As the Legend of Zelda series has pivoted to free-flowing and creativity-focused open words, "The Zelda Formula" has fallen by the wayside, left in the memories of those who grew up with it. That's certainly the case for me, as I welcomed the change that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom brought to the series. However, the old ways still hold a place in my heart, and I was happy to revisit The Minish Cap for this episode. This marks an interesting period in the series, where Capcom worked with Nintendo to develop the handheld Zelda games, and they knocked this one out of the park. Thank you to the patrons for voting this game on to the show!I'm joined in this episode by Jared Moss from Play Along Podcast to discuss it. Jared is a Zelda head and was the perfect guest for this episode. You can and should check out everything that he is doing over at Play Along Podcast by using this link (https://linktr.ee/PlayAlongPodcast) or on your favorite podcast app!TIMESTAMPSIntros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 2:31Story Setup 15:11Visuals/Music 23:40Gameplay 38:41Final Thoughts/Recommendations/Housekeeping 1:10:25SPOILER WALL 1:23:29Music used in the episode is credited to Mitsuhiko Takano: File Select, Title Theme, Hyrule Field, Picori Festival, Hyrule Town, Mt Crenel, Dungeon Boss, Minish Woods, Vaati's WrathDave's guest appearance on "Fun" and Games podcast (https://sites.libsyn.com/94715/side-quests-episode-304-picross-3d-with-dave-jackson)Listen to the King of Games 1996 over on Retro Hangover! (https://linktr.ee/retrohangover)Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! (https://patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson)!Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! (https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR)Social Media:Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/)Twitter (https://twitter.com/tftblpod)Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TalesfromtheBacklog/)Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages (https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures)Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-top-3-podcast/id1555269504), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/2euGp3pWi7Hy1c6fmY526O?si=0ebcb770618c460c) and other podcast platforms (atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!