The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages | |
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Developer(s) | |
Designer(s) |
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Series | Single-player |
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
The player controls
After experimenting with porting the original Legend of Zelda to the Game Boy Color, the Flagship team, supervised by Yoshiki Okamoto, began developing three interconnected Zelda games that could be played in any order. The complexity of this system led the team to cancel one game. Both Seasons and Ages were a critical success, and sold 3.96 million units each. Critics complimented the gameplay, colorful designs and graphic quality, but criticized the inconsistent sound quality. Both games were re-released on the Virtual Console of Nintendo 3DS in 2013 and on the Nintendo Switch Online service in 2023.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Oracle of Seasons and Ages is similar to that of
When not in a dungeon, Link explores the
The central item of Oracle of Seasons is the Rod of Seasons. By standing on a stump and swinging the rod, Link can change the season and affect his surroundings.[9] For example, to cross a body of water, Link can change the season to winter and walk on the ice. Changing the season to summer causes vines to flourish, which Link can use to scale cliffs. When Link obtains the rod, he initially cannot use it.[10] In the course of the game, Link visits four towers that house the four spirits of the seasons; each tower Link visits allows him to switch to an additional season.[10]
In Oracle of Ages, the central item is the Harp of Ages, which Link uses to manipulate time and travel between the past and the present.[11] The Harp initially opens portals through time at fixed locations; as the player progresses through the game Link learns new songs on the harp that make traveling through time easier.[12][13]
Interaction
Although the two are built on the same
Upon completing either game, players receive a password that can be used to play an alternative version of the other.[14] In this version, some characters mention passwords that can be given to characters in the first game in exchange for an item or upgrade. By taking a new password back into the linked game, the item or upgrade can be transferred.[14] Rings can be traded by this password system or randomly created by connecting two games with a Game Link Cable.[15]
In the alternative version, plot points are changed or expanded upon to allow the game to serve as a sequel. It also features an extended ending in which Twinrova kidnaps Zelda, and lights the third Flame of Despair to revive Ganon.[16] The player can then enter Twinrova's lair and battle Twinrova and Ganon.[16] Upon completing the alternative game, another password gives the player the Victory Ring, commemorating the defeat of Ganon.[17]
Plot
Oracle of Seasons
Seasons begins as the
Din's attendant,
Oracle of Ages
As with Seasons, the
Link receives a sword from Impa and makes his way to the Maku Tree in Lynna City, the capital of Labrynna.
Linked ending
If one game is played as a sequel to the other by a linked password, Twinrova captures Princess Zelda, lighting the Flame of Despair.[28] Link enters a warp point by the Maku Tree and faces Twinrova, who is attempting to use the three Flames to revive Ganon. Link defeats Twinrova, who sacrifice themselves in place of Zelda, resulting in Ganon being revived as a mindless raging beast that Link kills.[29] He frees Zelda and together, they exit the crumbling castle. After the credits, Link waves to a crowd from a sailboat off the shore of a land with a castle in the background.
Development
This section's factual accuracy is disputed. (February 2024) |
In early 1999, Yoshiki Okamoto, then head of Capcom's screenwriter subsidiary Flagship, proposed remaking the original The Legend of Zelda for the Game Boy Color to Shigeru Miyamoto, the game designer at Nintendo who created the series.[3][30][31][32] Okamoto wanted to remake the original game so that young children could play it, but also as a test for the development team to move on to a more ambitious sequel if it was successful.[3][33][34]
Okamoto wanted to work on games and follow them up with sequels in four to five months, including Zelda games in this workflow.[33] According to reporting by IGN, Okamoto was asked to develop six Zelda games for the Game Boy Color: two based on earlier installments and four original entries,[35] but Okamoto disputed this.[36]
Contrary to Miyamoto's design mentality of creating the gameplay system first, development started out with the scenario writing, which Flagship was in charge of.[34] Some of the staff members, including the team led by director and designer Hidemaro Fujibayashi that was responsible for tasks other than the storyline, wanted to skip the remake and create an original Zelda game right away.[3][35][34] As the original game was deemed too difficult for the new generation of players, more and more changes were applied to the point where it had an entirely different world map.[30] As a result, the team ran into problems because the scenario and the maps had to be reworked constantly to make all the modifications match.[34] The Game Boy Color's screen presented an additional hurdle when attempting to rework the earlier Zelda game as it was narrower than that of a television; players could not view an entire room without scrolling, which made it easy to overlook stairways or clues on walls.[34]
Dismayed by the lack of progress, Okamoto asked Miyamoto for help, who proposed a trilogy of games, each with a different focus on gameplay elements.
The games interacted with each other: players could begin with any of the three games and have the actions of the first game affect the story of the other two, a concept conceived by Okamoto.
These sweeping design changes pushed the release dates closer to the release of the
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
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GameRankings | 91.37% (Seasons)[52] (based on 23 reviews) 92.20% (Ages)[53] (based on 20 reviews) |
Publication | Score |
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Electronic Gaming Monthly | 9.0/10 and 9.5/10[54] |
Famitsu | 31/40 (Seasons)[55] 30/40 (Ages)[56] |
GamePro | 4/5[57][13] |
GameSpot | 9.2/10[4][5] |
IGN | 10/10[12][58] |
Nintendo Power | 5/5[48][49] |
Power Unlimited | 91/100 (Seasons and Ages) [59] |
Oracle of Seasons and Ages were critical and commercial successes, selling 3.96 million copies each.
During the 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Oracle of Seasons for "Hand-Held Game of the Year", while Oracle of Ages was nominated for "Console Role-Playing Game of the Year".[71]
Critics enjoyed the graphics; GamePro called Seasons "bright and colorful" with "surprisingly expressive and well-designed" animations,
Reviews of the audio were mixed. Reviewers noted that the sound was hampered by the poor quality of the Game Boy Color's speakers,[57] although it fared favorably compared with other games for the system.[13] The selection of songs was praised for complementing familiar Zelda songs and sounds with new music. The Zelda theme and the traditional sound effect played upon solving a puzzle were considered welcome additions,[63][72][73][74] but other sound effects were criticized as simplistic "beeps".[73][75][76]
Gamebooks
Two game books were released based on the games as part of the Nintendo
See also
- Oracle of Seasons and Ages manga
Notes
- ^ Known in Japan as Zeruda no Densetsu: Fushigi no Kinomi Daichi no Shō (Japanese: ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎの木の実 大地の章, lit. The Legend of Zelda: The Mysterious Seeds – Chapter of Earth)
- ^ Known in Japan as Zeruda no Densetsu: Fushigi no Kinomi Jikū no Shō (Japanese: ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎの木の実 時空の章, lit. The Legend of Zelda: The Mysterious Seeds – Chapter of Space-Time)
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