Ocarina of what? Never heard of it. Hey, have you played Link's Awakening?
I have a strange sordid history with the Zelda franchise. Growing up my brother was always the one who got to lay hands on those gold cartridges, and being about four years younger I was only really able to play them well after the fact. My time with console Zelda games is mostly comprised of me playing already completed save files and aimlessly killing enemies. In fact, to this day I’ve still completed a relatively small amount of Zelda games in the main series, and I only just got around to finishing Ocarina of Time when the 3DS remake came out. Some Nintendo fans may cry foul at this and demand that I hand over my Nintendo Fun Club Card, but this lack of experience with the main entries in the series has given me untold appreciation for the portable entries. Some of my favorite gaming memories are when I first laid eyes upon Link’s Awakening.
As a child I was fortunate enough to have my very own Game Boy, although a tragic incident left the battery compartment ruined. Due to this mishap I was tethered to the wall while playing my favorite green and gray handheld. One fateful evening I was in Toys ‘R Us and I spotted something that blew my young mind: the Game Boy Pocket. It was slim, sexy, and hit me like a freight train. I had to have it.
Through my excellent bargaining skills (i.e., “Pleeeeease, it can be my birthday present!”) I was able to convince my mother to pick me up a clear GBP along with a copy of Link’s Awakening. I hadn't heard about the game before, but the allure of my very own Zelda game was too much to resist. I vividly remember watching Link fight to stay afloat in the midst of a horrendous storm, tossing him and his boat about on the ocean. On the ride home in the car I was holding the non-backlit handheld up to the back window so it would catch the headlights of cars behind us, thus allowing me to see the terrible fate that would surely befall our hero. While he struggled in the waves I struggled to get a glimpse of him, and soon we were both washed ashore in a wonderful new land: Koholint.
The tongue-in-cheek tone of the game stuck with me, and the references to other Nintendo characters kept me digging for secrets. The Zelda series has always had a pension for silliness, but Link’s Awakening took it to a new level. Several years later I would experience another fateful run-in with Link when the Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons games hit North America. Adopting a similar control scheme and visual style, the Oracle games were a wonderful return to form for me. I’ve been unreasonably excited for the chance to replay the games when they (finally!) hit the 3DS eShop May 30.
Oracle of Ages was focused on puzzles while Oracle of Seasons was reserved for those of us who prefer action, finally giving players the option to choose their favorite play style. The ability to alter how the game’s narrative played out through the password system between the two games added to this flexibility and really made them an experience to remember. Sometimes I awaken from a fevered dream where Nintendo had announced a new 3DS Zelda game that takes advantage of items and secrets using StreetPass, only to sigh and fall back into a fitful sleep. This went beyond the simple Pokémon-esque trend of having two games with slight differences, playing both games together gave you a new experience.
I’ve not fallen in love with a Zelda game the same way ever since my childhood with the Oracle games and Link’s Awakening. The GBA Minish Cap just never grabbed me, and the two DS games turned me off with their touch controls. Hopefully Nintendo can really do something amazing with Link to the Past 2 on the 3DS, but only time will tell. Until then I’ll desperately cling to my Virtual Console copies my three favorite Zelda games to date.
