The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (GBA) Retro Review

Is Mickey Magical Enough to Save This Port?
All screenshots by SuperPhillip.

Back in my childhood, I remember a game that would cause me so much trouble. Well, one game among many that gave me a lot of grief. This was an excellent effort between Capcom and Disney in the form of Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse for the Super Nintendo, a console that gave me so many fond childhood memories. The game was difficult for me as a child, and there's a lot of nostalgia permeating from it. Does the port on the GBA cause all these good memories to come flooding back, or was it just nostalgia that made me love this game so much as a kid?

Minnie Mouse is a new playable addition, but she plays exactly the same as Mickey.

Our story begins with an innocent game of catch with all of Mickey's friends, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Mickey's best buddy, Pluto. When one throw of the baseball goes a little too far, Pluto chases after it and fades seemingly into oblivion. Mickey sets off on an adventure to retrieve his pooch pal. Turns out, a helpful magician is out to assist Mickey on his journey. Pluto isn't just lost-- he's been dognapped by the sinister Emperor Pete! So now the case has turned into a rescue mission. Is Mickey up to the challenge?

Map a course for Emperor Pete's castle.

There are six worlds each with varying challenges, obstacles, enemies, and bosses to conquer. You'll venture from bouncy grasslands to dark and dangerous forests. Each world consists of 3-4 levels. Most of these are rather short. So what does Mickey have going for him here? Well, Mickey has multiple hearts serving as his life meter. If they're depleted, he loses a life. Lose all your lives, and you'll get a game over. No worries though. You can pick up where you left off via the newly-implemented save system. Mickey's no slouch either. He can brawl with the best of them. In regular form, he can grab gold boxes (or even dazed enemies) and send them flying towards enemies.

Attack the weakpoint for-- forget it-- that joke's
older than "i has a cheeseburger"

At the conclusion of each world is a confrontation with one of the game's six bosses. You'll be launching gold boxes at the head of a massive millipede, leaping on the chin of an ornery spider, and and pounding a stone face with water while jumping from rotating platform to rotating platform. The bosses can be a serious challenge to younger gamers, but once their patterns are down, their gooses will be cooked.

Magician Mickey's my favorite transformation.

But that's not all, dear friends! The mighty magician on Mickey's side helps him by granting Mickey the powerful ability to change into various costumes-- unleashing new powers. Magician Mickey, for instance, can charge up his finger and shoot foes with magic-- as long as he has enough magic power in storage. Fireman Mickey, the third world's transformation, allows Mickey to put out fires with his hose (no, not that hose. This is an E-rated affair) as well as push stone blocks aside. There's three transformations in all, and they can be easily switched on the fly with the L button.

The many uses for Fireman Mickey.

So we have the story, we have the powers, but how does the game play? Well, I remember it playing very smoothly and fluidly. It still does on the GBA version, but the fun is over all within a half-hour or so. So what's the deal here? Is the game dumbed down for the current generation of kids? Not at all. The game's still the same from the SNES version difficulty-wise. It's just that I've grown up while the game's stayed the same. Add that save feature, and the game's quite the fast affair. And after you've completed it once, there's really no secrets beside 4-5 hidden heart containers to discover. Sure, there's three difficulties to complete, but they're still quite simple to beat. There's also a newly added multiplayer mode which consists of defeating as many enemies as possible in a given time frame, but this is neither intuitive nor productive. And then there's sound issues. The game soundtrack was beautiful on the Super Nintendo, but unfortunately on the GBA, the music is tinny and sounds as if it was recorded from a bus station pay phone.

This guy's high and dry.

Unfortunately for Magical Quest on the Game Boy Advance, it's a one-playthrough-pony. Unless you really enjoyed the game on the SNES or have little children you think would appreciate this platformer, there's really no need to pick this title up. It's over far too quickly, and there's really nothing to return to once completed. Stick with the SNES version if you have it, and you'll most likely find that that version is a breeze, too.

[SuperPhillip Says: 5.25/10]

Elite Forces Unit 77 (DS) Review

I had stated that I have been employed by Dreamstation.cc to write reviews. They give me a game, and I write a review for it. Here's my second review for Dreamstation, Elite Forces Unit 77 for the Nintendo DS.

If these are elite, we're screwed.

It’s no surprise that the best selling platforms get the most amount of games. This means there’s a whole slew of bad ones. We’ve seen it with the original Nintendo, the Super Nintendo, both PlayStations, the Game Boys, and now the DS and Wii. Now some of these bad games are purposely poor. They’re just shoveled out for cheap costs and a small profit is made; Hence, the term shovelware. Other bad games weren’t designed to be bad they just had some kind of gameplay error or errors in them that made them less than stellar. Elite Forces Unit 77 is one of those games.

Check out the rest of the review exclusively at Dreamstation!

SuperPhillip Central Welcomes A New Affiliate

SuperPhillip here with a new site. It's Nintendo-Okie, not to be confused with Nintendookie which made me laugh out loud with unabashed hysteria. The blog updates daily with the majority of posts related to the realm of Nintendo with news, reviews, interviews, and more. I'm proud to have Nintendo-Okie as a friend, so hop along to the site, okie dokie?

Direct Link Here

July 2009 NPD Results

The NPD results for July 2009 are here. Note that these sales are for the United States only and that Wal-mart is not tracked by the NPD.

PlayStation 2 108K
PlayStation 3 121.8K
PSP 122.8K
Xbox 360 202.9K
Wii 252.5K
Nintendo DS 538.9K


Wii SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS (WII) 508.2K
NCAA FOOTBALL 10 (360) 376.5K
NCAA FOOTBALL 10 (PS3) 237.4K
WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD* (WII) 164.3K
MARIO KART W/ WHEEL (WII) 156.6K
MARIO KART DS (NDS) 132.2K
POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION (NDS) 116.4K
FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4 (360) 116.4K
NEW SUPER MARIO BROS (NDS) 101.8K
EA SPORTS ACTIVE BUNDLE (WII) 96.8K

(*includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

A pretty depressing month sales-wise as it seems the industry has been hit by the recession. The lower end of the top ten software sales are around sub-100,000 which is never a good sign. The 360 sneaks closer to the Wii after Wii hardware dips, but the lead is being widened still. Wii Sports Resorts tops the charts not being a system-seller like many believed. In surprising news, Mario Kart DS and New Super Mario Bros. are still in the top ten after three years. That's just uncanny. It seems no one can compete with Nintendo software sales.

Meanwhile, the fantastic Little King Story only sold around 12,000. I'm surprised at that since Wal-Mart and Best Buy wouldn't carry it. I had to go to a GameStop to get a gutted copy, their only copy just to get the game. The Conduit is still strong with 60-70k in sales. It's a bomb in Europe but a hit in America it seems. Good for them. Perhaps we'll see a sequel with a better budget... and better design... and better online.

NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits (Wii) Review

This is a historic moment for SuperPhillip Central. This is the very first WiiWare review on the site. Here's to many more, but first let's take a look at the recently-released NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits.

Spirited Away

Since its inception WiiWare has been the place for a lot of intriguing games that wouldn't have otherwise seen a release: Lostwinds, World of Goo, Bit.Trip.Beat, the Art Style series, Dr. Mario, Toki Tori, the list goes on, and now Over the Top Games' NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits, but is it worth your cold hard Wii Points?

The story of Kindred Spirits revolves around a woman named Nyx and her quest to find her beloved, Icarus. He journey takes her all across the parched desert sands as well as around a giant active volcano. Still-frame cut-scenes tell the tale with silent text as the dialogue. These scenes bookend the game with little in the way of narrative throughout the actual gameplay.

Frequent checkpoints mean less frustration.

Nyx is a versatile woman. She can jump up in the air a set number of times before needing to rest as well as hover across sandy stretches of desert which is so hot that touching it will take off health. The Wii remote is used in an innovative way in conjunction with the platforming gameplay much like an early WiiWare game, Lostwinds. The pointer functionality is used for a multitude of things such as pulling blocks and setting them up as platforms for Nyx to cross or reach higher platforms, holding columns up for Nyx to pass under them without worry of being crushed, catching fireballs and using them to attack enemies as well as break down wooden blocks, and pulling objects and using them as a way to cross hazards. You learn new powers as you progress through the game with a later one giving you the ability to point the Wii remote at any enemy to take them out.

A lot of times you'll be multitasking-- that is, using the Wii remote to clear obstacles and enemies while making performing careful acrobatics. Sometimes you'll be cycling between slowly crossing under falling columns while guiding a flame to a torch to open the way while others you'll be batting down oncoming projectiles while trying to proceed in the level. Needless to say, things can get hectic but in a good way. Levels are of decent length and pose a great challenge from beginning to end. The difficulty curve is superb with each level being slightly more difficult than the last.

Use the Wii remote to slide the block across the desert abyss.

NyxQuest takes but three hours to complete, but there's twenty relics hidden in oftentimes devious locations to find. There's at least one in each of the game's levels. Collecting all of the relics will give you a brand-new level, one that is of the ultimate challenge. Thankfully, there's a nifty level select feature that displays how many relics you have collected in case you forget.

Visually, the game is impressive both technologically and design-wise. My only problem is that so many of the level save for two look exactly the same with the same backgrounds, objects, and platform types. It can make the game seem a little "samey". Other than that, the game runs at a solid speed and looks beautiful with impressive lighting.

This boss requires you to direct its fireballs back at it.

NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits may just be the next "must-have" WiiWare game. It incorporates very clever uses for the Wii remote's pointer functionality. it's a decent-sized adventure for the price of 1000 points, and it's a journey that you will want to take more than once. It's pure platforming bliss with a Wii twist, and it's an easy recommendation for those hankering for a great WiiWare game.

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.5/10]

Most Overlooked Wii Games Part Three

Last week, we discussed five more games that were overlooked on the Nintendo DS. This week we're focusing once again on the Nintendo Wii. A lot of folks are angry that games aren't localized to North America and Europe, but they completely overlook the great games that were released on this side of the world. Here are five more of such games.

Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

Our first game is one that just might have been doomed to fail. The game's aesthetics were too Saturday morning cartoon for adults, and the game's huge difficulty was too hard for younger gamers. Thus, Zack and Wiki became niche from the word "go". Those who delve into the game were rewarded with mind-bending puzzles, an irresistible charm, and a worthy game for their collections. Just turn down the volume for the "ZAKU" cries from Wiki.


Bully: Scholarship Edition

Jimmy Hopkins is a trouble-making student who has bounced around several schools, getting expelled at each one. When he reaches Bullworth Academy, it's his goal to become king of the school. Released for the Wii as well as the 360, the Wii version featured intuitive motion and pointer controls, plenty of story and side missions to complete, and a whole locker full of variety. Those looking for a GTA-like experience without all the rated "R" humor will find a lot to like with Bully: Scholarship Edition.


Ghost Squad

Join up with the Ghost Squad with this arcade-style shooter. There's only three missions, but each mission has multiple paths and choices that unlock as you complete them. Each round of gameplay, you gain experience points that reward you with new levels, new costumes, and new firearms to take down terrorist scum in the steamy South American jungle, a mountainside resort, and Air Force One. The game is an absolute blast with friends or alone.


Boom Blox: Bash Party

The original Boom Blox was a blockbuster unlike any other. This sequel takes the gameplay of the original and adds a host of new content. The aim of Boom Blox is to play several block puzzles from knocking down a tower of blocks in as few throws as possible to Jenga-like challenges. You can download new puzzles from EA servers or create your own to share with the world. Boom Blox sunk under the radar and sold a fair share of copies. Perhaps Bash Party is doing the same.


Tenchu: Shadow Assassin

The Tenchu series stealthily made its way onto the Wii early this year and the PSP later on, and it's a fantastic journey. Stealth is the solution for all of your problems as getting noticed with caused your ninja to receive damage and have to start the area all over. The goal is to sneak through rooms and areas, carefully picking off foes in the process. Subtle motion controls enhance the experience, but they don't work all the time. Regardless, Shadow Assassin was a great game to pick up full price, and now you can get it for cheap.


Those interested in past Wii game entries, check out the following installments.

Part One

Part Two

Catch you around later for more Overlooked entries!

Bully: Scholarship Edition (Wii, 360) Review

Can you believe it's already almost halfway into August? Time is just flying, is it not? No better review for this time of year than Bully: Scholarship Edition, and you'll see why.

Rule the School.

It's back-to-school time. Children, teens, and that 30 year old guy still in your algebra class are getting geared to head back to class. For the students at Bullworth Academy in Bully: Scholarship Edition, a remake of the Playstation 2 and Xbox game, school is once again in session, and you have a visitor's pass to play it all. Originally released in 2006, Bully met high praise and critical acclaim. Is the remake, Bully: Scholarship Edition, a game with passing marks, or is this a game that's doomed to flunk out and flip burgers?

Meet Jimmy Hopkins-- a fifteen year old troublemaker who has been expelled from countless schools. Now his parents have enrolled him in Bullworth Academy, a private institution unlike any other, full of bullies and brutes, nerds and dweebs. Jimmy wants to make a name for himself at Bullworth, and it starts with taking each of the school's cliques down a peg. There's the geeks, preps, greasers, and jocks to contend with. Each of the game's five chapters has Jimmy going after a different clique on his conquest to take over Bullworth Academy, and it's a fun ride to the top, seeing Jimmy in full control of all groups of kids. Voice acting is on-par with past Rockstar efforts meaning it's terrific. The humor this time around is more PG-13, so don't look for any Room 69 innuendo or Hot Coffee incidents here.

360: Aww... Jimmy's already making friends.

Bully is a open-world sandbox game. At the beginning of the game, only Bullworth Academy is open to carouse around, but by the end the entire town is open for business, from the amusement park to downtown Bullworth to the industrial park. Those accustomed to Grand Theft Auto's game structure will feel right at home with Bully. You travel to the mission start location, travel to the designated destination, pull off the required task, and then travel to the next mission location to start the process all over again. The mission variety is quite large. There's your standard fetch quests and go-here-and-beat-up-this-guy missions, but there's also missions tasking Jimmy with infiltrating an asylum and the girls' dormitory which requires keen stealth and patience. One mission I enjoyed had you destroying all of the nearby port-a-potties in sight in order to coax a gym teacher into a special port-a-crapper which Jimmy knocks down a steep hill, covering the teacher in putrid poop. Fortunately, if failure occurs, some of the longer missions have in-mission checkpoints, but most do not which means failing forces you to travel all the way back to the mission location to restart the mission. That's just archaic and annoying.

360: Getting caught by the man.

Story missions are just half of the content in Bully: Scholarship Edition. The game follows a 24 hour in-game clock. Each in-game hour is sixty seconds. Jimmy didn't go to Bullworth just to raise hell though-- he went there to get an education, and two times a day he's required to go to class. Of course, you can always skip class, but there's always a teacher or police officer ready to drag Jimmy to class if he's not careful. There are multiple subjects that are randomly selected each day, and each subject has five classes Jimmy must complete in order to pass that subject. Jimmy will take part in English, Mathematics, Geography, Gym, Music, Shop, Art, Biology, and Chemistry classes. In English, Jimmy has a six letter word that he has to rearrange into as many words as possible, Math has Jimmy solving quick multiple-choice problems, and Geography has Jimmy placing country flags on a world map. Hey, who said video games don't test the mind!? Shop and Chemistry require quick button presses or Wii remote motions depending on the console of choice-- it's like one huge quick-time event. Completing a class gives Jimmy new bonuses such as costumes, collectible locations, bikes to ride, and moves to unleash on foes.

There's also plenty to do around the town of Bullworth: sights to see, people to punish, officers to harass-- y'know, kids' stuff. The amusement park located in the western part of town is home to many carnival games such as shooting galleries and dunk tanks. There's many mini-games around town to complete for those wanting to finish 100% of the game. There's go-cart races, bike races, newspaper courier missions, lawn-mowing missions, 75 rubber bands to scrounge up, 20 Gremlins-n-Goblin cards to gather, a yearbook to create, and loads more. Those who strive to complete games 100% will easily spend 20-30 hours playing through all of Bully's content and enjoy every minute of it.

Wii: You use the pointer to trace around the heart.

Players can fully customize Jimmy with an expansive catalog of purchasable items and gear. You can dress in full school spirit or dress like a greaser, dress clean or dress sloppy. The choice is yours. Dress nice though, or your affections towards the opposite sex will get shot down. There's hundreds of clothing options available, so it'll be difficult to find something players won't like seeing Jimmy in. You can also travel to a local hairdresser to style Jimmy's 'do in one of many ways. Be conservative with a crew cut or rock out with a mohawk. Again, the choice is yours.

Speaking of choices, Bully: Scholarship Edition is an excellent experience on either console, but there are differences between versions. I prefer the Wii version due to its cool controls. It's cool being able to point at where you want to aim the slingshot, use the Wii remote and nunchuk to punch with Jimmy's right and left hands respectively, and play Trauma Center-lite in Biology class, dissecting frogs and pigs with the Wii remote. With the Xbox 360 version you get a more enticing visual package with less pop-in, draw distance issues, and other graphical glitches. You also get achievements if that's you're bag. However, there's enough unlockable content without achievements to make players want to complete as much of the game as possible. Both games, however, do have a lot of loading screens entering and exiting buildings which is vexing after a bit. Regardless, between versions, it's just a matter of which console you prefer to play the game on.

360: A gym favorite, dodge-ball.

All in all, Bully: Scholarship Edition is a worthwhile purchase regardless of what console you get it on. The story is entertaining, the characters are likable and interesting, the missions are varied, few are frustrating, there's tons to do, tons to unlock, and each console has its own benefits to make either version a winner. With bonus missions and new classes, graduates of the original Playstation and Xbox game will have a reason to check this version out, too. Overall, Bully: Scholarship Edition for Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 gets high marks and definitely won't have to be held back a year for failing.

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.75/10]

SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs - Games and Crap Edition

SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs are simply my most enjoyable video game music. This week we're kicking things off with a giant mound of poop and ending with a poignant theme from Fire Emblem. Let's get things underway before I make crap jokes.

v371. Conker: Live & Reloaded - Sloprano Swears (Explicit)

Conker: Live & Reloaded is the remake of the rude and crude platformer starring a loose-tongued squirrel and loads of lowbrow humor. Just imagine that Conker used to be so cute and cuddly in Diddy Kong Racing and Conker's starring debut on the Game Boy Color. This track is a symphonic song performed by the Great Mighty Poo, an animated mound of crap... no, I shouldn't do a Rush Limbaugh joke here.



v372. TMNT Tournament Fighters - Bonus Round

This is the SNES version we'll be listening to as usual. We've heard Raphael and Michaelangelo's stages, but now we're going to take a listen to the bonus stage-- box-breaking, safe-smashing fun for all ages! Rhyme not intentional. It's a heavy metal song almost more fitting for the final boss, don't you think?



v373. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil - Joliant (Great Amusement Park)

Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil was an oftentimes overlooked video game in the Playstation 2's daunting library of quality titles. I actually played this one before Door to Phantomile, well, the Wii remake, and even though I prefer the first game, Klonoa 2 wowed me all the same. This is the theme of Joliant, a crazy amusement park full of perilous platforms and dangerous obstacles.



v374. Hot Shots Golf Open Tee 2 - Olive Coast C.C.

Hot Shots Golf Open Tee 2 had six courses from the original Open Tee and six brand new ones. Olive Coast is one of those, a beginner course. Listen to this peppy tune perfect for driving 300 yards with a power shot!



v375. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - Fire Emblem Theme

This is the special Super Smash Bros. Brawl version that we're listening to here-- not the original, so sorry if you were expecting something different. Despite owning five (yes, five) Fire Emblem games, my combined playtime is none other than zero hours, zero minutes, and zero seconds. I better get stepping! This piece is a beautiful orchestral song with full choir. It's a very humbling, soothing track.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons (GBC) Retro Review

Here's a retro review to start off the week. I remember getting The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons without knowing that I couldn't play them on my Super Game Boy. This meant I had to get a Gameboy Advance. The journies are still as favorable in my opinion than ever. Here's a retro review.

Two Tales, One Hero

The Legend of Zelda series is one of the most celebrated franchises in video game history. It constantly weaves new ideas with old to create a finely-crafted experience unlike any other. When it was announced that Capcom would be taking the reins of a duo of portable Zelda adventures, many fans were concerned with the quality Capcom would bring to the series. In 2001, fans found out with the release of the first-ever duo of Zelda adventures, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. Thankfully, the fans had no need for worry.

The stories of Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are intertwined. Ages has our hero, Link, visiting Labyrnna whereas Link enters the land of Holodrum in Seasons. Both games start out the same with premise only with different oracles and villains. In Ages, the evil sorceress Veran captures the oracle of ages while Seasons has the tyrant General Onox kidnapping the oracles of seasons. In either game it's up to Link to gather eight sacred items in order to open the way to the villain's headquarters, vanquish the evil, and restore peace to the land.


It doesn't matter which title you play through first. When you beat one of the two adventures, you receive a twenty digit password. Once you enter this password in the other game, your linked journey officially begins. Characters from the first game will show up in the second game with bonus goodies to be given. Once the second game is completed, you get to face the ultimate evil who caused all of the trouble between the two lands of Holodrum and Labyrnna. ...Take a wild guess.

Ever since A Link to the Past, there's been gameplay gimmicks to each Zelda, and I say gimmick with the kindest intention. In A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, it was going back and forth through time, in The Wind Waker it was sailing and changing the flow of the wind, and it's no different in Ages and Seasons. In Ages, Link travels back and forth between past and present Labyrnna. In Seasons, Link travels between all four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The developers did a terrific job of creating mind-bending puzzles using this mechanic. In Ages, when Link approaches a dungeon entrance, it caves in on itself. When he goes into the past, the dungeon entrance is much sturdier, so he can access it easily. Lakes that were impossible to cross in summer are frozen solid in winter.

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V

From past to present.

There are eight main dungeons in each game, but you're not just going from dungeon to dungeon in each game. Link will be doing some work in between dungeons, too. He'll utilize a new item to reach the dungeons, help townspeople out, find hidden loot, and save fair maidens all in the process of reaching one of the eight dungeons. In Oracle of Seasons, Link will have to enter deep within the underworld of Holodrum, Subrosia, to activate the four seasonal beacons of the temple of seasons. This will give his rod of seasons more power and more seasons to alter.

The eight dungeons each give Link an item to add to his arsenal, and the arsenal is different between games. Link will utilize a switch hook giving him the ability to switch positions with whatever object or enemy it comes in contact with, the magnetic gloves which will pull polaritized blocks towards him, the Cane of Somaria which will create one block for Link to push upon buttons, and slingshots that will shoot pellets at far away switches and enemies.

Puzzles abound in Oracle of Ages.

Dungeons follow the same basic formula. Your progress is always marked by how many doors you have unlocked. You clear out room, beat down baddies, and solve mind-bending puzzles in order to find keys to unlock doors. Progress far enough, and you’ll acquire the dungeon’s special item such as the power glove or hookshot. Getting the dungeon’s item will allow to solve even more puzzles, unlock even more doors, and find your way to the big key which opens up the way to the boss. Beat Zelda staples such as dodongos, gohma, and gleeok in order to be rewarded with one of eight special trinkets that will open the way to the game’s final boss when collected. The item you collected in the dungeon will allow you to access new areas on the world map. It’s all your typical Zelda formula, and it still works well.

Each adventure will take anywhere from 15-20 hours to complete. Beating both games and facing the ultimate foe will take upwards of 40 hours. That’s not to mention all of the heart containers, health-boosting items, ammo upgrades, equipment upgrades, side quests, and rings to collect. Rings are the big collectible in both Zelda games. They’re scattered throughout Labyrnna and Holodrum, in chests, hidden in gasha nuts, locked away deep in dungeons, and so forth. They give Link abilities such has increased health from hearts, higher attack power, increased defense, and a multitude of other benefits. Completionists will definitely have a lot to do in both Zelda tales.

The switchshot is just one of many new
weapons in Link's arsenal this time around.

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons boast impressive visuals for the Game Boy Color. The color palette has a wide range, areas are vibrant, and not too terrible on the eyes. Sound-wise, things are pretty grating even with classic and new Zelda tunes available, but that's to be expected with only one speaker and the tech of the time.

Between which two games I prefer, I like The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons the best. While Ages is more focused on puzzles, Seasons is more on combat. Not to say neither is lacking in puzzles or combat. I also liked how Seasons didn't use as many fetch quests to progress the story that Ages did. Many of these were just taxing on the gamer. Despite this, both games are wonderful Zelda titles that no fan should go without. The classic formula is here, and it's as strong as ever. Do yourselves a favor and scrounge up your copies of both games, or try them out for the first time for cheap. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracles of Seasons together are a terrific journey with familiar gameplay and all-new excellence.

[SuperPhillip Says: 9.5/10]