The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages

"Alas, how I've withered!"

After a couple of Game Boy Advance games, it's a little strange to go back a generation to the Game Boy Color to play The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. It's also weird to see a double entry on the list that doesn't come from the Pokémon series, as Oracle of Seasons was released alongside Oracle of Ages. Together they form the complete tale of Hyrule going squiffy and needing Link to save the day again.

Stranger than all of this, though, is that Capcom made two Zelda games. Let's have a look at what they've done.

Mario Golf

Nice On

Golf is, quite possibly, the worst sport in the world. Golf on the Game Boy was alright though when I used it as a break from other, better games that were frustrating me or boring me or whatever. This isn't Golf, but Mario Golf, and it's a sort of sequel full of colour and RPG elements on the Game Boy Color.

Will it drive a bigger wedge between me and golf, or will it help improve my game?

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Wow! This looks pretty heavy!

Zelda on the Game Boy, you say? That should probably be pretty good, shouldn't it? Cramming an entire adventure into a Game Boy cartridge shouldn't be too big an ask, but there's bound to be some expectations thanks to a certain Link to the Past...

Enough beating around the bush, let's slash the sword with our name on it through all the vegetation in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Is it a spin-off? A side story? Alternate universe? Inspired by? I don't know, but it is different.

Marble Madnesss

Let's all lose our marbles!

Source // Wikipedia

I don't ever recall playing Marble Madness, but I get the feeling I might have. Maybe I'm confusing it for playing an actual marble maze game made of wood and marbles, I don't know. What I do know though is that I know of it. That was a mouthful, but then again it is hard to bargle nawdle zouss with all these marbles in my mouth.

Jesus, what's become of me? Get back in the game.

Bomb Jack

Exploding into arcades near you?

Source // Wikipedia

We're back to not knowing a thing about the upcoming titles again, and the game in question this time is Bomb Jack. I'm sure I could guess some of the specifics though. Explosives are probably involved. A man named Jack might be in there. Do we have to destroy this Jack guy? I won't know until I fire it up. 

That wasn't an intentional pun. I could probably do better if I wanted an intentional pun.

... Nope, my mind has gone blank. I've blown my chance.

Ms. Pac-Man

The only hall of fame she'll be inducted in is the alcohol of fame on the wall of shame...

Source // Wikipedia

Back in the day, I thought Ms. Pac-Man was little more than a reskin of Pac-Man. The cynical side of me would be shouting 'Cash grab! Cash grab!' but nowadays, the more learned figure that I hope I am knows how wrong such statements are.

Ms. Pac-Man has a murky past. Perhaps not murky, but not as simple as you might imagine, starting life as another game before being shown to Midway, who were impatiently waiting for an official sequel to Pac-Man from Namco... in the rush to get something out into the public, anything of merit would do. This game would indeed do.