The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Game Boy Color - USA - 1st edition.

Developer Capcom Publisher Nintendo Published 2001-02-27 Platforms Game Boy Color Genres Action-adventure, Exploration, Metroidvania Themes Adventure, Cartoon, Fantasy, Time travel Series The Legend of Zelda Distribution Commercial

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is an action-adventure video game developed by Capcom and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color on 2001-02-27. The game is part of the Zelda series and was co-released with The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. The two games can be linked together to share items between the two and it also unlocks additional content, including a new shared ending. The game uses the engine from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

The game takes place in the land of Labrynna where Nayru, the Oracle of Time, is possessed by the villain Veran. Veran uses her ability to travel through time to her advantage to the detriment of the people of the land. Link is helped by the Maku tree and tracks down Harp of Ages which lets him travel through time as well to collect the Essences of Time from the past in order to stop Veran.

Personal

Own?	No.
Won?	Yes. All the items, but I'm missing two heart pieces. I haven't played any parts of the linked game.
Finished	2022-11-28.

After being disappointed with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, I stopped playing Zelda titles for a while. I knew that the Oracle games were based on the engine of Link's Awakening, and didn't receive much love from the fans, so I didn't give them much thought. However, knowing that these were probably the last 2D Zelda games that would ever be made, I decided to give them a try. I started with Oracle of Seasons, and, after finishing it, began this one. I think Oracle of Seasons is the stronger game.

I don't own the game, but I own the The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Season / Oracle of Ages - Official Strategy Guide.

Review

5	6	6	6	8

Best Version: Game Boy Color

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The developers were able to retain the cute charm of Link's Awakening (by borrowing much of the art and sound), but still having an original story with a lot of new characters.
• The pixel art is top notch, as usual, and makes good use of the platform's limited color. I love the animation associated with the mermaid's tail.
• The game's music, though largely borrowed from Link's Awakening contains a couple nice new tracks.
• There are many devious puzzles to solve, especially in the dungeons. Some of them had me scratching my head for a while. The segment where the Tokay steal your equipment and you have to solve a variety of puzzles to get everything back was well-made. The mine cart, switches and gates, the color tiles, the pushable color block, the cover-the-floor paths, etc. are all enjoyable.
• The time travel mechanic creates a lot of fun map puzzles. It reminded me of the magic mirror in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
• I like the ring mechanic: minor upgrades that will only help you in specific areas.

Bad

• Just like with Link's Awakening, I wish more items, like the bracelet and shield, were always on. Having to switch so frequently is annoying.
• Dungeon 7 is a pain in the butt with all the backtracking you have to do.
• Too many of the game's treasure chests are rings and seeds. Each time I got one, it felt like a letdown.
• Once you get the third song which lets you move back and forth in time at will, the other two songs should have been removed from your inventory to speed up item changes.
• Replacing the pegasus boots, ocarina, bait, and candle with seeds doesn't make any sense.
• I don't like how the game mixes underworld and over world monsters. Like-likes don't belong on the over world, and peahats don't belong in dungeons.
• I don't like how you can't swim under bridges.
• The rings that let you turn yourself into monsters are lame because you can't use any of their abilities.
• Sorry Ricky, but male kangaroos don't have pouches.

Ugly

• The layout of both over worlds is pretty bad.
  • In both the present and past, a large percentage of the rooms are completely empty, to the point where the game frequently feels like a walking simulator.
  • Much of the map is difficult to access requiring going back and forth through time repeatedly or through a maze of caves to get to your destination. The first time you do this makes sense because it's a puzzle, but you have to do it each time you want to go back to the area, which is annoying. More shortcuts should have been put in place to prevent having to repeat the mazes.
  • The long thin rock walls, whirlpools, and polluted areas of the ocean don't look even remotely organic, It really hurts immersion.
• For how frequently you have to use it, the animation of playing the Harp of Ages and traveling through time takes way too long. I don't understand how this made it through playtesting.
• Another damsel in distress? Come on Nintendo, come up with something new.

Media

Box Art

The Japanese and US boxes are very similar, just with different lettering. They depict Link holding the Harp of Ages with silhouettes of Veran and Nayru in the background.

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  Japan.

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  USA. The European layout is the same.

Documentation

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  Manual - GBC - USA.

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  Strategy guide - Nintendo Player's Guide.

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  Strategy guide - The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages & Seasons - Perfect Guide.

Maps

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  Labrynna - Present.

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  Labrynna - Past.

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  Maku Path - Present.

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  Maku Path - Past.

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  Labrynna - Animal Regions.

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  Underwater - Present.

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  Underwater - Past.

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  Dungeon 1 - Spirit's Cave.

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  Dungeon 2 - Wing Dungeon.

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  Dungeon 3 - Moonlit Grotto.

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  Dungeon 4 - Skull Dungeon.

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  Dungeon 5 - Crown Dungeon.

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  Dungeon 6 - Mermaid's Cave - Past.

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  Dungeon 6 - Mermaid's Cave - Present.

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  Dungeon 7 - Jabu-Jabu's Belly.

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  Dungeon 8 - Ancient Tomb.

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  Black Tower.

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  Hero's Cave.

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  Zelda's Rescue.

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  Room of Rites.

Graphics

• flickr.com/photos/historyofhyrule/albums/72157629267964957 - Official published art.

Videos

Longplay.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	Mostly damsels in distress.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There are several women, but none really talk to each other.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	None of the characters have a clear race.
Queer character?	Fail	None of the characters appear to be queer.

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
English	The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Japanese	ゼルダの伝説　ふしぎの木の実　〜時空の章〜	Zelda no Densetsu: Fushigi no Ki no Mi ~Jikuu no Shou~	The Legend of Zelda: The Fruit of the Mysterious Tree -Chapter of Space and Time-

Links

           

• zelda.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Oracle_of_Ages - Zelda Wiki.