The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

"The best way to let the GBC's saga end!"

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, along with its sister game, Oracle of Seasons, are two peas in a pod. They compliment each other in many ways, but we’re talking about Ages. For starters, it is a beautiful game, using all the capabilities the Game Boy Color was designed with. My reasoning for a 10 is as follows:

Graphics:10
The best I’ve seen on the Game Boy Color…quite possibly the best game on the GBC. When I first turned it on and looked at the FMV(Full Motion Video)…my heart skipped a beat. It was like I was experiencing the best game ever made(it seemed like it at the time) lol.

Music:10
Simply stunning, I was happy to know that, like Majora’s Mask, the original Zelda theme was still kept intact, but it was remixed ever so wonderfully. It makes me happy to just sit back, plug up my Handy Boy Color, and listen to the sounds of a cool dungeon, or Ralph’s theme music(my personal favorite).

Replay ability:10
Oracle of Ages is a game that you don’t want to throw away after you beat it. There are still many challenges awaiting, such as collecting as many of the 64 rings as possible, all the Pieces of Heart, and finding out where all the Gasha Soil Locations are. For those of you who are lucky enough to have both, complete Seasons first, and at the end of Ages, two special things await your arrival, but since this is a review, I will not spoil that.

Control:10
The control of this game is exactly like Link’s Awakening, just better graphics and a much better storyline, which I will cover next. The simplicity of the control will be your best friend when exploring the many puzzles which lie inside dungeons, or even outside!

Storyline:10!
Simply the best storyline for Zelda(that didn’t involve Hyrule)! I’ll provide you with a brief story to get your started:

One day Link rides Epona to Hyrule Castle. As he nears the inside, the Triforce calls to him. He answers by walking up to the altar. The Triforce grants Link a new quest, and sent him through a portal. When he lands, he notices that he is no longer in Hyrule, but in a totally new world(yeah, duh). He walks around the woods some to find Impa, Zelda’s “nanny” (which looks NOTHING like she did in Ocarina of Time, lol). Impa was surrounded by Octoroks. Link scares them off with the Triforce on his hand. Impa, scared, yet happy that Link saved her, asks if she can follow him. They get to a Triforce block. Impa shudders, and asks Link to move it because she can’t. Thinking nothing of it, Link moves the block aside and they continue on in the forest.

As the two adventure further into the woods, a singing voice as angelic as a goddess can be heard. Curious, Link leads Impa and himself to the voice. It appeared to be a beautiful woman, going by the name of Nayru. They start to talk as Ralph, a friend, acts all defensive of Nayru. Soon, an ominous feeling came to everyone; the animals, Ralph, Nayru, and most importantly, Link.

“Heh heh heh heh” Impa said. Impa had an odd look to her. A faint greenish-blue hue came to her face. Nayru suddenly backed up. Impa’s body fell limp to the ground as a dark, flaming spirit erupted from her body. The spirit said, “Hah, thank you, Link. You have led me to the one thing I wanted. Nayru, not bad, yes. Not bad for a diva…no! Not bad for Nayru, Oracle of Ages. I shall make your body my own!”

With that, the spirit came into Nayru’s body, and the same hue appeared on Nayru’s face. Ralph withdrew his sword and started talking to the spirit.

“Let her go or I’ll cut you up!” Ralph yelled. The spirit, talking through Nayru, reciprocated the threat. “Hah! If you cut me, it’s Nayru who dies!” Ralph backed up, sheathing his sword.

“Now I, Veran, Sorceress of Shadows, am in control of The Oracle of Ages! I shall go back in time, and bring the age of darkness to Labrynna!” said Veran(inside Nayru). With that, Nayru jumped up into the sky and landed in a time portal, going back in time. Then unfolds the rest of the story…

I know that’s not the exact story, but I got the main idea going :P. Anyway, Veran has control over Nayru, and time, so it’s your job as Link to once again bring another land into the light of justice. As you can see, the storyline’s wonderful, so that’s another 10.

Challenge:10...THE BEST YET!
Imagine, the battles of Ocarina of Time(which are quite few), the toughness of the Water Temple, and Majora’s Mask’s puzzle system…you have Oracle of Ages. Oracle of Ages is more puzzle-centric, so you will be spending most of your time figuring out things. It’s not as battle oriented as Seasons, but it has it’s own share of action, too, making it a very well rounded game.

Worth renting/buying?:10
Without a shadow of a doubt in my mind, Oracle of Ages is every penny worth it! As you see above, this, along with Seasons, make out to be the best games to ever come onto the GBC! Don’t miss this one! Go to your nearest electronics store and buy it!

Author’s Final Note: Oracle of Ages is a game that you will want to beat again and again. I’ve beaten it about 3 times now, and I still have trouble in a few dungeons. This is a Zelda game, as the name states, “for the ages”, meaning that it’s a Zelda game Zeldaholics will never forget!

“Dis is da best damn game evah…BUY IT!”

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/01, Updated 08/14/01