Oracle of Ages is an intriguing game for the 2D series. Of the GBC duology, this is the one that has a greater focus on setting temples and puzzles with a higher degree of complexity, and also in making things a bit cryptic to be difficult to figure out, however, that's what makes it a memorable journey.
The main innovation of this title, is that unlike games that have in their title phrases like "A Link to the Past" or "Ocarina of Time", here there is a real time travel to the past involved, because in this game we will travel the lands of Labrynna through the present, but also from hundreds of years in the past. Traveling between both eras becomes something primordial and very entertaining that is very reminiscent of the parallel dimensions of the previously mentioned Super Nintendo game, and personally I have always liked that kind of games in which you have to travel in time to get things that do not exist in the other and vice versa, even some temples make use of this dynamic, and although at the beginning you start with certain restrictions to travel between eras, as you advance in the game you can travel in time with greater freedom.
The game is set in the kingdom of Labrynna, where the Oracle of Ages, Nayru, is located. However a sorceress named Veran ends up possessing her and traveling back in time to wreak havoc on the timeline and conquer the world, the usual. So this time we have to go through 8 temples traveling between two different times in order to obtain the 8 essences of time to rescue our friend Nayru.
Oracle of Seasons has probably one of the most intricate overworld map and temple designs, because figuring out what you have to do or where you have to go is not something you can deduce at first glance. In the beginning the game takes you by the hand, and certainly, it is a somewhat linear game. As you advance in your quest, things will get more and more complicated, so you'll have to have a lot of wit and a good memory to know what you need to do at certain points in the story. And as for the temples... these have a brilliant design, as the puzzles are quite "demanding" to say the least, as these feel like real logic challenges in which you will have to have a lot of patience if you don't want to lose your mind in the process, making this, more than an adventure game feel like one of puzzles because of the great emphasis given to this section, as even the bosses have their logic and many times you will have to think outside the box to solve the puzzles. This is especially noteworthy considering it's a 2D game for the Game Boy Color. The level design is on par with 3D games in terms of complexity. Take for example the water temple in this game, this one is equally or even more difficult than the water temple in Ocarina of Time.
As for the items you can get in the temples, these are not as new as in other games, since they are improved versions or with a little "twist" of items that we have already seen before. But one that I really liked is the replacement for the bow/sling shot, which is a seed shooter whose projectiles have the ability to bounce 2 times off the walls and is used to solve pretty good puzzles. The hook on this occasion works in a pretty cool way, as it swaps your position with the position of the grabbed object.
A section where this game takes inspiration from the N64 installments is in the mini-games, as there are many and each one is quite entertaining, although a bit difficult too. The most difficult one is when you get to the Goron region, it consists of a small memorization game that reminded me of my time when I played Brain Age, only here it's much more difficult because you have to follow a rhythm. I almost lost my mind trying to complete the highest level. I don't recommend doing it.
Conclusion
Oracle of Ages is fascinating without a doubt, although this ends up being like a double-edged sword, as it can result in some pretty frustrating moments being totally honest. But in the end, I'm left with the satisfaction I got from solving those puzzles and those "Eureka!" moments. I recommend playing this game without a guide, as it is something that is really worthwhile, even if there are many moments where you don't have even the tiniest idea of what you have to do.
Secret 2: -----------------aurith/list/--1/
← The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons - Review
The main innovation of this title, is that unlike games that have in their title phrases like "A Link to the Past" or "Ocarina of Time", here there is a real time travel to the past involved, because in this game we will travel the lands of Labrynna through the present, but also from hundreds of years in the past. Traveling between both eras becomes something primordial and very entertaining that is very reminiscent of the parallel dimensions of the previously mentioned Super Nintendo game, and personally I have always liked that kind of games in which you have to travel in time to get things that do not exist in the other and vice versa, even some temples make use of this dynamic, and although at the beginning you start with certain restrictions to travel between eras, as you advance in the game you can travel in time with greater freedom.
The game is set in the kingdom of Labrynna, where the Oracle of Ages, Nayru, is located. However a sorceress named Veran ends up possessing her and traveling back in time to wreak havoc on the timeline and conquer the world, the usual. So this time we have to go through 8 temples traveling between two different times in order to obtain the 8 essences of time to rescue our friend Nayru.
Oracle of Seasons has probably one of the most intricate overworld map and temple designs, because figuring out what you have to do or where you have to go is not something you can deduce at first glance. In the beginning the game takes you by the hand, and certainly, it is a somewhat linear game. As you advance in your quest, things will get more and more complicated, so you'll have to have a lot of wit and a good memory to know what you need to do at certain points in the story. And as for the temples... these have a brilliant design, as the puzzles are quite "demanding" to say the least, as these feel like real logic challenges in which you will have to have a lot of patience if you don't want to lose your mind in the process, making this, more than an adventure game feel like one of puzzles because of the great emphasis given to this section, as even the bosses have their logic and many times you will have to think outside the box to solve the puzzles. This is especially noteworthy considering it's a 2D game for the Game Boy Color. The level design is on par with 3D games in terms of complexity. Take for example the water temple in this game, this one is equally or even more difficult than the water temple in Ocarina of Time.
As for the items you can get in the temples, these are not as new as in other games, since they are improved versions or with a little "twist" of items that we have already seen before. But one that I really liked is the replacement for the bow/sling shot, which is a seed shooter whose projectiles have the ability to bounce 2 times off the walls and is used to solve pretty good puzzles. The hook on this occasion works in a pretty cool way, as it swaps your position with the position of the grabbed object.
A section where this game takes inspiration from the N64 installments is in the mini-games, as there are many and each one is quite entertaining, although a bit difficult too. The most difficult one is when you get to the Goron region, it consists of a small memorization game that reminded me of my time when I played Brain Age, only here it's much more difficult because you have to follow a rhythm. I almost lost my mind trying to complete the highest level. I don't recommend doing it.
Conclusion
Oracle of Ages is fascinating without a doubt, although this ends up being like a double-edged sword, as it can result in some pretty frustrating moments being totally honest. But in the end, I'm left with the satisfaction I got from solving those puzzles and those "Eureka!" moments. I recommend playing this game without a guide, as it is something that is really worthwhile, even if there are many moments where you don't have even the tiniest idea of what you have to do.
Secret 2: -----------------aurith/list/--1/
← The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons - Review
It’s the same game for the most part so most of what I said regarding Seasons applies here except a few things. I mentioned liking Ages more the other day when speaking about how I felt about Seasons and after completing it the feeling is roughly still the same. While the issue of dungeons meshing together and lacking memorable theming is still prevalent, Ages’ selection was more striking with the emphasis on a puzzle box design rather than Seasons’ simpler approach with attention on enemy encounters and open feel with the various items and weapons gained in the journey; this isn’t to say the dungeon items in Ages didn’t have combat potential but the selection is very geared towards solving challenges, a decent amount that stumped me and were pretty satisfying when not recycling basic color matching puzzles. While not all of them are winners, at least half of them left a pretty good impression with some sprawling challenges across rooms and cool room-specific ones all distinctive to the levels; Mermaid’s Cave and the Ancient Tomb being my favorites with how meaty and complex at times they were structurally in unlocking everything within even with the systemic issue of lackluster bosses and dungeon identity.
Regarding time traveling versus seasonal control, my opinion on the former has grown with the harp of ages being a much better and interesting experience with the latter half of the game introducing a free transition between the past and present without needing to be at a specific tile unlike the rod of seasons still requiring it even after getting all of the seasons. It’s more fluid and less obvious like seeing a random stump on the screen nudging the use of mechanic which Ages eases off of later on. I can see complaints of this leading to time traveling puzzles being too obscure but given the kitchen sink approach that is already prevalent throughout both games’ designs, it didn’t feel like too much of a hassle and finding out these secrets were very thrilling rather than frustrating in most circumstances.
Even more surprising is how involved combat still is even with puzzles taking the spotlight. Several boss battles still relied on pretty simple solutions of sword striking weak points or bomb/seed throwing if the dungeon items aren’t relevant to damaging them. Enemies still litter the screen within the dungeons and a part of me wished there were less of these encounters as it does interrupt some of the flow in solving the puzzles and led to a lot of frustration. The Black tower and the final boss fight felt geared more towards Seasons’ combat gauntlet and survival design rather than Ages’ more puzzle-centric design and it would have been more interesting if Ages dug its nails deeper into own focus more, despite still enjoying what it did here coming out of the game.
Ages also weirdly feels more padded in getting to the dungeons with the aforementioned Mermaid’s Cave requiring a particularly heinous one. Seasons required only one dancing mini game in order to get an item and progress the story, while Ages throws four (six counting an earlier ones in a separate chapters) Goron-related mini games in a row to complete in order to receive specific key items for a needlessly long fetch quest to unlock the dungeon. These four mini games, especially the Goron Dance and Big Bang Game, were particularly headache-induing without save states and felt overkill in adding more length and ‘difficulty’ to the game. The path to the dungeons is a tradition in the series but they felt especially long and tedious in Ages, even unlocking Jabu Jabu’s Belly given the insane swimming control of the mermaid suit “upgrade”. People talk about Mario Party’s joystick rubbing with mini-games and yet I never hear about Ages’ mermaid suit, even in the fandom, requiring thumb spamming the D-pad to move an ounce in the water versus holding down a single direction before getting it and the suit can’t be removed with much of the rest of the game necessitating swimming.
While adventuring can still be done here, the world of Labrynna is immensely more clunky and less expansive by design compared to Holodrum. Holodrum’s roaming and adventuring isn’t as prominent with navigation being more railroaded and more of a chore, though this could be a side effect of burnout from playing them back to back rather than experiencing Ages as my first like Seasons. There are still pretty distinctive areas to Labrynna like the Yoll Graveyard, Zora Village, the Forest of Time, and Crescent Island with the version exclusive Tokay species; time traveling offers some nice differences in layout and puzzles even with the smaller scale and detail of the larger world. Additionally, underwater traversal is a unique component to Ages and it is way more fleshed out than the handful of times it popped up in Seasons; even with the complaint of how obtrusive it is to move, the mermaid suit opens up so much of the aquatic terrain, done very well in the trek to the Zora Village and the lead up to Jabu Jabu but it feels like more could have been done with having more of these opportunities and thus giving Labrynna more spice in a pretty whatever overworld where the dungeons were more the star of the show.
At the very least, Ages has much more going on narratively. It follows the same structure of Seasons but with Nayru needing rescuing but more screen time is given to plot development and some original characters. Veran, the main antagonist, is more memorable than Onox with the usage of time in causing harm and gaining control, though she ends up being as milquetoast as Onox with them both being a set up for Link’s final encounter with Twinova and Ganon as the linked game ending. Ralph, off and on hothead and protector of Nayru, has some funny encounters with Link along with a nice twist in the end but nothing to write home about. Overall there is a more of a story compared to Seasons but I’m grasping at straws for what is still pretty by-the-numbers, even worse with the secret final bosses of the linked game being a weak puzzle leading to two lengthy fights with Twinova and then Ganon to cap it off. It felt very out of place with Ages’ focus but this critique could still be applied to Seasons if I experienced it there rather than here.
Anyways, yeah yeah remake, pull it from the dusty tomb of the game boy color, Nintendo is never gonna make another 2D Zelda game again because they’re in their 3D 'open air' era, please don’t make the Goron mini games all mandatory for story progression if this does get remade or I will scream.
Regarding time traveling versus seasonal control, my opinion on the former has grown with the harp of ages being a much better and interesting experience with the latter half of the game introducing a free transition between the past and present without needing to be at a specific tile unlike the rod of seasons still requiring it even after getting all of the seasons. It’s more fluid and less obvious like seeing a random stump on the screen nudging the use of mechanic which Ages eases off of later on. I can see complaints of this leading to time traveling puzzles being too obscure but given the kitchen sink approach that is already prevalent throughout both games’ designs, it didn’t feel like too much of a hassle and finding out these secrets were very thrilling rather than frustrating in most circumstances.
Even more surprising is how involved combat still is even with puzzles taking the spotlight. Several boss battles still relied on pretty simple solutions of sword striking weak points or bomb/seed throwing if the dungeon items aren’t relevant to damaging them. Enemies still litter the screen within the dungeons and a part of me wished there were less of these encounters as it does interrupt some of the flow in solving the puzzles and led to a lot of frustration. The Black tower and the final boss fight felt geared more towards Seasons’ combat gauntlet and survival design rather than Ages’ more puzzle-centric design and it would have been more interesting if Ages dug its nails deeper into own focus more, despite still enjoying what it did here coming out of the game.
Ages also weirdly feels more padded in getting to the dungeons with the aforementioned Mermaid’s Cave requiring a particularly heinous one. Seasons required only one dancing mini game in order to get an item and progress the story, while Ages throws four (six counting an earlier ones in a separate chapters) Goron-related mini games in a row to complete in order to receive specific key items for a needlessly long fetch quest to unlock the dungeon. These four mini games, especially the Goron Dance and Big Bang Game, were particularly headache-induing without save states and felt overkill in adding more length and ‘difficulty’ to the game. The path to the dungeons is a tradition in the series but they felt especially long and tedious in Ages, even unlocking Jabu Jabu’s Belly given the insane swimming control of the mermaid suit “upgrade”. People talk about Mario Party’s joystick rubbing with mini-games and yet I never hear about Ages’ mermaid suit, even in the fandom, requiring thumb spamming the D-pad to move an ounce in the water versus holding down a single direction before getting it and the suit can’t be removed with much of the rest of the game necessitating swimming.
While adventuring can still be done here, the world of Labrynna is immensely more clunky and less expansive by design compared to Holodrum. Holodrum’s roaming and adventuring isn’t as prominent with navigation being more railroaded and more of a chore, though this could be a side effect of burnout from playing them back to back rather than experiencing Ages as my first like Seasons. There are still pretty distinctive areas to Labrynna like the Yoll Graveyard, Zora Village, the Forest of Time, and Crescent Island with the version exclusive Tokay species; time traveling offers some nice differences in layout and puzzles even with the smaller scale and detail of the larger world. Additionally, underwater traversal is a unique component to Ages and it is way more fleshed out than the handful of times it popped up in Seasons; even with the complaint of how obtrusive it is to move, the mermaid suit opens up so much of the aquatic terrain, done very well in the trek to the Zora Village and the lead up to Jabu Jabu but it feels like more could have been done with having more of these opportunities and thus giving Labrynna more spice in a pretty whatever overworld where the dungeons were more the star of the show.
At the very least, Ages has much more going on narratively. It follows the same structure of Seasons but with Nayru needing rescuing but more screen time is given to plot development and some original characters. Veran, the main antagonist, is more memorable than Onox with the usage of time in causing harm and gaining control, though she ends up being as milquetoast as Onox with them both being a set up for Link’s final encounter with Twinova and Ganon as the linked game ending. Ralph, off and on hothead and protector of Nayru, has some funny encounters with Link along with a nice twist in the end but nothing to write home about. Overall there is a more of a story compared to Seasons but I’m grasping at straws for what is still pretty by-the-numbers, even worse with the secret final bosses of the linked game being a weak puzzle leading to two lengthy fights with Twinova and then Ganon to cap it off. It felt very out of place with Ages’ focus but this critique could still be applied to Seasons if I experienced it there rather than here.
I’m in a state of mind lately where I can’t seem to find any joy in anything I used to do, except not in like an emotionally distressed way so much as this. With that in mind, I’m going to say that both of these are pretty much just Link’s Awakening, again, twice, with a better color palette, and with that comes all the fun and thrills of okay top-down combat, impenetrable gameplay which necessitates keeping your eyes glued to a guide, and hours of looking for other shit and heart containers you don’t really need just because it’s there. Shelving it because it’s probably fine after all and it’s just me
This game is SO far ahead of its time. The multitude of content in this game is buckwild, and despite its difficulty, I kept looking forward to the next task or quest. Were a few of the puzzles a bit convoluted? Maybe. Was it rewarding when I figured it out though? 100% yes. I can't wait to link my game to Oracle of Seasons to complete the story.
If it weren't for head thwomp, this woulda been a 4.5/5, but we'll just take off a .5 for that mistake of a boss. :)
If it weren't for head thwomp, this woulda been a 4.5/5, but we'll just take off a .5 for that mistake of a boss. :)
I haven’t played the Oracle games in years, so I figured I should give them another shot. To that end, I played them in the opposite order, partially to have a newer experience, and partially because… Ages is better.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is fantastic, full stop. It’s less of an action-adventure game and more of a straight-up puzzle game. The overworld unlocks bit by bit, and you have to do things in a very specific way at a specific point in time to progress. The items are clever problem-solving tools that are utilized both in-and-out if dungeons. The dungeons themselves are elaborate mazes filled with riddles, confusing layouts, and deadly traps. Time travel is utilized far better than it was in Ocarina of Time, as it’s now a lynchpin for the entire game experience; Oracle of Ages simply wouldn’t work without its complex time-traveling puzzles.
The dungeons are great overall. I don’t have time to go into every single one, but it’s a very solid and challenging lineup, with my favorite being the Skull Dungeon. However, I’m still not a huge fan of Jabu-Jabu’s Belly. It’s not as soul-crushingly difficult as I remember it being on my first playthrough a few years ago, but the constant backtracking and the water-level gimmick (which doesn’t really work in a 2D plane) got kinda dull. Aside from that, great dungeons.
Only a few other criticisms. The music is very hit-or-miss. The Mermaid Suit controls are annoying as shit. Then there’s the Goron Dance minigame. What the fuck, Nintendo?
Now for the story, Oracle of Ages has a fairly basic plot (Link take sword, save girl, kill bad guy), but the worldbuilding is surprisingly deep for a Game Boy Color game. By speaking to NPCs and paying attention to the environment, you’ll learn interesting details about how Labrynna has evolved over time, and how badly Veran is fucking everything up. You’ve even got some darker themes lurking underneath those 8-bit sprites, like enslavement (the men of Lynna Village are forced to work on a giant tower for days on end, without any food or sleep), a disaster (Veran causes a volcano eruption that completely massacres an entire city), and regicide (Veran poisons the ocean, killing the Zora King; Veran is super evil). They don’t really lead to anything super intelligent or meaningful like Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, but it works well for a handheld, 8-bit adventure.
So yeah, the game is great! Very challenging, complex, and ultimately rewarding.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is fantastic, full stop. It’s less of an action-adventure game and more of a straight-up puzzle game. The overworld unlocks bit by bit, and you have to do things in a very specific way at a specific point in time to progress. The items are clever problem-solving tools that are utilized both in-and-out if dungeons. The dungeons themselves are elaborate mazes filled with riddles, confusing layouts, and deadly traps. Time travel is utilized far better than it was in Ocarina of Time, as it’s now a lynchpin for the entire game experience; Oracle of Ages simply wouldn’t work without its complex time-traveling puzzles.
The dungeons are great overall. I don’t have time to go into every single one, but it’s a very solid and challenging lineup, with my favorite being the Skull Dungeon. However, I’m still not a huge fan of Jabu-Jabu’s Belly. It’s not as soul-crushingly difficult as I remember it being on my first playthrough a few years ago, but the constant backtracking and the water-level gimmick (which doesn’t really work in a 2D plane) got kinda dull. Aside from that, great dungeons.
Only a few other criticisms. The music is very hit-or-miss. The Mermaid Suit controls are annoying as shit. Then there’s the Goron Dance minigame. What the fuck, Nintendo?
Now for the story, Oracle of Ages has a fairly basic plot (Link take sword, save girl, kill bad guy), but the worldbuilding is surprisingly deep for a Game Boy Color game. By speaking to NPCs and paying attention to the environment, you’ll learn interesting details about how Labrynna has evolved over time, and how badly Veran is fucking everything up. You’ve even got some darker themes lurking underneath those 8-bit sprites, like enslavement (the men of Lynna Village are forced to work on a giant tower for days on end, without any food or sleep), a disaster (Veran causes a volcano eruption that completely massacres an entire city), and regicide (Veran poisons the ocean, killing the Zora King; Veran is super evil). They don’t really lead to anything super intelligent or meaningful like Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, but it works well for a handheld, 8-bit adventure.
So yeah, the game is great! Very challenging, complex, and ultimately rewarding.
I played this some as a kid, not as much as Seasons. I never finished it due to finding the puzzles difficult as a kid.
Going back and forth in time is just such a cool mechanic. It's wonky at times but it's fun
Eh, it's a slightly better story than Seasons at least and has more memorable characters (Nayru being the most adorable waifu and Ralph, uh, a simp I suppose. And Veran being totally-not-spider Ultimecia).
Dungeons and exploration imo is not as great as the other, but this game is still an amazing banger.
Dungeons and exploration imo is not as great as the other, but this game is still an amazing banger.
Like Ocarina of Time but oldier and uglier
Beating every Zelda in timeline order 13/20:
Honestly, I'm pretty torn on Oracle of Ages. There's a lot I love about the game. I think the dungeons and bosses are spectacular from a puzzle-focused Zelda game. For my tastes, nothing was overly obtuse or difficult, but it was all perfectly challenging. I really really enjoyed these as they made me think far more than a typical Zelda dungeon would. Veran is a fun villain as well, I quite enjoyed the story, simple as it may be. The overworld and the time spent between the dungeons is a bit of a mixed bag, however. The Harp of Ages iterates and improves on the light world/dark world concept from A Link to the Past. I love how it's used to progress through the world. What I don't really enjoy is the sequences of going to a place and tediously walking back and forth between screens to trade items or play goron minigames or solve the fairies' forest maze. These all vaguely annoyed me and felt like they were wasting my time instead of making me think outside the box. The overworld isn't exactly packed with interesting things to discover this time around either. I love the weird and wacky items in this game, but dear lord I hate the mermaid controls so much.
I can't imagine Oracle of Ages being for everybody, but for me this is a super fun puzzle game that made me feel like a genius- with a good amount of tedium thrown in for good measure.
Honestly, I'm pretty torn on Oracle of Ages. There's a lot I love about the game. I think the dungeons and bosses are spectacular from a puzzle-focused Zelda game. For my tastes, nothing was overly obtuse or difficult, but it was all perfectly challenging. I really really enjoyed these as they made me think far more than a typical Zelda dungeon would. Veran is a fun villain as well, I quite enjoyed the story, simple as it may be. The overworld and the time spent between the dungeons is a bit of a mixed bag, however. The Harp of Ages iterates and improves on the light world/dark world concept from A Link to the Past. I love how it's used to progress through the world. What I don't really enjoy is the sequences of going to a place and tediously walking back and forth between screens to trade items or play goron minigames or solve the fairies' forest maze. These all vaguely annoyed me and felt like they were wasting my time instead of making me think outside the box. The overworld isn't exactly packed with interesting things to discover this time around either. I love the weird and wacky items in this game, but dear lord I hate the mermaid controls so much.
I can't imagine Oracle of Ages being for everybody, but for me this is a super fun puzzle game that made me feel like a genius- with a good amount of tedium thrown in for good measure.
My expectations when I started playing Oracle of Ages after playing Oracle of Seasons two times weren't low, but they also weren't high. As I said previously in my Oracle of Seasons review, these games use Link's Awakening as a base. This gave the developers the possibility to experiment and play with cool concepts. My main complaint of Seasons was that it could be called Link's Awakening 2, because that's what the game, on its own, feels. Hence my apprehension. But now, after playing it, I'm amazed.
Oracle of Ages doubles down on the story. Here we have, aside from Nayru the oracle, Ralph, a clumsy but determined hero, and Zelda. The game from the very start hits you with a long cutscene for Game Boy standards, so be prepared to read and watch cute animations. After that you're free to roam through Labrynna, and right away it is clear that the focus here are the puzzles, opposed to the focus on combat in Seasons. The general feeling I had is that Ages is more than its counterpart in everything that is proposed for these titles. I got this feeling from the very start with the variety of characters, scenarios and music. The time traveling mechanic that allows you to alternate from past to present is responsible to make two different maps and therefore different scenarios. It also gives us different soundtracks for the same locations either changing the instruments or tempo of the songs, a welcome improvement. Time traveling is essential throughout the whole game for crossing the map, for solving puzzles and for beating the dungeons. Also the developers were clever to change some subitems in each game to mix things up a little. Here we have the switch hook instead of the boomerang and the pea shooter instead of the slingshot (more puzzle oriented items).
Unfortunately both games suffer with the limitations of the hardware. If Seasons needed enemy variety, in Ages there's a lack of puzzle variety. In the first three dungeons I believe, all of the puzzles were already used. I didn't feel as much because I was invested in the narrative, but I can see someone getting tired of them. Also worth mentioning one of the sections where it's necessary to play a bunch of minigames to progress. The minigames weren't difficult but I felt a bit annoyed by that (I noticed I'm not a big fan of minigames in Zelda).
I forgot to mention that Oracle of Ages has a final boss. Unlike whatever that thing in Oracle of Seaons is, anything but a final boss.
I don't want to be repetitive so as far as the other elements of both games go (like the pets, graphics and difficulty) I think I covered them all on the Oracle of Seasons review because my criticism holds for Ages too on those matters. So to finish the Oracle of Ages review I'd would say that it's a fun game. The focus on the story hooked me and solving puzzles felt nicer than slaying mummies and bats. I don't know why but I like the atmosphere of this game. Zoras's domain, the library and symetry city are lovely. And Tingle is in this game, that's important to mention. There's definetly moments here I think I won't see in any other Zelda games. But as a standalone game though, I still think that Link's Awakening is the one to go.
I'm done with Zelda games for this year. The ones I got backlogged are A Link to the Past, Zelda II, Majora's Mask and Windwaker. Which one should I play next year?
------ There will be spoilers down here ------
I want to use this final section to talk about the linked game and also to appraise the execution. It's important to mention that I'm talking about my experience playing Seasons and then continuing the story on Ages. It's a small game so the main difference are some dialogues and characters from the previous game played. Despite that it is done very well, I felt like being part of a bigger story and the references to the prior adventure are always good. One example is Rosa, a "subrosian" who you help in Seasons. Here the roles are reversed and she's the one to helps you. Also, throughout the gameplay you'll encounter characters that give you codes to unlock power ups on the other game. But that doesn't do much because everything to do in the other game has been done. For the future I plan to replay both games but Ages first and the Seasons.
As for the story and gameplay the reward is minimal. The twins capture Zelda and since them and the other two bosses lit each their own flame, Ganon is back. So we get a 3 stage final battle, the first two stages we fight against Twinrova and the in the final stage we fight Ganon. It's a tough battle, a cool challenge that was definitely missing in Oracle of Seasons.
After that... that's it. A title screen with Link sailing away in the Link's Awakening boat. I won't lie, I was expecting more for completing the story but I think the experience is worth it. I want to point that these are games for people who love the Zelda game series. If you're not invested you won't have a good time with these entries.
Aside from A Link to the Between Worlds, I think I played every handheld Zelda game. I'll summarize my experience with them here:
Link's Awakening: charming adventure that laid the groundwork for the series. Can't recommend this enough;
Oracle of Seasons and Ages: fun entries, despite not adding much to the series they are special in their own way;
Minish Cap: By far the best handheld entry. Amazing graphics, dungeons, mechanics, characters, story, everything. Not for everyone though;
Four Swords: I wish I could play with 3 friends but playing with my friend in school was a good time. They nailed the coop mechanics;
Phantom Hourglass: don't be discouraged by the controls, it's a cool game with a lot of stumbles. Play it if you can.
Spirit Tracks: it improves the predecessor in every way except the world traversal. Play it if you liked Phantom Hourglass.
Oracle of Ages doubles down on the story. Here we have, aside from Nayru the oracle, Ralph, a clumsy but determined hero, and Zelda. The game from the very start hits you with a long cutscene for Game Boy standards, so be prepared to read and watch cute animations. After that you're free to roam through Labrynna, and right away it is clear that the focus here are the puzzles, opposed to the focus on combat in Seasons. The general feeling I had is that Ages is more than its counterpart in everything that is proposed for these titles. I got this feeling from the very start with the variety of characters, scenarios and music. The time traveling mechanic that allows you to alternate from past to present is responsible to make two different maps and therefore different scenarios. It also gives us different soundtracks for the same locations either changing the instruments or tempo of the songs, a welcome improvement. Time traveling is essential throughout the whole game for crossing the map, for solving puzzles and for beating the dungeons. Also the developers were clever to change some subitems in each game to mix things up a little. Here we have the switch hook instead of the boomerang and the pea shooter instead of the slingshot (more puzzle oriented items).
Unfortunately both games suffer with the limitations of the hardware. If Seasons needed enemy variety, in Ages there's a lack of puzzle variety. In the first three dungeons I believe, all of the puzzles were already used. I didn't feel as much because I was invested in the narrative, but I can see someone getting tired of them. Also worth mentioning one of the sections where it's necessary to play a bunch of minigames to progress. The minigames weren't difficult but I felt a bit annoyed by that (I noticed I'm not a big fan of minigames in Zelda).
I forgot to mention that Oracle of Ages has a final boss. Unlike whatever that thing in Oracle of Seaons is, anything but a final boss.
I don't want to be repetitive so as far as the other elements of both games go (like the pets, graphics and difficulty) I think I covered them all on the Oracle of Seasons review because my criticism holds for Ages too on those matters. So to finish the Oracle of Ages review I'd would say that it's a fun game. The focus on the story hooked me and solving puzzles felt nicer than slaying mummies and bats. I don't know why but I like the atmosphere of this game. Zoras's domain, the library and symetry city are lovely. And Tingle is in this game, that's important to mention. There's definetly moments here I think I won't see in any other Zelda games. But as a standalone game though, I still think that Link's Awakening is the one to go.
I'm done with Zelda games for this year. The ones I got backlogged are A Link to the Past, Zelda II, Majora's Mask and Windwaker. Which one should I play next year?
------ There will be spoilers down here ------
I want to use this final section to talk about the linked game and also to appraise the execution. It's important to mention that I'm talking about my experience playing Seasons and then continuing the story on Ages. It's a small game so the main difference are some dialogues and characters from the previous game played. Despite that it is done very well, I felt like being part of a bigger story and the references to the prior adventure are always good. One example is Rosa, a "subrosian" who you help in Seasons. Here the roles are reversed and she's the one to helps you. Also, throughout the gameplay you'll encounter characters that give you codes to unlock power ups on the other game. But that doesn't do much because everything to do in the other game has been done. For the future I plan to replay both games but Ages first and the Seasons.
As for the story and gameplay the reward is minimal. The twins capture Zelda and since them and the other two bosses lit each their own flame, Ganon is back. So we get a 3 stage final battle, the first two stages we fight against Twinrova and the in the final stage we fight Ganon. It's a tough battle, a cool challenge that was definitely missing in Oracle of Seasons.
After that... that's it. A title screen with Link sailing away in the Link's Awakening boat. I won't lie, I was expecting more for completing the story but I think the experience is worth it. I want to point that these are games for people who love the Zelda game series. If you're not invested you won't have a good time with these entries.
Aside from A Link to the Between Worlds, I think I played every handheld Zelda game. I'll summarize my experience with them here:
Link's Awakening: charming adventure that laid the groundwork for the series. Can't recommend this enough;
Oracle of Seasons and Ages: fun entries, despite not adding much to the series they are special in their own way;
Minish Cap: By far the best handheld entry. Amazing graphics, dungeons, mechanics, characters, story, everything. Not for everyone though;
Four Swords: I wish I could play with 3 friends but playing with my friend in school was a good time. They nailed the coop mechanics;
Phantom Hourglass: don't be discouraged by the controls, it's a cool game with a lot of stumbles. Play it if you can.
Spirit Tracks: it improves the predecessor in every way except the world traversal. Play it if you liked Phantom Hourglass.
Having never played Oracle of Ages and hearing that its was more puzzle based I decided to start with it. And I think it was a wise decision. Some of the puzzles require more patience that I would have it if I was playing the Linked game.
JFC, whoever designed those color-based Puzzles deserves a place in hell.
Regardless, I had a lot of fun with Ages and this reinforces my idea that Oracle games are underrated. Yes, the map is kinda small and nothing here is revolutionary for the Zelda formula, but Ages is still an incredible fun adventure worth having.
JFC, whoever designed those color-based Puzzles deserves a place in hell.
Regardless, I had a lot of fun with Ages and this reinforces my idea that Oracle games are underrated. Yes, the map is kinda small and nothing here is revolutionary for the Zelda formula, but Ages is still an incredible fun adventure worth having.
I like this game a little bit. it's a fun Zelda game and the dungeons are pretty fun.
You like Ocarina of Time don’t you Ages?
To me, no other 2d zelda (and many 3d games as well) can beat the dungeons present in this game. Jabu Jabu's belly in particular gave me a very difficult, yet engaging time. I just wish the music was a little less grating.
In this game, people who disagree with blue haired girls are sentenced to hard labor at the Black Tower... just like real life 😔
Honestly, much better than I remember it being. I will fully admit, my admiration for this game is somewhat based around nostalgia for the Game Boy. I've always loved the Game Boy aesthetic. I'm also pretty convinced at this point that 2D Zelda just gels with me more than 3D.
With that being said, I do think this is great. The dungeon design is excellent, with some genuinely tough puzzles. Bosses are mostly pretty cool. There's a ton of side content too, not just due to the ring system, but also the really neat game link thing you can do if you have Oracle of Seasons as well.
If there's any main complaints, it's that the overworld of this really does feel like a bit of a pain to navigate at times. Going back and forth from the past to the present is cool, and honestly there are some aspects of this that I think Ages does better than OoT. However, it can be a bit of a pain going from point A to point B when it involves using different songs on the harp multiple times.
Oh yeah, also the Goron dance minigame. The mandatory ones you have to do aren't that bad, but godspeed to anyone who tries to do the higher difficulty ones legitimately. I can't imagine how many zoomers will end up filtered by this part when they try to play it on the NSO thing.
With that being said, I do think this is great. The dungeon design is excellent, with some genuinely tough puzzles. Bosses are mostly pretty cool. There's a ton of side content too, not just due to the ring system, but also the really neat game link thing you can do if you have Oracle of Seasons as well.
If there's any main complaints, it's that the overworld of this really does feel like a bit of a pain to navigate at times. Going back and forth from the past to the present is cool, and honestly there are some aspects of this that I think Ages does better than OoT. However, it can be a bit of a pain going from point A to point B when it involves using different songs on the harp multiple times.
Oh yeah, also the Goron dance minigame. The mandatory ones you have to do aren't that bad, but godspeed to anyone who tries to do the higher difficulty ones legitimately. I can't imagine how many zoomers will end up filtered by this part when they try to play it on the NSO thing.
While it might not have the polish of link to the past, oracle of ages has such a magic to it that it surpasses every previous game in the franchise for me. With a fairly limited map it gives me the Hyrule that so far in my Zelda journey I've most enjoyed exploring. The characters have so much personality, the various groups that live here are all so distinct and well implemented. It also gives you really unique things to do that extend past the classic trading quests (although they don't go away), one stand out for me is the Goron dance, essentially briefly turning the game into a rythm game and it's fun as hell. Another section I absolutely adore is when you wash up on Cresent island and you have all the belongings you've acquired up to this point stolen, it makes for a really memorable puzzle and hammers home exactly how certain abilities need to be used. It's not a perfect game, there's some annoying design to be found and I haven't played the linked game stuff so I can't fully comment on that, but I just loved my time with this game so much. Also it has moosh in it
Pros -
As good as Link's Awakening
Less annoying trading mini-game
It's really cool seeing species from Zelda OoT in an 8-bit adventure.
Some of the puzzles are cool.
Takes advantage of the GBC.
Really unique boss fights. Not the same ole thing again.
Cons -
original music is bad
It's hard. I never would have finished this without a guide.
Ring system feels unnecessary.
Witty dialogue from Link's Awakening isn't here
As good as Link's Awakening
Less annoying trading mini-game
It's really cool seeing species from Zelda OoT in an 8-bit adventure.
Some of the puzzles are cool.
Takes advantage of the GBC.
Really unique boss fights. Not the same ole thing again.
Cons -
original music is bad
It's hard. I never would have finished this without a guide.
Ring system feels unnecessary.
Witty dialogue from Link's Awakening isn't here
As a certified Gameboy Zelda Lover, I am biased, and the ability to transform into an Octorok deserves a perfect score.
On their own, the Oracle games are a pretty middling Zelda experience, with Ages not shining as brightly as Seasons. But together, through the programming magic of sharable passwords, they become a much more interesting and full experience. An experience that feels like the season finale of a Saturday morning action cartoon. This review, copied and pasted for each game, for better or worse, will be on that experience.
I should start by saying that when these games were first released, you had to buy each of them. For twice the price of a regular game you got the Oracle Twins’ full experience. Nowadays, one could easily play both of these games for as little as one savvy google search. Regardless, it’s worth criticizing nintendo for more or less selling you two weak games that make up a somewhat stronger, more interesting experience, rather than just making a great experience from the start for half the price. But what’s done is done, and I’ve said what I wanted to say on that.
The Oracle Twins are at their most fun and interesting when you have beaten at least one of them, but which one should you start with? Which Oracle game takes place first in the Zelda Timeline? Well, as far as the games themselves are concerned, each game has the potential to be the first or second in your playthrough. So start with whatever you want. Oracle of Seasons for the action? Or Oracle of Ages for the puzzles? Do you like blue haired ladies? Or redheads?
But why is it more fun to have already beaten one of them? Why not be fun from the start? Well, it is fun from the start. You’re playing a Zelda game, after all. But once you beat it, you’re given a special unique password that you can then use when you start the other game to turn it into a sequel of the one you started with. There are dialogue differences that slightly change the context of the games’ respective intros, your animal friend is carried over, and most importantly, your magic rings that you spent countless hours grinding for, which I will get into later, are also carried over. It makes the second playthrough a much more personal experience than just “the next game to play”. It’s a continuation of Your journey.
Since these games started off on a handheld console, they already had the benefit of being more personal than something that is played on a tv where anyone in the room can watch. Add to that the intimate nature of the Oracle’s Linked Game, and you have a nice quaint story all to yourself. Add to THAT the Linked Game Only side quests that require you to go BACK to the previous game and talk with old characters to fulfill those quests and bring the reward back again to the second game, and you have not just a story but an ongoing saga with living breathing worlds, all in your back pocket.
Now maybe you’re more of a Zelda Freak than I am. I only beat Ages and then a Linked Seasons, but if you want to get the full Oracles Experience and get all the little details: you beat each game, and then using the link codes, start a linked version of them, effectively starting both games again with slightly different contexts. That’s too much work for me, but here I am writing a review on it, so maybe I should have done it.
It’s kind of wild how much of a preamble this review has, considering the overall simplicity of the games themselves on their own. They’re your usual 2D Zelda affair, elaborating on 1993’s Link’s Awakening’s already abundantly charming graphics and fun controls. As someone who in turn abundantly loves Link’s Awakening, the Oracle Twins are a great time if only because I get to play as this Link some more. And then you tell me that there’s new goodies for this Link to play with? Like the Roc’s Cape that extends your jump into a glide? And the noisy but interesting Magnet Glove that opens up a host of interesting puzzles? I’m sold.
To add to the fun, there’s a horde of 64 magical rings to collect across both games. The usefulness of these rings range from simple baubles commemorating an achievement, to making enemies drop extra money when you defeat them, to tripling the damage you both deal and take. There’s also rings that transform Link into a green palette swap of some of the enemies in the games, like the shield swallowing Like-Likes or the perfect little Squit, the Octoroks. These rings are kind of just for show and don’t act as a disguise or anything, which is a shame, but they’re fun and I like having fun.
There is however, something shameful about the rings that I find indefensible, and it isn’t that you can only wear one ring at a time. It’s how you acquire these rings that I cannot defend. While some of them are scripted rewards, a great majority of the rings you collect will be through sheer chance. You might occasionally get a ring drop in the Maple the Witch minigame, which you have you grind for. You might also get a ring drop from a Gasha Nut, which randomly gives a tiered prize depending on how much you’ve grinded. So you could be like me and spend half an hour grinding away at killing enemies to spawn the Maple Minigame and then harvest a Gasha Nut only to get the same useless ring three times.
Because of this, I did not get every ring between the two games. I got every piece of heart between them, but I didn’t 100% them and I’m okay with that. There are other, better Zelda games to spend every waking moment with.
I’ve talked mostly about the mechanics of the games and not the story, because the mechanics are much more interesting to me. That doesn’t mean there isn’t intrigue here though. Veran is a fun villain for Ages with a really strange design (I’m serious look up the promotional art for her and try to figure out how her hat looks, it’s infuriating), and Seasons is the only Zelda game where you can find the Jawa-like Subrosians. They’re very fun and silly but I think it’s the simplicity of their designs that held them back from being a recurring Zelda race. It’s a great design though. Everyone loves a little cloaked freak.
I think Subrosia alone is what makes Seasons the better of the two games. Being a pseudo-dark world with its own currency, it makes the world in this little game feel so much bigger, despite its relative simplicity.
There are sadly, other reasons why Seasons is the better of the Oracle Twins, and those reasons are things that are in Ages but are absent from Seasons. The most egregious being the Mermaid Tail. Ages gives you a swimming upgrade to make you move not only move faster in water, but also dive down into combat-capable underwater rooms. However, the Mermaid Tail requires you to frustratedly mash the directional buttons to move. You can't just hold the left button to move left. When switching back and forth between the linked games, the different swimming styles become dreadfully apparent, and playing Seasons just becomes less annoying.
Ages also has the Simon Says-like Goron Dancing minigame, which was a miserable time for me. And you can't hit me with that Skill Issue nonsense, i'm the Karaoke King in all the Yakuza games and i soloed the Orphan of Kos. It's not me.
Regardless, both games are a fine time. I have my problems with Ages but the good outweighs the bad. Despite the mermaid tail, I will probably play it again some day. Honestly, I dread running into the last few dungeons in each game than I do the mermaid tail. Those dungeons can get pretty tedious.
I have played each game twice, but only done a Linked Game once, where I got every piece of heart for each game.
I recommend the Oracle Twins Experience for anyone who enjoys Zelda but also anyone who likes the Game Boy. For some reason, the Game Boy has had a massive resurgence in the DIY/custom building scene, and the only reason i could see myself sinking the time and money into putting a backlight on a Game Boy Color would be to play the Oracle Twins again.
On their own, the Oracle games are a pretty middling Zelda experience, with Ages not shining as brightly as Seasons. But together, through the programming magic of sharable passwords, they become a much more interesting and full experience. An experience that feels like the season finale of a Saturday morning action cartoon. This review, copied and pasted for each game, for better or worse, will be on that experience.
I should start by saying that when these games were first released, you had to buy each of them. For twice the price of a regular game you got the Oracle Twins’ full experience. Nowadays, one could easily play both of these games for as little as one savvy google search. Regardless, it’s worth criticizing nintendo for more or less selling you two weak games that make up a somewhat stronger, more interesting experience, rather than just making a great experience from the start for half the price. But what’s done is done, and I’ve said what I wanted to say on that.
The Oracle Twins are at their most fun and interesting when you have beaten at least one of them, but which one should you start with? Which Oracle game takes place first in the Zelda Timeline? Well, as far as the games themselves are concerned, each game has the potential to be the first or second in your playthrough. So start with whatever you want. Oracle of Seasons for the action? Or Oracle of Ages for the puzzles? Do you like blue haired ladies? Or redheads?
But why is it more fun to have already beaten one of them? Why not be fun from the start? Well, it is fun from the start. You’re playing a Zelda game, after all. But once you beat it, you’re given a special unique password that you can then use when you start the other game to turn it into a sequel of the one you started with. There are dialogue differences that slightly change the context of the games’ respective intros, your animal friend is carried over, and most importantly, your magic rings that you spent countless hours grinding for, which I will get into later, are also carried over. It makes the second playthrough a much more personal experience than just “the next game to play”. It’s a continuation of Your journey.
Since these games started off on a handheld console, they already had the benefit of being more personal than something that is played on a tv where anyone in the room can watch. Add to that the intimate nature of the Oracle’s Linked Game, and you have a nice quaint story all to yourself. Add to THAT the Linked Game Only side quests that require you to go BACK to the previous game and talk with old characters to fulfill those quests and bring the reward back again to the second game, and you have not just a story but an ongoing saga with living breathing worlds, all in your back pocket.
Now maybe you’re more of a Zelda Freak than I am. I only beat Ages and then a Linked Seasons, but if you want to get the full Oracles Experience and get all the little details: you beat each game, and then using the link codes, start a linked version of them, effectively starting both games again with slightly different contexts. That’s too much work for me, but here I am writing a review on it, so maybe I should have done it.
It’s kind of wild how much of a preamble this review has, considering the overall simplicity of the games themselves on their own. They’re your usual 2D Zelda affair, elaborating on 1993’s Link’s Awakening’s already abundantly charming graphics and fun controls. As someone who in turn abundantly loves Link’s Awakening, the Oracle Twins are a great time if only because I get to play as this Link some more. And then you tell me that there’s new goodies for this Link to play with? Like the Roc’s Cape that extends your jump into a glide? And the noisy but interesting Magnet Glove that opens up a host of interesting puzzles? I’m sold.
To add to the fun, there’s a horde of 64 magical rings to collect across both games. The usefulness of these rings range from simple baubles commemorating an achievement, to making enemies drop extra money when you defeat them, to tripling the damage you both deal and take. There’s also rings that transform Link into a green palette swap of some of the enemies in the games, like the shield swallowing Like-Likes or the perfect little Squit, the Octoroks. These rings are kind of just for show and don’t act as a disguise or anything, which is a shame, but they’re fun and I like having fun.
There is however, something shameful about the rings that I find indefensible, and it isn’t that you can only wear one ring at a time. It’s how you acquire these rings that I cannot defend. While some of them are scripted rewards, a great majority of the rings you collect will be through sheer chance. You might occasionally get a ring drop in the Maple the Witch minigame, which you have you grind for. You might also get a ring drop from a Gasha Nut, which randomly gives a tiered prize depending on how much you’ve grinded. So you could be like me and spend half an hour grinding away at killing enemies to spawn the Maple Minigame and then harvest a Gasha Nut only to get the same useless ring three times.
Because of this, I did not get every ring between the two games. I got every piece of heart between them, but I didn’t 100% them and I’m okay with that. There are other, better Zelda games to spend every waking moment with.
I’ve talked mostly about the mechanics of the games and not the story, because the mechanics are much more interesting to me. That doesn’t mean there isn’t intrigue here though. Veran is a fun villain for Ages with a really strange design (I’m serious look up the promotional art for her and try to figure out how her hat looks, it’s infuriating), and Seasons is the only Zelda game where you can find the Jawa-like Subrosians. They’re very fun and silly but I think it’s the simplicity of their designs that held them back from being a recurring Zelda race. It’s a great design though. Everyone loves a little cloaked freak.
I think Subrosia alone is what makes Seasons the better of the two games. Being a pseudo-dark world with its own currency, it makes the world in this little game feel so much bigger, despite its relative simplicity.
There are sadly, other reasons why Seasons is the better of the Oracle Twins, and those reasons are things that are in Ages but are absent from Seasons. The most egregious being the Mermaid Tail. Ages gives you a swimming upgrade to make you move not only move faster in water, but also dive down into combat-capable underwater rooms. However, the Mermaid Tail requires you to frustratedly mash the directional buttons to move. You can't just hold the left button to move left. When switching back and forth between the linked games, the different swimming styles become dreadfully apparent, and playing Seasons just becomes less annoying.
Ages also has the Simon Says-like Goron Dancing minigame, which was a miserable time for me. And you can't hit me with that Skill Issue nonsense, i'm the Karaoke King in all the Yakuza games and i soloed the Orphan of Kos. It's not me.
Regardless, both games are a fine time. I have my problems with Ages but the good outweighs the bad. Despite the mermaid tail, I will probably play it again some day. Honestly, I dread running into the last few dungeons in each game than I do the mermaid tail. Those dungeons can get pretty tedious.
I have played each game twice, but only done a Linked Game once, where I got every piece of heart for each game.
I recommend the Oracle Twins Experience for anyone who enjoys Zelda but also anyone who likes the Game Boy. For some reason, the Game Boy has had a massive resurgence in the DIY/custom building scene, and the only reason i could see myself sinking the time and money into putting a backlight on a Game Boy Color would be to play the Oracle Twins again.
I hate the goron dance. I know this is a skill issue, but I am unable to progress.
I have a bit of history with Oracle of Ages in particular. I first played this game years ago on the 3DS virtual console, but I was always stuck at the final boss. I just couldn't beat it. Now because of a challenge I've started, this game was selected to be the one I played, so I knew what I needed to do.
Before anything else, I want to add I didn't do the game link stuff. I want to do that when I play Oracle of Seasons, as it feels more fitting to do it when I play the other game. But regardless.
I think Oracle of Ages is really interesting! Being a puzzle-oriented game, this is definitely up my alley. And a lot of the puzzles are really fun, I definitely got stuck a couple times, but I was able to eventually figure things out. The time travel mechanic allowed for such interesting puzzles too, switching back and forth between past and present, and seeing what actions in the past effect the present. It's all really fun!
The bosses as well definitely feel like puzzles too. And while for the most part none of the bosses are too annoying, I didn't really care for the Crown Dungeon boss. Funnily enough though, the one boss I couldn't originally beat was among the bosses I beat on the first try this time around.
I feel like certain parts of the game soured my whole experience of it though. It doesn't ruin the game by any means, but it just makes it not as good as it could've been. For one, once I got the Mermaid Tail, the swimming controls were terrible. They were fine for general movement, but for precise movement, which is sometimes necessary, it was terrible. And god, the entire Goron segment was terrible. Most of the minigames were fine, and on their own passable, but that damn Goron Dance. It's the only minigame you have to do twice, and even though it's a basic memory game, somehow the timing you need is just off in some form. It just became really damn frustrating.
Oracle of Ages is an interesting game. It's far from my favorite Zelda title, but it's not a bad game for the most part. I really do wanna see a remake for this game if possible, alongside its sister title. It could definitely touch up the rough edges this game has.
Before anything else, I want to add I didn't do the game link stuff. I want to do that when I play Oracle of Seasons, as it feels more fitting to do it when I play the other game. But regardless.
I think Oracle of Ages is really interesting! Being a puzzle-oriented game, this is definitely up my alley. And a lot of the puzzles are really fun, I definitely got stuck a couple times, but I was able to eventually figure things out. The time travel mechanic allowed for such interesting puzzles too, switching back and forth between past and present, and seeing what actions in the past effect the present. It's all really fun!
The bosses as well definitely feel like puzzles too. And while for the most part none of the bosses are too annoying, I didn't really care for the Crown Dungeon boss. Funnily enough though, the one boss I couldn't originally beat was among the bosses I beat on the first try this time around.
I feel like certain parts of the game soured my whole experience of it though. It doesn't ruin the game by any means, but it just makes it not as good as it could've been. For one, once I got the Mermaid Tail, the swimming controls were terrible. They were fine for general movement, but for precise movement, which is sometimes necessary, it was terrible. And god, the entire Goron segment was terrible. Most of the minigames were fine, and on their own passable, but that damn Goron Dance. It's the only minigame you have to do twice, and even though it's a basic memory game, somehow the timing you need is just off in some form. It just became really damn frustrating.
Oracle of Ages is an interesting game. It's far from my favorite Zelda title, but it's not a bad game for the most part. I really do wanna see a remake for this game if possible, alongside its sister title. It could definitely touch up the rough edges this game has.
Very good underrated zelda game. The puzzles are really good and I definitely prefer the more puzzle oriented Ages to the combat focused Seasons.
I have a fair amount of nostalgia for the Zelda Oracle games; I'll just admit that right away. But even so, Ages is a well-crafted adventure. Perfect to play in bitesize chunks while taking your GBC wherever you go. The story is simple but effective & gameplay keeps you engaged with all its puzzles. Throw in some nice chiptunes to boot & you've got a nice handheld Zelda classic.
Good but pretty derivative. There's not much here I haven't experienced in ALTTP or Link's Awakening. Capcom takes the sprites, music, and mechanics from LA to create a new realm of Labrynna with a new villain. This sounds exciting, but with the exception of a few cool items, this new realm is just the same as Hyrule or Koholint with the same NPC races and enemies, and the same time travel/dark world mechanic we've seen over and over.
It's mostly good fun, but it does hang on the edge of being overly long and complex. The dungeons are very complicated compared to other 2D Zeldas and there were many parts of the game where the next objective was so obtuse a guide was pretty much necessary. The music is also a little grating especially for the dungeons, which is unusual for Zelda. Most are just 10 second repeating clips.
It wasn't bad, but at the same time I've seen and done this all before in better games. Minish Cap had the courage to change up the formula a little and it was memorable for it, but this feels more like someone took Link's Awakening and just doubled the length.
My least favourite 2D Zelda so far, but again it's competent enough to still be fun. I liked the Ancient Tomb dungeon, and the first 4 dungeons were also pretty fun. Jabu Jabu's dungeon was easily the most complicated one I've seen in a 2D Zelda, but it was probably actually the best designed in the game and was pretty enjoyable. The Crescent Island part where all your stuff gets stolen is a unique challenge as well.
It's mostly good fun, but it does hang on the edge of being overly long and complex. The dungeons are very complicated compared to other 2D Zeldas and there were many parts of the game where the next objective was so obtuse a guide was pretty much necessary. The music is also a little grating especially for the dungeons, which is unusual for Zelda. Most are just 10 second repeating clips.
It wasn't bad, but at the same time I've seen and done this all before in better games. Minish Cap had the courage to change up the formula a little and it was memorable for it, but this feels more like someone took Link's Awakening and just doubled the length.
My least favourite 2D Zelda so far, but again it's competent enough to still be fun. I liked the Ancient Tomb dungeon, and the first 4 dungeons were also pretty fun. Jabu Jabu's dungeon was easily the most complicated one I've seen in a 2D Zelda, but it was probably actually the best designed in the game and was pretty enjoyable. The Crescent Island part where all your stuff gets stolen is a unique challenge as well.
The oracle duology intended to focus on one aspect each that make up the basic gameplay of a typical zelda game, puzzle solving and action. Ages is the one that focuses on the puzzles, though for clarification sake it's more like a 60% to 40% ratio of puzzle solving to action respectively, if that makes sense. Regardless, the spotlight is on the puzzles, and the rest of the game revolves around them:
Obvious stuff out of the way, the controls are solid and while it being a gbc game proved a barrier to me initially (due to not having played many games from that system as well as feeling too weird on a pc), the audio and visuals really grew on me. I think my only major complaint really is the lack of enough buttons (more on the system than on the game) which led to a lot opening and closing of the menu just to alternate between items. It’s particularly frustrating during boss fights since it breaks the tension, but at the least its the case with only a few of them.
You’d think a name like Labrynna would be pretty on the nose about the overworld being structured like a labyrinth, but progression in the land actually seems quite linear. The typical gameplay loop is being given access to a limited area initially, being only able to continue onto the next objective by utilizing your items or a new gimmick to access and traverse through a new area. This is made further interesting through the time travel mechanic accessed by the Harp of Ages. If you’re familiar with A Link to the Past, its like the traversal between the light and dark worlds. It feels more well-utilized here due to being present from very early on in the game, as well as being required to solve almost every major obstacle in the way that blocks progress. Furthermore it’s more apparent how actions in the past can affect the present, and the major consequences these can have makes it all the more fun. Time travel is a bit limiting at first however, requiring you to use designated portals to traverse between the past and present; you do gain access to two new songs for the Harp however, ultimately leading to free traversal anywhere on the overworld. I do wish these songs were available earlier as later points in the game can get frustrating due to excessive walking around to find and use a portal, but it’s not a deal breaker. The overworld itself is interesting otherwise with neat locales, the Zora Seas being my favourite.
Dungeons are primarily about puzzles of course. This isn’t to say you should be lax about enemies, but your ability for puzzle solving is the main thing that’s going to be tested. That also makes them easily the best and most fun part about the dungeons; the game is not chill about amping up the difficulty of these puzzles the more you progress and the process of trying to figure them out and solving them made it extremely satisfying for me. This extends to the bosses as well, who require some thinking to learn how to beat; a few go a little further by feeling more like a “regular dungeon puzzle” than an actual “boss battle”, if that makes any sense. Items are also well utilized and most are often necessary for areas outside of the initial location you get them in.
While the game generally does a good job of having challenging yet satisfying gameplay, some parts of the game, mostly in the latter half, can feel unnecessarily frustrating. It’s a mix of progression feeling too obtuse at times and/or complicated methods requiring the use of multiple mechanics and/or items that can become annoying after a while. Some examples in my case: Crescent Island can be really annoying since you lose all your items initially and have to get them back. It’s made a little worse by the constant back and forth due to being unable to have two items at the same time until right around the end of that whole fiasco. Rolling Ridge got really frustrating since it requires a lot of going back and forth between goron npcs to get access to the next dungeon. It’s made more complicated by having to also travel between the past and present and some sections within the area having enemies (albeit, simple enemies, but still annoying.) One particular section requires two items to use in conjunction every single time. Moreover you have to do a few minigames with the gorons, and the dancing minigame man, just no. It gets overwhelming. Mermaid’s Cave was very tedious; it's the first to integrate the time mechanic into its puzzles but since time travel is only allowed on the overworld, it makes for a lot of annoying backtracking made worse by enemies always respawning. Speaking of, some new enemies are also introduced which are annoying to beat quick. You also get the mermaid suit, allowing you to dive underwater, but this mechanic is unfortunately pretty awful initially due to swimming now requiring have to tap the arrow buttons constantly. It ended up being my least favourite dungeon due in part having gotten stuck on how to progress for a long while as well. Jabu Jabu’s Belly seems to be notorious for being one of the most frustrating, hardest dungeons in the series apparently. I actually like it more than Mermaid’s Cave, but it is challenging due in part the non-linear progression here requiring changing the water levels. It also feels pretty long and if you’re not used to how swimming works you’re gonna hate it even more.
The story isn’t really that noteworthy, usually involving some crisis in new areas Link has to solve to progress. There are some characters that make frequent appearances but besides the Maku Tree they’re also nothing really special, including the Oracle of Ages herself; this is more on me for making expectations prior to playing, but I’d have thought Nayru would have more of a presence and perhaps be the one guiding Link. Ah, well, it is what it is. I want to say Veran is a notable main villain, but my reasons really just come down to her being a rare female villain for this series and her funny as hell final boss form. As to be expected from a non-Linked version, the story ends on a cliffhanger; the story truly concludes if you play a Linked Game of Seasons. It certainly has me excited to play that.
I’m too tired to really go indepth much on the dungeons right now, but to make a quick summary: Spirit’s Grove is relatively simple with basic puzzle mechanics, good for a first dungeon, same for the Wing Dungeon (plus points for being where you get the Roc’s Feather, one of my fave items from the game). Moonlit Grotto is where the puzzles start feeling more advanced, and had me thinking a good few minutes here and there. The path to getting to Skull Dungeon is pretty annoying but the dungeon itself is fine otherwise; it introduces another fave item, the switch hook, leading to my favourite puzzle gimmick. Crown Dungeon mostly is made up of the red and blue block mechanic ever so present in alttp dungeons, the boss here was super annoying though, but the concept was fun by heavily involving the cane of somaria. I’ve already spoke on Mermaid’s Cave and Jabu Jabu Vore, Ancient Tomb initially felt pretty frustrating but it quickly grew on me, I’m inclined to say it was cuz of the previous dungeons that I was feeling more down if anything. The boss here is tougher two, with three phases, but I liked it. The Black Tower is mostly just going up some rooms fighting a variety of enemies till you get to the Turret that’s kind of just blah with its puzzle. Veran is the final boss with a total of three phases, one of which you already fight before (its fine but requires constant menu switching that really breaks the pace), the 2nd form is a winged version of her that’s kind of funny to look at and its also relatively simple, the final form of her as a turtle is fucking funny and stupid lmao but the bee and spider form are pretty rad; that final phase is still relatively simple though, with the spider requiring the additional use of the bomb.
Overall, Ages is definitely a game I’d recommend. I think one major barrier might be that if you haven’t played Zelda in a while or never before then it might prove more frustrating due to having to deal with both challenging puzzles and learning to deal with different sorts of enemies; for that reason, some might recommend to play Seasons first. Regardless, give it a try still, its a good time.
Obvious stuff out of the way, the controls are solid and while it being a gbc game proved a barrier to me initially (due to not having played many games from that system as well as feeling too weird on a pc), the audio and visuals really grew on me. I think my only major complaint really is the lack of enough buttons (more on the system than on the game) which led to a lot opening and closing of the menu just to alternate between items. It’s particularly frustrating during boss fights since it breaks the tension, but at the least its the case with only a few of them.
You’d think a name like Labrynna would be pretty on the nose about the overworld being structured like a labyrinth, but progression in the land actually seems quite linear. The typical gameplay loop is being given access to a limited area initially, being only able to continue onto the next objective by utilizing your items or a new gimmick to access and traverse through a new area. This is made further interesting through the time travel mechanic accessed by the Harp of Ages. If you’re familiar with A Link to the Past, its like the traversal between the light and dark worlds. It feels more well-utilized here due to being present from very early on in the game, as well as being required to solve almost every major obstacle in the way that blocks progress. Furthermore it’s more apparent how actions in the past can affect the present, and the major consequences these can have makes it all the more fun. Time travel is a bit limiting at first however, requiring you to use designated portals to traverse between the past and present; you do gain access to two new songs for the Harp however, ultimately leading to free traversal anywhere on the overworld. I do wish these songs were available earlier as later points in the game can get frustrating due to excessive walking around to find and use a portal, but it’s not a deal breaker. The overworld itself is interesting otherwise with neat locales, the Zora Seas being my favourite.
Dungeons are primarily about puzzles of course. This isn’t to say you should be lax about enemies, but your ability for puzzle solving is the main thing that’s going to be tested. That also makes them easily the best and most fun part about the dungeons; the game is not chill about amping up the difficulty of these puzzles the more you progress and the process of trying to figure them out and solving them made it extremely satisfying for me. This extends to the bosses as well, who require some thinking to learn how to beat; a few go a little further by feeling more like a “regular dungeon puzzle” than an actual “boss battle”, if that makes any sense. Items are also well utilized and most are often necessary for areas outside of the initial location you get them in.
While the game generally does a good job of having challenging yet satisfying gameplay, some parts of the game, mostly in the latter half, can feel unnecessarily frustrating. It’s a mix of progression feeling too obtuse at times and/or complicated methods requiring the use of multiple mechanics and/or items that can become annoying after a while. Some examples in my case: Crescent Island can be really annoying since you lose all your items initially and have to get them back. It’s made a little worse by the constant back and forth due to being unable to have two items at the same time until right around the end of that whole fiasco. Rolling Ridge got really frustrating since it requires a lot of going back and forth between goron npcs to get access to the next dungeon. It’s made more complicated by having to also travel between the past and present and some sections within the area having enemies (albeit, simple enemies, but still annoying.) One particular section requires two items to use in conjunction every single time. Moreover you have to do a few minigames with the gorons, and the dancing minigame man, just no. It gets overwhelming. Mermaid’s Cave was very tedious; it's the first to integrate the time mechanic into its puzzles but since time travel is only allowed on the overworld, it makes for a lot of annoying backtracking made worse by enemies always respawning. Speaking of, some new enemies are also introduced which are annoying to beat quick. You also get the mermaid suit, allowing you to dive underwater, but this mechanic is unfortunately pretty awful initially due to swimming now requiring have to tap the arrow buttons constantly. It ended up being my least favourite dungeon due in part having gotten stuck on how to progress for a long while as well. Jabu Jabu’s Belly seems to be notorious for being one of the most frustrating, hardest dungeons in the series apparently. I actually like it more than Mermaid’s Cave, but it is challenging due in part the non-linear progression here requiring changing the water levels. It also feels pretty long and if you’re not used to how swimming works you’re gonna hate it even more.
The story isn’t really that noteworthy, usually involving some crisis in new areas Link has to solve to progress. There are some characters that make frequent appearances but besides the Maku Tree they’re also nothing really special, including the Oracle of Ages herself; this is more on me for making expectations prior to playing, but I’d have thought Nayru would have more of a presence and perhaps be the one guiding Link. Ah, well, it is what it is. I want to say Veran is a notable main villain, but my reasons really just come down to her being a rare female villain for this series and her funny as hell final boss form. As to be expected from a non-Linked version, the story ends on a cliffhanger; the story truly concludes if you play a Linked Game of Seasons. It certainly has me excited to play that.
I’m too tired to really go indepth much on the dungeons right now, but to make a quick summary: Spirit’s Grove is relatively simple with basic puzzle mechanics, good for a first dungeon, same for the Wing Dungeon (plus points for being where you get the Roc’s Feather, one of my fave items from the game). Moonlit Grotto is where the puzzles start feeling more advanced, and had me thinking a good few minutes here and there. The path to getting to Skull Dungeon is pretty annoying but the dungeon itself is fine otherwise; it introduces another fave item, the switch hook, leading to my favourite puzzle gimmick. Crown Dungeon mostly is made up of the red and blue block mechanic ever so present in alttp dungeons, the boss here was super annoying though, but the concept was fun by heavily involving the cane of somaria. I’ve already spoke on Mermaid’s Cave and Jabu Jabu Vore, Ancient Tomb initially felt pretty frustrating but it quickly grew on me, I’m inclined to say it was cuz of the previous dungeons that I was feeling more down if anything. The boss here is tougher two, with three phases, but I liked it. The Black Tower is mostly just going up some rooms fighting a variety of enemies till you get to the Turret that’s kind of just blah with its puzzle. Veran is the final boss with a total of three phases, one of which you already fight before (its fine but requires constant menu switching that really breaks the pace), the 2nd form is a winged version of her that’s kind of funny to look at and its also relatively simple, the final form of her as a turtle is fucking funny and stupid lmao but the bee and spider form are pretty rad; that final phase is still relatively simple though, with the spider requiring the additional use of the bomb.
Overall, Ages is definitely a game I’d recommend. I think one major barrier might be that if you haven’t played Zelda in a while or never before then it might prove more frustrating due to having to deal with both challenging puzzles and learning to deal with different sorts of enemies; for that reason, some might recommend to play Seasons first. Regardless, give it a try still, its a good time.
I will be discussing the events of the Linked Game in this review since this was my linked game in my playthrough.
Both Oracle games I think are massively overlooked and underrated. They both offer different experiences from each other and highlight different elements of the Zelda series. Oracle of Ages is apparently the one focused on puzzles.
Oracle of Ages starts exactly the same was as Oracle of Seasons but now Link is transported to another kingdom and a different villain captures another Oracle. I was worried that I was about to go through the exact same game again but thankfully that’s where the similarities end between the two.
Also I forgot to note in my previous review that the art direction in both of these games is fantastic. I really love all of the character designs in these games.
I enjoyed Oracle of Ages more than Oracle of Seasons because it really felt like there was a lot more going on. There was focus on more characters like Queen Ambi and Ralph who are the only ones to have actual arcs across these two games. The story isn’t super special but I’m glad it does SOMETHING.
The dungeons in this game are all great. Capcom knows their way around creating good dungeons huh? Also once again this game has really great items unique from Oracle of Seasons. The Seed Shooter, Cane of Somaria and The Switch Hook are some of the best items in the series as well. With the Switch Hook being the highlight for me. The bosses are also all great! Vire’s boss fight being a Donkey Kong callback is genius!!!
Now on to the Linked Game content, uhh I expected a bit more but it’s cool I guess. Certain aspects carry over between games in cool ways. Princess Zelda also appears throughout your linked game only to get captured when you learn about Twinrovas super shocking super secret master plan which forces you to fight one more boss. I like that the linked content provides a better, more conclusive ending to the two games.
In some ways, Oracle of Ages feels like a greatest hits games. You liked the time travel in Ocarina of Time? Here you go! You liked the two worlds mechanic from A Link to the Past? Here you go! Zoras! Gorons! Jabu-Jabu!!! And you know what? I’ll eat it all up.
Both Oracle games are very close in quality and I can see the argument for preferring either over the other. However, Oracle of Ages is the definitely the one that resonated with me more.
Both Oracle games I think are massively overlooked and underrated. They both offer different experiences from each other and highlight different elements of the Zelda series. Oracle of Ages is apparently the one focused on puzzles.
Oracle of Ages starts exactly the same was as Oracle of Seasons but now Link is transported to another kingdom and a different villain captures another Oracle. I was worried that I was about to go through the exact same game again but thankfully that’s where the similarities end between the two.
Also I forgot to note in my previous review that the art direction in both of these games is fantastic. I really love all of the character designs in these games.
I enjoyed Oracle of Ages more than Oracle of Seasons because it really felt like there was a lot more going on. There was focus on more characters like Queen Ambi and Ralph who are the only ones to have actual arcs across these two games. The story isn’t super special but I’m glad it does SOMETHING.
The dungeons in this game are all great. Capcom knows their way around creating good dungeons huh? Also once again this game has really great items unique from Oracle of Seasons. The Seed Shooter, Cane of Somaria and The Switch Hook are some of the best items in the series as well. With the Switch Hook being the highlight for me. The bosses are also all great! Vire’s boss fight being a Donkey Kong callback is genius!!!
Now on to the Linked Game content, uhh I expected a bit more but it’s cool I guess. Certain aspects carry over between games in cool ways. Princess Zelda also appears throughout your linked game only to get captured when you learn about Twinrovas super shocking super secret master plan which forces you to fight one more boss. I like that the linked content provides a better, more conclusive ending to the two games.
In some ways, Oracle of Ages feels like a greatest hits games. You liked the time travel in Ocarina of Time? Here you go! You liked the two worlds mechanic from A Link to the Past? Here you go! Zoras! Gorons! Jabu-Jabu!!! And you know what? I’ll eat it all up.
Both Oracle games are very close in quality and I can see the argument for preferring either over the other. However, Oracle of Ages is the definitely the one that resonated with me more.
My personal favorite of the Oracle games, this game has some really clever puzzles, and is pretty fantastic for a Gameboy Color game. That being said, I find the Oracle games to be generally one of the more underwhelming ones in the series, personally.
Definitely does not have the story of its predecessor. In some places it makes up for this, I absolutely love the dungeons so far and overall they are actually an improvement. The whole island section is now one of my favourite moments in any Zelda game for how tight and thoughtfully challenging it is. I enjoy the RPG aspects included for more variety as well. Definitely coming back to this but I do find it harder to engage with as while I like its puzzles, I dislike being stuck in the overworld because of some random person I need to talk to in some meaningless location.
okay maybe i am just an idiot but damn this games puzzles are hard as hell. this game is awesome play it if you love zelda games