Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

There have been maybe 4-5 Zelda titles on the GB(A) and they've all been really good. The first one, Zelda DX, was the first GBA game to use this Zelda engine. It hasn't stopped being used until Four Swords and Minish Cap, but it was used in Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Ages.

This game is part of a series of two Zelda Games, one of them being called Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and the other being called Zelda: Oracle of Ages. This isn't like your Pokemon Red or Blue where it's the same game but slightly different things, they are two different games, completely, however these games allow you to link each other up and receive codes and other cool items.

In Zelda: Oracle of Seasons the main character, who's name you can choose but for simplicity we'll stick with Link, is plunged into a new world by a mystic force. When you regain conciousness a red haired girl named Din takes care of you. When you wake up, Din is dancing at a little party she's having. An evil man named Onox though seems to dislike parties in which hot red haired girls dance so he kidnaps Din. In reality, Din is the Oracle of Seasons and Onox wants to use her for evil. Your job is to save her.

So what next? You have to save her so you go and do the whole hero routine and find a sword, fight badguys and beat near impossible dungeons with the items you receive in it. Classic Zelda, except in this game you receive the "Rod of Seasons" and when you stand on top of tree stumps (just like tree stumps make you tiny in the Minish Cap) you can change the season depending on what Seasonal Power you gain. This can get annoying because many areas require that you change it to a specific season. For example, sometimes you need to change the season to winter because stuff freezes over in winter (like water) and you need to walk over water in some areas. What's the worst is there is the usual maze in which NO ONE can figure out without traveling to GameFAQs, and I find that discouraging because I'd really just like to beat the game without having to do that.

The graphics are that of Zelda DX and I'm not saying they are similar, they are the same graphics. There isn't much graphical advancement from DX to these two games. The same sprites and some of the same animations, I would have liked to see something new.

The gameplay in this game is good if you like Zelda games. I personally do so I kept playing this game for awhile. One of the best factors in all of the Zelda factors is the fact that dungeons aren't dungeons without some ridiculous dungeon-sized puzzle you have to figure out that takes awhile, but when you do it you feel like a genius. The dungeons are well done like that, because once you pass a puzzle you feel proud of yourself and you just want to strut around your school saying things like "Oh yea, I just beat the 4th dungeon. Throw money at me." I wouldn't advise doing this, because you know there's always someone who beat the 5th dungeon lurking nearby and he'll show you up.

The plot in this game, considering its Zelda, isn't as unique as I'd like it to be. Sure, you don't have to rescue Zelda but you still have to rescue a damsel in distress. There's even a light and dark world, though the dark world isn't an exact copy of the light world it's just dark. I know it's harder to keep thinking of new plots without relating to some other Zelda game, but I'm sure there are some other plots that they could've thought of.

The controls are really easy, as you can set which weapons you want to a certain button. Sword to A or B, or Boomerang to B or A it's whatever makes you feel comfortable. I've always enjoyed that aspect of Zelda. They let you set the weapon to what is most comfortable to the player, instead of forcing you to double tap Z and get the little tiny bar in the middle of the spectrum to throw a boomerang perfectly. Why make things complicated?

Even though this game is still lacking in some aspects of originality, and they could've had some graphical update I still award Zelda: Oracle of Seasons a 3 star rating.

3 star(s) out of 5

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