The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages - Real Person Reviews

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Sam Lilly

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Published on November 19, 2015 9:06:43 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhOlYhzIF9k

Game:

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (2001)

Category:

Review

Duration: 20:52

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1

Written review: http://hubworldhq.com/2016/03/31/the-legend-of-zelda-oracle-of-ages/
Be sure to check out part 2 on Oracle of Seasons here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J9UY_T2pQg
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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is one of the two Zelda games released at the same time for the Game Boy Color. This review will be assuming you already know the basics of Zelda games. If you don’t know the basics then check out my review on the first Legend of Zelda first and then come back. If you’re still here then let’s get right to it. So the main story is basically that the evil sorceress Veran takes over the body of Nayru, the Oracle of Ages, and uses her powers to travel back in time and take over the land. Her ultimate goal is to spread sorrow, which she does by stopping the flow of time, making the workers construct a mighty tower endlessly, and other various acts to make the people of the land miserable. So it’s up to you, the hero of Hyrule, to save Nayru, stop Veran, and restore peace and happiness to the land.

You do this by collecting the eight essences of time. Each essence is hidden inside of a temple full of enemies to fight, puzzles to solve, and a final boss to defeat. You’ll find items along the way to help you fight the enemies, solve the puzzles, defeat the bosses, and adventure to new places. There are also some mini games and side quests along the way. That’s all pretty standard Zelda stuff, but there are some new things in the game as well.

One of these things is the Harp of Ages which gives you the power to travel through time via the specific warp points. This allows you to travel between the past and the present, a mechanic that is integrated into both adventuring and puzzle solving. Later in the game you’ll gain greater means to more freely manipulate the flow of time. This basically works like the light world and dark world mechanic from A Link to the Past, making for an overall bigger map to explore. There’s also a mermaid suit you can obtain that allows you to dive into underwater screens in deep water. So present, past, and underwater screens in each time period plus all the caves and dungeons makes a mighty big world for a handheld. You can plant gasha seeds in patches of soft soil to grow trees bearing gasha nuts. These nuts grow with the more enemies you kill. The longer you wait to harvest them, the better their contents will be. Many times these nuts will yield rings, but rings can also be obtained through winning mini games or found in specific chests throughout the game. These rings need to brought to the jeweler to be appraised for a fee. Duplicates will net you some profit, but new rings will be explained and added to your list. These rings have a range of effects. You can select which ones to carry with you and switch them out at the jeweler. This gives you some good customization options as you can plan on using specific rings for specific situations, areas, and dungeons. These are the most major additions.

Overall, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is a pretty great handheld Zelda experience. All of you Zelda fans looking for some more 2D Zelda action on your handhelds, look no further. The balance of puzzles and action is great. There is a vast world to explore. There are lots of neat characters, interesting mini games, and fun side quests to keep you going for hours. Plus the new ring system can help give some customization. And would you believe it was made by a team at Capcom? Pretty neat, huh? As far as how Oracle of Ages relates to Oracle of Seasons is for another review. I’ll go into more detail on the connectivity of these dual releases when I talk about Oracle of Seasons, so be sure to check that review out as well. Just know that Oracle of Ages is still a satisfying experience as a standalone game, so don’t let the idea of connectivity scare you off. See you next time!

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