Daily Debate: Should Zelda Expand with More Oracle Games?
Posted on April 22 2015 by Rod Lloyd
The year of 2001 saw the release of two handheld Zelda titles: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. These two games were unique in many ways; the games featured settings and characters not seen anywhere else in the series, they connected to each other via a password system, and they were primarily developed by Capcom. While aspects of the Oracle games have survived in future titles, these games have not been revisited since they were released. Today, we ask if this pair of Zelda games should be expanded on, perhaps even as a full-fledged sub-series.
Some writers on the Zelda Informer staff have expressed interest in more Oracle games. Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages focused on characters named after Goddesses Din and Nayru, respectively; the Goddess Farore only played minimal role in both games. A third game was initially planned, but never saw the light of day. With that in mind, it has been suggested in our staff room that a third Oracle game be considered for some time in the future. The focus of Farore seems like given, but this third game could hold many different possibilities. Ages and Seasons offered interesting ways to change the lands that Link explored, so a third game would need an equally unique way to manipulate the environment. What would that aspect be? Oracle of Secrets?
The future of the Oracle games does not even need to be limited to one new title; sets of two inter-connected Zelda games could be released more often as additions to an Oracle sub-series. Given that the Pokémon series finds continued success with multi-version releases, who’s to say Zelda could not also benefit from this release strategy. If Zelda were to revisit the Oracle games again, Capcom could be considered as developer again. Many of you commented on how great Capcom’s handheld Zelda games were in yesterday’s debate, so I think Capcom could recreate that magic in new Oracle games.
We’ll let you decide. Should the Zelda series revisit the Oracle games? If so, in what ways? Would you like to see the Oracle games become a Zelda sub-series in the future? Let us know, and join the Daily Debate!
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
