Oracle of Ages & Seasons Retrospective 

I've asked myself that question some times when I'm replaying puzzle games from my childhood, like Zelda and point n' click games. But if you stop and watch kids a little bit you will realize that they are really clever when it comes to figuring things out. For instance, it's really fascinating watching my 4 year old niece playing around with my tablet. It took her no time to understand how things work and where to click to watch videos, skip commercials or play games. I'm guessing kids natural curiosity and lack of logic makes it easier to solve these kind of games :)

I played these at 12 or 13 and i had to follow walkthroughs for at least the ages. Still love these games.

I feel as though we tend to give up too easily on these sorts of things as we age. Children are more inclined to sink time into them, whereas us 'oldies' see that as a waste of precious time.

I was the complete opposite. I recently beat these games in around of total of 30 hours and it started to come back to me all the parts that i got stuck as a kid. And then realize that the solution was pretty damn simple and i was just dumb.

@@okagron That's also true in many situations too, but there are a handful of puzzles here and there that would probably still catch me out if I didn't already know. The one that comes to mind is in that series of puzzles in which you must turn the colour of every tile in a room by stepping on each one without leaving a gap. There's on particular instance of this in which you have to push a statue over in order to make this possible, but there's little indication that this is the solution and just lets you work it out, and honestly I think that's great.

Lets just say they work best together, shall we? :D ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BbJjNcXPcMk.html

When else did capcom do that

@@NK-vd6wv minish cap, mainly gba zeldas

@@kiraishere69420 Minish cap is a pretty underrated Zelda game in my opinion and I have absolutely no nostalgia for hat game. I played it maybe 4 or 5 years ago for the first time when I was 25 or so. But It really is one of the better Zelda games. The only thing i didn't really like where the kinstones but besids that: Solid 2D Zedla.

@@malte1984 yah absolutely it was actually the second zelda i ever beat xP and i thuroughly enjoyed it just as much as link to the past, unpopular opinion

Yes!!!!!! Im holding out so much hope that. I hate that i cant play these on the switch. I dont have 3ds

maybe codes from the 3ds version could be compatible with switch, allowing you to keep your save data if you've beaten 3ds

Yeah because they wouldn't have to remake them all from scratch. They could just the engine and assets they've already built for the link's awakening remake and save a ton of development time remaking ages and seasons. Because the originals looked so close to link's awakening. Re-use trees, grass, buildings, enemy and NPC models etc, just like the original Ages and Seasons did. Although with infinite time and money, I'd really like to see a 2D zelda done with art that looks like actual art, has that kind of paintbrush feel to it like some beautiful 2D games have these days. Imagine a zelda game done in the art style of GRIS, or more conservatively something like the newer Rayman games. That ubisoft art engine style. I think that'd suit zelda perfectly, have it look all like a moving painting. But yeah I'd be completely fine with just reusing the link's awakening engine. It'd be a waste if that was only used for that one game because link's awakening looks beautiful.

Absolutely

Im playing oracle of ages on my gameboy right now

Wow, thank you! You, Jon, and Chugga were part of the reason I even started making videos in the first place, so that means a lot!

​@@KingKlonoa Can you link both of these games on the 3DS?

@@Paul-lt8le Thank you, sorry I'm a bit new to having virtual console stuff.

I'll get flamed for eternity but these are my favorite Zelda games

Ages was what I had ad a kid. I think this is the first video that have talked more about it than 2 seconds. Even the examining time lines are like 'oh and theres these 2' Shit took me for. ever. to beat as a kid. No guides or anything. I never knew there was a seasons component and there were all of the codes in the deku tree I was like wtf am I supposed to do with these? ugh memories

They're really great! I just did a linked game with my Oracle of Seasons file. Currently playing Ages. Jabu-Jabu's belly is annoying though!

These are some of my favorite games, letalone on the GBC.

They're heavily underrated!

It's cool that the hero cave is also completely different depending on the game you started with. Both are so memorable, and I remember getting stumped several times in the Ages hero cave.

I know about that one! It's not exactly what I meant because at first I just thought it was a thing in Seasons.

It’s not the Red Ring, it’s the L3 Power Ring (with Ages having the L3 Wisdom Ring for the linked counterpart) You don’t need to finish the “master dungeons” to get the Red, Blue, and Green rings...which are SO much more useful than the Power/Wisdom L1-3 rings Screw +3 attack and taking +3 damage with Power. Vise versa for Wisdom. Imma just gonna stick with my Red Ring from 1st Playthrough of Seasons with it’s +2 damage (and upgraded sword) with NO damage penalties, thanks. ...and Blue Ring for when I need it without my sword getting turned into a busted plastic bendy straw (Green Ring’s nice to complete the set...but just for “casual wear” I prefer the Heart-L2 ring and just recovering health as I go and shooting out sword beams)

@@anonymousfellow8879 I never figured out what the green ring is what does it do

@@KingKlonoa In Seasons, it has a Baseline and Linked presence independent of each other. The Baseline is small, essentially letting you get your sword in the beginning. In the Linked game, it's a full-out bonus dungeon. However, if you take a Seasons profile and link it into an Ages game (which you can do with your Ages-linked Seasons game) then it will technically change Labrynna to have the dungeon exist.

The only blocked off content for base games is no Twinrova/Realm of Chaos, extra characters/interactions, passwords. No areas are locked off besides the final dungeon with Twinrova and Ganon. I play these games linked and unlinked yearly lol. I prefer seasons to ages since seasons is easier.

Initial comment is right, there is one map square you can't reach unless you play a sequel ages from seasons

@@Skellotronix sea of storms is visited differently, you go there in the past in unlinked but present during a linked game. so technically, there is an area that is locked off. its nothing major though.

I didn’t know about the linked Hero’s Cave in Ages! I’ll try replaying them in reverse order next time.

Im hoping they do this with pokemon scarlet and violet

Nice writing you totally pulled me in

Nice👍👍

Yep, even looking back I was given ages as a gift, and my brother seasons, lol.

you have a cool dad

Wholesome story man. I enjoyed it immensely.

Inappropriate, cum on...

@@theakkusor on what, KingK's seed shooter?

ShadowDeku 😏

Scott Beste same! ive always wanted to play these two and they fit the new art style super well imo

I sunk so many hours into ages as a kid, and goddamnit I am ready to do that again in a remake

Yeah...the problem with these games is because of how the cartridges are designed and how long they are. I got my cartridges in 2004. They are still on the original batteries, and they are due to die soon (already older than the expected lifespan). Now, in my case, I have a GB01 cartridge reader that lets me dump save files (and ROM's if I'm so inclined) from GB, GBC, and GBA games to my PC, so I'm not in danger of losing my save files. But this is a $70 hobbyist device that most people are not going to have. But even so, I'm going to have to whip out a soldering iron and replace the batteries eventually. When I do, I'm going to try to replace the battery with a battery holder so batteries can be easily swapped in the future. A Switch remake in the style of Link's Awakening would fix this problem for me (though I would probably sell the cartridges at that point since I have complete in box copies and they are getting more rare and valuable).

Or make a remastered collection. So you only buy one game.

Same here, Link to the past would also be great. BOTW is fine and all but it doesn't hit the same as top down zelda.

Yeeeeah

I think it’s fair to assume he doesn’t get out much. XD

Also mushrooms growing in fall is... obvious is it not? Even in real life, most mushroom caps pop up at that time, or at least it feels that way.

Mushrooms are usually spring time as well. Fall is usually the time cereal crops like corn, wheat, ect are harvested.

@@MrMudbill I've heard that but the only mushrooms I know of that grow during that time are morrels

I'm hoping for a remake as well! As long as they're gonna keep supporting the 3DS, I'm all for it. Actually makes more sense to me than a LA remake (though both would please me)

Agreed I wish they would remaster the oracle games and bring them to the current consoles.

As far as the whole "new dungeon" idea is concerned, there actually IS one for each game! Whichever one you save for last will have the "sword acquisition cave" replaced by the "Hero's Cave", a full dungeon that tests many of the abilities you'll pick up in that game. The Ages "Hero Cave" IS radically different from the Seasons "Hero Cave" though, so you're going to need to replay a game over... unless you use a Password Generator program to give you Linked or Linked Hero status on both games first go. That, however, would be an overly powerful cheat on Rings as well, though certain cheevos via retroachievements.org DO prevent that part from counting (i.e. "Collect all rings possible without trading" cheevs).

@@ShadwSonic I was so pleased when i finally beat Hero's cave in Ages. that was SUCH A F*ing tedious chore to do

It would be nice if we got the third game in the series that was meant to be based around Farore, since we got Ages/Nayru and Seasons/Din, but unfortunately it never got developed. If we did get remakes, adding that would make me very happy.

Yeah

I played them on both GBC and GBA (without finishing them ever:( ) and never knew they were a failure. Maybe I will replay them in the future. Both of them and my GBA still exist and work perfectly fine.

There's 2 rings that were exclusive to playing these games on a GBA, 1 for each game. The GBA Time/Nature Rings. There's also a GBA exclusive shop in each game that can only be accessed if you're playing on the GBA.

You're forgetting that Nintendo has recently said fuck you to their own timeline and said that Link's Awakening now happens before the Oracle games...

@@5Picoseconds Recently? Four Swords Adventures practically SCREAMS "prequel to A Link to the Past", but WHOOPS come 2011 it turns out that there's a fallen hero timeline. And honestly they keep doing stuff like this, and have for years. The only person at Nintendo who cares about the timeline even slightly is Aonuma, but despite his best efforts, it's still a mess.

@@JazzyWaffles I mean fuck you to the released timeline. Obviously the official timeline was already stupid! The entire fallen hero timeline could have very easily been placed after Four Swords adventures as you said, lol!

I was originally going to say that there's no evidence to support that, as it's already been determined that Link's Awakening is from a different timeline, one where the Hero of time failed to stop Ganon. But then I got to thinking; Phantom Hourglass featured the Ocean King-- essentially a giant whale. Which has the same appearance of the wind fish from Link's Awakening. So what if there's also a version of the same in this timeline as well? It would be cool to see if that were true!!

Don't forget about the fact that the japanese zelda website has a timeline that is different to the timeline released in the Hyrule Historia. Edit: Meaning that Nintendo worked on a timeline just so people would stop sending them emails about it.

Ross Vegas People really like Link's Awakening

You and me both brother!

In a series with many good games, it's more like which few weren't good looking at you Spirit Tracks. The Oracle games were fantastic, and perfect follow ups to the Link's Awakening, and I consider them among my favourite games, in terms of 2d/ topdown Zelda, perhaps only Link Between Worlds I would rank higher.

Why do people automatically assume spirits tracks wasn’t good? The game was incredible.

@@PhiladelphiaChurchIL i actually agree, the focus was more on story and puzzles, so i guess some just dont like the train aspect? After all, Oracle of Ages confirms that the Zelda fandom likes some puzzles.

When I was a kid sometimes I would play Seasons just to hear that music

Tarm Ruins slaps

Yesssss

You said it mate. So you know, I’m a 29 year old guy and till date when work gets overwhelming I play the Thames Ruins track to soothe myself.

Nice!

Kinda depends, i was 12 years old when these came out and these were released when the GBA was also on the market. I am not affraid to say that people who are handheld gamers are more open minded then just exclusive console gamers( they at most only had a OG gameboy and thats it, no GBC OR GBA were it really began to establish) Console gamers expect a bit too much hence most of them having conflict with latest Nintendo consoles after SNES while handheld gamers are right on track with 3DS and now with the Switch too, not worrying to much about graphics or being too 'high end'.

Yeah I feel you, I have hard copies of Links Awakening, Oracle of Ages, and Seasons, and A Link to the Past, they are a novelty now which is a shame, I also own Ages and Seasons on my 3ds, so easy to have them all consolidated on the 3ds, the convenience is palpable lolz

Forgetting about Minish Cap?

Minish cap is pretty dope tho, dont forget it

Imo the gb zelda games are better than alttp and albw.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🧡

Well, reminder this link (the hero of legend) is one of the youngest and kind of lost his childhood. And even if he wasn't... A cute girl just invited you to dance with her. In front of an audience. And all you know is kicking ass. How would you react?

For a longer explanation, this Link is the one from A link to the past. He was at best 14 when he suddenly had to save hyrule from canonically the strongest Ganon of them all (pigman literally had the triforce). And the rest of his life was trying to find a permanent insta kill for the pig. Well, up until the triforce summons him to YEET him to the oracle games. And after that, Link's Awakening. Dude was a weapon of the goddess his whole known life. Dude had it rough. Out of memory, last we've heard of him (so during the dance then on a drifting piece of wood with possible PTSD)

@@TheNekoGentleman Actually Nintendo changed the timeline. According to Official Nintendo website Link's Awakening now takes place BEFORE the Oracle games.

@@id-f8679 wait WHAT?

@@TheNekoGentleman you can check out hyrule encyclopedia, they changed it and said that it may happen again in the future 😂😂 But except this, I agree with all you said about the hero of the legend

Dimitri was best boi for sure

No shit??

@@hashvendetta7226 I'm pretty sure it gives you either the strongest power ring or the strongest defense ring depending on which game is the linked adventure. It's genuinely the hardest challenge in either games.

There is a heroes cave that unlocks in both games, giving you access to 10 dungeons total. 13 if you count the castle for onox, the black tower up to veran, and finnaly the room of rites and general area for your fight with twinrova and ganon. They were pretty large games, and i remember the puzzles in the heroe's caves in particular being pretty insane to complete.

@@markabyss1200 doesn’t it give the password for Lv 3 (“master”) sword as well?

​@@darkisatari No it doesnt the master sword password is given by an NPC.

I was drawn to veran in spite of her red flags

@@ericb5328 I should clarify I only saw Din and Nayru through a PBG video and only recently got to play the games fully. But years ago when I found out Veran existed, I had the same thought lol

Back in the day, I’d have to go to GameFAQs and print out a guide for a dungeon I was stuck on if I wanted to skip the mystery.

@@alewi443 yessss. Technology is amazing but it also gives us everything quickly. Interested in a cool game? Don’t even have to spend money on it, I can watch someone else play! 🫥

Your dream is the same as mine... Even my icon is from the Oracles games. I'd say, if it won't happen, then let's make it instead.

Lady Ramkin From what I gather from reading about the development is that it was too difficult to link the three games together. They also never really had a third game, as it was canceled very early on in the development process.

I don't think the third game would had worked. if Ages is a representation of wisdom and Seasons of courage, how do you base a game around courage without being focused on combat? It was better to cancel the game and use Farore as the oracle of secrets to further link the two games. But a combination of both games remade for the switch would be a dream come true

@@alejandrobenavides766 There's no real basis for this, but one of the other pillars of game design is exploration, and that fits the theme of courage really well.

What would the third one be about? I can only assume that since the last Triforce piece is courage it would be survival horror, with loads of insta-kill enemies.

Ryan Wells I’ll try checking the Virtual Console @3DS version of Link’s Awakening DX, but I had no idea these bonus dungeons existed. Thanks!

@nwhat31 I love minish cap a nice light-hearted Zelda the Gameboy had some gems, all the Zelda's, Mario and Luigi super star saga, final fantasy tactics advanced.

Big aggre. Even tho I mostly know the games from their manga adaptations(hibfamousperson)

@nwhat31 Breath of the wild on the Nintendo switch are the second best portable Zelda game ever. The first are minish cap.

You know what is more of a underrated game? The Minish Cap

The rabbit like things?

@@haroldbaluyottan Yeah. Pols Voices don't like loud sounds.

@@TheRealDustinNunn in zelda1 famicom you kill em with the mic on the controller

No. Freaking. Way. Cool! Throwback to the Famicon. Awesome.

That's kind of impressive, this being the first (Edit: Oh, Zelda game, nevermind) game you beat without help. It _would've_ been that for me, but I got stuck at the end for so long I beat Pokemon Gold in between lol. Edit: Okay yeah same here, Ocarina scared me as a kid (wasn't ready for 3D after all my handheld stuff, went to Mario 64 instead of playing OoT)

Remake first 2 and give us the 3rd

Since Season (Combat) is Power and Ages (Puzzles) is Wisdom, what would the focus of a "Courage" game be?

@@autobotstarscream765 'Exploration' would be my guess.

@@DiskusGames Or survival. I'm sure they had survival in mind even since the first Zelda with eating, they had meat and potions and other food not useable in all games up to BoTW which has cooking. Exploration survival on GBC with the dungeons being on the overworld/overworlds, maybe not food but a time limit or something, would have been awesome.

+ttnn123456789 That’s the kind of dungeon design I’m want in Zelda.

Yeah they are both very different but they said back that Ages is also harder and had complicated puzzles and Season was better played before that one. Also canonically but you know... Zelda😒😂

It's funny how most people say seasons was better because ages puzzles were too hard. Ages had much more difficult puzzles, combat was present and since many enemies themselves were puzzles, the battles could be intense, and it's an original game. Seasons had raw battles that would satisfy adventure goers, but puzzles which weren't going to satisfy a puzzle solver. It was also originally a zelda 1 remake which is evident by some boss battles and overworld terrain features. In my opinion, ages is the better game, but satisfies a smaller crowd, and is better played first, since the items carried over help with the battles in seasons. You can get by in ages without a handful of extras

Agreed. Ages was rough, sad i played it first because seasons felt too easy but loved it nonetheless

What? That’s super cool

@@brux357 Seasons and especially the final boss feel a lot like Mega Man Xtreme games. Capcom dun gud.

@@Skellotronix sweet. I’ve never played the Xtreme games. I’ll have to finally try them out. Capcom don’t miss

Same

Wait, don't you still have the theme in your mind? It's been 10y Help please ahah

Fuck the Ages hero cave. I hated the "put the box on to the yellow tiles" puzzle the most because you need tp keep track of lava.

Still havent played the Seasons Hero Cave tho

@@id-f8679 Seasons has an absolute great last puzzle! Defenitly recommend!

pyrrhickong nolan was always a douche anyway.

Seasons in nowhere near inferior. if anything Ages is the easy version. Season is a lot harder then Ages is.

Are you gonna try to play them again?

Seasons is way better dude. The time travel gimmick in Ages is tedious as hell.

dude. i know for a fact. ive said that to people. also @tony h im not a douche.

What "shortcomings"? And why the need of a "graphic overhaul"?

Maybe we’ll finally get game 3

Sorry about the wall of text. I might've gotten a bit carried away; that tends to happen when I talk about Zelda.

How did link between worlds retcon them?

@@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502 The entire plot of these games hinges around a convoluted ritual to bring Ganon back from the dead immediately following the events of A Link to the Past. ALBW says that, at the end of ALttP, Ganon wasn't killed, but rather "sealed away in darkness." So Twinrova couldn't resurrect Ganon since he's not dead, meaning either 1. the events of the Oracle games never happened, or 2. Twinrova's ritual was actually to unseal him, not revive him. Either way, it's a big, clumsy, and entirely pointless retcon, all because Nintendo had to go full 4Kids and say "no, he's not dead, he's actually in the shadow realm."

@@Eyewarp i see. I wouldn't go as far as to say that retcon removes them out of existence, but I agree it's a clumsy and pointless.

@@Eyewarp Don’t ever apologize for a text that well written and interesting. I love both games but never really thought of the poor tone in Seasons before. The way You explained it made me laugh cause it’s absolutely spot on. In case You haven’t checked out Chyde109s channel I warmly recommend it. He’s also doing a retrospective on Zelda games and he’s absolutely brilliant.

Lies. If you play Seasons first then you name the kid and watch him grow...such that in a linked Ages game the kid and his family will be in Labrynna. Likewise, the Skeleton-Pirates explore the world, crashing in Labrynna and allowing a similar ability to see the Captain and his Queen meet.

Anthony Hauser really?! Maybe I should have been paying more attention. It was around 8 years since I played these games

What is next? 🤔 Minish Cap?

If you mean Minish Cap as implied at the end, I'm happy to throw out some opinions: It's definitly not a bad game, in fact I already played it a few times including a 3-hearts-run, but I miss the more complex and large overworld as well as dungeons compared to the Oracle games. It's just too calm in comparison (it was designed to be more accessible to kids). That's probably the reason why the "Palace of Winds" is the fan-favourite dungeon in this game: Because it was the hardest in an easy game. With that said: Minish Cap will never be the best Zelda game for me, but it is a good game, like pretty much all Zelda games. And sometimes you just need a calm game like this one.

Totally with you on this. While I normally prefer Zelda games that are more puzzle heavy, I would chose Seasons over Ages any time. It just feels smoother in almost every aspect. Even the visuals are much better. Ages just feels like it wasn't smoothed out as much. There are much more interesting ideas in it, but they don't seem to be fully fleshed out. Every good idea has a drawback that makes it a little frustrating.

I prefer Seasons, too. But I would not agree entirely on your points of view: - Subrosia is the most memorable place of both games since it is so different, but I do think the overworld of Labrynna with it's multiple tribes is more memorable than the overworld of Holodrum. - While I do prefer action, too, I did enjoy the puzzles of Ages and don't think the dungeons were more boring. It took a lot of time until I figured out how to leave the ground floor in Jabu-Jabu, but I really enjoyed the water dungeons. My least favourite would rather be the Crown Cavern (#5). - I did not care much for the rings; they should have been implemented better. Also I don't think the Goron dance is "broken as hell". I haven't played it much, but the lower difficulties were easy for me and the highest would just be a "bonus challenge" which you don't need to beat. I had much and still have slightly more trouble with the Subrosian dance. - My opinion on the ages/seasons mechanic is mixed. I love the seasons making the world more colourful, but the time travel allows for much better puzzles which were definitly not as nearly as deeply explored in OoT or MM. While I like the time travel animation, I do agree there really should have been a way to shorten or skip it. - Not all items in Ages were the "Power Glove" (which is also the last item in that game). The seed shooter can be fired in eight directions and bounce of walls making it more useful as the comparable sling-shot. Seasons items only seem cooler because they are more action like the Roc's Cape, Magic Boomerang and Magnetic gloves. But I do fully agree to your last paragraph.

@@lozofspielereien8038 Labrynna is indeed a nice world. I agree about the tribes, though I didn't like to have that much trouble to go back to places I've already been before a bunch of times. The time mechanic allows for environmental changes just as the seasons mechanic do, but both could have been implemented better. Maybe the time mechanic is overused and the seasons mechanic is the underused... I still think the layout of Holodrum is more memorable, but this is a matter of taste just like the dungeons you've mentioned. P.S.: I usually prefer puzzles over action, but this wasn't the case in the Oracle games. Regarding the rings, it is optional, but many people will want that 100%. The rings are very nice items to use, and they are the main elements of the whole concept of linking the two games. Sidequests in Zelda aren't normally that difficult. If you try the hardest difficulty on the Goron Dance you'll know exactly what I mean. I swear it is nothing but broken. The game demands 101% accuracy, and sometimes even when you do it perfectly it doesn't recognize your inputs. It's terrible. I got the Subrosian dance right the on the very first try so you can have an idea on the difference between them (maybe I got lucky there, but anyway). About the items, I'm not saying the roster in Ages is bad. It's actually great! However, I think Seasons exclusives are way more fun to use (and more frequently used too). Also, they are much more of a novelty than those of Ages, just like the whole season concept. I have the impression that in the end both games could have been just that bit more polished here and there, but they are still WAY above average from what we expect from GBC titles. That said, Seasons has the advantage on a couple of details IMO XD. Thanks for sharing your point of view!

I will say with 100% certainty that I prefer Ages over Seasons, as I love the more puzzle centric games, but I definitely played Seasons 1st as I can get the red ring in that game by beating the golden beasts, and that makes Ages a cake walk combat wise, which I really like as I’m trying to focus on the puzzles rather than fighting for longer than necessary.

I'll have to disagree that the Cane of Somaria isn't cool enough. In a game of puzzles creating a block is a true display of power. It's also a cool, unique weapon.

it needs a switch remake not a 3ds

I think the sides of your brain are the other way around, but you still bring up good points.

TheBlueLink3 Thank you, it is now indeed CHANGED! x

Yes, it is very archetypal. I prefer two games, because it represents the duality of humankind.

yeah i saw oracle of secrets , is it a fangame ??

No it's what the third game would have been called

Yes indeed! Because the easter eggs are different for each "timeline" you decide do choose! Well pointed out.

Yeah I’m playing Ages for the 2nd time in a row, but I started with Seasons, as I wanted to get the Red ring which is found exclusively to Seasons, and I transferred that over to Ages to make that games combat so easy, it’s amazing!

i like that after you beat a linked game it gives you a password to play it the opposite way around but still keep your rings, ioriginally played it as ages-linkedseason-seasons-linkedages, and every now and then ill use one of my password to restart the game and decide weather i want it linked or not and continue collecting rings, i lost count how many times i played each by now lol but i almost have every ring at this point

I had to save a whole site for walkthroughs when I was younger because there was no broadband internet at the time and I had to go to lanhouses. When I revisited the games I didn't need walkthrougs anymore but those were the days.

ASquared Minish Cap and A Link Between Worlds are popular and the touchscreen games are not very good.

@@schwarzerritter5724 this reminds me to play Phantom Hourglass again.

Most people I know say they won't play on such a small screen. Then proceed to play Minecraft on their phones...

I would say that the most underated zelda games, are as follows. Four swords adventures being theee most underated title of all. I played four swords adventured a few years ago, and i loved it personnaly. It was kind of stale in some segments, but had some awesome boss and mini boss encounters. But underated none the less. No one really talks about four swords adventures or the original four swords respectively. I think the problem with four swords was that it was just to short. I had to play by myself as well. I was only able to play it due to my zelda nut self getting the four swords anniversary download on dsi. But still fun. Vaati is an amazing villain. He should have appeard in wind waker. Maye he will appear in a sequel to spirit tracks or some shit. I mean, the dude is a literal wind mage god thingy who controls the wind at will. Then you have the oracle games and minish cap. No one has really played them. I also find games like zelda 2 to be underated as well. There simply is no zelda game like zelda 2 out there. Not much of an rpg guy, but seriously. I had a blast with zelda 2. Bouncing around everywhere using the downthrust sword skill was so satisfying. I also quite enjoyed getting all the magic spells and leveling up the stats. In today's age, i definitely feel it is worth mentioning zelda 2. It stands out like a sore thumb, and is just not very zelda like comparatively to the other zelda games. It is insanely challenging and fun though. But i consider zelda 2 underated as well. And others, like phantom hourglass, just have internal problems. Temple of the ocean king easily being one of the worst areas ever designed in a zelda game. But, if you can look past this, the overall theme of phantom hourglass is atypical of a 2d style zelda game. But i can appreciate it trying the mega dungeon theme out. It was just to repetitive for my tastes overall. But overall, i enjoyed this entry as well. Temple of the ocean king and trying to roll in this game, frankly both of these things were fixed in spirit tracks, are the only real things that bring phantom hourglass down. Although a bit more freedom of control would have been good with linebecks boat as well. It felt incredibly one sided. I remember the time limit in there being an interesting/annoying concept. At one point, on one of the floors, i remember almost dying, because i had ran out of time, and it was sucking my life energy away instead. I was really close to the mid point as well. I remember seeing a safe zone close to the top with a couple of pots that respawned with hearts inside. Luckily, i just left the room and gathered that up, until i had full life energy, then i was able to solve the last floor before the checkpoint barely. In that regard, it was kind of cool at the same time. I was like, hell yes, i beat the system. Suck on that majora mask style time limit. Also, some parts just sucked for me in particular. There was one part where you had to close your ds screens together to create an imprint, but who would think to do that. I had to look that part up. Another annoyance was that certain parts needed you to create a drawing to make certain doorways open or whatever. Like, i am the absolute artist ever. Sometimes it just felt super precise. Like do i suck that badly. Other than those gripes, phantom hourglass is another black sheep zelda game, but overall, it was a ton of fun to play overall.

4 months later, I'm still stuck on that minigame. Idk if I'll ever finish Oracle of Ages at this rate.

I need to see it again but I don't remember ever having issues with the dancing mini games of either version

its all about the flow~~

i just cant get past level 4. the pully switch with the lava floor gets me every time -_-

100% the absolute worst part of ages

but dude did you see Mark Brown's GRAPHS? who needs analysis when you have GRAPHS to explain!

@@totally_not_a_skeleton-old Lmao fuck mark brown. His graphs don't even say anything important about the dungeons in the first place.

@JV @James Neeson You're right. Nonlinearity isn't everything. But he doesn't say it is. He talks about this and freely admits in his Majora's mask video, that it finds a way to test your spacial reasoning in a more linear fashion. However, the graphs are useful. The way they branch off and show where places need to be backtracked to and where choices are presented is a completely effective way of showing the dungeon requires Memory Intentional decisions And spatial reasoning to navigate. The graphs completely achieve their goal in this sense, which is to convey navigational complexity. Looking at the shadow temple in comparison to the water temples graph, you can see automatically how straight forward navigationally the former is. I doubt you disagree with that specifically. Mark brown also criticizes breath of the wilds dungeons and effectively says they're bad because they have no structure and are too open. Also, the dungeons in the oracle games are typically nonlinear and provide deep navigation in that sense. Oh also. I do want to admit he did a poor job on his oracle game analysis, and he apologized for that in the comments to that video.

Thank god someone else in this world doesn't have a complete hard on for Mark Brown. He has great points and great videos but I barely stomached his zelda keys series. So much simplification of dungeon design.

@@RememberRushmore Who's Mark Brown?