Why Did it Win? When does a new Zelda game not win Game of the Year for its platform? Like the Zelda Oracle series before it, Minish Cap was developed by Capcom's Flagship studio and overseen by Nintendo. It's arguably a tad formulaic, but its shrinking mechanic is well-implemented and the game generally features the same high level of polish we've come to expect from Zelda games.

Is It Still Worthy? The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap still deserves the award if only because the competition wasn't too stiff. If you play it on a DS today, the graphics are a bit constrained and the sound seems a little primitive. However, its excellent art style and musical composition still shine despite its reliance on older hardware.