The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
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Developer(s) Flagship
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Release date(s) February 27, 2001 (JP)
May 14, 2001 (US)
October 5, 2001 (EU)
Genre Action Adventure
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Everyone (E), ELSPA: 3+
Platform(s) Game Boy Color
Media Cartridge
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Oracle of Ages title screen (GBC original)

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (also known as OoA) is a video game published by Nintendo and developed by Nintendo in conjunction with Capcom. Although the game was originally released for use on the Nintendo Game Boy Color, it exhibits special features, such as additional items, when played on a Nintendo Game Boy Advance.

This game is the counterpart of Oracle of Seasons, which was released at the same time. These two games have the ability to link with one another, using either passwords or a cable, so that a person could play one game, and then transfer his or her progress to the other game. In addition, this is the only way to reach the "true" ending of the game. The game was originally planned to be a trilogy known as the "Triforce Trilogy", in which two of the games were to be remakes of the original NES titles. This idea was scrapped early on in the development process.

Difference Between OoA & OoS

The biggest difference between Seasons and Ages is that each focuses on a different aspect of the classic Zelda formula: Ages is puzzle-heavy while Seasons is action-oriented. It's worth mentioning that Seasons and Ages are fully self-contained games that can be played and completed without each other.

Storyline

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Link at the beginning of his journey through the land of Labrynna.

Deep inside the Temple of the Triforce, Link slowly approached the golden relic when a voice called out to him. Without warning, he was sucked into a vortex that tossed him out into a dark forest where upon landing, the young hero heard screaming. Running blindly through the bushes, Link entered a clearing and found a lady on the ground screaming and being circled by animals. When the monsters saw Link approach them, they scattered off in all directions.

Link soon realized that the woman lying on the ground was Princess Zelda's Sheikah nurse, Impa. Impa said that there was a singer in the forest and that she had to go look for her. The nurse asked Link if he could help her. He agreed and the two went off in search for the songster.

Continuing through the forest, they finally found who they were looking for. A young lady with blue hair sat on a tree stump surrounded by forest creatures that were listening to her beautiful song. The girl's name was Nayru and then Impa broke the solo with an evil laugh.

A shadow had emerged from Impa and was cackling as it swirled through the trees. The silhouette revealed itself as Veran, Sorceress of Shadows. The shadow began soaring around before flying into Nayru's body and disappearing in a flash of light.

Nayru was the Oracle of Ages to land called Labrynna and now that she was taken by Veran, the time flow between the past and present now became disrupted.

The land of Labrynna

The land of Labrynna is much smaller than most worlds in the Zelda series.

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Labrynna, Past Age
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Labrynna, Present Age


The land of Labrynna can be explored twice over by Link, in the Past and the Present. Each has subtle changes, much like the Light World and Dark World in A Link to the Past.

The Legend of Zelda game series
The Legend of Zelda | The Adventure of Link | A Link to the Past | Link's Awakening | Ocarina of Time | Majora's Mask
Oracle of Ages | Oracle of Seasons | The Wind Waker | The Minish Cap | Twilight Princess
The Four Swords subseries
Four Swords | Four Swords Adventures
Alternate Versions
BS Zelda | BS Zelda: Kodai no Sekiban | Master Quest | Collector's Edition | Mystical Seed of Courage (cancelled)
Zelda Games for the Philips CD-i
Link: The Faces of Evil | Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon | Zelda's Adventure

See also: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, 2001, Action-adventure game, BS Zelda