GAMEBOY COLOR ORACLE OF AGES UPGRADE
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GAMEBOY COLOR ORACLE OF AGES SERIES

One instance has you rescuing Moosh from the Lost Woods, then using him to traverse a previously impassable area to gather up some lazy carpenters, enabling them to finish a bridge and get you access to the next area. These mounted segments are confined to just a few scenarios - some of which can be missed on a single playthough - but they serve both as comic relief and a way for the game to shoehorn in additional puzzles. Instead of Epona, there’s Ricky the boxing Kangaroo, Dimitri the swimming Dodongo and best of all the lovable Moosh, a big blue bear with comically tiny wings that grant him limited bursts of flight. While many rings can be obtained from treasure chests, the rare ones are gained by playing games and planting Gasha seeds (which grow treasure-bearing trees in the future), giving you even more incentive to explore Labrynna.Īside from items, the Oracle games also introduce all-new mounts for Link to ride. Some will actually decrease your powers though, so make sure to get your rings “appraised” by the game’s quirky, snake-training ring collector Vasu. Rings can increase attack power when life is low, boost your defence and even transform Link into a Like-Like. On top of that, it implements a ring system that can augment Link’s power, adding an extra level of strategy to the game.

GAMEBOY COLOR ORACLE OF AGES UPGRADE

But if Link hopes to receive and upgrade each weapon in the game, he needs to explore the game's side-stories across both eras. There are all-new items for Link to use, like the ricocheting Seed Shooter, which can angle off walls to solve puzzles and activate distant switches. That's because aside from acquiring items from dungeons and treasure chests, you also can complete games and trade with NPCs to gain new equipment. While mainstay items like the boomerang and Master Sword return, the game can actually be completed without the player ever even obtaining them. Dutiful adventurers will discover even more connections between characters, as new items open up areas that can fill in even more of the story. Finally, there's the pesky Maple, daughter of Syrup who both steals items from Link and doles out some of the best treasures in the game. Then there's Queen Ambi, the leader of Labrynna's past whom Veran seeks to control, seen transforming from a forlorn romantic into a deranged tyrant. One of the best has to be Nayru's overly-idealistic bodyguard Ralph, who regardless of being painfully ineffectual is still seen frequently rushing into the next area ahead of Link. Staples like Zoras and Gorons offer the expected levels of levity, but it's the characters unique to Oracle of Ages' story that really shine through. The cast of characters that drive the plot are lovably finespun.

Thankfully, Oracle of Ages' zany characters and diverse world make that a very good thing. Portals become increasingly harder to find, giving the game a strong emphasis on exploration. Beside netting the player hearts and rupees, mowing the lawn also periodically reveals portals, a necessity for advancing the game. This gives the player a solid reason to partake in one of the most beloved Zelda pastimes - cutting grass. This means in order to navigate across dual timelines, the player must seek out more portals, which are frequently hidden.

Like any good Zelda game, Link’s powers are limited at first, allowing him to only activate portals to the past by playing the Tune of Echos.

GAMEBOY COLOR ORACLE OF AGES CODE

All these years later both titles arrive on the 3DS Virtual Console, with that code linking system intact. Implementing such a code system across three games proved too cumbersome, so a time-strapped Nintendo had Flagship scrap the Courage game, transforming the remaining two into the Oracle games. The games would each have a unique world and story, but could also be played together - in any order - via a code system, revealing an over-arching storyline and extra boss battles. Originally conceived as a trilogy, each title was to be based on a single piece of the triforce: Power, Courage and Wisdom. Hence Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons were born. It was the first time a third-party developer was entrusted with the official Zelda canon. But when Nintendo wanted an all-new Zelda trilogy for the ageing Game Boy Color, it reached out to Flagship, a Capcom development team specialising in creating game scenarios and story development.

GAMEBOY COLOR ORACLE OF AGES SERIES

Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto has had a hand in almost every release to date, and before the new millennium, Nintendo EAD handled development of each and every Zelda title. Ever since The Legend of Zelda released on the NES, Nintendo has played the franchise relatively close to its chest.

Gameboy color oracle of ages