part of Namco Museum DS. & it was a bloody BLAST to play.

[@Paladinion]

Crystal Chronicles is one of my all time favorite games because of playing it with 3 other people. It was a blast to all sit on the couch and work your way through the world.

[@lucasmelac6645]

I absolutely love this show, it’s the best one you guys make in my opinion. You always show so much respect and passion for what you’re talking about and it’s a joy to listen to.

[@TakaMaru777]

Splinter Cell on gamecube had awesome GBA connectivity, I don't remember exactly how it worked but it gave you a map layout and you could hack cameras and turrets and stuff

[@samuelc6246]

When I think GC-GBA link, this is (after FF:CC, LoZ:FSA, and Pacman VS) the first game I think of. It's a foggy memory, but I know I was amazed by it.

[@otakuribo]

_Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles_ is literally my favorite game of all time. I could go on forever about how perfectly designed it's game mechanics storytelling, art and music direction were; but much more importantly, this game, along with Gamecube couch multiplayer games like _Phantasy Star Online_ and _Four Swords_ forged deep spiritual bonds between me and my siblings, and we are each other's best friends to this day.

[@posisoyyo]

Has been like twelve years since my friends and I had the complete setup to play FF:CC and Four Swords Adventures I remember those days playing with friends FF Crystal Chronicles... there were moments of teamwork... and lots of moments of carrying the chalise far away from the group in order to rebel from the job of carrying the chalise... We had a really great time with Four Swords (Also with the Original for the GBA) except those times when we had to wait for another player to do a certain task and being bad at that... Thanks for bringing those memories back~

[@lolidayo]

Please do an episode on Mario no photopy on the N64. It's a Japanese exclusive. Very weird and unnecessary game / peripheral.

[@ajthem554]

It's not it's fixed the bugs with Japanese version and made it better

[@BigOlSmellyFlashlight]

lolidayo I once tried to translate it but couldn't reinsert the graphics

[@AFlyingCoconut]

The Tingle Tracker was a truly amazing tool and allowed both me and my brother to enjoy playing WW together. It uses your rupees to give you potions, drop bombs, give you special power ups etc. As well as find hidden chests.

[@haha-uj5rj]

I just found this channel and I can't stop watching. Keep up the great content.

[@19Szabolcs91]

Oh man, Crystal Chronicles is so awesome, and it's truly special. Even after all these years, there isn't anything else like this (its own sequels were very different, and also not very good..) But it truly WAS hindered by needing GBAs for multiplayer, and it wasn't justified in any good way like in Four Swords Adventures.

[@EskChan19]

uhm... yes it was? It had the menu for every player on the GBA screen, so people could be in the menu at the same time. It gave everyone an own map, it added the bonus point feature for everyone, it had a TON of features that would have simply been impossible without the GBA. So yes, it was completely justified. Without GBAs the game wouldn't have been possible in the same way.

[@kryzethx]

@@EskChan19 None of those features have to be exclusive to the GBA, except for the menu, which is the hardest thing to do without pausing the action for everybody. The different maps/radars are interesting, but you can easily just put the minimap on the TV screen. The bonuses can just be shown to everybody at the start; this is a coop game, you shouldn't be competing for score (Four Swords Adventures has enough of that). And the lack of buttons on the GBA limited the combat system more than anything. X or Y could have been used for quick guard or food commands, which you can never reactively use because of the slow L/R command swapping, especially with big lists of spells. The menu system is really the only issue. Not easy to squeeze the menu into a quarter of 480p screen and still be legible AND not block the other player's view of the action

[@juancabeza5809]

3:26 I remember how much fun we used to have playing this game in 4 players mode. The best part is that I still have everything in my collection!...

[@AlexWitney]

That Pac-Man game looks like great fun!

[@undercoverweeb]

alex & emily four days ago? what magic is this

[@megamarsonic]

Patreon backer I think.

[@Dongled]

Great episode. The link cable was widely underappreciated but Pac-Man VS was by far the BEST use of it. I still play it with friends to this day!

[@0rderSol]

Year 2019; Still hasn't been a single GBA emulator than connects to Dolphin with mass ports. Iphone, android, PSP, Vita, GPD, imagine going to a friend's house and having a good time with Crystal Chronicles or 4-Swords via WLAN.

[@GreatScooty]

The Tingle Tuner is preeeetty cool. It lets a friend play Wind Waker with you as basically an "assistant". They can set bombs, reveal things, find extra power ups, give you buffs (I think? It's been awhile), and each dungeon has a specific Tingle trophy you can only get with the Tingle Tuner. There's even bits and pieces of story in it for Tingle character development. Definitely fiddle with it, more to it than it initially lets on.

[@KevinTwiner]

Love the link cable! Can’t wait to use it for all the games that were supported. Enjoyed your time and effort.

[@marscaleb]

I was playing Crystal Chronicles with three players back in the day. The cool thing was that everyone had something different displayed on their screen. one might have a map that shows the level geometry, one might show where all the treasures were... I can't remember what else was shown, but the neat thing was that everyone had a part of the information and you all had to coordinate with each other to get the full picture.

[@marcovoltage]

I love Crystal Chronicles. It has one of the best gaming soundtracks in existence. I still listen to it regularly.

[@gameprose4293]

My brothers and I all had a GBA and we all had the link cables. So we all loved Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.

[@CommodoreFan64]

the Game Cube, and the GBA are 2 of my favorite systems of all time, and the Link cable only makes them more awesome!!!

[@Pilpup]

Crystal Chronicles. Action Replay, removed the need for a light bucket. An amazing device used not to cheat but to (In my opinion) fix the game. Makes it incredibly fun and me and my old roommate dumped tens of hours playing this game because it was so much more playable. Man I love this channel so much! It hits all my favourite niches. D, you are into the same nerdy old outdated technology as I am. And I love you for it!

[@NeoBlueCD]

I can't believe I haven't heard of this before yet. These Punching Weight episodes always make me feel like I know less about games than I thought I did!

[@rareroe305]

Yes, I got to play about an hour of the GameCube 4 Swords with 3 other people. It was glorious, and some of the most fun I've ever had. We mostly co-operated.

[@donnylurch4207]

This was a pheripheral that saw a lot of use from me! I used it with Animal Crossing, Wind Waker, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Pokemon Colosseum, and my brother and I played Crystal Chronicles together.

[@soltreeii]

I still have my GBA cord and a bunch of games that are compatible. You're not missing much with the Sonic games it just transfers chao between Advance/Pinball Party to Adventure gardens. Billy Hatcher has cool temp GBA download games like a mini version NiGHTS. (Super fun) Phantasy Star did much of the same. Nintendo Puzzle Collection gave you downloadable barebones versions of GBA ports of the Dr. Mario and Panel de Pon plus a Yoshi Cookie thing. There's a bunch more i still have but cant remember but I'd be happy to support

[@Kara_Kay_Eschel]

PSO had NiGHTS, Chao, and a Puyo game. Two of those was from online quest (unless you had PS plus, which you can get them offline)

[@PolaNimuS]

I remember Chrystal Chronicals. For my brother and I to do multiplayer, we'd get two TVs, a GameCube, a Wii, and my Gameboy. We'd connect his GC to one TV, use the Gameboy Player and connect it to the Wii, connect my Gameboy to the Wii, and connect the Wii to the second TV just to play for 20 minutes before we got so mad at each other we'd stop playing.

[@stickit2theman1]

The Chao farm thingy with the GB is AWESOME! I sunk so much time into training and feeding chaos on Sonic Adventure just so I could get a super OP chao it was so addicting!

[@uliseshumbertosaucedacordo874]

I was very fortunate to play zelda four swords for the GC with 4 GBA's. It a lot of fun having the constant connection failures and having to reset the game several times

[@SlyBeast]

Man, my pals and I used to get together every month to play Four Swords back in its heyday! It's a proper good time, especially with some cold brews! We still do, though not nearly as often anymore.

[@Zanza147]

Tingle Tuner and Chao Garden got a lot of use in my house growing up. Those features could eat up hours. And I know Tingle Tuner is actually a valid tool for Wind Waker speedruns. Definitely an interesting thing to cover.

[@GermanGarageGames]

The Animal Crossing GBA link content Needed to be in this video !!! For The rest .. great video as always ;-)

[@SFinerFACE]

One of my favorite accessories! Growing up I searched for as many games that used the cable as I could!

[@CodenameX96]

Me and my friend played through all of Wind Waker with the Tingle Tracker. It was super useful and allowed us to use some pretty insane strategies when we got creative with it. So many bombs...

[@TheDoctorProfessor]

How about an episode about weird or unnecessary extra modes? For examples, Resident Evil has a slew of odd battle games and the mercenaries modes that include some really odd stuff, especially in the earlier games. Another example would be the VR missions amd Snake Tales in Metal Gear Solid 2, which offer some really crazy mechanics and alternate reality stories.

[@Ceielo]

I have Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime, and the link cable (since release on all 3) and I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THIS!! Now I need to look up stuff about all the possible stuff we can do with these. Especially now that I pulled my GameCube out (a week ago) to test stuff.

[@segaalltimer4143]

Oh my god Punching Weight Street Fighter screens i've seen before the link cable.

[@elminster710]

came just to get crystal conical feels, was such a great game with your friends. I had no idea so many couldn't find a cable, I was living in a 1 intersection town of about 200 people total an still found 3 other kids with gba's and cables, but it was also in a good area of western NY

[@SuperLuigiSixty4]

Great video! Only additional thing I would've mentioned when you brought up the Gameboy Player is that the Cable lets you use the GBA as a controller for the GB Player.

[@ShadyHitchhiker]

Man Derrick, I played SOOOO much four swords adventure and FF:CC. I feel like a very niche expert. Between me and all my friends and nephews we had 4 GCN/GBA link cables, as well as 2 GBA SPs, and 2 GBAs modded with the afterburner backlight (remember that?). For simplicity and because I often hosted the gaming sessions, everybody left all the kit with me, so we regularly played these games at my house. Both Four Swords and FF:CC are differently amazing games. FF:CC had full "trust fall" co-op which initially appeared to be cut-throat co-op, since everybody had their own personal secret missions that dictated their play style (Kill monsters with spells, Collect Gil, Pick up items), and the person who did the best on their mission got to pick their stat boosts FIRST from the pool of reward items. But then when you read into the systems you realise that if EVERYBODY scores very highly on their personal secret missions that the pool of reward items gets better, so it's better to help everyone out in their secret mission because it's better for you to pick last on the tier 1 of amazing items, rather than pick first on the tier 6 of crappy items. Also, contrary to what your video says, you SHOULDN'T import characters from someone else's memory card, unless you're farming end game stat boosts with mostly maxed characters. The reason for this is that NOTHING carries back to the original memory card except the stat boost relics (of which you only get 1 per stage). No items and no equipment; which makes up the bulk of what you actually gather as you play. When I found out that nothing carries back originally, I can remember thinking it was a bug and e-mailing Penny Arcade to ask them if they knew how to fix it (because they had comics talking about playing the imported Japanese version). They obviously never replied lol. Best way to play through FF:CC is to make a village on one memory card with friends, paper/rock/scissors for the best parents (Blacksmith, Alchemist, Merchant, Tailor) and then have gentleman's agreement to never play the file unless all people are present. You can have one village per memory card, so you can do a couple of different ones with different friend groups if you have the cards. Main reason to agree never to play without each other is that the stages level up when beaten, and get (as we found out) way way too difficult for newly made or absent characters to compete in. I don't have as much to say about Four Swords (it was good too, you just didn't really progress your characters to the same extent you did in FF:CC), but it did create what we dubbed "Four Swords co-op" where you are willing to, and will slit your friends throats at the earliest available opportunity so you can nab that fun temp equipment or get a heart container. My biggest complaint about Four Swords, as compared to FF:CC is that if ANY GBA CABLE BECOMES EVEN SLIGHTLY LOOSE, THE GAME WILL RETURN YOU TO THE TITLE SCREEN AND ERASE ALL STAGE PROGRESS. EVEN ON THE FINAL STAGE, WHICH IS A GOOD 2 HOURS LONG. This also happened if one of the GBAs lost power... Trying to beat it with a group of 4 cables, two of which were a little dodgy was so incredibly frustrating that we, as a group, ragequit Four Swords forever. This is in stark contrast to FF:CC, where if one player loses power/connection, their character will auto-follow the bucket until the connection is reestablished. Hope you had fun playing these games, they were very important to me at that point in my life!

[@JohnSmith-ns8si]

I LOVED FF Crystal Chronicles. So much so that I have 4 gamecubes with 4 gameboy players. They were like $30 on Ebay. Then I'd use one wireless Gameube Controller with 4 receivers. You switch frequencies to move the bucket guy, and press select on everyone else. This with sync them up. I wish I had friends.

[@AldentheBlue]

I liked using the link cable so I could use my GB as a controller when using the GB Player. I had an SP for playing wherever, and I had an OG GBA that I used as a controller for whenever I was using the GB Player. And Four Swords Adventures was amazing. I got to play some four player ONCE. And it was awesome.

[@GomerJ]

Ohh man Pac Man VS was one of the best party games I miss that thing. Never worked quite as well as it did with the link cable. Too much fun.

[@demondton96]

It's probably really hard to come across, but a video on the GBA e-reader would be awesome!

[@TheLazySamurai]

With your 2 official cables, I have seen a total of 5 of these cables in my life; too rare they were, making using them with friends almost impossible. All I wanted was to play Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles with friends :(

[@InfiniteComboReviews]

I loved 4 Swords Adventures growing up, and yes, I played it 4 player co-op! Truly amazing. Also, Crystal Chronicles is amazing 4 players as well.

[@RoddyDev]

I didn't knew about this Link Cable, it's really an original concept and pretty awesome for multiplayer features. I'm really surprised.

[@emc-lq6wt]

I loved four swords adventures, I even bought 3 extra game boys and link cables just to play it with my friends.

[@danielburleson563]

The tingle tuner just allows you to have a second player move a cursor around and help link out a little bit, by placing bombs, or healing him. The tingle Turner is also capable of finding secret spots, only findable using the device. That's about it

[@Mystemo]

Awesome, I've missed Punching Weight. I'd love another episode on this subject since there are so many other games that used the Link Cable in cool ways. My favorite was the Sega minigames you could unlock in Billy Hatcher and the Gigant Egg.

[@Profoundemonium]

Billy Hatcher was my favourite, too!

[@SkySkywalker485]

First mention of the "Link" cable sees you playing Zelda. Good times. 0:53

[@buzzlombardi]

More GBC stuff!! I love learning about new ambitious games on that console! Also would love to see some stuff about the bike peripheral for snes

[@EpicOdysseus]

I can attest to four player Four Swords Adventures being an absolute blast. My roommates in college and I a few years back all played four player co-op and it was an incredibly fun experience. That and frustrating. Oh man, friendships were tested during that playthrough.

[@TopSpot123]

I hope you explore this topic more, and you can mention other similar features from other companies. Possible examples: There was locked content on some Sony system games that would be unlocked by hooking up the PSP. See Jak X/Daxter and the Metal Gear games. Neo Geo Pocket connection to Dreamcast. Using the PSP/Vita as a second screen in some games; or even the Xbox Smartglass. This could offer dual screen features (such as a persistent map) that reminded me of the Gamecube/GBA link cable's use in Splinter Cell. The Littlebigplanet 2 DLC levels that took advantage of this have a similar feel to Four Swords Adventures. Great episode by the way, one of my fav series.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

While Pac-Man Vs. didn't hit the Wii U, it did hit the DS and the Switch on those systems' respective Namco Museum collections. Totally worth checking out.

[@StuffWePlay]

Got home after a rough day at work, saw there's a new Punching Weight. Today just got better.

[@undercoverweeb]

I'd love to see a longer look or maybe episodes about more of these games :3

[@TheDansonT]

I remember playing F-Zero GP Legends and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker with this device. Such good memories!

[@theunbearablejuan]

Pac Man VS is one of the best party games I've ever played.

[@discordinc]

Great video. I managed to get together a full four player set up for Crystal Chronicles in college, but never managed to finish it unfortunately. It's a shame SquareEnix has given up on the Crystal Chronicles brand cause I think a remake of the game with netplay would be great. It worked for the DS sequels, though I supposed those didn't do as well due to late DS piracy. On the subject of Pac-man Versus, I know there was a solo release for some promotion. My family had a copy of it and it came in a cardboard slipcase. Also, Namco has rereleased the game a couple times. Most notably on the DS Namco Museum where it supports single cart download play. Great videos and I appreciate the level of research that goes into these!

[@Diyomaro]

I was lucky enough to get this going as a kid. Rounding up all the link cables was tough, but what helped was buying one I got for Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, and having a 3rd party link cable that also had the GBA port on one end. My friend had the one that came with Four Swords, and he went and got the same 3rd party link cable I bought. Most of my friends had their own GBA, so that was not an issue really. This is one of my favorite game experiences, and it's a shame that it was never revived on wii/wii u via DS systems. I know you can pair DS systems wirelessly.

[@MortMort]

the Tails Chao in PSO was the only reason I got PSO back then, but I felt in love with the game tho :D

[@dcashley303]

Would love to see a part 2 one day. Also, what about the NegCon, I swear by it, one of the most misunderstood, innovative and unusual controllers I know. Would be nice to see a Punching Weight dedicated to it.

[@LonkinPork]

"The GBA's charging port" got me mildly rattled, since I was one of the only kids in my elementary school with the OG GBA, the wide one that took two AAs and didn't have a flip-up screen nor a backlight.

[@Spindash54]

Pac-Man VS. was released standalone as a promo game (either Nintendo Power, or a freebie at GameStop?), but it only came in a cardboard sleeve. Indeed, there’s no “standard” standalone box for it.

[@jacobmonks3722]

The Tingle Tuner basically allows a second player to be Tingle on the GBA and fuck around by exploding bombs spontaneously, and allowing Link to walk on air for a few seconds. The Tingle Tuner is also the only way to obtain a collection of golden Tingle statues that he shows off on his island.

[@JoystickPixels]

Gimme that big sequel lads, GBA link cable episode 2!

[@MegaNerdX]

MegaMan X Command Mission made cool use of the cable to find special coins to get exclusive capsule figures in that version that the PS2 version lacked.

[@NottJoeyOfficial]

I got the link cable just for Pacman VS years ago, I still haven't touched Pacman World 2 but I love Pacman VS. Now if only I had friends to play it with...

[@arekhautaluoma4276]

I personally used the Gamecube GBA link cable with Animal Crossing (going to the island), Four Swords (actually played with 4 friends, stayed up all night...we might've played it twice even), Crystal Chronicles (my friends liked it a lot more than me, but I do love the art style) and I might've used my friends Pokemon Bank a little bit? It was awesome. Wish there had been more interconnectivity in later generations of consoles/portables! DS and Wii could've done a lot more together besides demo downloads.

[@zachy7777]

Great episode! Would love more on on old GameCube era Nintendo accessories. I didn’t have any of that stuff as a kid and was always bummed when those peripheral features were in games I played and I couldn’t use em

[@theycallmejojo6090]

That thing was awesome, I never had a link cable and a second gba so I had to use the GC/GBA cable to transfer my Pokémon with coliseum being the bridge.

[@FezTheSpaceBiker]

In case you didn't know, Pac-Man Vs. was also ported to the DS via Namco Museum DS, as well as a more faithful-to-the-original port on the Switch. You do need 2 Switch consoles but there's a free multiplayer only version of Pac-Man Vs. on the eShop alongside it being bundled in Namco Museum, that's likely one of the most accessible ways to play it nowadays.

[@jesusvela5174]

I never had a game boy so this is a surprise… hidden content on some console games?! I kinda love it and hate that I missed it