Reception
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 91.50% (Seasons) (based on 21 reviews) 91.89% (Ages) (based on 18 reviews) |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 9.0/10 and 9.5/10 |
| Famitsu | 31/40 (Seasons) 30/40 (Ages) |
| GamePro | 4/5 |
| GameSpot | 9.2/10 |
| IGN | 10/10 |
| Nintendo Power | 5/5 |
Oracle of Seasons and Ages were critical and commercial successes, selling nearly 4 million copies each. Reviews were generally positive: Chris Carle of IGN said that Seasons and Ages were "the best games ever made for the Game Boy Color", and Craig Majaski of Gaming Age called them "the two best games ever to grace a handheld system". It was rated the 34th (Seasons) and 39th (Ages) best games made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list. In August 2008, Nintendo Power listed Oracle of Seasons and Ages as the fourth and fifth best Game Boy/Game Boy Color video games respectively. The games placed joint 57th in Official Nintendo Magazine's 100 greatest Nintendo games of all time. The interconnection was seen as one of the highlight features of the titles. The ability to play the games in reverse order after completion increases the replay value, as does trading passwords between the two. GamesRadar listed The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons / Ages as one of the titles they want in the 3DS Virtual Console.
Critics enjoyed the graphics; GamePro called Seasons "bright and colorful" with "surprisingly expressive and well-designed" animations, and Gaming Target said Ages is "beautiful and creative", with "meticulous attention to detail". Gaming Age called both games "the pinnacle of good graphics on the Game Boy Color system". Although the two share graphics to a large extent, Seasons is distinguished by swapping the color palette to reflect the current season. IGN felt that the expressive colors used for the changing seasons made Seasons the more graphically impressive of the two.
Reviews of the audio were mixed. Reviewers noted that the sound was hampered by the poor quality of the Game Boy Color's speakers, although it fared favorably compared with other games for the system. The selection of songs was praised for complementing familiar Zelda songs and sounds with new music. The Zelda theme and the traditional sound effect played upon solving a puzzle were considered welcome additions, but other sound effects were criticized as simplistic "beeps".
Read more about this topic: The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons And Oracle Of Ages
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