Retro Review: Oracle of Seasons
The Legend of Oracle of Seasons was released on February 27, 2001 for the Gameboy Color in Japan and May 13 that same year in North America. Seasons was released alongside the Oracle of Ages and are referred to as the Oracle games. The Oracle games can be played in whichever order you prefer. Upon completing both of them you will receive the ultimate ending. Seasons and Ages have many similarities and differences. The map layout and items you receive are similar in both games with the exception to location titles. Seasons focuses on combat while Ages focuses more on puzzle solving. In addition to this difference both games have their own stories that follow them. This is where these games differ from the Pokémon releases, like Pokemon Blue and Red Versiosns.
Both Oracle games are now available to play on the Nintendo Switch for Online subscribers. Now a little of 20 years after its release we here at Duck Tape Inc. are reviewing the Legend of Zelda: The Oracle of Seasons.
In Oracle of Seasons the Triforce calls out to Link within Hyrule Castle and upon approaching it he is transported to the world of Holodrum. Upon arrival he encounters Din, the Oracle of Seasons, as she is taken into the by the General of Darkness, Onox. Din is sealed in a crystal which causes the season of Holodrum to change rapidly. Link must retrieve the eight essences from the dungeons throughout Holodrum and the underworld, Subrosia in order to enter Onox’s Castle and save Din.
The gameplay to Oracle of Ages is similar to the Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Gameboy. It is a top-down view where the player uses the directional pad to move and both the A and B buttons to use items. These items include Link’s sword and shield as well as other familiar items like his bow, bombs, boomerang and many more. The Lack of buttons on the Gameboy Color makes changing weapons annoying. The player must pause the game to equip their items, but they can only equip two items at a time. This was also seen in Link’s Awakening but was solved with the HD Remake that came out in 2018. Other than this one annoying mechanic the combat to this game is great. As previously mentioned, this game uses the same mechanics as Link’s Awakening which also includes its combat system. Attack enemies with your sword and blocking their attacks feels very smooth in this.
The Dungeons in this game are scattered throughout the world and each one of them has a boss to defeat. Similar to other Role-Playing Games, the journey takes Link to swamps, mountainous regions, to the underworld, the desert, and many other places. What makes Oracle of Seasons so great is the ability to change the season. With the Rod of Seasons Link has the ability to change between, Summer, Winter, Autumn, and Spring. In doing so this alters the map allowing for new paths to be taken, side quests to complete, and even treasures to find. It feels like there are four different maps at times with all the changes going on.
After the player completes one of the titles, they will receive a code that will be used in the other one. If the player inputs this code and completes the second game, they will receive access to additional content for the ultimate adventure. It is very important that you complete one game fully before starting the other. In order to receive the full ending the code must be typed in at the beginning of the game.
