On the Download: Oracle of Ages and Seasons

Some games hold a special place in ones’ heart.  For yours truly, The Legend of Zelda:  Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are two of those games.  In my younger years, all I played were handheld games.  I did not own a console until the Gamecube, outside of the Sega Genesis I got for my birthday when I was four.  Without a console, I was not exposed to such excellent franchises like Castlevania, Final Fantasy and Metroid until I was much older.  A lot of my exposure to these franchises came from my subscription to gaming magazines like Nintendo Power and later portable entries in these franchises.  Before Oracle of Ages and Seasons, I had never played a game in the Legend of Zelda series.  In the rearview mirror, it was one of the best decisions of my life.  Oracle of Ages and Seasons gave birth to my love of Nintendo and the Legend of Zelda series.  Why am I spending all this time talking about my past experience with these games as they are over a decade old?  Well, last Thursday marked the release of The Legend of Zelda:  Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons on the 3DS Virtual Console.  Releases that this writer has been looking forward to for a while now considering I no longer have the means to play the originals.

The Oracle of Ages and Seasons are parallel stories in the Legend of Zelda universe.  Upon checking on the Triforce, Link is transported to either the world of Labrynna in Ages or Holodrum in Seasons.  Soon after Link's arrival, he meets up with the titular oracles, the Oracle of Ages Nayru and the Oracle of Seasons Din.  Everything may seem peaceful at first, but sadly that peace does not last long as the forces of evil kidnap  the oracles and plunge their respective worlds into chaos.  Armed with his trusty sword and shield, it is up to Link to rescue the oracles and put a stop to the chaos brought about by the forces of evil, Oynx and Veran.  Oracle of Ages and Seasons play like your typical top-down Legend of Zelda as Link completes dungeons to gain valuable items that open more of the world to traverse and allow the hero to solve many skill testing puzzles.  Aside from the different stories, there is one other major difference between the Oracle games.  This difference being that Oracle of Ages focuses more on puzzle-solving while Oracle of Seasons focuses more on action.

For those interested, The Legend of Zelda:  Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are available on the Nintendo eShop.  For a limited time, you can pick up Ages and Seasons for 5 dollars each.  Once this promotion is over, the games will be available for 6 dollars each.  No matter the price, these games are definite downloads for any 3DS owner.