Spring forward? Fall back? Let's Play The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages!

I'm not sure why, but I always made it a point to name the kid after large land-mammals.

Name him Rhino.

I love Maple. When I first saw this image I realized somewhat of a fetish for witch's hats.

I also love Subrosia. ♪Ore chunks! Diggin' ore chunks!♪

Good work as always, Pappy. Keep it up.

Welcome back to Let's Play Oracle of Seasons. Last time, we picked up a bunch of knick-knacks and smoked out a Dondongo. The Maku Tree says we'll have to head east to the Spool Swamp to find the third essence, which is where we'll want to go.



Not before bumping into Maple again, of course. Just like before, she'll challenge us to pick up the most items...



...and we lose again. Damn.



Changing the season to Winter briefly, we head south a bit to a Heart Piece we passed up on the way to Snake's Remains. We only need one more until we get another Heart Container.



Further up, we run across another old hermit under a bush. However, unlike the others, he has no problem with being outed and forces us to pay for the door repair. Jerkass.



At least we come across some more scratch a ways north. 30 rupees? That's nice.



Apparently I've spent a little too much time exploring, as Maple drops in along the way back to Horon Village.

Hah!



Back in Horon Village, we drop by Bipin and Blossom to see if they still want a name for their baby.



Since there wasn't a decisive outcome for a name, I just tossed them in a cup and went with the winner drawn. And it seems we'll be naming him Lupin! I like the idea of inspiring the kid to become a world-reknown master thief, personally, so it's got my blessing.



It seems like Bipin and Blossom agree! We'll drop by later to see if the kid takes a liking to it as well.



Before we move on, we'll just take the time to plant a few more Gasha Seeds in the hopes of growing something good. With that done, it's time we move the boulders blocking the path north and head into unmapped (for us) territory.



A few screens into the new region and we find a new type of seed. Scent Seeds are generally used as lures to draw enemy attention away from Link, however they're more or less better off being used as ammunition later on for the game's projectile weapon.

Going a bit west brings us to a line of pits which we can't seem to be able to jump over. Hmm...



A little ways north, and we run into Ricky the Kangaroo. He'd be more than happy to help us cross the gap, but he's missing his gloves and feels a little insecure without them. Seems like a guy named Blaino beat him up and took them from him. Well, we need to get across, so it's time we teach this guy a lesson, shall we?



Looks like the place. Let's go show this guy a thing or two about real combat.



You guys remember Blaino, right? He was a monster in dungeon 8 of Link's Awakening who had a punch strong enough to knock Link all of the way back to the entrance. It seems he's since retired and set up shop hustling wallabies out of their handwear ever since.



Yeah, I heard you took my good friend Ricky's gloves. I want to get 'em back.



Blaino lays down the rules for the fight to us. It's one-on-one, no items, Link only, Final Destination and the first one knocked out of the ring loses. Sounds simple, doesn't it?



The bell rings and the fight begins in earnest. Mashing A and B brings up Link's dukes and punches open a hole in Blaino's defenses.

Looking at how confident your eyes are, Blaino, you probably haven't lost in a fight before. But...



That's because I've never been to Spool Swamp.

With Blaino now humbled, he hands over Ricky's Gloves and offers to spar with us again next time.



And then we hand them over to their rightful owner. With his hands now gloved, Ricky lets us hop in and go for a ride south.



Ricky's the first of the animal partners we can find over the course of the game, and he's... not bad. He can pound enemies pretty hard and his hopping can let us pass over holes on the ground. However, all of his special abilities are things that Link himself can do later on, so eventually he'll be eclipsed and passed over more economical and time-saving means of transportation. He's not a bad partner by any means, just that he won't stay useful is all.



Along the way, we burn our way into another hermit's house to see if we can find a way to swindle more rupees from him. Sadly, he's not at all intimidated by blackmail and forces us to pay for the repair bill. Bah.



Further down the path, we run into the mayor's wife, Mrs. Ruul. Seems there's been a bit of a heat wave lately and she's looking for a way to cool off.



Looks like that Ghastly Doll Maple dropped on us is doing the trick... somehow. In fact, it works so well that Mrs. Ruul drops on us an Iron Pot.

Great for cooking!



After jumping over a ledge, Ricky notes that we've reached our destination and turns to head back home. This is the last we'll be seeing of Ricky for the game, so wave goodbye to the good kangaroo everyone.



Goodbye, Ricky!



A little beyond that we find seed type #4, the Pegasus Seeds. These will let Link move more quickly when ingested, helping him for those tricky jumps. Though to be honest, I sorta miss the boots he had on in Link's Awakening. Ah, those were the days, weren't they?



Hey, a keyhole. Looks like we're getting close to the dungeon now.



Of course, it figures that the man in charge of maintaining the floodgate would lose the key needed to open it.



Or rather he dropped it in the pool of water in the room, it seems. You'd think that would be the first place he'd look, the moron.



Draining the water also reveals a path just outside the house. Taking this should take us to the gate, so down we go.

The switch to the right doesn't stay down when you press it, so you'll have to down a Pegasus Seed in order to make the dash across. Hope you remembered to pick up a few!



A little bit later and we're out on the other side. That was quick.



And there she goes! (Ignore Sokra - he didn't have anything important to say before, and he sure as hell doesn't now).



Alas, we can't quite make it to the dungeon proper yet. We'll need a vine of some sort in order to be able to make it inside. Guess we'll search around a bit more to find something.



A dondongo? In a swamp? Something smells fishy. Either way, we can't let a bunch of filthy moblins get away with selling it before we can. Link, go get 'em.



...Fine, I'll humour you for now, but only if it means you'll go away.



Goddamn it, Link, just kill the bastards already. It's not like they can stop you, you know.

>



Well, at least we made a new friend. Introducing Dimitri the Dodongo.



Look who's talking, comrade.



You'll what now?



Ah, so that's who the flute belongs to. Looks like we'll be able to call Dimitri to our side from now on.

Which is all well and good, because he's a pretty good partner to have on your side. He's a great swimmer, and can get us across deep water faster than we could on our own. In addition to that, he can be carried around and tossed over pits with the Power Bracelet, and his bite can kill most enemies in one hit easily once you get the timing it right.

The big reason to use Dimitri over the other two, I find, is because his specialty doesn't get replaced by any of Link's later equipment. Aside from the Mermait Suit in Ages (which, in itself, is hard to control), crossing water on Dimitri's back is much easier than with the Flippers and his bite ensures that we'll be able to defend ourselves on it as well. Ricky and the third animal partner, Moosh, on the other hand, don't have this luxury; Ricky goes obsolete pretty much as soon as you grab the Roc's Feather, and Moosh's hovering rarely if not at all useful. As I see it, if you're going to choose a partner, he should be able to shore up your weaknesses and help you move rather than try to replace something you can do yourself.



Anyway, thanks to Dimitri's help we come across another portal to Subrosia. Maybe whatever we need lies there?



Our first stop is to drop by the Subrosian Market to pick up a few helpful items. First off, we'll just snatch up our fourth Heart Piece, making that our first non-boss Heart Container.



After that, we use the shovel to get enough ore chunks to pick up a few rings that show up afterwards.



Down south, we run into the Subrosian we met last time we came here, Rosa. Her ribbon has gone missing and won't go exploring without it. Now that I think about it, didn't the market have a ribbon on display?

We'll need a star-shaped ore to trade for it, but that shouldn't be too hard. I smell sidequest!



How convenient! It shouldn't be too hard to find.



Nope, not here. Maybe it's to the west...



There we go. One ribbon, good to go.



Of course, after that a bomb upgrade shows up that we're more than happy to trade for. Granted, it's not like we'll need the extra twenty bombs, but when in Hyrule, right?



You're welcome. By the way, about that key by your side...



Oh! In that case, never mind then. Shall we be on our way?

Thanks to the key by Rosa's side, we're now able to unlock those doors barring the path between the north and south. With this, we should be able to explore Subrosia more easily from now on.



In addition to that, we can unlock another door in the Temple of Seasons. Which means...



...A new spirit! Aw, she called us adorable.



Vines and dry rivers? That's just what we need! Aw, summer, you're just the greatest. ♥♥♥



Well, that's all we need from Subrosia. Back to the overworld for now.



Call me!



In a little bit of a sequence break, we'll just switch the season to Winter briefly to pick up a Square Jewel. Technically we won't need this until the sixth dungeon, but getting it out of the way should make the inevitable fetch quest more manageable.

With all of that finally out of the way, I guess it's time we enter dungeon number 3...



...Poison Moth's Lair.



A few old enemies make their reappearance in this dungeon. The Spiked Beetles should be familiar with anyone who's played the other GB game, Link's Awakening, while the Mini-Moldorms should be familiar to anyone who's played any Zelda game after A Link to the Past.



This puzzle here stumped me for a bit the first time I played through the dungeon. The trick here is that you're supposed to use one of the jars on the far right in order to press it down, as none of the other jars in the room will work.



Another LA alumni, the arm-mimics have lost a lot of their bite in the transition into the oracles games. Losing their three-heart attack and invulnerability to sword swings makes them more than easy enough to deal with.



Before moving up the stairs, we'll just take the time to drop by the last few rooms on the floor. It's easy enough to miss the key here in the hurry to head upstairs, but you might as well pick it up while you're nearby.



Note that, even with it being marked as Dimitri's Flute, it's still great at killing Pol's Voices.

A little bombing here ends up netting us the Dungeon Map. That was quick.



With that out of the way, it's pretty much a straight walk west through the dungeon at this point. There are a few puzzles and a few enemies, but otherwise nothing too bad.



After a point, we reach a room with an orbiting blade trap and a few arm-mimics wandering around. Judging by the marking in the middle, there's an item to be won...



Netting us the Roc's Feather, arguably one of the best items in the game for one reason:



You can jump.

Yes, this sounds ridiculous, however this new ability means we're able to do things that we couldn't before. For one, small pits and waterways that once blocked our progress can now be passed easily with no concern. Being able to jump also lets us dodge attacks and enemies vertically, making it an excellent defensive item as well. Needless to say, you can expect to see the feather equipped on us on all times after this point.



Jumping down in the pit leads us to an empty room with a chest in the corner containing 30 rupees.



The introduction of the Roc's Feather means that we'll have to navigate more jumping puzzles after this point, but they're actually kinda fun to do so it's not much of a bother. Really, there's not much downside to the feather in these games - it's just that wonderful.

The Oracle games also have a variety of trampoline puzzles to solve, and they tend to pop up every so often. Usually there's a telltale spot as to where to push the trampoline on (if you even need to at all), so they're not much of a problem either.

Leaping up through the first hole leads us to the compass.



Afterwards, we just push it to the other marking and leap through the other side to proceed on with the dungeon.



They're starting to mix it up now, it seems. This particular spot requires a combination of the Roc's Feather and Power Bracelet to move through.



Another trampoline greets us a few rooms afterwards, leading to a chest containing a key. Yep.



Heading down the stairs leads us to another jumping sequence that brings us back to a room we've passed by earlier. There's no real backtracking in this dungeon, is there? How nice of them to work it out like that.



We had to pass over this spot earlier because the switch would collapse the bridge, but the Roc's Feather makes passing over it a breeze.



Not soon after, we come across the mini-bosses of the dungeon, a group of calamareyes. It's a little hard to divine at first, however you're supposed to pull them from the water with the Power Bracelet when they appear in order to damage them with the sword. They're not very hard, but the whole Bracelet thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Heading up the stairs created leads us to the Boss Key we need. This room is actually accessable right from the beginning (hence the owl statue off to the side), with the treasure chest in view as if to taunt you.



Checking the map, it seems we've passed over a chest by mistake. Thanks to the warp, grabbing the Gasha Seed inside isn't too much trouble.



A small jump across one last gap brings us face-to-face with the boss of the dungeon. Who is the boss of the Poison Moth's Lair, you ask?



None other than Mothula from A Link to the Past. Yes, That One Boss is back and is as annoying as ever, releasing smaller moths from itself and flying around the room at high speed. In addition to that, falling into the pits in the center ends up restoring Mothula's health back to full, so you pretty much have to get him on the first shot in order to win.

Thankfully, in order to attack us he has to charge us head-on, and with the Roc's Feather to dodge and enough time to charge up the spin attack he goes down quickly enough. Only took about... six hits, I think.



Hah, not much without a conveyor belt or blade traps to protect you with, are you? Thought you could blockade me, did you? Well you thought wrong.

(Yes, I'm still bitter. You would be too, if you had to fight him in a minimalist run before.)



And with that, we grab the third Essence of Nature, the Bright Sun.

Yep. All in a day's work.



Um... aren't you already getting sunlight as it is?

Anyway, with the Bright Sun in hand, the Maku Tree tells us to head north to the mountains for the next essence. However that's a story for another day.



Next time: The Dancing Dragon Dungeon and the Soothing Rain!

Yeah, as soon as I've found this in an games that offer it I've pretty much never used the shield again (unless necessary to exploit a weakness). It's just so much more fun and effective.

No I do not know who that man is.

I thought Sokra was tragically underused, since he's an original character whose design is actually pretty cool.


You know exactly how to make me smile.

I still maintain the opinion that Mothula is the wimpiest boss, in this game and LttP.

The Santa line is only in the US version, I started replaying this after seeing the LP, and I was only able to find the rom of EU version. When I got to that point, the sign said that she was looking for a chimney sweep. Makes me wonder what other changes there might be.

WUT

How did jumping the switch never occur to me? I would always activate a pegasus seed, run as far along the collapsing bridge as I could, and jump.

Oh man, all those falling deaths for nothing...

Me too, come to think of it.

It always bothered me that the flute DIDN'T hurt them in the first game, despite a hint that it should. But before I came to comment on that, I found this:

So I guess that's that mystery solved.

It's not that I hate Sokra personally, and I agree, his character design is pretty cool. It's just that the thing that bugs me about him is that the way he's used makes it so that he isn't needed at all in the game - everything he says or tells you is something you've already been told hours or even minutes earlier, and you're forced to talk to him whenever he pops by. They really should have used him as a general hints guy instead, like the Fortune Tellers in earlier games or like they have with the Maku Tree.



Good news everyone, it's time for another installment. With Mothula's death, we've managed to wrap up yet another one of the dungeons of Holodrum, and the Maku Tree has given us word of a fourth one hidden way up in the mountains to the north. Like the others, we should be able to get to work on it right away, however with the aquisition of the Roc's Cape and Dimitri, a whole lot of the map has just opened up for us. As such, we'll be doing a lot more exploring this time around so hang tight for now, we'll get to the dungeon eventually.



First off is that we'll want to check up on the Gasha Seeds we planted last time, the two dropping a pair of rings for us to check.



After that, we head over to Vasu's to go appraise a few of our rings. The real gem of the collection is the Roc's Ring, which allows us to cross over damaged floors and tiles without having to worry about them collapsing. Other than that, the Moblin and Like Like Rings are mostly there for flavour, and the Blue Luck Ring doesn't really do anything really helpful so they'll be stored away for now.



Just outside of Vasu's, we run into Maple again and this time hit paydirt. I miss picking up the ring she dropped, but the Magic Potion we managed to swipe is an excellent item indeed as it restores you to full health upon death. Having this safeguard should make exploring Holodrum much less stressful, as well as take some of the heat off of our relatively-low heart count.



Anyway, with that all done, I call Dimitri and we'll get on to exploring all of the new parts of the map.

Heading north brings us to a new part of the Natzu Prairie. It's interesting to note that the terrain of this part of the map depends largely on which partner you've chosen for the flute - choosing Ricky would've resulted in it being more mountainous, while the third guy would made it full of holes.



Passing a little bit south brings us to a toll booth of sorts. I'm guessing the toll we have to pay is our life, or...?



Anyway, a little bit after that brings us to the Sunken City. One of the locals around here (that I forgot to screenshot) explains that the reason it's flooded is because the snow on the mountain melted too fast from the shifting seasons and all of the water went southward. Looks like things are getting serious!



One of Dimitri's special abilities is the ability to climb waterfalls, letting us explore this little nook up here.



Inside one of the waterfalls is the master diver. He offers to take us under his wing if we prove ourselves in the other cave. Seeing as he's a good enough swimmer to manage to climb up a freaking waterfall, I'm guessing he'll be able to help Link out with his hydrophobia.

Before we go, we'll just give our wallet a little boost from a nearby chest.



Over in the other cave, we're greeted by four statues we have to hit simultaneously. I'm not sure how this has anything to do with swimming, but it's easily solved when they're all pushed together.



Easy-peasy.



He seems pretty surprised that we managed to pull it off, judging by his elation. Maybe he thought himself really clever when he hid the plaque in the other waterfall? In any case, he's happy enough that we're now his student, so now hopefully Link will learn how to swim.



However, instead of actually teaching Link the basics - the breaststroke, treading water, floating, etc. - he hands us a pair of Zora's Flippers instead. If only swimming was that easy in real life.



A little further down, we manage to uncover another Gasha patch.



And even further down below that, we find the final seed type, Gale Seeds! These babies will cut down our travel time significalty, letting us warp from seed tree to seed tree in the blink of an eye.



Like so, when we dive down this pitch full of water and pick up a Gasha Seed.

This is going to get annoying quickly, isn't it? Well, if he's so insistent on establishing a "toll" then it's time we go teach these moblins a lesson in power.



First floor goes down easy. You'd have to wonder how the Moblin King managed to rise to and maintain power when he only keeps two armed guards with him at all times.

Then again, maybe we just caught him at a bad time?



Um... sure? You have a bit of an inferiority complex don't you, MK?

It's interesting to note that, despite the number of sprite-reuse in the Oracle games, the development team went to the effort of crafting him a completely new sprite for the battle. It's odd considering that he doesn't actually play much of a role in the games, but interesting nonetheless.



Anyway, the fight begins with MK and Link tossing bombs back and forth at each other. He starts to move faster and faster whenever you manage to strike him, but so long as you anticipate where he'll go as opposed to where he is the fight isn't too difficult.



Near the end of the fight, MK gives away a crucial bit of information to us. Things get a little dicey after this point as the timing gets a little more narrow but doable.

One chain-reaction later, and the Moblin King's base is in ruins. The moral of the story: never attempt to extort money from the hero when he's on a mission.

But why did we really have to take out the Moblin King, you ask?



Why, for a Piece of Heart, of course.



A nice little touch is that you can find the Moblin King slumming in the Sunken Village after you blow up his base. He's almost kind of pitiful sitting there, rebuilding his empire bomb-by-bomb. But not really.



Anyway, with Flippers in hand and a Moblin Empire crushed beneath our heel, it's time to head north finally...



...to the Goron Mountains! We're just passing through the area mostly since we don't really have any big business with the Gorons living here, but they've got a few things lying around that we'll want to grab while we're in the area.