Despite declaring the 3DS dead in 2020 (which it was), I found myself playing the system yet again this past month. After playing Oracle of Seasons (OoS) back in 2018, I wanted to play Oracle of Ages (OoA) but never got around to doing so. When news came that they were shutting down the eShop on the 3DS, I went ahead and bought OoA so that I would have a copy of the game to play at some point in the future. I haven't played a game on the Switch since finishing Skyward Sword HD last year. With a week-long trip scheduled for fall break, I thought now was an opportune time to play OoA. My post on OoS from 2018 mostly discussed Nintendo's Virtual Console (which is great), so I wanted to include OoS in my discussion on OoA as well, because both are great games that deserve discussion.
OoA & OoS came out on the Game Boy Color (GBC) back in 2001, so a little over 20 years ago. To put that in perspective, these games were released after the Playstation 2 debuted. Despite that, they look like Link's Awakening (Game Boy, 1993) and A Link To The Past (SNES, 1992). I actually think A Link To The Past looks better graphically, despite being 10 years older. The Game Boy Color was the successor to the original Game Boy. I never owned one so I don't have any game to compare to these two, but I find it interesting how these games look graphically in 2001, when 3D graphics were well established. I don't know if it was a design decision made by Capcom, or if the Game Boy Color was that limited in the graphics department. Either way I like the retro look of the game.
Speaking of retro, the sound on this game is fantastic 8-Bit midi. Again, I don't know if that was a limitation of the Game Boy Color, or if it was a design decision by Capcom. It makes the game feel older than what it really is, but overall I enjoy the music and sound effects.
The gameplay is classic Zelda as well. You have to defeat a series of temples or stages, acquiring items as you go along. It includes one of my favorite aspects of older Zelda gameplay - areas that you can see but cannot access until you gain the correct item. Adding to this, changing the time period in OoA or the season in OoS changes the map in ways that allow you to access other areas. It's an intriguing idea that is unique and works well. It really adds to the gameplay.
Unlike most posts I publish on games, I actually haven't finished either one of these games. I'm stuck on the final boss on OoS, and I've played through about 25% of OoA. I'm saving OoA as a travel game, so that I have a game to play while I'm on the road. With that being said, I plan to finish it but don't know when. However, I feel like I've played enough of the game to get an idea of the look and feel of it. These games are quite fun and are great additions to the Zelda lineup of games. I feel like they fly under the radar a bit since they were on a handheld system (as opposed to a main console). They have classic Zelda gameplay with a retro look that I appreciate, regardless if this was an intentional design or a limitation of the GBC. I'm looking forward to continuing to play OoA and hopefully finishing OoS.
No comments:
Post a Comment