The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages
Encyclopedia
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages are two action-adventure game
s in The Legend of Zelda
series, co-developed by Capcom
and Nintendo
. They were released on February 27, 2001 in Japan, May 14, 2001 in North America, and October 5, 2001 in Europe for Nintendo's Game Boy Color
handheld console. The games feature a brighter color palette when played on a Nintendo Game Boy Advance
in order to make up for the darkness of the screen, and a special shop is also made available.
After experimenting with porting the original The Legend of Zelda to the Game Boy Color, the Capcom 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; the remaining two were adapted into Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. The two games, released simultaneously, interact via a Game Link Cable and a password system.
In Seasons, the Triforce transports Link to the land of Holodrum, where he witnesses the kidnapping of Din, the Oracle of Seasons, by Onox. In Ages, the Triforce transports Link to Labrynna, where Nayru is kidnapped by Veran. The main plot is revealed once the player completes both games. The player controls Link from an overhead perspective, using basic controls copied from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
for the Game Boy
. Link is armed with a sword and shield as well as a variety of secondary weapons and items for battling enemies and solving puzzles. The central items of the games are the Rod of Seasons, which manipulates the seasons of Holodrum, and the Harp of Ages, which allows Link to travel through time in Labrynna. Link gathers the eight Essences of Nature and the eight Essences of Time, hidden in dungeons and guarded by bosses
, to obtain the power to penetrate Onox's castle and Veran's tower.
Din's attendant, Impa, tells Link that they were headed for Hyrule; she instructs him to see the Maku Tree in Horon Village, the capital of Holodrum. Link finds a sword in a cave and makes his way to the tree. The Maku Tree tells Link he will need the eight Essences of Nature and gives him the Gnarled Key, which unlocks the dungeon holding the first Essence. Link retrieves the eight Essences, hidden in eight dungeons throughout Holodrum and Subrosia, and brings them to the Maku Tree. The Maku Tree uses them to create a Huge Maku Seed, a sacred seed that cleanses evil, which allows Link to enter Onox's castle. Link enters the castle and defeats Onox. He rescues Din, who tells him that he is now a true hero and must face a new trial soon. Twinrova, watching the scene remotely, states that the Flame of Destruction has been powered by the havoc Onox has wrought.
's nurse, Impa, who asks Link to help her find a singer in the forest. Continuing through the forest, the two find Nayru, a young woman with blue hair singing on a tree stump, surrounded by forest creatures. A shadow emerges from Impa and reveals itself as Veran, Sorceress of Shadows. Veran soars into Nayru's body and possesses her. Nayru was the Oracle of Ages; her abduction causes a disruption in the time flow of Labrynna.
Link receives a sword from Impa and makes his way to the Maku Tree in Lynna City, the capital of Labrynna. The Maku Tree is killed in the past on Veran's orders; Link uses a time portal to travel to the past to prevent this. The Maku Tree tells Link he will need the eight Essences of Time to defeat Veran. Link sets out to retrieve the eight Essences, hidden in eight dungeons throughout Labrynna's past and present. After getting the sixth Essence, Link is told he has the opportunity to save Nayru. He invades Queen Ambi's castle and removes Veran's spirit from Nayru, but Veran then possesses Queen Ambi. Link gathers the remaining Essences and brings them to the Maku Tree, who uses them to create a Huge Maku Seed that allows Link to enter Veran's Black Tower. Link ascends the tower and defeats Veran. He rescues Queen Ambi, and Nayru tells him that all has returned to normal. Twinrova, watching the scene remotely, states that Veran has lit the Flame of Sorrow.
, the primary antagonist in the Zelda series. Link defeats both Twinrova and a mindless, poorly resurrected Ganon. He frees Zelda, whose sacrifice would have been the full resurrection of Ganon; together, they exit the crumbling castle. After the credits, Link is seen waving to a crowd from a sailboat off the shore of a land with a castle in the background.
The gameplay of Oracle of Seasons and Ages is similar to that of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
, copying basic controls, graphics, and sounds from the Game Boy
title. Like most The Legend of Zelda titles, exploration and combat take place from an overhead perspective. Link uses a sword for his primary attack, complemented by secondary weapons and items. Basic items, such as bombs and a boomerang, are common to both games. Some new items are exclusive to one game, usually with a counterpart in the other, with similar uses (e.g. the slingshot in Seasons and the seed shooter in Ages both shoot seeds, while the magnetic gloves in Seasons and the switch hook in Ages are used to access otherwise unreachable areas via special targets). Unlike most Zelda titles, a sword and shield is not always equipped when the player possesses them; they can be assigned like any other item into either of two available slots. Most of each of the games is spent finding the eight Essences (Essences of Nature in Seasons and Essences of Time in Ages), each hidden in a dungeon—a large, usually underground, area containing enemies and puzzles. Each dungeon culminates with a boss
that guards the Essence.
When not in a dungeon, Link explores the overworld
. In Seasons, the overworld consists of Holodrum and the subterranean world of Subrosia. The two worlds are linked by several portals. In Ages, Link travels between present-day Labrynna and the past, connected by Time Holes. In either game, some areas of one world are accessible only from portals from the other and vice versa. Holodrum, Subrosia, and Labrynna contain optional side quest
s and upgrades for Link and his equipment. One such side quest is ring collection; rings provide Link with various bonuses and abilities, such as improved defense. Some rings do not have any practical uses, such as those that transform Link into an enemy creature, or do not have any uses at all, such as the secret GBA
rings. Another side quest is the optional trading game, in which Link receives and delivers special items to certain people throughout the land. Once completed, Link receives an upgraded sword.
In both games, there are many circumstances when a previous item can be upgraded into a more useful form. The latter three dungeons in both games will hold a more powerful version of an item received earlier in the game. Both the sword's offensive power and the shield's defensive abilities can be upgraded twice, once through passwords and again through side quests. If Link swings an enhanced sword at full health, a sword-shaped beam will escape from the sword as a ranged attack. The number of bombs and Mystical Seeds that can be held can also be increased through the same ways as the shield and sword. Roc's Feather and the Power Bracelet are special cases, as, while the two are in both games, the former can only be upgraded in Oracle of Seasons while the latter only in Oracle of Ages.
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. 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. 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.
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. In the course of the game, Link learns three tunes to play on the harp. The Tune of Echoes activates Time Portals at fixed locations; the Tune of Currents enables Link to travel from the past to the present without a Time Portal; the Tune of Ages allows Link to switch between the two time periods at almost any location on the map.
, Oracle of Ages concentrates on puzzles, while Oracle of Seasons focuses on action. Each is a complete game capable of interacting with the other, using passwords
or a Game Link Cable.
Upon completing either game, players receive a password that can be used to play an alternative version of the other. In this version, some characters mention passwords that can be given to characters in the first game in exchange for an item or upgrade. Then, by taking a new password back into the linked game, the item or upgrade can be transferred. Rings can be traded by this password system or randomly created by connecting two games with a Game Link Cable.
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. The player can then enter Twinrova's lair and battle Twinrova and Ganon. Upon completing the alternative game, another password is shown that gives the player the Victory Ring, which commemorates the defeat of Ganon.
, then head of Capcom
's screenwriter subsidiary Flagship, proposed his idea of remaking the original The Legend of Zelda for the Game Boy Color
to Shigeru Miyamoto
, the game designer at Nintendo
who created the series. As his offer was declined, Okamoto threatened Miyamoto with creating an identical competitive product with a new title and different characters, and was eventually asked to develop six Zelda games for the Game Boy Color: two based on earlier installments and four original entries into the series. Okamoto wanted to release them in quick succession of four to five months, and held on to his concept of bringing the first game to the handheld console to make young children experience the merits of the original Zelda, but also as a test for the development team to move on to a more ambitious sequel if it turned out to be successful.
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. Some of the staff members from Capcom's Production Studio 1, 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 title right away. As the first installment in the series 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. 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. The Game Boy Color's screen presented an additional hurdle when attempting to rework the earlier Zelda title as it is 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.
Dismayed by the rate at which the team had been spending money for a year without results, Okamoto asked Miyamoto for help, who then came up with the idea of a whole trilogy of games, each with a different focus on gameplay elements. This trilogy was referred to as the "Triforce Series", named after a fictional holy relic known as the Triforce that plays a major role in many Zelda titles. The Triforce is composed of three parts: the Triforces of Power, Wisdom, and Courage; each game in the trilogy was to be associated with a piece of the Triforce, one of the titles being the conversion of the original The Legend of Zelda. The first game of the three was demonstrated at Nintendo's SpaceWorld trade show in 1999, under the working title Zelda no Densetsu: Fushigina Kinomi – Chikara no Shō. This action-oriented game concerned Ganon
's theft of Princess Zelda
and the "Rod of the Seasons", which threw the seasons of Hyrule
into chaos—a precursor to the plot of Oracle of Seasons. In the playable demonstration, Link solved puzzles by using the Rod of the Seasons to manipulate the environment and change the current season. Chie no Shō, which focused on color-based puzzles, and Yūki no Shō, which used the times of day to solve puzzles in a mechanic similar to the use of seasons, were not shown. In the US, the games became The Legend of Zelda: Mystical Seed of Power, Mystical Seed of Wisdom, and Mystical Seed of Courage.
The games interacted with each other: players could begin with any of the three titles and have the actions of the first game affect the story of the other two, a concept conceived by Okamoto. More than ten of Flagship's scenarists, among them Resident Evil writer Junichi Miyashita, worked simultaneously on the three stories. The developers considered using a cell phone
adapter to transfer data, but later decided on a password system
. The limitations of this system and the difficulty of coordinating three games proved too complicated, so the team scaled back to two titles at Miyamoto's suggestion. Condensing the games into a single cartridge was never considered, as the prospect of multiple endings
and the added replay value
afforded by the ability to play the titles in either order was very attractive. Oracle of Seasons was adapted from Mystical Seed of Power, Oracle of Ages was adapted from Mystical Seed of Wisdom, and Mystical Seed of Courage was canceled.
These sweeping design changes pushed the release dates closer to the upcoming release of the Game Boy Advance
(GBA), the next system in the Game Boy line
that is backward compatible
with Game Boy Color games. The team considered adding special functionality to the game triggered only when played on a GBA, but was afraid that the additional development time required for the addition would cause the games to be released after the GBA. When the release date of the GBA was postponed, the team was able to incorporate GBA functionality and still release the games approximately a month before the GBA was released. Staggered releases were abandoned in favor of releasing the two games simultaneously. This made it easier for the team to test the interaction between the games and keep the style consistent. Each title was shipped on an 8-megabit
cartridge. The music for the games was composed by two employees of the Japanese music and sound effect production company Pure Sound, credited under the pseudonyms "M-Adachi" and "Kyopi". Nintendo artist and series regular Yusuke Nakano
designed the characters for the two titles, and incorporated previous creations from Ocarina of Time into Oracle of Seasons and characters from Majora's Mask into Oracle of Ages.
Ages: 91.89%
(based on 18 reviews)
|-
| colspan="2" | Scores are for both games unless otherwise noted.
|}
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
s in The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda, originally released as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Nintendo, and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link, the playable protagonist, who aims to collect the eight fragments...
series, co-developed by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. They were released on February 27, 2001 in Japan, May 14, 2001 in North America, and October 5, 2001 in Europe for Nintendo's Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
handheld console. The games feature a brighter color palette when played on a Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
in order to make up for the darkness of the screen, and a special shop is also made available.
After experimenting with porting the original The Legend of Zelda to the Game Boy Color, the Capcom team supervised by Yoshiki Okamoto
Yoshiki Okamoto
Yoshiki Okamoto , sometimes credited as Kihaji Okamoto, is a video game designer credited with producing many popular titles for Konami, including Gyruss and Time Pilot, and Capcom, including Final Fight and Street Fighter II...
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; the remaining two were adapted into Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. The two games, released simultaneously, interact via a Game Link Cable and a password system.
In Seasons, the Triforce transports Link to the land of Holodrum, where he witnesses the kidnapping of Din, the Oracle of Seasons, by Onox. In Ages, the Triforce transports Link to Labrynna, where Nayru is kidnapped by Veran. The main plot is revealed once the player completes both games. The player controls Link from an overhead perspective, using basic controls copied from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, known as in Japan, is a 1993 action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy...
for the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
. Link is armed with a sword and shield as well as a variety of secondary weapons and items for battling enemies and solving puzzles. The central items of the games are the Rod of Seasons, which manipulates the seasons of Holodrum, and the Harp of Ages, which allows Link to travel through time in Labrynna. Link gathers the eight Essences of Nature and the eight Essences of Time, hidden in dungeons and guarded by bosses
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
, to obtain the power to penetrate Onox's castle and Veran's tower.
Oracle of Seasons
Seasons begins as the Triforce calls out to Link from within Hyrule Castle. Link approaches it, and is transported to a dark forest where he encounters a traveling group led by a dancer named Din. After Din welcomes Link to Holodrum, the sky becomes covered in black clouds. A voice from the clouds calls Din the Oracle of Seasons and refers to himself as Onox, General of Darkness. A funnel cloud drops from the sky, taking Din into its dark heights. As the tornado dissipates, the seasons of Holodrum fall into disarray and change rapidly.Din's attendant, Impa, tells Link that they were headed for Hyrule; she instructs him to see the Maku Tree in Horon Village, the capital of Holodrum. Link finds a sword in a cave and makes his way to the tree. The Maku Tree tells Link he will need the eight Essences of Nature and gives him the Gnarled Key, which unlocks the dungeon holding the first Essence. Link retrieves the eight Essences, hidden in eight dungeons throughout Holodrum and Subrosia, and brings them to the Maku Tree. The Maku Tree uses them to create a Huge Maku Seed, a sacred seed that cleanses evil, which allows Link to enter Onox's castle. Link enters the castle and defeats Onox. He rescues Din, who tells him that he is now a true hero and must face a new trial soon. Twinrova, watching the scene remotely, states that the Flame of Destruction has been powered by the havoc Onox has wrought.
Oracle of Ages
As with Seasons, the Triforce calls out to Link. Link is transported to a forest in the land of Labrynna, where he hears screaming. In a clearing, Link finds a woman encircled by monsters. When the monsters see Link, they scatter in all directions. The woman is Princess ZeldaPrincess Zelda
is the name of a fictional character in The Legend of Zelda series of video games. The name has applied to every female member of Hyrule's royal family, which includes several distinct characters in Hyrule legend. Though she is the eponymous character, the player controls the main protagonist, Link...
's nurse, Impa, who asks Link to help her find a singer in the forest. Continuing through the forest, the two find Nayru, a young woman with blue hair singing on a tree stump, surrounded by forest creatures. A shadow emerges from Impa and reveals itself as Veran, Sorceress of Shadows. Veran soars into Nayru's body and possesses her. Nayru was the Oracle of Ages; her abduction causes a disruption in the time flow of Labrynna.
Link receives a sword from Impa and makes his way to the Maku Tree in Lynna City, the capital of Labrynna. The Maku Tree is killed in the past on Veran's orders; Link uses a time portal to travel to the past to prevent this. The Maku Tree tells Link he will need the eight Essences of Time to defeat Veran. Link sets out to retrieve the eight Essences, hidden in eight dungeons throughout Labrynna's past and present. After getting the sixth Essence, Link is told he has the opportunity to save Nayru. He invades Queen Ambi's castle and removes Veran's spirit from Nayru, but Veran then possesses Queen Ambi. Link gathers the remaining Essences and brings them to the Maku Tree, who uses them to create a Huge Maku Seed that allows Link to enter Veran's Black Tower. Link ascends the tower and defeats Veran. He rescues Queen Ambi, and Nayru tells him that all has returned to normal. Twinrova, watching the scene remotely, states that Veran has lit the Flame of Sorrow.
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. Link enters a warp point by the Maku Tree and faces Twinrova, who is attempting to use the three Flames to revive GanonGanon
, anglicized Gannon in early Japanese materials, and also known as , is a fictional character who is the main antagonist of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series of video games. He is the final boss of most games in the series. He was first given a back-story in A Link to the Past...
, the primary antagonist in the Zelda series. Link defeats both Twinrova and a mindless, poorly resurrected Ganon. He frees Zelda, whose sacrifice would have been the full resurrection of Ganon; together, they exit the crumbling castle. After the credits, Link is seen waving to a crowd from a sailboat off the shore of a land with a castle in the background.
Gameplay
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, known as in Japan, is a 1993 action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy...
, copying basic controls, graphics, and sounds from the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
title. Like most The Legend of Zelda titles, exploration and combat take place from an overhead perspective. Link uses a sword for his primary attack, complemented by secondary weapons and items. Basic items, such as bombs and a boomerang, are common to both games. Some new items are exclusive to one game, usually with a counterpart in the other, with similar uses (e.g. the slingshot in Seasons and the seed shooter in Ages both shoot seeds, while the magnetic gloves in Seasons and the switch hook in Ages are used to access otherwise unreachable areas via special targets). Unlike most Zelda titles, a sword and shield is not always equipped when the player possesses them; they can be assigned like any other item into either of two available slots. Most of each of the games is spent finding the eight Essences (Essences of Nature in Seasons and Essences of Time in Ages), each hidden in a dungeon—a large, usually underground, area containing enemies and puzzles. Each dungeon culminates with a boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
that guards the Essence.
When not in a dungeon, Link explores the overworld
Overworld
An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....
. In Seasons, the overworld consists of Holodrum and the subterranean world of Subrosia. The two worlds are linked by several portals. In Ages, Link travels between present-day Labrynna and the past, connected by Time Holes. In either game, some areas of one world are accessible only from portals from the other and vice versa. Holodrum, Subrosia, and Labrynna contain optional side quest
Quest (gaming)
A quest in role-playing video games — including massively multiplayer online role-playing games and their predecessors, MUDs — is a task that a player-controlled character or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward...
s and upgrades for Link and his equipment. One such side quest is ring collection; rings provide Link with various bonuses and abilities, such as improved defense. Some rings do not have any practical uses, such as those that transform Link into an enemy creature, or do not have any uses at all, such as the secret GBA
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
rings. Another side quest is the optional trading game, in which Link receives and delivers special items to certain people throughout the land. Once completed, Link receives an upgraded sword.
In both games, there are many circumstances when a previous item can be upgraded into a more useful form. The latter three dungeons in both games will hold a more powerful version of an item received earlier in the game. Both the sword's offensive power and the shield's defensive abilities can be upgraded twice, once through passwords and again through side quests. If Link swings an enhanced sword at full health, a sword-shaped beam will escape from the sword as a ranged attack. The number of bombs and Mystical Seeds that can be held can also be increased through the same ways as the shield and sword. Roc's Feather and the Power Bracelet are special cases, as, while the two are in both games, the former can only be upgraded in Oracle of Seasons while the latter only in Oracle of Ages.
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. 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. 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.
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. In the course of the game, Link learns three tunes to play on the harp. The Tune of Echoes activates Time Portals at fixed locations; the Tune of Currents enables Link to travel from the past to the present without a Time Portal; the Tune of Ages allows Link to switch between the two time periods at almost any location on the map.
Interaction
Although the two are built on the same game engineGame engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
, Oracle of Ages concentrates on puzzles, while Oracle of Seasons focuses on action. Each is a complete game capable of interacting with the other, using passwords
Password (video games)
In many video games of the 8-bit and, to a lesser extent, 16-bit eras , after a level was beaten and/or when all continues were used, the game would display a password, that when entered in the game would allow the player to return to this part in the game...
or a Game Link Cable.
Upon completing either game, players receive a password that can be used to play an alternative version of the other. In this version, some characters mention passwords that can be given to characters in the first game in exchange for an item or upgrade. Then, by taking a new password back into the linked game, the item or upgrade can be transferred. Rings can be traded by this password system or randomly created by connecting two games with a Game Link Cable.
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. The player can then enter Twinrova's lair and battle Twinrova and Ganon. Upon completing the alternative game, another password is shown that gives the player the Victory Ring, which commemorates the defeat of Ganon.
Development
In early 1999, Yoshiki OkamotoYoshiki Okamoto
Yoshiki Okamoto , sometimes credited as Kihaji Okamoto, is a video game designer credited with producing many popular titles for Konami, including Gyruss and Time Pilot, and Capcom, including Final Fight and Street Fighter II...
, then head of Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
's screenwriter subsidiary Flagship, proposed his idea of remaking the original The Legend of Zelda for the Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
to Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
, the game designer at Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
who created the series. As his offer was declined, Okamoto threatened Miyamoto with creating an identical competitive product with a new title and different characters, and was eventually asked to develop six Zelda games for the Game Boy Color: two based on earlier installments and four original entries into the series. Okamoto wanted to release them in quick succession of four to five months, and held on to his concept of bringing the first game to the handheld console to make young children experience the merits of the original Zelda, but also as a test for the development team to move on to a more ambitious sequel if it turned out to be successful.
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. Some of the staff members from Capcom's Production Studio 1, the team led by director and designer Hidemaro Fujibayashi
Hidemaro Fujibayashi
is a Japanese video game designer working for Nintendo. He is best known for his contributions to the action-adventure game series The Legend of Zelda, for which he served as planner, writer and director. Before he entered the video game industry, Fujibayashi had designed layouts of haunted...
that was responsible for tasks other than the storyline, wanted to skip the remake and create an original Zelda title right away. As the first installment in the series 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. 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. The Game Boy Color's screen presented an additional hurdle when attempting to rework the earlier Zelda title as it is narrower than that of a television; players could not view an entire room without scrolling
Scrolling
In computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is...
which made it easy to overlook stairways or clues on walls.
Dismayed by the rate at which the team had been spending money for a year without results, Okamoto asked Miyamoto for help, who then came up with the idea of a whole trilogy of games, each with a different focus on gameplay elements. This trilogy was referred to as the "Triforce Series", named after a fictional holy relic known as the Triforce that plays a major role in many Zelda titles. The Triforce is composed of three parts: the Triforces of Power, Wisdom, and Courage; each game in the trilogy was to be associated with a piece of the Triforce, one of the titles being the conversion of the original The Legend of Zelda. The first game of the three was demonstrated at Nintendo's SpaceWorld trade show in 1999, under the working title Zelda no Densetsu: Fushigina Kinomi – Chikara no Shō. This action-oriented game concerned Ganon
Ganon
, anglicized Gannon in early Japanese materials, and also known as , is a fictional character who is the main antagonist of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series of video games. He is the final boss of most games in the series. He was first given a back-story in A Link to the Past...
's theft of Princess Zelda
Princess Zelda
is the name of a fictional character in The Legend of Zelda series of video games. The name has applied to every female member of Hyrule's royal family, which includes several distinct characters in Hyrule legend. Though she is the eponymous character, the player controls the main protagonist, Link...
and the "Rod of the Seasons", which threw the seasons of Hyrule
Hyrule
The fictional universe depicted in The Legend of Zelda series of video games consists of a variety of lands, the most commonly appearing of these being , and was created by Japanese video game developer Shigeru Miyamoto.-Hyrule:...
into chaos—a precursor to the plot of Oracle of Seasons. In the playable demonstration, Link solved puzzles by using the Rod of the Seasons to manipulate the environment and change the current season. Chie no Shō, which focused on color-based puzzles, and Yūki no Shō, which used the times of day to solve puzzles in a mechanic similar to the use of seasons, were not shown. In the US, the games became The Legend of Zelda: Mystical Seed of Power, Mystical Seed of Wisdom, and Mystical Seed of Courage.
The games interacted with each other: players could begin with any of the three titles and have the actions of the first game affect the story of the other two, a concept conceived by Okamoto. More than ten of Flagship's scenarists, among them Resident Evil writer Junichi Miyashita, worked simultaneously on the three stories. The developers considered using a cell phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
adapter to transfer data, but later decided on a password system
Password (video games)
In many video games of the 8-bit and, to a lesser extent, 16-bit eras , after a level was beaten and/or when all continues were used, the game would display a password, that when entered in the game would allow the player to return to this part in the game...
. The limitations of this system and the difficulty of coordinating three games proved too complicated, so the team scaled back to two titles at Miyamoto's suggestion. Condensing the games into a single cartridge was never considered, as the prospect of multiple endings
Multiple endings
Multiple endings refer to a case in entertainment where the story could end in different ways, described as an alternate ending.-Literature:...
and the added replay value
Replay value
Replay value or replayability is a term found in combination with video games, but it may be also used to describe other kinds of games, movies, music, or theater plays. In video games, the term replay value is used to describe the entertainment value of playing a game more than once...
afforded by the ability to play the titles in either order was very attractive. Oracle of Seasons was adapted from Mystical Seed of Power, Oracle of Ages was adapted from Mystical Seed of Wisdom, and Mystical Seed of Courage was canceled.
These sweeping design changes pushed the release dates closer to the upcoming release of the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
(GBA), the next system in the Game Boy line
Game Boy line
The line is a line of battery-powered handheld game console sold by Nintendo. It is one of the world's best-selling game system lines with a combined 200+ million units sold worldwide....
that is backward compatible
Backward compatibility
In the context of telecommunications and computing, a device or technology is said to be backward or downward compatible if it can work with input generated by an older device...
with Game Boy Color games. The team considered adding special functionality to the game triggered only when played on a GBA, but was afraid that the additional development time required for the addition would cause the games to be released after the GBA. When the release date of the GBA was postponed, the team was able to incorporate GBA functionality and still release the games approximately a month before the GBA was released. Staggered releases were abandoned in favor of releasing the two games simultaneously. This made it easier for the team to test the interaction between the games and keep the style consistent. Each title was shipped on an 8-megabit
Megabit
The megabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix mega is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 106 , and therefore...
cartridge. The music for the games was composed by two employees of the Japanese music and sound effect production company Pure Sound, credited under the pseudonyms "M-Adachi" and "Kyopi". Nintendo artist and series regular Yusuke Nakano
Yusuke Nakano
Yusuke Nakano is an artist who has made artwork for most video games in The Legend of Zelda series, developed by Nintendo, since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He has worked on other Nintendo games, including games in the Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart, Mario Golf, and Mario Tennis series...
designed the characters for the two titles, and incorporated previous creations from Ocarina of Time into Oracle of Seasons and characters from Majora's Mask into Oracle of Ages.
Reception
(based on 21 reviews)Ages: 91.89%
(based on 18 reviews)
|-
| colspan="2" | Scores are for both games unless otherwise noted.
|}
Oracle of Seasons and Ages were critical and commercial successes, selling nearly 4 million copies each. Reviews were generally positive: Chris Carle of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said that Seasons and Ages were "the best games ever made for the Game Boy Color", and Craig Majaski of Gaming Age called them "the two best games ever to grace a handheld system". It was rated the 34th (Seasons) and 39th (Ages) best games made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
's Top 200 Games list. In August 2008, Nintendo Power listed Oracle of Seasons and Ages as the fourth and fifth best Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
/Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
video games respectively. The games placed joint 57th in Official Nintendo Magazine's 100 greatest Nintendo games of all time. The interconnection was seen as one of the highlight features of the titles. The ability to play the games in reverse order after completion increases the replay value
Replay value
Replay value or replayability is a term found in combination with video games, but it may be also used to describe other kinds of games, movies, music, or theater plays. In video games, the term replay value is used to describe the entertainment value of playing a game more than once...
, as does trading passwords between the two. GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
listed The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons / Ages as one of the titles they want in the 3DS Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
.
Critics enjoyed the graphics; GamePro called Seasons "bright and colorful" with "surprisingly expressive and well-designed" animations, and Gaming Target said Ages is "beautiful and creative", with "meticulous attention to detail". Gaming Age called both games "the pinnacle of good graphics on the Game Boy Color system". Although the two share graphics to a large extent, Seasons is distinguished by swapping the color palette
Palette swap
A palette swap is a practice used in video games, whereby a graphic that is already used for one element is given a different palette, so it can be reused as other elements. The different palette gives the new graphic a unique set of colors, which make it recognizably distinct from the original...
to reflect the current season. IGN felt that the expressive colors used for the changing seasons made Seasons the more graphically impressive of the two.
Reviews of the audio were mixed. Reviewers noted that the sound was hampered by the poor quality of the Game Boy Color's speakers, although it fared favorably compared with other games for the system. 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, but other sound effects were criticized as simplistic "beeps
Beep (sound)
A beep is a single tone onomatopoeia, generally made by a computer or a machine.-Use in computers:In some computer terminals, the ASCII character code 7, bell character, outputs an audible beep. The beep is also sometimes used to notify the user when the BIOS is not working or there is some other...
".
Gamebooks
Two game books were released based on the games as part of the Nintendo You Decide on the Adventure series by Scholastic. Both were written by Craig Wessel and based on the events in the games with few minor differences. The first one based on Oracle of Seasons (ISBN 0-439-36709-3) was published in October, 2001 and the second one based on Oracle of Ages (ISBN 0-439-36710-7) was published in January, 2002.See also
- Oracle of Seasons and Ages manga