greatest video games in history, many of which are commonly cited as the best of all time, including titles like Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild. The Game Boy Color featured The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, which are among the best entries in the series, yet they rarely get their due, at least compared to the other Legend of Zelda games. The Oracle games were developed by a studio called Flagship, which is a subsidiary of Capcom and also co-developed The Minish Cap.
Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons were released for the Game Boy Color in 2001. Each game was its own separate adventure, comparable in length to Link's Awakening, but the real selling point of the games was that they were connected. There were some developers who squeezed every bit of memory out of the Game Boy cartridges, and the Oracle games managed to tell a massive story over two games, through a system that linked the games together with codes.
Link's Awakening was the first portable entry in The Legend of Zelda series and it still holds up to this day. The Link's Awakening remake on Nintendo Switch was also a great game, even if it didn't add much in the way of interesting new content to the experience. Link's Awakening proved that a portable Legend of Zelda could be just as engaging as the console entries, in of gameplay, story, and overall scope.
Zelda's Oracle Games Improved On The Formula In Link's Awakening
The Oracle games improved upon Link's Awakening in every way. The overarching stories of two realms in danger, with their own individual tales that are resolved over the course of the story, such as the story of Queen Ambi finally being reunited with Cap'n. The two games had their own individual gameplay mechanics that changed the world around them, with Oracle of Ages letting Link travel through time, and Oracle of Seasons allowing Link to switch the current season, in order to change the surrounding environment. The Oracle games also introduced animal buddies for Link to ride around on, each with their own special abilities, including Moosh the bear's ability to fly over gaps, and Dimitri's ability to swim.
The Oracle games also managed to have a satisfying conclusion, as Link's final fate had to be outlined in the Legend of Zelda compendiums that have been released over the years, in order to give him a happy ending (and not one where the presumably died at sea). The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia stated that the Link from Link's Awakening is the same one that later appeared in the Oracle games, but The Legend of Zelda timeline has changed multiple times, and Link's Awakening itself has a very dark and uncertain conclusion. By comparison, the Oracle games involve Link defeating two champions of evil, before defeating a revied Ganon and saving Princess Zelda, capping off two epic journeys.
Zelda's Oracle Of Ages & Seasons Are Four-In-Two Games
The idea of splitting a game in two was popularized by the Pokémon series on the Game Boy and it's something that the series does to this very day, with the next entries being Pokémon Scarlet and Violet on the Nintendo Switch. The fact that the Oracle games used this same approach was off-putting to some when the games were announced, as they believed that they would be the same game, but with minor differences.
The Oracle games would turn out to be their own epic adventures, each with its own focus. Oracle of Ages had a much greater focus on puzzles in its dungeons, while Oracle of Seasons focused on combat. The two Oracle titles are very much their own games, with characters, stories, and worlds that are unique to them. The games could have their frustrating moments, such as the dancing minigame in Oracle of Seasons, or the obligatory bad Legend of Zelda water dungeon, in Oracle of Ages' Jabu-Jabu's belly, but they didn't detract from the overall experience.
The real selling point of splitting the Oracle titles over two games is its form of New Game+. Once the player completed one game, they would receive a that could be inputted into the other game, allowing them to start as if they were continuing their story from the previous game. During this second run-through, the player would receive codes that could be given to residents from the other game, allowing them to bring items over between the two titles. In order to experience the full story of the Oracle games, the players will need to complete both games at least once, as they can't face the true end boss without linking the two stories. This means that there are four experiences in the series, as the stories will have a different framework in each run-through, and the items carried over will change the gameplay, as the player won't have access to the best weapons and equipment in their new story.
Oracle Of Ages & Oracle of Seasons May Be Headed To Nintendo Switch
The Oracle games were released near the end of the Game Boy's lifespan, but they are available on the Nintendo 3DS' eShop. The window of opportunity for buying these games is closing, however, as the Nintendo 3DS' eShop is due to close in March 2023, and it has already become difficult to buy games on the service. All hope is not lost, however, as there is a chance that the Oracle games can come to the Nintendo Switch.
There are rumors circulating regarding Game Boy games coming to the Nintendo Switch Online service in the future. If that happens, then the Oracle games will almost certainly be included, though they will likely arrive in a future update, with Link's Awakening DX being added at launch. If this happens, then millions of gamers around the world will have the chance to experience some of the most underrated entries in the series. It's also possible that Nintendo is preparing remakes of the games, as the framework is already there, due to the Link's Awakening remake. The delay of the Breath of the Wild sequel has left a Legend of Zelda-shaped hole in Nintendo's 2022 schedule, and it's possible that Oracle remakes could fill it, with a possible announcement during Nintendo's next Direct.
