Review: With Age, comes wisdom and a whole lot of stories to tell.
The Legend of Zelda has become one of the most successful franchises within the videogame industry during the past several years, utilizing both innovation and creativity in the series' climb to the top. When Nintendo released the original Zelda title in the mid-80's on NES many new elements were presented, changing the face of videogames forever. It introduced a new style of adventure that not only encompassed mind-numbing action, but also stressed the additional aspects of puzzle solving to progress through the game. Years have passed since the original Zelda game and many installments of the series have appeared over Nintendo's various systems since then. Now, Nintendo has entrusted Capcom to continue the great Zelda tradition on the Game Boy Color with The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and they did not disappoint. Released along with Oracle of Seasons, these two games combine to create what may be the greatest adventure ever seen on the Game Boy.
Just when you thought that the Game Boy has been pushed to its limits graphically Nintendo has once again surprised us with graphics never thought possible on the Game Boy Color. The meticulous attention to detail is evident in everything in the game from each complex and unique character all the way down to each individual piece of flora found throughout the game. While some developers may overlook things such as plants and trees as trivial, Capcom has worked hard to bring detail and life to each and every object and creature in the game. This game is a testament to the old saying “hard work pays off” as Capcom has created one of the most beautiful and creative game worlds Link has ever had the pleasure to traverse.
While there have been many games on the verge of greatness, their Achilles heel on the Game Boy has usually turned out to be in the sound department. Even here Capcom has been able to produce some very bearable music where other companies have failed. You will immediately be able to hear many of the classic tunes and sound effects that have become a Zelda staple. The rest of the music is above average and provides you with some good beats, which is quite the improvement over many other Game Boy titles. While the music eventually gets very repetitive, it doesn’t immediately cause you to turn it down and reach for your CD player which is a plus and a step forward in comparison to the audio found in most other GameBoy games.
Capcom has not only created a game featuring excellent graphics and good sound, it has made a game worthy of being mentioned with the rest of those classic titles from the storied Zelda franchise. Oracle of Ages not only brings back many of the traditional items, weapons and enemies such as the bombs, roc’s feather and cannon ball flinging octoroks, but it also introduces some cool new items such as the seed satchel and seed shooter. It also introduces a sweet concept to be able to request the aid from friends, like as Ricky the Kangaroo, to aid you on you quests. Oracle of Ages mainly focuses on puzzle solving (at least compared to seasons), but still is able to provide some good hack and slash action if that’s what you're craving. Many of the puzzles require that you go back and forth through time just to complete them and this can create some frustrating at some points, but just when you are about to put the game down and walk away it always seems that you figure the puzzles out. The bewildering puzzles and great action make this one of the most fun games to come along on the Game Boy in quite a while.
While many times after you finally beat a game you may not want to go back to complete the game, but in this game it is definitely not the case. Zelda DX allowed you to partake in a small side adventure to fill your picture book, but Oracle of Ages Capcom has expanded on this searching idea…well sort of. There are over 60 rings in this game for you to find and collect which each give Link a unique ability and trying to find them all is no easy task and will provide you with hours more gameplay. While the ring searching is cool, the most ingenious addition to this game is that once you finally complete it you are provided a password you are to use before you start Oracle of Season. After inputting the password in Seasons you are able to go through this game just like you are continuing your previous adventure rather then starting a whole new game.
