The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

"Zelda and time travel: The happy marriage continues."

It is often said that good things come to those who wait. When it comes to the Zelda games, that generally holds true. Sure, we usually have to endure years of waiting, but when the newest Zelda game comes out it almost always proves to be so good, so fun, so polished and pretty that most players have to concede it was well worth the wait. The Oracle games were something of an exception though; the fact that they were released less than a year after the last Zelda (Majora's Mask for the N64) was in itself unusual, but having two unique Zelda games come out on the same day was simply unheard of. It almost seemed too good to be true, and the fact that these two games were developed not by Nintendo, but by third party Capcom, might also have been seen as a sign that they weren't quite up to scratch. Fortunately, it turned out that Nintendo left their beloved franchise in some very capable hands, as both Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons proved to be absolutely fantastic games, some of the best to ever appear on the Game Boy Color.

Concept

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is a 2D action/adventure game for the Game Boy Color released in 2001, on the very same day as its counterpart, Oracle of Seasons. The two games are pretty much the opposite of Pokemon Gold/Silver, two versions of the same game with some slight differences. Instead, Oracle of Ages/Seasons are two completely different games with only a handful of things in common (characters, weapons, gameplay mechanics) beyond the standard Zelda ingredients. The two games can be played separately, or be connected via a password system to experience the whole story.

Story

It all begins with Link, the hero of Hyrule traveling to the shrine of the Triforce. Once there, he is transported to the troubled land of Labrynna, which really is in need of a hero. In Labrynna Link encounters Nayru, a beautiful girl whose voice has made her into something of a local celebrity, as well as the nursemaid Impa and the swordsman Ralph, who are both there to protect Nayru. Or maybe not. As it turns out, Impa has been possessed by Veran, the Sorceress of Shadows, who quickly proceeds to take over Nayru's body. Veran/Nayru reveals that Nayru is no mere singer, but that she is in fact the Oracle of Ages, who controls time itself. Before Link and Ralph can stop her, Veran/Nayru opens up a time portal and goes hundreds of years back in time. The effects of this are immediately felt by present day Labrynna, which suffers calamities like kids turning into stone and all the monkeys disappearing as the result of some retroactive monkeycide (yeah, Veran really is a meanie!). Ralph immediately runs off to save Nayru, but as you already know, only Link is actually capable of saving the day.

Link's new adventure will see him traveling through time to gather the 8 Essences of, err, Time, each Essence having been hidden within a deadly dungeon. Being the first 2D Zelda game released after the series had established itself in 3D, you'll notice Oracle of Ages includes a lot of races and characters from the N64 Zelda games (yes, even Tingle). The storytelling in Ages is also influenced by its big brothers, especially the way it uses cut-scenes to move along the story. Compared to Oracle of Seasons, Ages is definitely the more story-driven game of the two, with several big plot twists and a stronger cast of characters. The story is definitely a good one, made all the more interesting by the time travel aspect.

Gameplay

Oracle of Ages generally plays like a typical 2D Zelda, with the classic top-down perspective and the same kind of item selection system that you found in Link's Awakening. The gameplay is vintage Zelda, incredibly rich and varied, masterfully combining action, adventure, exploration, NPC interaction, trading games, mini-games and tricky dungeons. It even includes some neat sidescrolling platforming sections, just like Link's Awakening did before it.

As usual, you start off without any items apart from your sword and with only a tiny part of the world accessible, but as you gradually pick up new items more and more of Labrynna opens up to you. You'll quickly come across classic items like the Power Bracelet (enabling you to lift heavy objects), the Feather (used for jumping) and the bombs, but later on you'll also get some very cool new items. A brand new category of items are the 5 types of seeds you find in this game (as well as in Oracle of Seasons), which can be used to burn away small trees, make you run faster and even instantly transport you to faraway locations. The many different items are not only necessary for progressing in the game, they can also help you nab many of Labrynna's secrets, and it's definitely very fun to return to a place you visited earlier and use your newest item to reach that one previously unreachable treasure chest.

The 8 dungeons in the game are all pretty big (by Game Boy standards), full of tricky puzzles and plenty of different enemies. It is commonly said that Ages is much more puzzle-oriented than the action-packed Oracle of Seasons, but that's definitely an exaggeration. There are certainly plenty of battles and lots action in Ages, as well as plenty of puzzles. However, the puzzles in Ages tend to be more time consuming than the ones in Seasons, and some even verge on being downright annoying for this very reason. Still, most of the puzzles in here are both clever and fun to solve, and the boss battles (which also often require you to put on your thinking cap) are very cool and creative too.

Time Travel

Time travel is perhaps the most important aspect of Oracle of Ages. Very early in the game you get hold of the Harp of Ages, which you play to activate any nearby time portal. Once activated, you can use the time portal to travel through time. The time portals are somewhat scattered and rare though, so it isn't as if you immediately get the ability to go back and forth in time anywhere and anytime you want (that comes later). Basically, while time travel certainly played a huge part in both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, the way you travel between past and present in Ages is actually more reminiscent of the light world/dark world system from A Link to the Past.

The big deal with the time travel aspect of Oracle of Ages is that it essentially gives you two worlds for the price of one. See, in this game you don't go back just 7 years in time, you go back 400 (!) years in time. As you can imagine, a lot of stuff will have changed in 400 years, and the two versions of Labrynna therefore feature different sets of characters, as well as some different locations and obstacles. Even the geography is somewhat different!

Going back and forth in time gets plenty of other cool uses: Plant a little seedling in the past and you'll find that it has become a full grown tree in the present. Saving someone in the past can dramatically change history for the better. There's even one dungeon that has to be tackled both in the past and present in order to reach the end-of-dungeon boss. All in all, Oracle of Ages makes great use of the time travel feature, which itself adds a lot of depth to the game. Time travel plus Zelda still equals win.

Rings, animals, seeds and other craziness

Oracle of Ages is not without fresh, new ideas either. Among the innovations are the magic rings. During the course of your adventure you will find different rings, and by visiting Vasu the jeweler you can have them appraised and rendered usable. There are dozens and dozens of different rings to be found in this game, and they have all kinds of crazy abilities: Some rings can transform you into different creatures, others affect your power and defense while others again give you different (and often very neat) abilities. To begin with you can only carry around one usable ring at a time, but you get to remedy this later in the game.

You also have the Gasha Seeds, which you can plant in different spots of soft soil. Come back later (in real time, not in terms of time travel) and the seed will have grown into a tree, which you get a Gasha Nut from. Gasha Nuts can contain all sorts of different stuff, rings, rupees, even a piece of heart. Another addition to the series is the use of animals other than the horse Epona for traveling around the world. At different points of the game you will come across several different animals (a boxing kangaroo, a flying bear and a swimming dodongo) which you need to use to get past certain obstacles. The different animals are only really useful once or twice though, so while they are fun to control, they don't really add a lot to the experience. However, one addition that really is substantive is the new diving ability. For the first time in a 2D Zelda game, you can now really explore the underwater worlds that are hidden in the deep seas, which is very cool indeed.

Linked Game

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons can be connected in a clever, yet simple way: After you have completed Oracle of Ages you get a password. Now start a new game on Oracle of Seasons and choose to type in that particular password to continue the story you began in Ages. Of course, this also works the other way around. The enhanced version of Seasons/Ages will in many ways be identical to standard quest, but there are some important twists. Old friends from Ages/Seasons will pop up from time to time, princess Zelda will travel to Holodrum/Labrynna and the story will be fleshed out to account for Link's earlier exploits in Ages/Seasons and the evil forces behind Veran and Onox. There will also be an extra, optional dungeon added, truly testing your abilities to their limits. Note that this extra dungeon is different depending on whether the adventure is being continued in Ages or Seasons.

You can also now trade passwords between the two games, giving you more heart containers, providing you with new mini-games, letting you upgrade your items and even get brand new ones. The enhanced game will basically feel like the second part of an epic adventure, rather than just a standalone quest. Most importantly, this adventure will not end after you've beaten the supposed final boss, but will instead continue a little bit longer, finally giving you the chance to take on the real big bad and see the ultimate ending.

Even without any link-up with Seasons, Oracle of Ages is still a fantastic game, easily as good as Link's Awakening and a thoroughly satisfying experience from beginning to end. There are some minor flaws (some of the puzzles are as I already mentioned a bit time consuming, and some of the compulsory mini-games are pretty annoying) but overall this is handheld entertainment at its very best. Still, it is when you do link up with Seasons that both games really get to show off their full potential, so while each game on its own is amazing, you really ought to get both in order to make the most of them.

Graphics

For a Game Boy Color game, Oracle of Ages looks really good. Its graphics represent a significant improvement over what you saw in Link's Awakening DX, and especially the colors are much stronger and more vibrant in Ages. The environments and character sprites also look great and variety is excellent. The two versions of Labrynna each have a very distinct look, and some of the underwater sections are actually extremely pretty. Very nice.

Music & Sound

While Oracle of Ages borrows quite a bit of music from Link's Awakening, it also features plenty of catchy, original music tracks of its own. In fact, I would say this is the Oracle game with the best overall soundtrack. The sound effects are mostly ripped from Link's Awakening, but that's hardly a bad thing. Considering the limitations of the system itself, Ages definitely features great music and satisfying sound effects.

Longevity

With 8 dungeons and two versions of Labrynna to explore, Oracle of Ages will take you a good while to finish. Like any good Zelda game it also features plenty of secrets, a dozen piece of hearts to find, dozens of rings to uncover, items to upgrade, mini-games to play and so on. The replay-value also goes through the roof thanks to the Linked Game feature and all that it brings with it. Apart from the Pokemon RPGs, I have a hard time coming up with any other GBC games that provide you with as many hours of high quality entertainment as the Oracle duo.

Closing Comments

Oracle is Ages is a fantastic game and a great addition to the legendary Zelda series. It might be somewhat hard to find these days, but it's definitely well worth tracking down, along with Oracle of Seasons. If you are among the Zelda fans who somehow missed out on these gems the first time around, know that you have two amazing games just laying there, waiting for you. It is never too late to pick up games as good as these.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/12/09

Game Release: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (EU, 10/05/01)