Pros: Extremely playable, well-balanced gameplay. Captivating, perfectly paced and pure Zelda goodness.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: No Gameboy library is complete without this game. No Zelda collection is complete without this game. Anyone into gaming must play this.
billservo's Full Review: Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons for Game Boy Co...
As a first generation gamer, Zelda holds a special place in my gaming memories. The first one, which many consider to be the best, showed the potential gaming had as a valid entertainment medium early on.
Successive installments (with the possible exception of the second game) built on the amazing gameplay that was laid out from the first, and when technology advanced enough created truly immersive, living environments.
Now, on the Gameboy Color, the formidable series only gets better. While the platform doesn't allow for the 3D environment that the N64 version gave us, the traditional top-down 2D world that's been created is even more complex than the last SNES version.
But the real sell point is that there's not only one Zelda release, but two. Oracle of Seasons is accompanied by Oracle of Ages. This isn't a simple pallet or monster swap (like a Pokemon game), either. These are two almost totally disjoint, complete games.
STORY:
Where the games do come together is in the story. In Seasons, a crazed overlord kidnaps the Oracle of Seasons throwing the world's ecosystem into complete disarray. To get things right you'll have to recover the essences of nature which will give you the power to confront him and restore order. In ages there is a similar crisis, but with a different nemesis. To tie these two problems together is one common enemy.
Where these games break new ground is in the link system that's required to find and destroy that foe. You must complete the quest in one game, then link to the other one and then begin the quest in it. When you start in the second game you'll have the same character, and also meet up with some of the same characters you met in the first. There's also a password system which allows you to bring items earned in the first game to the second game. You won't be an all-powerful machine of destruction but at least you won't be starting from scratch. After playing through the second game you've destroyed both underlings and get to find and defeat the true enemy behind both the stories.
When I first heard about this I was actually annoyed. I already didn't like having to buy two different Pokemon games to get the whole experience and doing this to Zelda was just too much. But I played through my copy before writing this and the conclusion is that each game is so huge, so complete and so good on its own that you don't need to get both to have fun with it. If you do, you'll have that much more fun, but I don't feel slighted for only playing through seasons. This is a welcome innovation which lends an episodic feel to the games.
GAMEPLAY:
The beauty of Zelda's game design lies in that for this installment, Nintendo has handed the reigns to Capcom, and it's as much of a Zelda as the rest of the games. We're usually impressed when developers can internally make a sequel that's enough like the original to be good, but to be able to give the game to another team and deliver something this good is a testament to the brilliant design of the original and the amazing skill Capcom's team possessed in pulling it off.
Zelda is an action/adventure game, but it has more of an action emphasis. Play is mostly a top-down affair, consisting of a lot of hack and slash. There are puzzle-like elements, and these are what fellow reviewer edteach dubbed the Trading Game. Talk to certain characters and get items for doing them favors, talk to other characters and give them what you had, thus getting a new item. This culminates in getting improved weapons or other items you'll eventually use.
The rest of the game is all action, though. Play is divided up into the main world, or the overworld, and dungeon crawling. Travel on the overworld is restricted by which dungeons you've completed. As you complete dungeons you pick up new items which help you progress in the overworld. The main focus of the overworld, though, is the Rod of Seasons. By using this you get to change the season. What's so cool about that is that as seasons change so does the landscape, and where you can go, to a certain extent. This is done without completely changing the map- you'll still be able to recognize where you are. The map feels much larger this way, and does give you much more to explore.
Dungeon play is quite different. While it's somewhat of an overworld microcosm, the focus is on dungeon navigation. None of the dungeons are frustratingly difficult, but they aren't easy, either. Dungeons are divided in half by the inclusion of a miniboss which lets you warp ahead to where you left off if you want to leave the dungeon and take a break.
Bosses usually hold to the same formula we had in the earlier Zelda games. Every one has a weakness and you usually need to use the item you just picked up to beat them. With around 10 dungeons there's a lot of variety to bosses and none of them have the same quirks. So while there's some repetition in going from overworld to dungeon and back again every dungeon is so distinct and large that you don't feel like you're treading old ground.
My one peeve in the whole game is that this installment brought back the side scrolling dungeon areas. This was introduced in the first Gameboy Zelda game. Personally I'm not a fan of these- they just don't vibe with the rest of the top-down game play. Most of these areas are short, but the worst of it is that the final boss fight is fought like this. The one benefit that in this decision is that the boss fight is much harder- harder than any previous Zelda boss. Overlooking the short side scrolling departures, though, the gameplay is flawless.
GRAPHICS:
My coverage of Gameboy game graphics is usually pretty short- most games' graphics just can't improve much more on this platform.
Zelda did manage to push the limits just a little further though. The graphics are on par with the 16-bit SNES version, minus any color blending and rain effects. To look at still shots from both games though you won't see much difference. The first Gameboy Zelda game also looked very much like this one, but it wasn't a color game (originally) and didn't have the same amount of on-screen enemies as this one.
The few cutscenes are gorgeous and make up for the limitations of the platform's in game graphics. It's all very cartoony and has that Zelda style that we're used to. A few more of these may have been cool, and matched some of the drama that the N64 versions gave us.
SOUND:
Same goes for sound, usually not much to say. And this game doesn't push the Gameboy any further than it's already been pushed.
It sounds as good as any other Gameboy game, and it's got the beloved Zelda theme. You'll have to suffer through a few harsh bleeps and staticy garbage sounds, something the Gameboy Advance will hopefully put to rest forever.
CHALLENGE:
This is easily the hardest of the 2D Zelda games. The omission of the fairy net from the SNES version means you only get one second chance after you lose all your life in this game.
Most of the enemies don't need more than that, but the last boss is so tough that it's going to take a couple of rounds to get him right. Timing is everything, especially when it comes to jumping.
Finding items in this game is also a little tougher. The overworld is huge and the fact that certain things can only be found in certain seasons makes it even tougher. It's the ultimate Easter egg hunt, really.
There's also a few mini-games. I hate mini-games, but there aren't many, in fact, only two I can really remember. One is exceptionally difficult due to the Gameboy's sound limitations. It's a dancing game, and to get through it I had to get the headphones out.
But the game avoids frustration. You're always pushed to figure things out and when you do the game is very rewarding.
OVERALL:
It's a Zelda game, and it actually innovates an old system with the link system. This is as good as Gameboy games get- it's the new high water mark. So good that I actually recommend this as Gameboy Advance launch game.
This game takes place in the troubled land of Holodrum. After magically transporting to this new world, Link witness a power-hungry general named Onox...More at eBay
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