History:

Actually, the first time I had ever heard of these games was when they were released on the 3DS Virtual Console! Obviously never played though...

Expectations:

A few months ago I'd have told you that I'm not really into the overhead Zelda games, basically anything prior to Ocarina of Time. Then, thanks to this project, I found myself really enjoying games like Zelda and Metroid and other series that I never really liked much. So, I'd like to say I'm not really looking forward to playing this game, but frankly at this point I'd be more surprised if I DIDN'T like it!

Day 1:

After reading up on which I should play first, what I really came away with was that it doesn't matter, but Seasons is more action oriented while Ages is more puzzle oriented. I have both games, but optioned to go with Seasons. Bad news is it looks like some dropped the cartridge's PCB into a 2 liter of Coke, good news is after some rubbing alcohol and Brasso it works good as new! Even has a functional battery!

Off to a good start...

I knew these games were handled by another company, but I didn't know it was Capcom. My interest in the game has suddenly peaked, and also has been piqued.

For some reason I was mentally replacing the actual music in this scene with the Charlie Brown theme... Anyway, basic Zelda concept, minus Zelda. Party gets canceled, evil tornado man of doom enters the scene, girl is unveiled as Din, the Oracle of Seasons, Din get kidnapped.

I'm particularly enjoying all the nods to Ocarina of Time in this game, from characters like Din to music tracks like at the windmill. I actually like just about everything there is to see and hear in this game, and I tend to forget I'm playing a Gameboy Color game.

Back to the actual game, after meeting Impa and finding my way into town, I was told of a legendary sword in Hero's Cave, and a giant tree who will only see those who have proven themselves brave enough.

So, yep, off to go arm myself. I find the cave easily enough and navigate my way through it by avoiding all the enemies, since I can't fight back yet. Finally I reach the chest at the end of the cave. The heroic sword of legends is mine!

....................................................

Whatever, it does the job.

After a long conversation with a very lazy tree who more or less literally tells me I need to save the world because he's too tired, it's off to my first dungeon.

I'm really happy to have played through the first Legend of Zelda on the NES, as litle things like this side scrolling underground item room suddenly have a lot more meaning to me.

I should also mention how fantastic the controls feels. Yes, swapping out items is VERY tedious and I wish they had come up with a better way, but the actual control and combat feels incredibly good.

The bosses are also fun!

So the idea is that I need to find eight artifacts to restore the Temple of Seasons to this world and rescue Din. After clearing the first dungeon I have the first artifact! Now I need to find where the temple has actually vanished to...

Naturally, it's been sent to a world of robe wearing lava people. Also the hotspring towels on their heads are just fantastic!

After talking to the locals, learning to dance and winning a Boomerang it was off to find this crazy temple that just fell out of the sky.

It was at this point I saved and quit, but I couldn't resist coming back a few hours later! Unfortunately, my recorder failed me, more likely due to the USB drive I've been using than the device itself... Either way, I played for another couple hours, cleared another dungeon and earned another artifact. Pretended to be Santa Clause and got a shovel for it, and can turn Spring into Winter... so some stuff happened...

Day 2:

I set off for Spool Swamp in search of the next artifact and, as one would expect, I encountered a kangaroo named Ricky who lost his boxing gloves in a match with some guy. Naturally I went and fought said guy for Ricky's gloves, and returned them to them melancholy marsupial.

...then I rode around in his pouch...

...then I scored a date with a subterranean robe-wearing pop star...

...then I learned to jump.

I actually got stuck in this stupid dungeon and had to save my progress here. Maybe tomorrow... I've gotten this far without a guide but after spending a whole night on this crap I think it might be time to bust out a map. Hey! I'm a poet and didn't realize that fact until after I was done typing that sentence!

Day 3:

Had some time to play during my lunch today, and it turned out to be just enough to get me out of that damn dungeon. I really hate how obvious the solutions to Zelda puzzles are once you've seen them. Maybe when this project is over I'll be a better practical thinker... or an alcoholic...

Third essence in hand it's time to put my new jumping ability to use, then head north! Later!

Later...

Later didn't happen. Kingsman happened.

Day 4:

I've been playing a bit over the last few days, but nothing notable has really happened, and updating the post with "Played for 20 minutes, got lost, got bored." two days in a row didn't seem very productive.

I was surprised to see that in all of my getting lost, I actually managed to explore a pretty good portion of the map though, so there's that.

This game has started making me feel the same way I felt when I tried to play Link to the Past several months ago, which is to say disinterested. I've really enjoyed most of the time I've spent with this one, and I'm not ready to give up on, so I finally decided to crack open a guide to help get me to the next dungeon!

One of my major complaints about this game, and I realize if I still possessed my child-like wonder and inclination to experiment with everything this wouldn't be as much of an issue, is that it tends to give you tools, but not tell you how to use them. Much earlier in the game I got seeds that made me run fast, allowing me to avoid timed traps and whatnot. Later in the game I got a feather that let me jump over a single gap. What I didn't know was that the two items could be combined, allowing me to perform a running jump over a double-wide gap! And those stupid (awesome) flying Cuccos! Here I am hammering away on A to make them fly, turns out it was B... Yes... I realize I sound like an idiot right now...

And don't you dare tell me about those damn owl statues! They're never there when I need them!

Anyway, all it really took to win me back over was a winged, flying blue bear. That's really all it ever takes...

With new tools and knowledge I was able to complete my Wand of Seasons, allowing me to freely change between all four seasons and opening up a larger portion of the game. I also started in on the fourth dungeon.

I was WAITING for it! Oh Capcom, you just couldn't resist putting in a phasing block section could you?

I've actually found myself stick in this dungeon, and it's a notable step up in difficulty from the last three. I decided to call it a night here and will hopefully be able to work my way out tomorrow. Once I do, it looks like I'll need to do a bit of backtracking and catch up on the trading sub-game, which doesn't look like it should be too hard.

Day 5:

I played during my lunch hour today and did manage to get to the end of the dungeon, but the boss made sure my adventure would stop there. I gave her a good four attempts or so but finally decided to call it for the time being. Every time you lost this fight, you had to navigate several dungeon rooms just to get back to her...

Later...

This time I went in with a plan (and a controller!) and managed to survive the first phase of the fight by flanking her from the sides. I only had a quarter of a heart left when her claw finally fell off, but I did make it...

In the second phase she starts spitting out little eyeball monsters, which is actually awesome since they can drop hearts!

It was late, so I called it there. Tomorrow will mostly be a lot of backtracking and exploration in anticipation for the back half of the game.

Day 6:

As anticipated I spent lunch hour doing busy work, mostly going back for any items or heartpieces I may have missed. This game has an item trading sub-quest similar to the masks in Ocarina of Time. For example, you start the game with, uh, some cosmetics items which you trade to a young witch in exchange for a creepy doll, which you give to a woman who "needs to be creeped out" for an iron pot, which you trade for lava soup to give to a cold Goron who gives you a vase and... you get the idea.

That's pretty much all I did, and I'm just about done with it. I'm hoping to wrap that up and knock out another dungeon tonight.

Later...

Turns out there was more side stuff to do than I had thought, so I ended up spending a good amount of time doing that. After some spelunking it was finally time to head to the fifth dungeon of the game.

I remember thinking, man, this dungeon is pretty easy! There was never a point where I felt stuck, or got lost or didn't know what to do for too long. It felt good after needing a guide for the last one. Then I met the sub boss...

This stupid spinning death cat killed me three times before I was finally able to pass, and then the rest of the dungeon just hammered on the combat difficulty!

I will say this: Magnet Glove might be even cooler than the Hook Shot... Using it in the platforming sections to launch yourself upwards feels like a DBZ character firing an energy blast into the ground to boost themselves into the air. It's awesome!

This boss took me two attempts, and to be honest I didn't love the encounter. It wasn't horrible but it was more frustrating than fun. Basically I had to use the Magnet Glove to push or pull that spiked ball around the room, running into the boss. After doing that a few times the boss splits into little versions of himself that bounce around the room, which I then have to crush with the same spike ball.

Eventually I got it though...

Next it's off to upgrade my weapons and claim the sixth essence!

Day 7:

These guys are just the freaking best!

Tonight was just a lot more busy work really. Collecting gems, slaying gold beasts and playing more of the trading game. The payoff to said trading game is that it ends with a very important secret to get you a very important item...

Eventually you'll find yourself in the Lost Woods because Zelda, and if you follow the clue...

The Master Noble Sword is yours! That took up a solid hour, so after I made it to the entrance of the next dungeon I called it for the night.

Day 8:

I'm back!

So I actually made it to the Dungeon 6 boss earlier this week during a lunch break, but couldn't beat him until today. Not too hard, but you gotta get a little lucky with that boomerang...

After that it was finally time to help those skeleton ghost pirates out!

This would eventually land me in a graveyard area, which is always my favorite place in any Zelda game, so I was pretty happy to be there. The dungeon that was waiting for me was appropriately crazy, and had me facing off against the Poe Sisters!

You fight each individually during the dungeon, but the mid-boss involves fighting both at the same time, while keeping a set of four torches lit! Fail to keep at least one torch going and you're ported to the dungeon entrance. The big boss here is a re-hash of the first boss in the game, only harder, and more fun.

After that a series of events would finally lead me to Dungeon 8, where it turns out I've actually been playing Super Mario Bros. this whole time!

Who knew?

I had to save and kill it for now. Turns out my body requires things like food and sunlight... The plan is to come back and beat this thing tonight though!

Later...

Holy crap, this dungeon never freaking ends!

Dungeon 8's mid-boss took a few tries to finally take down. It's an interesting fight, but the mechanics aren't quite clear. Frypolar, which is easier the best name for an enemy EVER, will shift between a fire and ice elemental. It's obvious that you want to shot him with Ember Berries while he's in his ice form, but what isn't clear is that hitting his icicles with Mystery Berries will turn them into ice chunks you can throw at his fire form. Once I learned that the fight became rather easy.

Ironically, the dungeon's final boss was probably the easiest in the game as you could more or less keep her stun-locked for the entire fight.

Now it was time for final preparations. I got myself a potion and headed off for Onyx's lair. The actual dungeon was just a short hallway leading up to the two part encounter. Well, three depending on how you look at it. In his normal form the fight proceeds as normal, with you only being able to injure him with spin attacks while dodging his attacks, but after a few hits he'll bring Din into the fight as a shield. At this point you have to switch between knocking her away with your Rod of Seasons, while still damaging Onyx until he eventually enters his true, giant dragon form.

Now you have to jump on his hands and hit him in the head Sigma style. It took me four attempts before I finally got him down, and I did it with just a quarter of a heart left!

Conclusion:

Oh man... I feel like I've been playing this game FOREVER and even though it's a few games away I'm already dreading Link's Awakening simply because of the time commitment! That's neither here nor there though, because when it comes down to it I really loved this game. The music was fantastic, as usual, and graphically this game had me forgetting it was for the GBC! The game was open ended enough that I could explore when I wanted to, while still being just linear enough to keep me on track. The information to get through the game was accessible enough that I was able to play through most of it without ever needing a guide.

The gameplay itself was equally great, and after being able to jump freely in a Zelda game I'll find it very difficult to go back to being stuck on the ground. On that note, all the items in the game were actually a lot of fun to acquire,.upgrade and use. Actually, that would have to be my biggest complaint about this game, and it's a minor one at that. You have a ton of items to use, and the game expect you to continue to use them well after you get them. This in itself isn't an issue. The issue is that you'll need to be switch items constantly, and the only way to do this is by pausing the game and assigning items to the A and B buttons. Again, it's a minor complaint, and it being my biggest one speaks to my regard for the game as a whole.

Oracle of Seasons really wore me out, not gonna lie, and I'm hoping I'll be recovered by the time Link's Awakening rolls around. For never being a fan of Link to the Past, it's games like this that get me excited to give it another try!

Liked:

- Zelda's music tracks have always been fantastic. Of particular note is the rearranged Zelda's Lullaby theme used for the game's main town area.
- Graphically could have easily passed as a GBA title.
- New items and new versions of existing items were very fun to find and use.
- Jumping!
- Fun characters and locations add a lot of charm to an already charming game, especially the Subrosians and pirates.
- Every dungeon is unique, and getting through one feels like you just solved one giant puzzle.
- Controls were tight and fun, and the sideview platforming sections were a great touch.

Disliked:

- Constant item swaps could get tedious.
- Game ran a bit long for my tastes, never mind that to get the whole story I'd have to play through an entire additional game!

Personal Score:

The Oracle games are similar to Majora's Mask in the sense that they repurpose the engine and assets of a previous Zelda game in an effort to create something new. This time, it's Link's Awakening serving as the template for a pair of new games. For the first time (If we don't count THOSE games...), the development mantle was given to another developer, with Capcom taking a crack at the ambitious goal of making multiple interconnected Zelda games. Because of their shared DNA with Link's Awakening, these games contain a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses. You can see my review of that game here.

Unlike Majora's Mask, the Oracle games have an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. Oracle of Seasons in particular has the distinction of beginning life as a remake of the original Legend of Zelda, until Capcom's desire to create a new Zelda game instead caused the project to deviate from that vision. There are obvious remnants of that origin in Seasons, from the presence of old men that give you cryptic messages, to a few bosses that are ripped right out of the first game.

Perhaps its biggest link to the first Zelda game, though, is with its design focus. Seasons was advertised as being the combat heavy alternative to the more puzzle-oriented Oracle of Ages. Back when I first played these games, I didn't really appreciate that distinction--I just gobbled up and enjoyed anything Zelda-related without a second thought. Now, I can definitely see how the dungeons in this game, which consist mostly of combat encounters that get more difficult as it goes on, are a clear callback to how the dungeons of the first Zelda worked.

When I think of the best features of a 2D Zelda, the first thing that comes to my mind is not its combat. It's the joy of discovering new things as you use newly acquired items to reach previously unreachable locations, and the satisfaction of figuring out a challenging puzzle. That's probably why Seasons felt like a bit of a slog. This time around, dungeons take the form of lengthy labyrinths full of combat encounters with a cast of familiar enemies. That's not to say Seasons is devoid of puzzling, but it's definitely taking a backseat.

It's especially jarring right after playing through the excellent dungeons of the Nintendo 64 Zeldas. Majora's Mask had difficult dungeons, but they were difficult because they were like devious puzzle boxes that you had to decipher. The dungeons in Seasons just made me feel perpetually lost and without direction, making me scramble to walkthroughs just to keep myself from losing interest. Places like Poison Moth's Lair and Ancient Ruins are some of my least favorite dungeons at this point in my Zelda game marathon.

There were times when the difficulty was fun, though. Capcom are expert boss fight designers--just look at most Mega Man games--and it feels like their experience on that front seeped into Seasons. The fact that the last phase of the final boss was a side-scrolling fight was not lost on me. I do wish there were more original enemies, though, as the vast majority of them are taken straight from Link's Awakening.

It's a shame that the dungeons in this game just don't do it for me, because outside of that, Seasons is pretty great! I've always far preferred the weather-altering gimmick of Seasons to Ages' time travel, simply because of its originality. Once you acquire all four seasons, there are some fairly interesting puzzles in the overworld that involve altering the terrain with the Rod of Seasons. In addition to that, there are also cool new items like the Magnetic Gloves and the Roc's Cape.

While it's very similar, Oracle of Seasons lacks a bit of the magic that made me love Link's Awakening. The story and atmosphere are not as unique. The music is nowhere near as memorable. And the dungeon design is far too heavy handed, lacking the elegance that made places like the Face Shrine and Eagle's Tower so memorable. I'm sure that, if you really enjoy 2D Zelda combat, this game might be one of your favorites, but so far, it's my least favorite post-A Link to the Past title in the series. Here's hoping Oracle of Ages holds up a little better.

Grabbed this and Oracle of Ages and a couple Monster Hunter titles just before the eshop closed, not my first time playing through the Oracles but it is the first time I'm playing either of them on an actual handheld system. I played most of this while on a trip abroad at the start of April, doing one dungeon + exploration for the next one each night, but didn't finish it then; it wasn't until this last weekend that I went back to run through the final dungeon and finish the game.

For this particular title (and what I remember of Ages), I'd say the overworld exploration aspect is a bit more scuffed than in Link's Awakening just because of the multi-layered different seasons mechanic making it that much more difficult for it to easily cement in your memory. I also don't quite remember how it works in Ages, but outside of a very small number of extremely specific places there's next to no reason to use the animal buddy mechanic (I always go for Dimitri) so I mostly forgot it was in there. This is alleviated somewhat by the Subrosia segments, which lack the changing seasons mechanic and have a significantly smaller map, making it easier to tell what may be stopping you from going forward, or what places you haven't gone before that you can now. Bearing in mind that LA is likely my favorite 2D Zelda, one way I would say Seasons improved on its predecessor is the dungeon puzzles, which thanks to a recent (and as of yet incomplete) replay of LA through archipelago multiworld I was reminded of a small amount of quite hamfisted bits to them such as finding a bombable wall through nothing but sword wall-poking; there were a couple puzzles in Seasons I spent a little longer on than I expected but I never really felt like it got to that level. Speaking of dungeons, I would say I found the bosses slightly more confusing/frustrating in this game versus LA, but reflecting upon it that's probably because I'm much more familiar with every aspect of that game so I wouldn't spend any time trying to remember how to effectively hurt some of them. That being said, I did manage to beat all but 2 bosses on the first try; the ones that I didn't I got on the second. I would still probably say that this game's version of Gohma is quite possibly the most frustrating boss in the GB Zeldas just because of how unforgiving the kiting technique you're expected to use is and the relatively limited health/resources you have at the time.

One thing I did markedly dislike about it is how a couple of the heart pieces were distributed; as with the other GB Zeldas there is a relatively small amount to be found, but two of them seem to be based on nothing but RNG (bump into Maple and hope she drops it— never happened during this last run, and plant a gasha seed in a high-level spot and hope that's what you get for it), which did leave a bad taste. The music is quite good in both Oracle titles; Seasons does contain Dancing Dragon Dungeon, which I believe would easily be the most recognizable track between them. There's also pieces like Ancient Ruins, which sounds suspiciously similar to the theme from Gargoyle's Quest, another GB Capcom title which came out a decade earlier (but which curiously enough, neither of the composers for this game were involved with).

Overall, while I don't think it gets to the level of tight pacing/design and memorability as Link's Awakening, Seasons is definitely one to check out if you enjoy this series/style. Now who knows if I'll get around to redoing Ages as well in the same fashion anytime soon...

I'm just going to write one review for Seasons and Ages, since it seems to me that they're really parts of one long game that were on two separate cartridges (a pretty cool concept.)

I played these games as a child with my brother - he started with Seasons and I started with Ages, and we swapped to play the linked games (I think? I didn't remember that, but when I played the linked game I remembered so much about it that I have to assume we played it.) They were mindblowingly awesome to me then, and I wasn't sure they would hold up, but I'm glad to report that they did! I have suspicions that they hold up partly because of intense nostalgia - they were really important to me as a child, and I spent a LOT of time with them, so they're very memorable. For me, these and Link's Awakening are what defined "the Zelda games," and the Zelda games were what really made me love video games in the first place (with the possible addition of Pokemon, but I loved Zelda even more.)

These games are very different in feel from the 3D Zelda games. For one thing, they're less serious, more childlike. They're goofy, with lots of dumb little jokes and references to other Zelda games. But they're also much more puzzly and less action oriented (which makes sense, because they're 2D.) This means, though, that they have some really interesting and creative puzzles, like the "walk over the floor tiles without doubling back so that they all turn from red to blue or vice versa" puzzles that I remember so clearly from my childhood (still fun!) I found that the puzzles were much more sit-back-and-think or riddly type puzzles, as opposed to technical skill type puzzles (like, for example, trying to shoot things from horseback). I enjoyed that aspect a lot.

Overall, I found these games more fun than the 3D Zelda games I've played in my current attempt at playing all the Zelda games in release order - to me, they were simply less exhausting. Perhaps it was the goofiness; perhaps it was that the 2D made the dungeons less sprawling. Perhaps it was simply the nostalgia. Whatever it is, I can heartily recommend these games to lovers of Zelda and action adventure games in general, or puzzle lovers, or anyone who's trying to get into the Zelda series.