"Ages beyond Seasons."

Seeing as how this is a review for The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, I feel I need to spend a moment to explain what exactly this game is and how it works with its sister title, Oracle of Seasons. The two games were released simultaneously for Game Boy Color and complement one another in interesting ways. They're not different versions of the same game, like the color-coded Pokemon titles; rather, they're two completely different games that share similarities. They both have interconnected stories, and they both contain many of the same gameplay elements. Most importantly, though, the two Oracle titles are meant to be played as one.

Upon beating one Oracle game, you're given a password that can be entered at the beginning of the other Oracle game, thus turning the second title into a sequel of sorts – extra content is unlocked, new story details are revealed, and players are treated to an extended finale that pits them against the true villain behind all of this madness. To experience all that both of these games have to offer, you'd literally have to beat each game twice, in a different order each run.

Of course, each game could be played individually and none of the functionality of either would be lost. But by allowing these two titles to complement one another, Capcom has brought the series to a place in which it has never been. It's an outstanding feature that will leave the average Zelda fan overwhelmed.

Yeah, that's right – Capcom. The Mega Man guys. The Resident Evil dudes. This marks their first try at a Zelda game, and the results are so well-crafted, you'd never know the Oracle titles weren't handled by the same guys that did the stellar Link's Awakening. I was quite pleasantly surprised by just how deep and intelligent both games are, and how well-studied the designers at Capcom must be of Hyrule legacy, putting aside their underwhelming The Minish Cap.

Between the two titles, Ages is clearly superior. The story is more intense, the puzzles are more mind-bending, the adventure is more well-paced, the world is more engaging to explore – it's an all-around better game. The one downside to having two games complement each other like this is that when one of the titles is clearly superior, the other hides in its shadow. I normally wouldn't compare two games so extensively, but Ages and Seasons are meant to be played as one.

Each of the two Oracles has its own special gimmick, noted right in the title itself. This is Ages, so we're dealing with time travel. The game world of Ages is split into two realities – the present world, and the world four hundred years ago. Whereas Ocarina of Time gave us the whole time-travel thing with only a seven-year gap, Ages takes it one step further by separating these two worlds by four centuries. It's a new take on the familiar “two mirroring lands” mechanic that has been implemented into countless other games, namely with the Home/Another World of Chrono Cross, and the Light/Dark World of the series' own A Link to the Past.

The time travel mechanic is integrated seamless into gameplay. Players use a magical harp – the Harp of Ages, as it were – to open portals that can be used to warp between these two time periods. It's used to the exact kind of effect you would hope for. By changing something in the past, you'll inadvertently correct the future. An early instance has you saving a tree, the Maku Tree, by going back in time and preventing an ambush that occurred when it was young. It's the central puzzle-solving mechanism of Ages, and it never gets old. The harp is especially fun to use later in the game when you're granted the ability to warp from any spot, leading to some seriously epic moments in which you're warping back and forth at rapid-fire pace, contending with changing terrain features and such.

Capcom had the unenviable task of constructing the first original 2D Zelda game(s) after the series hit the N64 and opened up a whole new window of opportunity in a three-dimensional world. They succeeded ten times over. To anyone who thinks that they cannot possibly go back to the Zeldas of Game Boy after playing the series' console games, and that the top-down world could never compete with the fully 3D one, I invite you to play through the Mermaid's Dungeon and be blown away by the intelligent, brain-smashing difficulty it provides. The Oracles would seem to mark a step back in the series, but in fact contain some of the most challenging puzzles the series has to offer.

Even the inventory is great, mixing classic items with creative new ones. An example would be the Cane of Somaria, which can create blocks out of thin air and brings about one of the coolest boss fights the franchise has ever seen.

I even liked the plot, which deals with Link having to save the legendary goddess Nayru from the clutches of the evil sorceress Veran. The time travel mechanic is a major aspect of the plot as well, and Ages probably has the deepest, twistiest story of any two-dimensional Zelda. I also like the occasional cinematics, which were entirely unnecessary but cool on GBC nonetheless.

The graphics are vibrant and colorful, and the music is catchy and superb. You'd think both areas would have seemed dated in the early summer of 2001, when GBA was right around the corner. The truth of the matter is that Ages is so extraordinary on so many levels that it can't really be faulted. My biggest complaint about the game is that it makes other games undesirable in comparison.

Pros

+ Creatively connected with Seasons.
+ Excellent production all around.
+ Time travel mechanic is outstanding.
+ The puzzles are mind-numbing.
+ Go Capcom!

Cons

- It's so good, it makes Seasons (also a remarkable game) look bad.
- Who am I kidding?

Overall: 10/10

There are very few negative things I can say about The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages. With these two titles, Capcom has crafted a grossly overlooked pair of classics that should have gone down in the history of the franchise. Ages is exactly what I love about Zelda: Classic gameplay, great puzzles, epic battles, the works. I'd actually recommend that you play Seasons first if you plan to take on both games at once. Save the best for last, y'know? If I ever had any doubt in Capcom's ability as a developer, it's gone, as Ages is right along the level of Link's Awakening in the world of 2D action/adventure games for handhelds.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/23/07