Game Thoughts: Oracle of Seasons / Ages
Nintento recently announced a graphical remake of the game that many argue is "The Best Game Ever Made": The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It's a game I've played through multiple times (both N64 and 3DS) and enjoyed with each playthrough; yet I found myself entirely unmoved by this new graphical overhaul.
And so like any self-respecting middle-aged person I turned to media from my own time to find joy, and obtained copies of the Gameboy Colour Zelda duo: The Oracle of Seasons and The Oracle of Ages.
It's been a long while since I sat with a gameboy-era Zelda game, but it was a great excuse to dust off my Analogue Pocket which still surprises me every on boot with how vibrantly it displays games.
Of the two games, Seasons features more combat and action with a somewhat stripped back experience, while Ages presented significantly more story and characters with much harder puzzles. The two games can be linked -- a password is presented upon the completion of one that unlocks some items and a final boss in the other -- which was a pleasant surprise.
The games aren't exceptionally different -- they share about half of the same power-ups (bombs, jump, seeds, power gauntlet) and similar mechanics, but the differences in inventory, story beats, and colour palettes between the four seasons and two ages made them feel still distinct from one another.
With the addition of a fast-forward shortcut and the ability to savescum my way through more difficult bosses I made quick work of both titles in a few evenings, but I found the games refreshingly straightforward (with the exception of a couple dungeons and bosses) and clean.
The 2D Zelda formula still holds up exceptionally well after 40 years (these titles are only 25 years old) and despite blatant greed and money grabs of Nintendo they've kept this franchise fresh a long time while sticking to many of the core mechanics in the original.
I may not be excited for the DLSS5 version of Ocarina of Time, but I can be excited for a new generation of kids and new players (like my partner) to experience the game for the first time.