Now, many of you know about the Pokemon series and its ways of producing two games in the same universe but slightly different, like Red and Blue, which allows you to catch some Pokemon in one version, and some others in another. Now would you believe the Zelda franchise did something similar to this? Advertised by the well known Legend of Zelda advertisement that showed off both Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, one may know these two games as the 'Red and Blue of Zelda.'


Gameplay: Unlike the Pokemon games that use the same overworld, what makes these two games is the gimmick: Time. Though I can name at least 10 more Zelda games that used time, what I'm talking about is time travel...Nevermind, we already did that. But basically, as their names imply, in Oracle of Seasons you change the flow of the seasons, allowing you to use nature to save the world. Oracle of Ages gives you the power of traveling through time. The control is exactly like Link's Awakening, and for those who've played it but haven't played these, yes, you still have to constantly select and deselect items from your inventory. You get to use weapons from Link's Awakening, as well as some new ones. Something that both these games have are Seeds. Using your Seed Satchel, you can collect various seeds for many purposes, but I won't spoil them for you. You'll mainly be using time methods and seeds to get across the overworld and reach the 8 dungeons, once again similar to Link's Awakening. (Side note: You don't have to collect keys to open each dungeon's separate lock, but there are a few dungeons that have entrance keys.)

As you proceed collecting the eight dungeon treasures, you will learn new methods of time to change time more easily. You will have to face many dangers along the way, but you have a helping hand to protect yourself or defeat them easier. You can find Rings, which can then be appraised to reveal their abilities. Some rings help in all attributes, while some only work for one thing in particular, like the Blue Holy Ring, which only makes you immune to Zoras. Partners will be found later, all with their own purposes. Ricky, the boxing kangaroo, can hop over small gaps and up cliffs and punch up bad guys. Moosh, a giant winged cat flies and can crush foes. You find a few others along the way, but it's up to you to decide your personal favorite. Something that both these games don't have is that they removed the Guardian Acorns and Force Gems, but I suppose they make up for it with the rings. The puzzles in this game mainly consist of color (Though I don't know if you can get the colored tunics...) themed problems which are almost like old puzzles. There's one that has you going around trying to get all the tiles the same color by making the right move order, while another has you changing the color in a room to kill painted Gels. Some of the bosses are very familiar, (The ball throwing cyclops is back from Level 2 in Link's Awakening, as well as Blaino from Level 7.) and also characters from Link's Awakening are here. This is also the first game where Tingle and The Hand in the Bathroom make their first appearance. (In case you don't know, let me put in bluntly: Tingle's the guy in the green outfit and the hand in the hand in Skyloft's Knight Academy, when you go to the bathroom at night.) Other than all that, I have nothing left to say, so let's wrap this up.


Graphics: 8

The graphics are almost the exact same for both games as Link's Awakening. The game re-uses sprites from Link's Awakening too, though this game does have some nicely colored cutscenes. Although I'm being very forgiving on saying 'cutscene,' as its just a picture, thrown in with some text in the game.


Sound: 9

Once again, the sound is re-used. Nothing much to say here, except there are a few different soundtracks.


Story: 9

The story is different for both games, but it follows a similar concept. This is one of those games where you need to sit down and look at the instruction manual to get the backstory, but here's what happens that's similar. The first part is the same for both games, which is that Link was born with the sacred symbol on his left hand, and the symbol is none other than the Triforce. Destined to become someone great, Link must take the Knight's Trial to serve the Hyrule family. Getting lost, Link stumbles upon the Triforce and touches it, sending him to Holodrum or Labrynna. (Holodrum for Seasons, Labrynna for Ages) In this world, Link meets a beautiful goddess who controls a part of time. (Din for Seasons, Nayru for Ages. And yes, Farore is in both.) Being captured by the villain, (Onox for Seasons, Veran for Ages) time starts to fall apart, so its up to Link to save her and time itself. That's right, Zelda isn't the damsel in distress this time, but a god. Just to prove you wrong that all Zelda games have the same scenario.


Addictiveness: 8

It's collecting stuff to get treasures then getting new stuff to get more treasures, use some treasures to get new treasures, darn it, its a Zelda game, two Zelda games even. I really thought this game's method of time was cool and it opened up new ways to think outside the box, or I guess think inside it...Game Boy Color...Think inside the rectangle with buttons.


Depth: 9

Like I said, the time methods allow you to move around the land like I never thought possible. Items like the Magic Mirror had similar purposes, but I thought the stuff you did here was pretty cool. Doing something in the past can affect the present, going to a different season can grow new pathways.


Difficulty: 6

If we're dealing with stuff like the 8th Level boss in Link's Awakening, who you can combo to death with the dungeon weapon, I don't think we'll have a problem. Some bosses are re-used, but other Zelda games do, so it's well justified. Using the dungeons weapons accordingly and quickly is the key to succeeding in the bosses and enemies.


OVERALL: 8.9

Though these games left a great impact on many people, nowadays I guess I just can't really grasp it with all the other time methods in other Zelda games. Well, I still love it and...Get into it, I guess. I hope you enjoy it, or have enjoyed it, see you next review.


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This is a pretty good review of the games, but you've made a fallacy in saying that they were the first games with Tingle and the Hand in the Toilet. These characters were first featured in Majora's Mask, which came out a year before these games.

SPOILERS:

What I didn't see mentioned with the two of these games is the interactions that you can do between the games that unlock certain things. It's been a pretty long while since I've played the games, but I do know that you can trade rings and unlock basically an extra story that involves Twinrova, Zelda, and Ganon. It's a pretty awesome final boss battle, if I do say so myself.

I can understand if you haven't been able to link the games up as to why you didn't know, and I think that your scores would have been higher if you had, because this was what really made the games stand out as some of the best for the Gameboy Color.

Huh. I honestly didn't know about that. Thanks for telling me, and sorry for the mistake about the release of the games. I guess I didn't think about it too much. ._.

M4g1cW4rr10r : No need to apologize! When/if Vizzed gets the capacity to link up GBC games on their RGR (I'm still learning more about how this website works with each day I'm here), I'll start a game and we can link up together so you can play the extra stuff the game has to offer.