Immersive, various side quests, colorful, charming and an addicting, fantastical action adventure. Flagship, you own! :D
The story, more or less is basic and tried-and-true, but at times still touching. You start off in a quaint little place called Lynna City. From there your adventure begins. You get a chance to look around, meet the townspeople and simply explore the place. Eventually, you meet the Oracle of Ages and songstress, Nayru, who has all of the forest animals in a trance of purity with her gift of song. Eventually though, something terribly wrong is bound to happen right? Right! She becomes possessed by a wicked being, starts spreading chaos and must be recovered and kept safe from harm! I bet you can guess who's the one to do it. That's right--our buddy, Link!
The heart of this fantasy you find out though, is actually the gameplay. You'll eventually learn to attack with your sword, swim, float on water, use seeds and seed guns, blow things up with your trusty bombs, set things ablaze, play songs with a harp to go between the present and past as well as numerous other things I'm sure I have yet to uncover! You really feel like a true warrior battling enemies, mini-bosses and final bosses (the latter two of which can only be found in dungeons).
Speaking of dungeons (as well as some parts in the game in general), they are part of the reason the score isn't perfect. I feel that unless you are a seasoned veteran in the Legend of Zelda series, then you will most undoubtedly need a guide or FAQ of some kind to make it through this game many a time. Why? Well, for all the fun to be had in this adventure, there are almost equal part confusion, frustration and just down right "impossible" ways the game sets on you. I could go on and on about having to go into certain spaces through a certain pathway only to leave another a certain way and to come out another, many times, in order, to accomplish something already frustrating. Yes, it's a challenge but I feel it's more or less an unnecessary one and pops up more than need be in this game. Otherwise, the game is full of life, amazing puzzles and forces you to use your noggin' over repeatedly to conquer the task at hand.
The graphics are very colorful, pleasant and get the job done. For the most part, there is nothing fancy to be seen here, but like I said, this game is still full of so much life in such a little space!
The sounds, like the graphics are very pleasant. You will hear the original Zelda tune from the NES title, in an almost untainted way as well as a plethora of new compositions (to the best of my knowledge they're new anyway). Once in a great while, you'll get a tune like the one in the Fairie's Woods and you'll probably want to blow your head off after a while. But thankfully, in all of my 20+ hours of playing, I have only went there twice. Sound is overall, pretty good for a Gameboy Color game.
Pros.
+Delightful gameplay
+Pleasant music
+Cute, 2D sprites and colorful graphics invade the screen
+Array of side quests waiting to be discovered
+Easy to pick up and play anywhere, for as long as you want
+Not a cakewalk by any means
Cons.
-Higher difficulty pans the fun sometimes and results in struggling or often referring to FAQs
-Repetitive "go up then down then left then right then left again" scenarios get tiresome
-The adventure sadly has to end someday (I knocked no points for this one, just sayin'.)
A classic in its own right, Oracle of Ages meets and surpasses my wildest expectations of a Zelda game and will only inspire me to become a loyal fan. Though I believe I'll be hard pressed to play another game as fantastic as this one in the series (that includes you, Ocarina of Time!), I'm sure I can still look forward to experiencing some wonderful games.
Overall score --------> 9.5/10
solely written by Darksongbird