The Legend Of Zelda: 10 Best Intro Dungeons

4. The Minish Cap: Deepwood Shrine

Forsaken fortress zelda
Nintendo

One of the most visually distinct dungeons in the Legend of Zelda series, Minish Cap's Deepwood Shrine makes innovative use of the Game Boy Advance's visual capabilities, most notably through the excellent use of the almost three dimensional barrel which forms a gateway to the dungeon's various branching paths.

The Minish Cap may have had relatively few dungeons compared to other games in the series, but they are amongst the most memorable of the franchise. Deepwood Shrine is a shockingly expansive dungeon which integrates a tonne of disparate ideas to form a surprisingly cohesive whole.

It also introduced us to the Gust Jar, one of the best items in the series, which is used here to help propel Link's lily pad along a river, launch Link over large gaps and clear away cobwebs.

Playing with the game's central gimmick, Link's ability to shrink down to a microscopic size, the use of a giant chuchu as the dungeon's boss was a touch of genius, making an easy-to-defeat enemy into a considerable foe.

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When Matteo isn't cashing in on a lifetime of devotion to his favourite pop culture franchises and indie bands, he's writing and publishing poems and short stories under the name Teo Eve. Talk about range.