An Adventure for The Ages Part I: A Newcomer, A Lapsed Fan, and A Veteran Play Oracle of Ages

In this series, to celebrate the games’ 20th anniversary, ZD writers Emi Curtis, Hannah Rogers, and Andrew Millard take on The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages. Emi is brand new to the game, Hannah is an experienced pro, and Andrew is returning to complete the game after almost two decades. First up, we discuss coming back to a game from the turn of the century, and how we did with the first two dungeons.

Getting Started

Andrew – Ah, The Legend of Zelda Oracles games! With their 8-bit color graphics, animal companions, and shared universe. Can you believe they’re old enough to drink?

As you’d expect, my memories at the start are pretty hazy. I totally remember the animal companions! Other than that I was like, Was Nayru the villain? Impa was a wimp nanny, and not a badass Shiekah? And I’m pretty sure I rage quit at the spinning Thwomp boss in dungeon two. To be honest though, the GBC was my girlfriend at the time’s favorite system. Maybe breaking up with her had something to do with it?

Anyway, over the years I’ve been slowly filling in the gaps of my Zelda backlog. I’m kind of surprised it’s taken me this long to come back to Ages. I played through its sibling, Seasons not that long ago after my daughter found these Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books at our library. And it was definitely a hard game! 

Emi and Hannah, What’s your history with Ages? What did you know and what kind of expectations did you have going in?

Hannah – This is a game that’s somewhat near and dear to my heart, although you can probably catch me saying that about most Zelda games. This game immediately brings me back to playing my 3DS before choir at 6:00 am in high school, and sitting in the dead silent hallway until our director arrived. This game gave me a nice way to scratch the itch to play Zelda without needing to be home to do so. 

Emi– Practically nothing actually. I saw articles about them in Nintendo Power when I was a kid, but my family couldn’t afford a handheld until the very end of the GBC’s life, and all I ever played on that was Pokemon. So my first Zelda handheld was The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. I have a close friend who is a huge fan of Ages and Seasons, though, and has been insisting I play them for years now. I think the extent of my knowledge was knowing Capcom worked on them. And that a third game was planned, but never released and was instead implemented in as a code system.

Hannah – Emi, as someone coming in totally fresh to this, what features jumped out at you that might have surprised you to still be in the series?

Emi – It should be noted, I was playing the Link’s Awakening remake for Switch in tandem while playing this and it was funny to me how many Mario enemies I was running into in both games. Likewise, just how many references to other games in the series were in this was a bit surprising. Running into the Hand in the Toilet from Majora’s Mask did a lot to remind me when exactly this game fell chronologically. The first parts of this really played almost like a ‘Greatest Hits’ tour of many Zelda games, and coming to it as now the only Zelda game left for me to play fresh was actually kind of fun experience given I could appreciate all these little nods and homages.

One thing I thought was really neat was the greater implementation of impacting the future through actions in the past. Ocarina of Time did a tiny bit of this with the Magic Beans and the first part of the Spirit Temple, but I was always a little disappointed that they didn’t take that idea further. Oracle of Ages definitely did a lot more with it and it’s nice to see that notion revisited after I’d long given up on it ever being a concept.

Andrew – Very true, Emi. And along with that, the way Capcom tossed in ingredients from both the handheld and console games, plus Pokemon‘s dual-cart sales, made Oracles something of a mongrel.

Hannah, as the veteran here, what’s the Twitch or streaming community around Ages like?

Hannah – Well, as you might imagine, this game is not one that gets spotlight attention on many streams and sites. In fact, as I write this, there is only one person streaming this game on Twitch, and there are 20 people watching. I think randomizers and speedruns have really brought some well-deserved attention back to some of the older titles, but these are usually short bursts. GBA titles are beloved of course, but people typically want to focus on Gamecube and Nintendo 64 games in the world of Nintendo randomizers and speedruns.

Most notably in the streaming community, a streamer known as Vinesauce (who is a personal favorite of mine) played this game earlier in 2020 and averaged roughly 2,000-5,000 viewers per stream! Many viewers chatting and submitting fan art noted that they had missed playing this game and were very excited to see someone playing it again. I think this was probably the biggest boost this game received in recent years, even if small, it still brought attention back and got some people coming back to the game or interested enough to try it out themselves.

Arriving at Lynna

Andrew – Let’s talk about the reality of playing an old game. I’m on the barebones 3DS port, and gotta say: It makes me appreciate all the quality-of-life improvements that just a few more buttons has given us! The eShop port doesn’t even allow for mapping functions to other face buttons. You’re stuck constantly reaching for the 3DS’ awkwardly placed Start and Select bars. Y and R bring up a quick save feature, though. So that’s nice.

Hannah, you’re on the 3DS, too. Are you liking how the game runs on it?

Hannah – I really enjoy the way Nintendo has handled virtual console titles for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems! I love being able to use restore points. I find them even more helpful for Castlevania than Zelda games. I think it runs smoothly, and looks just as good, if not better than on the original hardware. The port also makes it very easy to use the linking functions to find the secrets in Oracle of Seasons as well!

Emi, you’re going more retro with the actual cartridge on a GBA! How is it playing for you?

Emi – It’s fun playing on original hardware, which the friend I mentioned above also insisted on. Unfortunately for me, I’m playing on one of the earlier Game Boy Advances, which was front-lit instead of back-lit. So, I have to struggle to see a lot of the time unless I’m in direct light. It could also be that the display is dying a bit. This poor thing has seen better days with how many scrapes it’s got on it. Not to mention, since Oracle of Ages is a Game Boy Color cartridge, it sticks out of the bottom too and I have to be careful not to nudge it. I did that once and lost a solid two hours of progress at one point! It’s a nostalgic feeling though that reminds me a lot of playing Pokemon Gold under the covers when I was a teeny tiny gamer.

The World of Holodrum

Andrew – Speaking of Pokemon, Emi, you used it as a comparison in one of our first talks, and I haven’t been able to shake it. The color palette and character animations really give off a Poke-vibe. And that’s a good thing! In the beginning area, there is a lazy bear laying on his belly, kicking his feet. I go to check on him every time I play. With Pokemon, Game Freak had shown how to squeeze every molecule of life out of what amounts to crippled, portable NES hardware. And that mastery led to memorable characters like him. You’ve got to hand it to them for making the 8-bit aesthetic last.

But the weaknesses of the GBC do hinder the fun 20 years later. Especially navigating submenus. Pausing to swap out your “A” item multiple times per screen just ruins the flow. Even worse, I always want to hit B to cancel out of the menu, when that actually reswaps your “B” item. Argh!

Within those limitations, though, Capcom stuck to a very satisfying game loop to keep Oracles playable in a world of much more powerful hardware. The first two dungeons get the components of the loop up and running: Overworld exploration and NPC meetups; expanding the map, pre-dungeon puzzle, then the dungeon.

Then, by the end of the second dungeon, the old “Nintendo Hard” reputation muscles in. The  Thwomp boss in Wing Dungeon really requires some skill. Whereas in most Zelda titles, just catching the “trick” to the boss with the dungeon items is enough to progress.

Emi – That Pokemon comparison really did end up being prophetic. Maybe it’s the Game Boy Color aesthetic in general, but the sounds and appearance just grab me in a way that reminds me of catching ’em all. What was fascinating to me about these dungeons was that they actually made it click with Capcom involved. I saw a lot of the checkmarks for your standard Zelda formula, but with them came some quirks. The Power Bracelet needs to be actually equipped in order to be used. A peculiar choice to me, given the limited amount of buttons on hand.

Andrew, that Thwomp boss actually really made me thankful for better frame rates these days. I was having such a hard time seeing the right timing that I actually had to stop and wait until night time to do the boss with my bedroom lights on. Then I could actually make out the correct timing with its faces. I think I was in that fight for a solid two hours alone just hiding in the spot of the room where he couldn’t hit you.

Hannah, what gets you to come back to the Oracles games?

Hannah – I think it’s because of how interesting and underrated Ages is. But it makes sense that it would be forgotten by Zelda fans. It takes the appearance of Link’s Awakening and A Link to the Past, but opens with an entirely different setting and kind of throws you into the fray sometimes. Although the concept of multiple maps is not a new concept, and players would have been somewhat familiar with it after A Link to the Past, it can still be daunting to have to juggle the concept of time travel on a GBA game. This game also feels a bit more linear and closed compared to Link’s Awakening and A Link to the Past, due to all the maze-like patterns in the overworld. It is definitely an interesting take on the world of The Legend of Zelda.

Andrew – That is a great point about understanding the map relative to the time travel mechanism, Hannah. As I earned the first couple of items, I was feeling pretty strong in my Zelda skills. Working methodically from screen to screen could be tricky. But as long as I stuck to the classic tactic of “try to get to every spot on the map”, the puzzle solutions would come to me. Like Emi, I had a hard time remembering to equip the Power Bracelet. It’s really strange it isn’t a passive upgrade. And as you bring up, the most challenging mechanic to me is that extra emphasis on time leaps. I am having a hell of a time just remembering whether I’m in the past or present. Let alone which portions of the map are accessible from each!

Impressions After Two Dungeons

Hannah – I’m definitely having fun! This is quite the nostalgic experience for me, and I’m glad I have a work-related excuse to replay a Zelda game! This game is safely in the top half of my favorite Zelda games list, even if it is a little rough around the edges at times.

Emi – I am, too! This actually is ranking pretty well in my list of Zelda games so far, but only among handhelds. It Definitely beats out Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. And quite honestly, I find it better than Link’s Awakening too, even with the Switch remake out there. It’ll have to have an impressive show in the second half if it wants to take out Minish Cap and Link Between Worlds though. We’ll see how that shakes out later on, now won’t we? I enjoyed it in spite of my complaints above; just me being a grumpy millennial really. It’s a fun handheld and a nice change of pace for the series I know so well.

Andrew – To be honest, I can see why I quit way back when. This game is obtuse in ways Zelda is normally known for elegance. But pushing past my choke point has been fun. And It’s been a very long time since I played a Zelda title with classic dungeon progression. Solving a dungeon puzzle in old-school Zelda is always a thrill. Plus, the way Capcom gave it a unique personality while playing with Nintendo’s formula is impressive. When it comes to my favorites, I’d let it in the same room as Link’s Awakening, which is saying something. 

Next time!

We pass Andrew’s original quitting point! We discuss the mid-game from Moonlit Grotto to Mermaid’s Cave. We hope you’ll play along and join our discussion.

If you’ve played Oracle of Ages, or are picking it up for its anniversary ($5 USD on the 3DS eShop), jump in on our conversation in the comments below! Are you a newcomer, or returning player, and how does Ages stack up in your opinion?

Andrew is currently playing Hades badly and dreaming of the next Zelda game that isn’t connected to Breath of The Wild. 

Hannah can be found on Twitter @bananeyfish, and streaming games at twitch.tv/bananeyfish like Fallout: New Vegas and L.A. Noire! 

Emi is in the midst of playing Spyro the Dragon and Mother 3 as Bianca on stream at twitch.tv/djyuurei.

 

Art Credit: “Nayru” by RottenCandyApples