Oracle of Ages and Seasons May Get Switch Remake
By
William Beckers Gonzalez
A recent leak contains a slew of rumors regarding potential Switch releases, particularly a remake of The Legend of Zelda’s Oracle duology.
Some new Nintendo rumors have fans intrigued. A recent Twitter thread from Nintendo leaker Markomaro contains mention of some exciting remakes and new releases from Nintendo, particularly a remake of the Legend of Zelda classics Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons for the Switch.
According to Markomaro’s claims, Nintendo does not plan on releasing any more Zelda games during the series 35th anniversary this year, but more remakes of classic installments are following Skyward Sword HD. HD releases of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are reportedly complete and set to be released “sooner than later,» and remakes of Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are currently slated to follow sometime in 2022 or 2023. Unfortunately, Markomaro has no news regarding two of the more anticipated Zelda Switch rereleases, Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, though there have been rumors from other sources.
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Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons were developed by the now-defunct Capcom studio Flagship and released on the same day in 2001 for the Game Boy Color. There were plans initially for the series to be a trilogy called the “Triforce Series” but many changes took place during development and one game ended up being cancelled. The two games were met with commercial and critical success, with critics listing the pair among the best games released on the Game Boy Color.
Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons could interact with each other through the use of passwords or a link cable, allowing players who had both to expand the story of each game, with the true ending being inaccessible until both had been completed.
The Twitter thread is not clear about whether this mechanic or the cancelled third installment will be making a return, but it says that the games will most likely be releasing separately, unlike the originals.
Markomaro does not have a perfect reputation as a Nintendo leaker, and their claims should not be taken as fact. However, some of the claims made in this thread have been echoed, and given the love people have for the Oracle games, as well as the fact that they come after Link’s Awakening, which was remade for the Switch, it seems likely.
Markomaro makes claims about several non-Zelda Nintendo games in their thread, including a new 2D Donkey Kong game sometime in the next year, Splatoon 3 early next summer, a fifth installment of Style Savvy, Bayonetta 3, Advance Wars 1+2 and a new WarioWare (which have both been officially announced), and a remake of the original Paper Mario and Wii Punch-Out!! game.
Nintendo, who is known for being stingy about revealing information on games that are yet to be released, has not yet responded to these rumors.
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Source: Comicbook
Why The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons Deserve a Remake
In 2001, Nintendo released two The Legend of Zelda games simultaneously: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. Each of these games has a unique setting, some of the best core mechanics in the franchise, and whole new lands to explore – Holodrum in Seasons and Labrynna in Ages. The two games also took the franchise into uncharted territories by building a connectivity system that allowed players to trade items and discover secrets, whether they used a Game Link Cable or a series of passwords.
Unfortunately, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons only had a shy re-released in 2013, through the virtual console of the 3DS.
That means a whole generation of The Legend of Zelda fans never got to play these fantastic games. However, we could soon be revisiting both games if Nintendo only realizes it’s sitting on a goldmine. That’s because all Nintendo needs to do to bring back both games is to give them the same treatment of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Switch remake.
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Image via Nintendo
The Link’s Awakening remake rebuilt the original game from the ground up. Developers GREZZO couldn’t reuse any outdated assets of the original Game Boy title, so they had to recreate everything from scratch. In the process, GREZZO decided to replace the retro pixel art look with something more modern, using a unique 3D art style to make Link’s Awakening look amazing on the Nintendo Switch without losing its charm. Also, knowing that music is a big part of The Legend of Zelda franchise, GREZZO replaced the classic Game Boy chip tune with beautiful orchestral tracks.
While the Link’s Awakening remake adds a flaring coat of paint over Link’s Awakening, the gameplay remains untouched. Although new animations give improved feedback to the player, every tool of the remake works precisely as in the original. Likewise, the world remains pretty much untouched, with every dungeon reproduced tile by tile. The only noticeable difference is the removal of the Camera Shop, a place where players could print the photos they collected during their adventure – a mechanic created to sell more copies of the Game Boy Printer, which was totally a thing.
In the place of the Camera Shop, GREZZO added Super Mario Maker-inspired challenges that push the player to build (and beat) their own dungeons, using challenge rooms and boss battles they collect by playing through the main story. While we, the nostalgic people, really miss the Camera Shop, the new dungeon-making tool is an excellent addition to the franchise, adding a few more hours of fun to the remake.
Image via Nintendo
So, putting it short, GREZZO kept everything that made Link’s Awakening fun to play, updating its graphics and music to a new generation, and adding a new playground for experienced players. The approach was very successful, with the Link’s Awakening remake selling more than 5 million copies. The remake was also a critical success, with GREEZO applauded by how they were able to bring back a beloved (but forgotten) entry of The Legend of Zelda franchise. So why not do the same thing with other Game Boy titles?
GREEZO and Nintendo have been working together for more than a decade, with the developers handling the 3DS remakes of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, and creating Tri Force Heroes. So, the studio has a lot of experience with The Legend of Zelda games, with many hits and a few misses along the way. However, since GREZZO had to remake Link’s Awakening from scratch, they could reuse many of the tools they had to come up with to adapt Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons.
That’s possible since they all share the same camera, tile-based level design, and combat system. The question, then, is if Nintendo realizes how much money they could haul by remaking Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons.
Why ‘Oracle of Ages’ and ‘Oracle of Seasons’ Deserve a Remake
Image via Nintendo
Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons were part of an ambitious project developed by the Japanese studio Flagship. Inspired by the three goddesses of The Legend of Zelda franchise, Flagship started to develop three adventures simultaneously. The idea was that each game of the Oracle series could be played as an independent adventure. However, they could also be played in sequence, creating a more complex narrative. Unfortunately, the project became too complicated, and Flagship had to reduce the scope and focus only on two games.
In Oracle of Ages, Link is teleported to Labrynna to rescue a singer named Nayru, after the Goddess of Wisdom.
As for Oracle of Seasons, the damsel in distress is the dancer Din, named after the Goddess of Power. While both games were built around the same formula, each title has a different flow, motivated by the aspects of the Goddesses. That’s why Oracle of Ages is more puzzle-focused, while Oracle of Seasons is orientated towards combat.
Both Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons have a big baddie to defeat, eight temples, and tons of secrets. However, since each game has its setting, they are unique experiences. So, while Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons were released simultaneously, they have completely different tools, dungeons, NPCs, and places to explore. The dual release, then, is not just a gimmick like in the Pokémon franchise, which separates some Pokémon species just to create artificial scarcity. Instead, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are entirely different games, and the player will never feel robbed if they buy them both.
Image via Nintendo
Each game also has an impressively creative core mechanic. Oracle of Seasons gifts Link with the Rod of Seasons, a magical baton that allows the player to change the world by altering the seasons. That means that Flagship has to develop four different versions of every screen of the game, one for each season. Oracle of Ages, on the other hand, allows the player to jump through different ages with the Harp of Ages. While time-traveling is a critical aspect of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, Oracle of Ages found its own path by allowing the player to immediately teleport to a different era, which opens a whole new world of exploration.
Finally, to increase replayability, both Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages have three animal companions – Dimitri, Rick, and Moosh. The player will bond with one of these animals depending on their actions. And since each animal has an extraordinary power that allows Link to traverse different obstacles, the world of both games also changes to become more compatible with the animal the player found.
As if having two perfectly great adventures was not enough, Flagship took a step further by connecting both games. While playing either of the two titles, players will get passwords that can be introduced in the other game to get special items. And should the player finish either adventure, they will receive a master password that turns the other game into a direct sequel of the first one. That means that, after finishing Oracle of Season, for instance, players can play Oracle of Ages as a sequel. Or vice-versa! Each game has two different progressions coded into it, one for newcomers and the other for people with the password.
Image via Nintendo
In the “sequel” version of Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, characters will act differently and even recognize Link’s previous adventure. The overworld will also change to reflect Link’s previous choices, with a specific animal companion offered to the player. The cherry on top of the cake is that, by following the two games as a sequel, the player unlocks an extended ending, which of course, involves Zelda and a new boss fight against Ganon.
And since both games can be a sequel, there’s a lot of incentive to play the whole adventure twice, changing the order of Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. All of that with just two games connected. Imagine if Flagship had the money to do three games instead of two; how amazing that could be?
Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are excellent entries of The Legend of Zelda franchise that many players are yet to discover. By allowing GREZZO to give both games the same treatment as the Link’s Awakening remake, Nintendo would have not one, but two games they could offer fans. And since they are so different from one another, everyone has plenty of reason to buy them both. If Nintendo really wanted to surprise us all, they could also make the third Oracle game, which had to be abandoned by Flagship. However, only the two remakes would already allow new players to discover a couple of fantastic adventures, while older players get the chance to come back to these titles.
