|
Gaming, In My Opinion
Oracle of Ages is the harder, more cerebral episode in the Oracle series. The other chapter, Oracle of Seasons, is based more on action and battles. Ages takes place in the incredible world of Labrynna, a land far more varied and larger than Nintendo’s Koholint Island from Link’s Awakening. The graphics, though largely similar to LA, are ultimately more detailed and unquestionably more beautiful. And citizens aren’t restricted to one village; there are two cities full of people, not too mention colonies of other races (the loveable rock-crunching Gorons make a successful leap to 2D) - the world is swarming with life and, true to the series, you will actually begin to care about the land’s inhabitants - the mark of a good Zelda game, that is!
But who cares about visuals? Even if it looked as clear and readable as Epona’s excrement, you’d play it - it’s Zelda right? It’s gameplay that’s the thing and it’s incredible. You’d think that a Zelda game developed by someone other than Nintendo would lack that special something…that something is very much alive and well in Ages! The dungeon design, for example, is even better than that of LA. Plus, between dungeons there’s the perfect amount of exploration and subquests, i.e. LOADS! But most impressive of all? The plot and the interaction with the world! Ages begins as Link is zapped away by the Triforce to undergo another quest - no rest for heroes, eh? He arrives in Labrynna and finds Impa, looking a bit paler than usual. He assists her in finding Nayru, a nymph around these parts who, it turns out, is the Oracle of Ages. Once they find her, the paleness drains away from Impa and turns into the evil sorceress, Veran, who proceeds to possess the young Oracle and travel four hundred years back in time. It’s then up to Link and the badly-dressing Ralph to rescue the Oracle Ralph decides to bugger off the second you arrive in the past, whereas Link has to retrieve the eight Essences of Time before the evil Veran/Nayru builds a tower that can end the world, and unfortunately constructions already underway. The interactivity between the two ages is amazing. Time travel is a risky business in games; Nintendo created it in Ocarina of Time, refined it in Majora’s Mask but, by gum, Capcom seemed to have cracked it. Change the flow of the river in the past and the river will still flow the same way four years later. Save a village from a volcano in the past, and when you return to the present it will be nicely built again. And, like the Dark World/Light World changes in A Link to the Past, time-travelling opens up a wealth of secrets. But, thanks to the character limit on these reviews (A pox upon you, Special Reserve Webmaster Bloke!), I don’t have the space to rant and rave about the rideable creatures, or the massive ring-finding sub-quest, or the GBA-exclusive shop, or the link-up with seasons. Buy Ages and find out for yourself! VISUALS: It’s 2D 8-Bit Zelda at it’s peak! 10/10 SOUNDS: The original theme is in place, but some of Capcom’s new tunes are actually quite annoying. 7/10 PLAYABILITY: Controlling some of the creatures can be fiddly, but aside from that flawless. 8/10 LIFESPAN: It’ll take you a month to complete this one, then there’s Seasons to do, and the link-up quests. 10/10 VERDICT: So good that I am now wondering why Capcom haven’t done a Zelda-style game beforehand. One for the Cube would be nice! 88% |