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As they were released at the
same time, OoS isn't necessarily Zelda 7. OoA could be. And vice versa.
But, these games, in my review, are Zeldas 7&8. The best way to describe
them is 'twins'.
Now out for the gameboy colour,
I expected it to get a lot more hype than it has. Many web-site magazines
have raved about it, but if it wasn't for them, would we even know about
it? I read a review online, and then saw it in a local game shop a week
later. Other than that, I've not heard a thing...
So, is this badly advertised
"Pokémon type game" any good? Well, first of all, it was around
long before Pokémon, as any Zelda fan will tell you. Read on, and
notice the lack of pictures(!)... Maybe I should split this page into 2...
A joint project by Nintendo and Capcom, it's impossible to see which
of the new bits came from who...
But still, it's nice to see that Capcom can do RPGs too.
Story
Well, as always, I advise you
to read the manual...
Both games are based on the same idea. To enjoy
the two similar stories, you'll have to a)buy both, b)buy one, and borrow
a friends (you can link up 2 gameboys to get items that aren't retrievable
in your game), c)borrow both (like me - you may need to borrow a GBC too).
Or you could just go and buy the N64 games which
are just as fun... but anyway, the story;
As Link, our Hyrulean hero from all the other
Zelda games, you have to save stuff again. It's all a very complex story
of saving trees and girls, by going backwards/forward in time, and to other
worlds. Any Zelda fan will be familiar with all of the trouble that Link
has to go to, to save the girl (there's a picture below). This game is
set near Hyrule.
Oracle of Seasons
Well, in 'Oracle of Seasons',
you... (coming soon!  ) |
Zelda: Oracle of Seasons is more
focused on action
than Zelda: Oracle of Ages, and is set in Holodrum. You're supposed to save Din in this game. Link's main enemy is called General Onox.  |
Oracle of Ages
| Well, in 'Oracle of Ages',
you accidentally allow some evil geeza, Veran - Sorceress of Shadows, disguised
as Impa (from the N64's Zelda 5), get past a sacred barrier
( a special rock 
) to come and possess Nayru's body. She creates a weird time portal thing,
and goes to the past through it, stating that a new age of darkness will
begin. So, guess who has to save her? Well, Ralph, seen with Nayru below
wants to save her by himself... |
Zelda: Oracle of Ages is more focused
on puzzles than
Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, and is set in Labrynna. You're supposed to save Nayru in this game. Link's main enemy is an evil sorceress; Veran.  |
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Nayru, the girl in the shots above, when she was herself and not Veran,
controlled time (a useful skill; one which all bad guys could use!),
and is the "best singer in Labrynna" (the town you begin in, partially
shown above). Does she remind any Zelda
4 fans of Marin? I'm not sure if they bothered to change more than
6 pixels in her image...
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But that's just the beginning of Zelda: Oracle
of Ages. Of course, there will be a huge story following this, full of
the usual twists of poorly trees and stolen girls, which I'm sure anyone
will thoroughly enjoy, just like all of the other Zeldas. The rest you
will have to find out for yourself...
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Game
Both games start with a fantastic
animated intro (a different intro is in OoA to OoS), which look fantastic
on the Gameboy Colour. You can see a shot from one of them below-left.
Unlike
Zelda
4, you don't actually learn anything from it, other than it's Link
again, and he's starting a new quest...
Like Zelda
4 (which I suggest you play before 7/8), you make a save game, and
people call you this (e.g. "Rich") when they talk to you. You then have
two new options - a secret thingy (parts of this will be revealed to you
later in the game), a link option (for obtaining items from the other cartridge
from a friend), and of course the 'continue game' option. When you first
begin, you are in a familiar setting (if you've played Zelda
4) of some woods somewhere, as seen below-right.
This is where the adventure - kind of - starts.
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Gameplay
These are bound to be HUGE
games. After all the saving and finding you have to do in each game, you
probably have to defeat Gannon, or at least Veran. Or you'll find out that
they're the same person, or family, or Link's father or something. But
there is bound to be lots of bosses to keep you entertained, anyway.
An interesting new feature is the highlighted
key-words in the text of people's speech, so you don't have to read everything.
And one of the first things I noticed was the "!" which appeared above
people's heads. maybe this is a Capcom thing - it's not really Nintendo's
style. Or is it?
The controls are the same as Legend
of Zelda 4 - Link's Awakening (and Zelda4 DX), and Legend
of Zelda 3 - A Link to the Past for
the SNES, I suppose. They are easy to master, and if you've completed LoZ
4, you will already know what you're doing. Again, most of the puzzles
seem to be of medium difficulty, and fun, but some are bound to be too
difficult, requiring less experienced gamers to resort to getting tips.
Getting into this game is as easy as Zeldas 1-4, and just as addictive.
Perhaps to keep familiarity, or going along the
lines of 'if it isn't broke, don't fix it', all of the original elements
of Zelda 4 are still there - but most people, including me, think that
this is just a shortcut, like the way Zelda 6 (Majora's Mask) used Zelda
5's (Ocarina of Time) engine, almost unchanged. Rebuilding the N64 Zelda
engine for 6 would have took years, and I'd rather have Majora's Mask now
with slightly poorer graphics than in 3 years from now with a few extra
wall textures. However, for Zeldas 7&8, they've had years to do something
with it (since 1993), and we still get a VERY similar game to Z4...
For Zelda
4 DX, in 5 years, they added very little to Zelda
4, and made out it was a whole new game... see the
Zelda
4 DX review for more info, and the comparison below;
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But, whatever they did or didn't do, it's just as fun as the other Gameboy Zeldas, so it too gets the full 10/10! The others got this too.
Graphics
Okay. As I've said, there's
not a lot new. The cut-scenes are very cool, and the game still looks better
than most of the other GB games, and is as detailed as the other GB Zeldas.
So, I think it too deserves a nice high 8/10.
Also, there are some new-looking bits (different
trees), and a totally new massive place has been built.
Sound
Almost exactly the same songs as the other GB Zeldas, with a couple of news ones, which was disappointing. SFX are limited, and are still rather crap.. This gets 4/10.
Originality
Same again. Not a lot new. If you have played Zelda 4 or Zelda 4 DX, this may bore you a little. If not, you'll find the features cool and original. But they're not. Zelda as a series gets 10/10, but as individual games, these get just 3/10 for the few new features included.
Price
The price of these normally are £24.99 each.
These got 6/10!
This was last updated 29/11/2001. I'll try to update the site often.