The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

"Capcom and Nintendo should get together more often!"

I picked up this AWESOME Game Boy Color treat the day it came out,knowing that my two favorite game companies at the time combining would surely appease my tastes well! Zelda (Nintendo's greatest series ever) is my favorite game series,and Mega Man (created by Capcom, who also produced this game) is high up there as well. That said,a team effort by the two companies was bound to succeed monumentally. And they released two games,not one! *Thank God this didn't happen when Disney and Square made Kingdom Hearts* The games can trade items with each other and one can continue the story in the next using passwords. This may perhaps be the best part of it.

Story: 7/10
The Sorceress of Shadows Veran has possessed Nayru,Oracle of Seasons and has altered the timeline! You,Link,the Hero of Time,must stop the madness by collecting the 8 Essences of Time. Are you a HEROIC enough lad to rescue Nayru and
Not that I play these games for their storyline,but this game's story I found to be rather lacking. For one thing it seems vaguely familiar to another game *coughCTcough*. I also see it as just reused ''travel back in time to save the world'' tripe. It did have some thought-provoking time paradoxes though. The storyline does change 3/4 through the game to something completely different,but I see it as only slightly better. This game's counterpart has a better story IMO,so if ye be lookin' for a pleasin' tale,pick up Oracle of Seasons!

Graphics: 9/10
Me oh my,I never knew the GBC could process so much graphic potential! Maybe it's 'cuz before I bought this I played too much Pokemon! Anyhow,the enemy sprites are pretty much ripped from Link's Awakening DX but even more brilliant color has been added! All the bosses and large enemies are impressive,the sprites look true to the official artwork,and the dungeons look great from the inside and outside. The game has several cutscenes,which truly show the CROMWELLIGANT powers of the GBC and Capcom!

Play Control: 8/10
With only 4 buttons and a D-Pad play control can only be so good,but this is a definite improvement over Link's Awakening. Although selecting items with multiple uses (i.e. Mystical Seeds,the Harp of Ages) gets to be a chore everything else controls superbly! Swimming in the Mermaid Suit takes a while to get used to,but once you get used to it is far superior to the flippers.

Gameplay: 10/10
Ah,where the game truly shines like Michael Jordan Cologne sparkling on a manly moustache is in the game design! You play as Link and you fight with a sword primarily. You also slay the enemies that come your way with bombs,a grappling hook,the seed shooter,and other mighty weapons! And playing the Harp of Ages' songs will open up time portals to 400 years past. Generally,the objective is to explore until you get information on the next dungeon in which an Essence of Seasons is hiding. You must then perform tasks for someone or find relics in which to gain entry into these ancient palaces. This includes earning keys,traveling through time with new songs,and journeying epic distances to remote lands. In the dungeons fighting is not emphasized;rather solving puzzles is,which requires pushing blocks,crossing traps and pitfalls,and finding new uses for items. At the end the dungeon's guardian is usually befell by whatever big treasure you earned in it. For those who need help,64 Magic Rings are available,which give you special attributes that usually help in battle.
With the altering of time that takes place,the massive dungeons,the complex puzzles,and the challenging enemies,this makes for some strong game design and innovation.

Sound/Music: 8/10
The sound didn't blow me away,but the music was the best I have ever heard on GBC! I wouldn't mind if they remixed the songs into another game (if they make a sequel to Wind Waker it's VERY possible). I had but one small problem with the music,and that is the supposedly ''villainous'' song. It's annoying,falls flat,and plays often. That and the average sound makes me give this an 8;otherwise it'd get a 10.
But seriously,the rest o' the music is HEROIC.

Challenge: 9.5/10
This game is quite difficult. The puzzles are Ocarina of Time/Link to the Past-grade,but once you figure them out they won't be too hard. However,there are some very testing trials in the extra Hero's Cave level,which is accessible only to those who beat Oracle of Ages and continue their game here. This has the one problem I have found throughout Zelda games;once you figure out the puzzles then it's easy. Fortunately,it's an initially large challenge and when mastered you can beat these games in one day! A sleepless,anti-social day filled with nothing but Zelda and junk food. What a great world we live in.

Replay Value: You'll want to play it at least twice if you have both Oracle games. And finding all the Pieces of heart/Magic Rings will take a long long time. Add that to the fact that this game is portable and that makes for a lot of replay value.

Final Score: 8.583333333333
..or 9/10.
THE best game on Game boy Color,and it has second part too! Buy it now,it's even better on a GBA SP!
Farewell!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/03, Updated 06/02/03