[gbc] Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons


shinneri

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Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons





About the game
Back in the hayday of the Game Boy Color's dominance, Nintendo entered into agreement with Capcom that the two companies would work together to produce two original Zelda games for the GBC, which would finally return Zelda to his 2D roots (which I prefer over the 3D games). At any rate, Nintendo soon released two games--LoZ:Oracle of Seasons and LoZ:Oracle or Ages. These two games were innovative in that one could "continue" their quest from one game to the other; doing so can result in new areas, events and different endings.

Anyway, let's get into this thing...

Graphics
They really outdid themselves with this one. The colors are vibrant, some of the sprites are gigantic, and everything animates rather nicely. Add to that the fact that there are four varients for almost every environmental graphic (being that you can switch between winter, spring, summer, and fall) and a second overworld called Subrosia, and you can't help but be VERY impressed by this title.
I played through this game with the screen stretched to fit the GP's screen, and, boy, did it look nice. :D

Sound
Really very standard. There was nothing that stood out in my mind, and a lot if it is just your typical mixes of previous Zelda music.

Gameplay
Here's the one that really matters. And don't worry, friends, LoZ: Oracle of Seasons does not disappoint... though I must admit I was far from blown away. In every Zelda game it seems there must be a (usually very well implemented) gimmick. OoT had the Ocarina, WW had the sea travel, LttP had the alternate dimension thing... Well, in Oracle of Seasons, Link has the ability to manipulate the seasons. This is used very well throughout the game and, as link gains control over another season, he also gains access to new areas and items. It's very cool.
However, you must find 8 oracles in the game (and thus there are 8 dungeons), and, though I know that Zelda is a dungeon-crawler game.. this really seemed to become a bother as I went on. Some of the puzzles simply seemed ridiculous, and, without the help of GameFAQs, I'd have never made it through. Stuff like that really bothers me because I don't believe I ever had such a problem in Link's Awakening or Minish Cap. Also, each dungeon had very few defining facts, so it became kind of monotonous as your progessed further.
Overall, gameplay is good and what one would expect from a Zelda title, but the dungeons didn't really thrill me as much as they have in other titles. Certainly not the best we've seen in a 2D Zelda title.

Misc
There's a lot to do here.. really. You can collect rings, items, go on sidequests, and your options are even greater if you play a linked game from a code you get from Oracle of Ages (or vice versa, if you're playing Oracle of Ages). I'm not really one to try to finish every little bit of the game, so I didn't see a lot of these extra things, but I like that they're there, and a lot of people really do enjoy searching for every little secret the game has hidden.

Emulation
This game emulates very well on Rlyeh's fGB32. I used fullscreen with FS1. Some timing problems in regards to music, and there was a little slowdown in big rooms or ones with many enemies, but all of this can be easily ignored. :)


Score : 4/5

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting
 
Hey, nice review..
I'm currently playing through Oracle of Ages on fgb32 right now... although I did like link's awakening more its also a very good game
 
I played through almost the entire Oracle of Ages on the actual GBC (never beat the end boss for some reason...), but I think that Ages is the superior of the two Oracle games. Don't get me wrong, though; seasons is still very much worth playing. :)
 
i've played both seasons & ages some time ago on my gp32... they are two excellent games, and they are very large.

all of you should try them
 
shinneri posted on Apr 12 2005 at 04:48 AM said:
I played through almost the entire Oracle of Ages on the actual GBC (never beat the end boss for some reason...), but I think that Ages is the superior of the two Oracle games. Don't get me wrong, though; seasons is still very much worth playing. :)
Definately agree! I have both games (original) and played them on my GB. Lovely how they did the Link-feature (hehe, get it? "Link"!), having a 2-hander-sword was just plain fun! Ages seemed to be a little more harder in regards of puzzles and I guess that's the reason I like it more. Comes in 3rd place, right after Awakening and Minish Cap.

btw: the final boss is rather easy (compared to Ganon)
 
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Horscht posted on Apr 14 2005 at 03:24 PM said:
Huh? What does dancing have to do with playing the game?
There's a short dancing mini-game (you just have to copy what the leader of the 'dance' is doing) in both of the games that you have to complete to progress.

It's kind of annoying, but a little patience will get it done. Took me like three tries.
 
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Cool review!
I have got oracle of ages on the GBC but i still havent completed it for some reason, this one sounds pretty good so ill try it out! :p
 
good review!!! it definately suits how the game is!!! i'v baught zelda games for the gbc and finished all of them and they were worth the £24.99... it took some time finishing l8inks awakaning but when i got the oracle of seasons i got use to it and went through it like a breeze!!! its totaly brilliant a must to get!!!
 
Horscht posted on Apr 12 2005 at 02:51 PM said:
Lovely how they did the Link-feature (hehe, get it? "Link"!), having a 2-hander-sword was just plain fun!

Actually, the character is called "Link" because he is the link between the player and the game. He is not actually supposed to be a specific person, neither is his real name supposed to be Link. If one Zelda game refers to another, "Link" is usually called "the hero" or something to that extend.
Well... actually I can't promise that this is completely right, but I seem to recall having read this somewhere.

Nice review, by the way. I have all the Zelda games as the original cartridges, and you just made me realize Oracle of Seasons is the only one I have not yet finished ;)

PS: I'm back!
PPS: Nobody cares :D
 
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