Nintendo updated the Switch Online catalogue with two of the best Zelda games: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. Both games are available in the Game Boy section of Switch Online, which means you only need the basic subscription plan to access those, along with SNES games, and a selection of NES games as well – not the considerably more expensive Expansion Pack, where the Game Boy Advance library lives.
This marks the first time the Oracle games have been easily playable since Nintendo added them to the 3DS Virtual Console in 2023.
The Oracle games are unique in the Zelda series in that they technically tell connected stories, assuming you connect them. Completing one gives you a code that you can enter in the other to unlock new events and a secret ending that includes a boss fight against Ganon and his two most recognizable cronies.
Both games center on a magical item that controls their respective themes – seasons and ages. Link travels to Holodrum in Seasons, where an evil general with a metal hat kidnaps the Oracle of Seasons and throws nature out of order, and as you might expect, changing the seasons is key to solving puzzles and reaching new places. In Ages, a malicious sorceress kidnaps the Oracle of Ages and destabilizes time itself.
Ages is more like Ocarina of Time and places heavier emphasis on solving puzzles and traveling to the past, while Seasons is more action-oriented. Both are firmly rooted in classic Zelda design, with eight dungeons, an extensive trading mini-game, and an expansive suite of items and tools to solve puzzles with.
And since both are free if you have Switch Online, you can’t really go wrong with either.
Judging from the original trailer when Nintendo announced Game Boy games for Switch Online, we should be getting the Pokemon Trading Card Game whenever Nintendo next adds new titles.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
