As opposed to the Zelda games I’ve reviewed previously on the blog, this was my first playthrough of Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. Nostalgia goggles can definitely have an impact when playing through retro games, so it’s always interesting to come at an older game with a completely fresh set of eyes, free from any preconceptions of years past. That being said, the Zelda franchise has always represented a gold standard in the Nintendo stable, and ultimately within the overall history of gaming altogether. So how does Oracle of Seasons stack up against the proud and noble lineage of the franchise? Well rather than keep you in suspense, I’ll say it does pretty well for itself!
Right up front though, I should mention one of the most interesting facets of this game (IMO) which is that it wasn’t actually developed by Nintendo. Oracle of Seasons wasn’t the first Zelda game not developed by the Big-N; there was an earlier Zelda Game Watch featuring a very simple LCD based game, and then there were the notoriously execrable titles released for the Phillips CD-i console (those being, Link: The Faces of Evil, and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, but for the most part … we don’t talk about those titles). So that makes Oracle of Seasons the first Zelda game not developed by Nintendo, to be released on one of their flagship consoles (along with Oracle of Ages which launched alongside this game – more on that later). So I have to imagine that Flagship, who developed the game and was a subsidiary of Capcom, had to feel a certain weight of responsibility to not screw it up. Interestingly enough Flagship, is primarily associated with some of Capcom’s biggest survival horror series, i.e. Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, and Onimusha, which to my mind begs the question of, “what would Zelda based survival horror game have looked like?” and also “wow, now I want to play a Zelda based survival horror game”. Oracle of Seasons is certainly not that game, but Flagship need not have worried as it does hold up pretty admirably against the rest of the Legend of Zelda series.
Much like its predecessor on the Game Boy Color (i.e. Link’s Awakening DX), this game does not take place in Hyrule. In point of fact none of the series outings on Game Boy or Game Boy Color take place in the kingdom the series is most well known for. But Oracle of Seasons does owe a debt of gratitude to Link’s Awakening DX as it reuses some noteworthy sprites, sound assets, and even some similar mechanics from the earlier game. In Seasons, Link is whisked away by the Tri-Force to the land of Holodrum. The plot development from that point on is … well … it’s basically the plot of most of the earlier games in the series. You see, here the villain General Onox kidnaps the lovely Din, and it’s up to Link to rescue her in order to set things right. So not at all like Gannon and Zelda, and, oh who are we kidding? That being said, the story actually does develop from there and branch out in some interesting ways. We soon discover that Din is actually the … Oracle of Seasons … and in her absence, the seasons in Holodrum are thrown into absolute chaos.
This story point ties into the game’s central mechanic in which Seasonal factors determine what areas of the game are accessible at any given time and create some interesting environmental puzzles. Early on in the game Link discovers the Rod of Seasons with which he can alter the current Season in a given area, eventually allowing him to cycle through all four seasons at will. In this fashion, winter may freeze lakes for crossing, or summer might cause vines to grow, opening up new paths, all of which contributes an extra layer of depth to the exploration. From the perspective of gameplay mechanics, everything works out like a dream. Combat is fast and engaging, utilizing a variety of weapons that keep the battles varied and dynamic. Dungeons are reasonably complex and creative, offering unique challenges, clever puzzles, and memorable boss fights.
So far so good! Are there any drawbacks? Well … only minor ones, and they’re certainly of the ‘your mileage may vary’ variety. Earlier in the review I mentioned that this game launched alongside Oracle of Ages, and that was no accident. These games were linked by way of a password system, in that elements from one game would carry over into the other and vice versa. Wehn games were linked in this fashion, you might encounter different characters, or be able to access different items using powers gained in the opposite title and so forth. Lastly in a linked game the narratives combine to form one consistent story. On paper it all sounds pretty neat, and in many ways it is. But in practice … it can occasionally feel a little gimmicky, and even a bit like a cash grab (through certainly not to the level of something like Four Swords for better or worse). It doesn’t necessarily drag the experience down, but during my playthough it occasionally pulled me out of the experience when suddenly in-game characters are talking about ‘linked games’ and the mechanics thereof. So if I were to point to one minor downside, it would be that. If I were to point to two minor downsides, it’s that the ring system is somewhat symptomatic of the collect-a-thon game mechanics that were en vogue at the time, and was almost certainly a way of artificially extending the playtime.
But in the end, any of my quibbles with this game are small potatoes. The Zelda franchise could pretty much do no wrong during this timeframe, and Oracle of Seasons is a fine example of that legacy. Recommended for all Zelda fans, Game Boy fans, or video game fans in general. This is a great, and slightly less well known, entry in this legendary (of Zelda) series.
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