
Nintendo has hosted a Japanese 3DS Direct, focused on titles on the way in the big N's homeland. While a number of games on show may never make it to the West, two upcoming Virtual Console titles seem inevitable for worldwide appearances.
It was confirmed that The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons are both coming to the 3DS Virtual Console in Japan. As both were near-simultaneous releases on Game Boy Color in the West back in 2001, we expect that this is good news for Zelda fans everywhere.
Both titles arrive on the 3DS eShop on 27th February in Japan, so we expect that the release in PAL regions and North America won't be far behind. After the success of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX on the platform, we imagine these titles will similarly fly off the digital shelves. Notably, and no doubt to coax gamers into buying both, each game will be reduced from the standard 600 Yen to 500 Yen until 20th March, allowing gamers to conveniently buy them with a 1000 Yen eShop card.
Are you excited by this news, and if so would you pick up both of these or just one? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 121
Fantastic news! Only played Seasons before, but going to pick up both this time.
Yes, I've both of them but have never finished any so it's a good news that I could finally finish them !!!!
There's an announcement on Miiverse about Oracle of Ages/Seasons from Aonuma:
"It'll be a little while longer till they're out in other territories. We'd like to ask for your patience until they're ready for release. Thank you!"
@Other_Dave Thanks for the update! Two steps closer to getting all the Zelda games!
(excuse my capital letters outburst, but...)
YES HOLY DOODOO LOVING YESSSSSSSS!!!
I've actually very recently had the urge to finish off Onox in my copy of seasons, and then wanting to continue into ages. This. Is. Perfect. Timing. Just gotta make sure the battery in my seasons doesn't die before I can get the end game password.
I had and beat seasons years ago. I never actually got or tried "ages". What was the difference between the two?
Please be released in the US. If I get both oracle games my zelda collection will be complete
I never played these, but can't imagine wanting to play them both. Is one generally considered better than the other?
@Shworange
@Peach64
Both are completely different games, not just your average different pokemon in each game kind of deal. Different world, different dungeons, the whole lot. Even the style of play is different, seasons is more action and ages more puzzle focused. If you finish either game, you get a password to input into the other game, effectively combining both into 1 big adventure that apparently has a "real" ending.
I beat both of them years ago and I still own my copies, so I'm not really interested. But good news for those who are!
Yeah, neither is considered better or worse than the other. They are completely different. Only play one if you will but are missing out on half the full game.
I haven't played either of these so i'm looking forward to both of them.
I'm practically fainting now. Nintendo is such a troll! We in Japan didn't have a VC announcement on Wednesday, so a lot of us thought that we weren't getting any VC at all next week, which would make this month the lowest for VC in a long time, and then they spring this on us. Sigh...I feel spoiled and teased by them at the same time.
Can't wait for these since I've never played them. Now just release some Pokémon games on the VC and I'll be satisfied.
'bout time!! Oracle of Seasons was an awesome and seriously underrated/unknown Zelda title. If you liked Link's Awakening you'd love Oracle of Ages and Seasons.
I never played either of these games, so I'll be keen to get hold of them when they release in the West.
oh wait! Thomas. I just checked the Japanese page. You have to update your article to show that the Japanese VC is having a special discount for these two titles from the 27th of February to the 20th of March. Instead of the normal 600 yen they Game Boy Color games will cost, they'll be 500, so it will be easy to buy them both with one 1000 yen Nintendo points card.
So does this mean that Nintendo will now start releasing GBA games on the VC for 3DS? I thought they said they weren't going to do that? If it is, good news for everyone! Bring'em on Ninty...
Of course it's going to happen in the west. The big question is when.
I'll be getting both for sure!!
@Tsuchinoko Thanks for that, I've added a line I saw something about 1000 Yen, but wasn't confident enough to include it originally!
Fantastic! These are the two best 2D games in the series.
@ThomasBW84 That's what I'm here for.
@domdom87 Uh, now there's no need for profanity.
@Bass_X0 ma bad. Got too excited.
Awesome! Can't wait till they come to EU. My Zelda-collection will be complete! >_<
I got these when they came out and still have them. (Thanks Ma, sorry about the nagging!) Great little games.
Ooops, i thought i'd seen GBA. Sorry. Had high hopes i guess.
This is great news. But I won't be picking them up since I still have the cartridges of both games.
YES!!!
Awesome news! I missed playing these games. Will be purchasing them for sure.
Its great because even in Japan, the GBC has been missing for a long time on the VC (since October I believe). With this double, and the possibility of the one-two punch of Harvest Moon GBC/Legend of the River King GBC, its a nice little revival for the platform.
And, since you all know I wouldn't want to start the speculation early, I'm just going to preface this by saying I'm not sure, but...quite a few people were not sure if the Oracle games were going to come out on the VC because of the connection feature that they had, which is the same thing they said about the Pokemon games. Now I know the nature of the Oracle games being connected (to move over items and reach the final ending) and, for example Pokemon Red/Blue being connected (to trade Pokemon) were quite different, but the Zelda games coming out kind of creates a bit of hope for Red/Blue and Gold/Silver.
Absolutely! Om glad I didnt go and buy the origonal carts of ebay now
@Tsuchinoko Unfortunately for Pokemon, the Zelda games will be much easier to connect to each other because they allow for the use of passwords. This news excites me too, but I insist that the games include ALL the original content. Advance House, anyone?
Finally! These had better be released in the NA and EU eshops at some point this year.
With the Oracle games, you're getting 20 - 30 hours of gameplay each for... what, VC titles are $4.99 on the eshop here? More than worth that amount of money.
@ueI Oh I see. I assumed that all both pairs of games used the cable that was used as an accessory for the Game Boy. I actually never played Pokemon or the Oracle Zelda games, so I thought they connected the same way.
Hmm, why did I assume that? I thought I saw that in a discussion somewhere on the forums.
Oh well, but in either case, its good news, and if the nature of the cable makes it so that the Pokemon games don't come on the VC, Zelda fans should bee happy that passwords were used for the Oracle games instead.
I'm still thinking its not impossible, since something was done about the Sonic & Knuckles connectivity issue on the Wii VC.
of course these will be released in the West.
Love these games. Hoping a similar promotion is available when it launches over here too.
QUESTION: Is the game going to feature the Advance House? I mean it shouldn't be too hard for them to set a flag to trick the game into thinking it's being played on a GBA and unlock that door... Hmmm... Seeing what they did on the recent F-Zero Wii U VC release makes me think Nintendo WOULD tweak the game but looking what they done on Donkey Kong '94 (leaving out the Super Game Boy upgrades) makes me think they WON'T.
Oh well.
(Also waiting for Shantae.)
Yes! The only down side is, if they treat it like they did games like Wario Land on the VC, it could be like, a year after they release it in Japan for some reason or another.
I think Zelda used the link cable too, but it's unlikely that the VC versions will.
Just wondering: what is this Advance House? I'm reading on a few forums now, and I see this thing called the Advance Shop. Is this the same thing? Is the Advance House just a new shop where you can get 2-3 new items that are not really all that important to the game. It doesn't seem like the Color Dungeon in Link's Awakening DX, where it was a completely new addition to the game, just a new shop with a few items. If that's the case, the loss of this "Advance House" wouldn't be a huge loss it seems.
@ueI no they used passwords I remember that very well.
@Tsuchinoko The advance house is a small shop that was added to the game when playing the oracles games on a GBA. True it's not a big loss if its not added to the game but it would be nice if they were.
@SilentHunter382 Yeah, I agree for the sake of completion it would be nice if EVERYTHING was in the VC version, but if it wasn't, the fact that it isn't an addition to the story or a new dungeon is a bit of a comfort. If I never got to see it, just knowing I'm not missing much is nice to know.
Honestly, from what I've read about the Advance House/Advance Shop, it doesn't seem like something that was all that important, just a nice little extra, like a DVD extra that I'd see once and forget about. It seems like there was only 3 new items, and mostly for decoration or to make the game easier.
Forget the PAL-Gate, this week it's all about the AdvanceShop-Gate.
@FernandoMachado I'm not sure what you mean by -Gate? Could you explain? I don't know if this reference is universal. I was born in a western country (UK), but I've lived in Japan for quite a long time, so my English and western pop culture learning is kind of lacking,.
Oracle of Season and Oracle of Ages... Those are amazing Zelda games!!!
I played Ages long ago and was great, but did the mistake to wait for buy Season and those games became rare so soon >.<;
I won't tell you how much I screamed of happiness years later when I found a used version of Season and finally got to complete the full quest XD
Not sure I would buy them on VC since I still have the cartdridges around, but whoever missed them must insta-download them day one if they will ever get outside Japan!
Never had the chance to play Oracle of Ages and Seasons back in the day, so I'm really anticipating this VC release! Bring it as soon as possible Nintendo, please!
Excellent! These are two of the few Zelda games I have not played. I'm glad I saved my $10 on the eShop.
Time to buy both. Twice. On launch day. My poor wife never got to play either. That's just...cruel.
Boo freaking yah!! It's about time.
THE LEGEND CONTINUES!
@BakaKnight You know thwy weill get outside of Japan. As far as VC, its not common for games to stay in Japan only. Especially when NoJ makes a big event of a release like this, they WILL get outside of Japan. So stop asking if, just ask when. For all you know, it could be as soon as the first half of March.
So even if you have to wait a bit, pleae be confident that they ARE coming. Its different when its a Japan exclusive game, or a game that was much more successful in Japan than in the west, but the Zelda games? Those WILL come, so please wait for them with anticipation.
That being said, I understand the weirdness of the Warioland games, but then again, they all made it to EU eventually, haha. Hmm, I know that's not a total consolation, but still, just be patient that these games are not Japan exclusive, unlike some games like Kaeru no Tame Ni Kane Ha Naru, which while it was still an amazing Game Boy game, never made it outside of Japan when it was released for the original Game Boy, but the Oracle games were all released in all regions (though on the original GBC, it did take a few months, but I doubt that will be the case since Nintendo is making a big deal out if this).
Awesome, I hope these come to the West ASAP since I've never played them before!
@Tsuchinoko we can only hope that you aren't playing beloved franchise releases for 6 months before us again.
And, oh yeah... I almost forgot to say "MOOOOOSH!"
Awesome! I'm always up for a 2D Zelda! But alas we'll probably have to wait another 5-7 months to play it because Japan usually always gets VC games months before we do... if you don't believe me they have 50 more VC games than we do, last I checked.
Awesome! Can't wait!
Gotta get Awakening DX, but I'll definetly get this, given I have a chance to.
Oh wow! I owned and played Oracle of Seasons as a kid, loved it! Please please please come to the U.S.!!!!!!
@Just remember, Japan had to wait for almost 4 months for Ghost 'n Goblins/Makaimura, and a few other games like Mole Mania/Mogurania and Rayman GBC, and we still don't have Gradius or Toki Tori, so it's not a universal thing. And while NA and EU/UK have gotten the news that they are getting Harvest Moon/River King for GBC, we in Japan haven't gotten any kind of information about those games.
Please everyone, stop asking IF you get these games, as you definitely will. There's no way these will be Japan exclusives.
Excellent! I've been hoping that these games would be coming to the eshop. I just hope that you'll still be able to link them to get the true ending.
@Tsuchinoko:
"(X)-gate" can be read as "the (X) scandal"
It started with the Watergate, I think:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate
After these, there will only be a Zelda game I missed
Great, now if Nintendo could let me give them money for Minish Cap as well that'd be peachy.
@GeminiSaint Okay...but I really don't think there's a "scandal" of epic proportions with the GBA exclusive shop, if anything it looks like an afterthought.
@Ridley I'm with you. I'd gladly pay money for all of those GBA games. I see like, 7 of those being instant downloads for me. I can always dream...
Great news indeed.
Now an american release, Nintendo, c'mon!!
@Tsuchinoko It's something like a scandal, but more often used in a political context. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gate
@FernandoMachado I realize that, but I think referring to anything as -gate seems kind of dramatic. Advance House-gate, when there isn't even an uproar, or even a real concern over it, is kind of overreacting don't you think?
I mean, as long as the password system is intact, and everyone will be able to play the full games as they were played on the GBC, people will be happy right? I mean, most people weren't even sure if these games were coming out in the first place, so I'm sure everyone is excited right? The "Advance House" seems like such a small thing, so insignificant, that referring to it with a reference to a huge political scandal just seems a bit much.
Lets just be excited about these games, right?
@FernandoMachado
Yea, the GBA unlockable are my biggest question when it comes to these for the VC.
No one else seems to really remember this aspect.
Also, I played and beat both of these back in 2001.
Such great games!
Day 1 for me.
I plan to get both of them
So, let's recap... Ocarina of TIme 3D, Link's Awakening DX, Four Swords Anniversary Edition, Zelda 1, Zelda 2 Adventure Of Link, Minish Cap (ambassadors only, but still)... it's official, the 3DS is quickly shaping up to be what the PSP is to the Final Fantasy series (1 to 9 currently available in digital format).
Holy goddess Hylia, is the 3DS ever a must-have for Zelda fans!
Getting both when they come to the states. Had them both back in the day but were taken, along with my clear purple GBC, back in 2003 when somebody broke into my car.
I missed these somehow so I'm kindaaaaa excited.
@Ideal_Hero That definitely has to happen. It's nice to see the handheld titles get some more love as well, these two games are among my favorite titles in the series.
@Peach64 As @domdom87 pointed out, these two games follow totally different paths that you can join up for something special. You should no doubt purchase both, as anyone who hasn't played these games should!
Sweet! These were literally (and please don't flame me) the only Zelda titles I enjoyed as a young'un.
About the "AdvanceShop-gate" thing, I think (and, as of now, hope) that the GBA games will come eventually. I mean, look at the release dates - once they were done with the NES Zelda titles, they started with the GBC ones (aside from Link's Awakening, actually predating the NES re-releases). The GBA games are around the corner, calling it now.
@ Drewciffer:
I hated Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario Land 1. No need to be afraid of "fandom's sacred cows", even in great series there are games people don't enjoy. I'd recommend you to give another Zelda title a second chance, though..
@AlexSora89 Eh, but we all know that the big N doesn't always do the logical thing though, haha. We can never know for sure...
I also think, correct me if I'm wrong, that @Drewcliffer did play others in the series though but just didn't care as much for them(although which others is the question).
I never played either, like many other Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. So this is exciting news indeed!
Best news so far this year in my eyes. I'm downloading both no question as soon as they're out. All I hope is that we aren't the last region to get them, as usual with big releases.
@Tsuchinoko - I think you need to look up trolling. Springing some surprising very good news on people doesn't fall into the definition.
@Tsuchinoko I was being ironic, love x
The two Zelda games I never completed, soon to be available on the eShop. They better put this on the American eShop soon.
YEEEAAAH!!!!
Yep! I'll be buying this the moment it comes to the west!
Great news!
I'd like to get the games when they get released here personally, but sadly there are way too many games I've left unfinished. Zelda-wise, I've barely made any progress at all in Link's Awakening, and the same goes for most Ambassador titles (releasing them earlier than December would have helped waiting for Mario 3D Land, but their playtime got drowned by SM3DL, Sonic Generations and Mario Kart 7 - most likely intentional on Nintendo's part) including Minish Cap. Hopefully I'll get to complete everything, eventually.
This is awesome! I loved them when they came out. Pretty much every list that I've read of games that need to come out on the 3DS VC has had these two games as #1.
I'm curious though if it will have the special Ganon boss when you play the two back to back and enter somesort of code if I remember correctly. Can't wait for it to come out.
Can't wait!
After this, and the WW remake, all major releases in the series (excluding FSA) will be available to play on modern hardware.
I wish they would put the Four Swords game back on the eshop. Free or not.
That sounds great, but wait, didn't you need a link cable to get the full content from both? I knew there were passwords too, but I thought you needed the link for at least something. How can we do that? Can we do it ourselves on one 3DS? x.x;
Oh My Harvest Goddess D:
D: D:
HNNNNNG!!!
I'm sure that there will be some method to link the two games with. Just look at the Four Swords: Anniversary Edition.
I'm such a sucker for Zelda, I'm sure buying these when they hit Europe.
@True_Hero Uh.. was there a Link Cable connection between the games?
I thought it was only the passwords.
@MasterGraveheart I think everything is unlockable using the passwords only. Game linking is an alternative method.
Oracle of Ages. GORON DANCE! (Get ready...just sayin' )
Hope we hear of an announcement about these games heading outside of Japan soon.
I WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oh my gawd do i want!!!! these games are my childhood T_T
I feel trolled.... I have been saying that they should release these since DX came out and now they're coming out, IN JAPAN! T_T
@JonWahlgren - I'm the exact same way. I missed them the first time around, but I think I'll enjoy them even more on my 3DS.
I'm glad Aonuma said that it'll take a while before the Oracle games are released outside Japan, because at least it means that we'll be able to get it sooner or later. My main beef with the 3DS eShop now, outside of the fact that it could be much better, is that SMB3 was released in Japan on January the 1st and so far they haven't mentioned if it'll be released in NA or EU. I also don't understand why they released Castlevania in EU and Dig Dug in NA instead of releasing both in both places and leaving it to the gamer to decide which one/ones to buy.
As for GBA games, I've sent an e-mail to NOA earlier this year about it and they said they have no plans of releasing them on the 3DS eShop whatsoever. Maybe it's different with Nintendo of Europe, but I didn't bother contacting them as my 3DS is American.
I already own both of these, but I'll gladly grab them again to have on my 3DS blown up on a bigger portable screen!
YES YES A MILLION TIMES YES
YUSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANT THESE GAMES SO MUCH!!!!!!!
I know they're only in Japan right now, but America can't be far behind!!! I'm rejoicing right now! Other than Minish Cap, these are the only Zelda's I haven't played.
Finally! I already have the cartridges and I've already beat em, but soon enough, more people will get to enjoy them.
Is there something wrong with me, that I am as excited (or more) about this announcement as others this year? The original releases came at a bad time for me, and somehow I just never got them.
Now, here in 2013, they're the only gaps in my Zelda resume! I've beaten each and every Zelda game, except these two (I'm not EVEN counting the CD-I abominations ). Finally, I'll be able to fill them AND experience two games that directly follow A Link to the Past in the timeline!
Oh, how perfect it would now be if they announced the oft-mentioned LttP remake for 3DS now!
I'm totally getting both of these! I had just read the section on these two games in Hyrule Historia before I saw this article. Funny.
So November for people in North America?
Both of them are classics and masterpieces, completely flawless in my opinion, just the perfect definition of what the legend of zelda means; but if I have to choose which one is the best.... I'd say ages because it was so much more oriented towards solving puzzles and because it has my favorite zelda dungeon of all time; mermaid's cave. Time travel and zelda are like bread and butter.
@FluttershyGuy You're not wrong for being so excited about it, both games are in my top 5 zelda games, and you won't regret playing them, they are masterpieces superior to almost everything this game generation has to offer, and we are talking about gbc games, not gba, ds or 3ds. I suggest playing seasons first as it is more oriented towards action/adventure, being the easier of the two. I really really really really want nintendo and capcom team up once again to finally release the third oracle game that had to be canceled due to time restraints when these two classics were released.
Fantastic news!
This is great news and I expcet that they will come out to NA as well. I hope they do since I never got a chance to play these games the first time around.
This is such great news! I don't care that I'm buying these games again, I need them on my 3DS!
I recall completing both games back in 2002 on a GameBoy Advance I temporarily had been given. I liked Ages a tad bit more because it was more puzzle-oriented and it gave me a hard time. Seasons had the better mechanic (considering that Time Travel was already implemented before Ages in OoT), graphical art style, overworld. Ages shined with a much greater storyline, dungeon design, items. Loved the music in both games.
bring it to north america nintendo.
PLZ MAN! PLZ GIVE IT TO NA
@FOURSIDE_BOY Yea! I hope they make the third one!!! I think it was supposed to be called either 'The mystical seed of courage' or 'Oracle of Secrets'. One of the two for sure.
So, when do you guys suppose these will be available in NA?
Needless to say: If you haven't played them before, download them when they hit America/Europe! Both are great games! Oracle of seasons has a great season-shifting feature, while Oracle of ages has the best time-travelling and is overall a harder experience! But both are unmissable!
Nintendo if you are reading please release these to the west VC! I know I'm not the only one who would buy these in a heartbeat
You said it! Everyone would be gettin' these.
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