The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages are two action-adventure games developed by Flagship and published by Nintendo and the seventh and eighth installments in The Legend of Zelda video game series. They were released on February 27, 2001 in Japan, May 14, 2001 in North America, and October 5, 2001 in Europe for the Nintendo Game Boy Color. The game features a brighter color palette when played on a Nintendo Game Boy Advance in order to make up for the darkness of the screen, and a special shop is also made available.
After experimenting with porting the original The Legend of Zelda to the Game Boy Color, Yoshiki Okamoto‘s Flagship team began developing three interconnected Zelda games that could be played in any order. The complexity of this system led the team to cancel one game; the remaining two were adapted into Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. The two games, released simultaneously, interact via a Game Link Cable and a password system.
In Seasons, the Triforce transports Link to the land of Holodrum, where he witnesses the kidnapping of Din, the Oracle of Seasons, by Onox. In Ages, the Triforce transports Link to Labrynna, where Nayru is kidnapped by Veran. The main plot is revealed once the player completes both games. The player controls Link from an overhead perspective, using basic controls copied from The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Game Boy. Link is armed with a sword and shield as well as a variety of secondary weapons and items for battling enemies and solving puzzles. The central items of the games are the Rod of Seasons, which manipulates the seasons of Holodrum, and the Harp of Ages, which allows Link to travel through time in Labrynna. Link gathers the eight Essences of Nature and the eight Essences of Time, hidden in dungeons and guarded by bosses, to obtain the power to penetrate Onox’s castle and Veran’s tower.
Plot
As with Seasons, the Triforce calls out to Link. Link is transported to a forest in the land of Labrynna, where he hears screaming. In a clearing, Link finds a woman encircled by monsters. When the monsters see Link, they scatter in all directions. The woman is Princess Zelda‘s nurse, Impa, who asks Link to help her find a singer in the forest. Continuing through the forest, the two find Nayru, a young woman with blue hair singing on a tree stump, surrounded by forest creatures. A shadow emerges from Impa and reveals itself as Veran, Sorceress of Shadows. Veran soars into Nayru’s body and possesses her. Nayru was the Oracle of Ages; her abduction causes a disruption in the time flow of Labrynna.
Link receives a sword from Impa and makes his way to the Maku Tree in Lynna City, the capital of Labrynna. The Maku Tree is killed in the past on Veran’s orders; Link uses a time portal to travel to the past to prevent this. The Maku Tree tells Link he will need the eight Essences of Time to defeat Veran. Link sets out to retrieve the eight Essences, hidden in eight dungeons throughout Labrynna’s past and present. After getting the sixth Essence, Link is told he has the opportunity to save Nayru. He invades Queen Ambi’s castle and removes Veran’s spirit from Nayru, but Veran then possesses Queen Ambi. Link gathers the remaining Essences and brings them to the Maku Tree, who uses them to create a Huge Maku Seed that allows Link to enter Veran’s Black Tower. Link ascends the tower and defeats Veran. He rescues Queen Ambi, and Nayru tells him that all has returned to normal. Twinrova, watching the scene remotely, states that Veran has lit the Flame of Sorrow.
(Source: Wikipedia)
