The Development of the Zelda Oracle Games
Sweet Bit Gaming Mysteries: The Legend of Zelda The Seed of Courage
The Legend of Zelda Oracle series of games is often overlooked when it comes to focusing on the franchise as a whole. Certainly, there are more popular handheld Zelda games out there than the aforementioned pair; however, what if the entire concept for these games was fully realized? What if the trilogy Nintendo had promised fans was a reality and not just the topic of the day? Within this article, I’ll go over the development of the Oracle games. From many name changes to cut storyline ideas, this is the history of the Legend of Zelda the Oracle games.
Some of the earliest information out there in regards to the Triforce Series of games came to the public on July 28th, 1999 within an article published by IGN. IGN would state that Nintendo is “hard at work” on six different Zelda Gameboy Color titles. Within the article, it mentions that four of the new Zelda titles were being produced in conjunction with the Japanese design studio Flagship. This development studio was headed by Resident Evil lead Yoshiki Okamoto. Okamoto had revealed earlier in the year that Flagship would be working closely with Nintendo’s EAD team in regard to future titles on the Gameboy Color. Within this same interview, Okamoto would also reveal that Flagship’s work was restricted to the design of scenarios and storylines. While not much information was given, this “leak” would take place roughly a month before Nintendo’s Space World 1999 event was set to take place.
Any hope for the public to demo the game was seemingly heightened by an IGN web article published on August 20th, 1999. Their source of information would be cited as Weekly Famitsu. IGN within the headlines were promoting they were the first to have screenshots of the upcoming Game Boy Color exclusive Zelda game. This article was published roughly a week prior to Nintendo’s Space World 1999 event, which took place on August 27th-August 29th of that year. The game at the time was believed to be called The Legend of Zelda: The Mysterious Acorn and was also cited as being published by Capcom and Nintendo.
In the preview of the game within the article, IGN would mention that Princess Zelda was managing the four seasons within the Land of Hyrule. Zelda would be kidnapped by Ganon and it would be up to Link to manage the Rod of the Four Seasons and track down the eight pieces of the Triforce to save Princess Zelda and also bring balance to Hyrule. With Hyrule’s seasons becoming jumbled up, chaos would ensue and Link would have to travel between Hyrule and this “other dimension” while being guided by spirits residing in the “Tree of Mystery” and also a strange “Uura Tribe” which would be found in this alternate dimension.
Ricky the Kangaroo and Maple the Witch were mentioned briefly within this article as well. Not much information was given on these characters other than they would be allies to help aid Link in his quest to save Princess Zelda. Also mentioned were more details about the Rod of Four Seasons and how it would be required to solve certain elemental puzzles throughout the game. Possibly the most infamous amount of information detailed within this article is the mention of the Link System and how there would be three upcoming Zelda Gameboy Color games and they would all be a coherent story without getting lost within each other due to the Link System that Capcom and Nintendo were developing.
With Space World 1999 taking place, a lot of hype and media focus was still latched onto the Nintendo 64 DD, another story within itself. Zelda Gaiden, later to be renamed The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask was also playable at this event. Demo copies of The Seed of Courage were also seemingly playable at this event. An interview would be conducted with Miyamoto by Nintendo Power Source and Miyamoto would give more detail and insight on Zelda Gaiden and the recently renamed The Legend of Zelda: Mysterious Fruit.
Q: After hearing rumors of Ura Zelda for Nintendo 64 Disk Drive, Zelda Gaiden for the Nintendo 64 cartridge format was a pleasant surprise. Can you tell me how these two games came to be developed?
A: We are working on two follow-ups to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. "Ura Zelda" uses the same system as Ocarina of Time but uses the 64DD to add game data. The story in "Ura Zelda" will be similar to Ocarina of Time but with new maps and scenarios. Zelda Gaiden, on the other hand, is a completely different game, although it too uses essentially the same game system as Ocarina of Time. Everyone has enjoyed the Zelda series but there's typically at least a 3 year wait between sequels! People who are in Junior High School when they play one Zelda game would be in High School by time the next game comes out, and those in High School will graduate before the next game came out! So, we wanted to make a new game in the series sooner. "Ura Zelda" will use the existing Ocarina of Time cartridge but with different dungeons, and new locations for the treasures. Since the 64DD media is cheaper than a new cartridge, this is an inexpensive way to make a sequel. We may also consider using network technology for "Ura Zelda." Right now, most of the staff is concentrating on Zelda Gaiden.
Q: How involved are you with the different Zelda games?
A: As time goes on, my direct involvement has become less. On the first Zelda, my involvement in directing the game was, say, 100%. With Ocarina of Time, my involvement was about 60%. For Zelda Gaiden, it will be about 20% and for Zelda: Mysterious Fruit for Game Boy, only about 10%. Until Ocarina, I was the Producer and Director of the game-not of everything but some parts. For Zelda Gaiden I will be in a Producer role. In that capacity, I'll decide the overall direction of the game, but I won't write the actual specifications myself. If Zelda Gaiden turns out to be fun to play, from now on we'll see new entries into the Zelda series with shorter time intervals in between. And, I'll probably have less direct involvement in the games. I've been saying all along that I have a lot of confidence in my teams, and I think they will make some good games.
Q: What kinds of things do you do as a Producer?
A: I just tell the staff members what kind of game it should be. The staff then figures out the details of the scenarios. So far, we've had thee big meetings to reviews the game's scenarios. As Producer I approve and disapprove of ideas in these meetings. Mainly I say things like, "If you try to go in this direction, you will never finish the game!" I help set the development priorities, and make staff recommendations.
Q: So, what are some of the overall directions you have given to your game developments teams on Zelda Gaiden? What are some of the things that you want the players to experience in this game?
A: I had several ideas that I wanted to incorporate into Ocarina of Time but that didn't make it. I've already given those to the staff. In Zelda Gaiden, players will meet some characters that they previously encountered in Ocarina of Time. There were many characters in Ocarina of Time who were in the background-- those characters will be more involved in the story of Zelda Gaiden. You'll talk to them more, and in the end you'll feel a deeper connection to the story of Ocarina of Time. Another thing we want to work on is time in the game. In so many games, you have, for example, eight dungeons. Finish four of them, and you're halfway through. You can guess how far you have to go. But that's not the true nature of interactive entertainment-it shouldn't be like reading a book and knowing you're halfway through it. That's not just something we're working on for Zelda Gaiden, we need to improve this for all of our games. The beauty of interactive media is it is different from other types of media, so we need to concentrate on those differences. Finally, we really want Zelda players to come away from this game feeling that they've played something totally unexpected.
Q: In Zelda Gaiden, the moon is slowly falling towards the planet, and the player has a limited amount of time to save the world before it is destroyed. So how does the time limit in the game work?
A: What can I tell you….hmmm. There are certain time limits in the game, but, you can play it again and again. If you don't do something in one game, you can try to do it in the next game. The amount of different things you actually do in the game will depend on the player's ability. This isn't a totally unique concept, but we do want to try something new with game time in Zelda Gaiden. To do that we are working on improving the "density" of the world. For example, say you have three days of game time. We are trying to see how many different events we can fit into those three days. That is why we need the Expansion Pak for this game-to keep track of all the events that are happening simultaneously in the world.
Q: So the world actually exists and different things happen in real-time, even if you're not there to see them. OK, how about the masks? How many different ones do you think will be in the game? It looks like there is space for a lot of them on the Subscreen!
A: There are three main masks-these are the only ones that make you actually change, or morph, into something different. Several other masks will have "human" like faces, and will be necessary to trigger certain events. You can use these masks to disguise yourself as different people. As for the actual final number of masks in the game, that will depend on time. I'm aiming for just under 30 different masks, but that depends on how long things take to develop.Q: You mentioned that the story in Zelda Gaiden will be closely connected to Ocarina of Time. How about the Running Man-will you finally be able to beat him?
A: Maybe you didn't see him in the Space World version, but there is a Running Man who is four times taller than the one in Ocarina of Time! We are experimenting with this character to see if we can make him interesting and fun. Did you see the dogs? In Ocarina of Time, they would follow you. In Zelda Gaiden, their reaction will vary. When you morph into a Goron, they will bark at you and run away. As a Zora, they will approach you. Don't try to become a Deku Scrub if there are dogs around, though! They will try to bite you!
Q: What about the other fairy that is shown with Navi in the introductory cinema scenes?
A: I don't know, I need to ask the staff about that! I have a feeling it's going to be an important character!
Q: Things are busy on the Zelda front with the Zelda games for Game Boy Color that Capcom is developing. How did that deal come about? What is the plan for these three titles?
A: Well, it's the same situation as when our team develops a Zelda game-the quality has to be high. Mr. Okamoto (head of development at Capcom) is a young and energetic game developer who says he came into the industry because of games like the original Donkey Kong and Zelda. He came to me and was very serious about developing a Zelda game. He has great teams of developers and he promised to use his best people on this project. A company called Flagship has 20 or so people who are working on the scenarios. Some people have asked me if this means Nintendo will be allowing other companies to develop games using our characters. But this is a very special case. I felt good about Mr. Okamoto and his team. We're not going to be letting everyone work on our characters. We'll be checking the quality of these three titles.
Q: What is the connection between the three titles?
A: This project originally started to convert the original NES Zelda to Game Boy Color. So one of the titles will be a perfect conversion of NES Zelda. However, in working on this game, we have come up with a lot of new ideas, so there will be some new features. Basically I can tell you that there is a connection between the three tales. You can start with any one of them, but if you play them in a different order than someone else, the two player's games will be different....
In January of 2000 IGN would publish an article stating that a new Zelda game was planned to be released every six weeks. The first of these Gameboy releases in the “Tri-force Series” was set to be The Legend of Zelda: The Mysterious Acorn: The Tale of Power. After this initial release The Legend of Zelda: The Tale of Wisdom was set to be released and then the trilogy would conclude with The Legend of Zelda: The Tale of Courage. These games were also mentioned within this article to have the capability to link up with each other and exchange data. Miyamoto would do an interview with IGN on May 11th and state that the games would link up using a “password system.” No other details were given about the games during this interview.
By May 13th Nintendo would officially release some promotional images in regards to the Tri-force series games which were now titled: The Legend of Zelda: Mythical Seed of Power, Zelda, Mythical Seed of Courage, and Zelda Mythical Seed of Wisdom. Also on May 13th, IGN would conduct another interview with Miyamoto about the Triforce Series games and Miyamoto would disclose:
IGNpocket: What is your opinion on the Legend of Zelda trilogy in the works for Game Boy Color?
Miyamoto: Mr. Okomoto from Capcom is the producer on the games for the Game Boy Color, and he has been giving me the materials for the games. And what we have now is the games are becoming late, especially because of the "link system". With the link system, we're thinking about letting the gamer play whatever game first, and what happens in one game affects another game. And with that, the variable scenario is just increasing the work, and that's why we are late in schedule. But we can release the games later this year.
IGNpocket: How does the link system interface work?
Miyamoto: Well, for example, there are similar events in all cartridges. So if you've already finished one event on one cartridge, it makes the quest in another cartridge a little easier. Another example is if you find a specific item in one cartridge, then something special will happen on another cartridge.
IGNpocket: But how does that information get from one cartridge to the other?
Miyamoto: Password system.
By July 24th, Nintendo of Japan would decide to cut one of the games out of the Triforce Trilogy. It was reported that this was due to numerous delays and difficulties getting the link system to work properly. This was an effort to still have the other two games out by Christmas of 2000. Nintendo within this press release didn’t mention which game was on the cutting room floor. Nintendo of America hadn’t commented on the cancellation of the game at the time and it was unclear if the two remaining games would still be released six weeks apart from each other. By October 20th the concept within the unique release schedule was scrapped and rumors were abundant on IGN that the games would release sometime in January of 2001 in Japan.
By November 9th, IGN would report a brief “Chapter” of the latest Zelda game, now being titled The Legend of Zelda Chapter of Time and Space. This is the game that had been covered mostly in American publications through screenshots and leaked information while the remaining Gameboy Color game would go without much new information being provided. This other game in development would be rumored to go by the name The Legend of Zelda: Chapter of the Earth. It was suggested that this game would play much like the other Gameboy Color game and a link system was still set in place for the two games. By January of 2001, more information would be released by IGN in regards to the Chapter of the Earth title. This article would feature screenshots and storyline concepts for the upcoming games. By the end of the article, it was mentioned that the two games would be released in February and a potential American release date was planned before the start of Summer.
In an article published by Nintendo of Japan on their Director Interview series, Hidemaro Fujibayashi would be interviewed and give details on the origins of Capcom becoming involved with Zelda on the Gameboy Color. Here is that interview:
t seems that you first started making Zelda with Capcom.
Fujibayashi Yes. At first, it seems that my Okamoto (Yoshiki Okamoto, managing director) had proposed to Shigeru Miyamoto, "I want to make Zelda with Capcom." That was about two years ago. After that, a free man started making 2D games based on the Famicom Disk System "The Legend of Zelda". The concept is to convey the goodness of Zelda in the NES era to children today.
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■ Was Mr. Fujibayashi also a Zelda fan?
Fujibayashi Yes, when it came to the Famicom Disk System, I went to a toy store first to buy it. I remember squeezing New Year's gifts and running to buy them.
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■ Did Mr. Fujibayashi participate in the project from the beginning?
Fujibayashi At first, I participated in the form of a clerk who summarized the overall opinions. At that time, I was only told about the concept, but gradually I became involved in the game production itself. First of all, I decided to give a presentation to Mr. Miyamoto, so I wrote a proposal based on Okamoto's concept.
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■ Was the content of the game decided at the time of the proposal?
Fujibayashi Almost the pillars of the current game have been decided. In other words, it should be released as a Color Game Boy, use the four seasons, and retain the taste of 2D Zelda. It was decided that it would be released in a series of works, so I thought of a link system as an idea to make use of it. For example, if I missed a bad guy in the first game, I wanted to make the software so that the bad guy would appear in the other game. Since Zelda is a game with a solid view of the world, I thought that even a Game Boy could fully bring out the "living feeling" of the characters expressed in the 64 series.
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■ How was Mr. Miyamoto's reaction?
It was your first time to meet Mr. Fujibayashi Miyamoto. I went to a presentation with Okamoto, but it was my first time to work directly with Okamoto, and I was thrilled because I was going to meet a famous person from another company. While explaining the proposal, Mr. Miyamoto was silent from beginning to end, so I was nervous. But when I finished reading, I was told, "I was thinking of going into it because there would be various holes, but it looks like it's done." I liked it, "I think it's good."
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■ After that, do you work at Capcom?
Fujibayashi That's right. After that, I proceeded with the scenario while reporting the situation to Okamoto. As a role, I am a director and planner.
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■ I heard that Capcom games create scenarios first.
Fujibayashi Yes. However, I think that the scenario came out in the Zelda series after the hardware specifications went up. Originally, Zelda in the early days was a pure action RPG, and there wasn't much talk about it. This time, I was hoping that the two could be fused. However, at first I was supposed to make a work that was one tenth of the current volume. However, as I made it, it got bigger and bigger, and it gradually became my own work.
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■ Did you make "Chapter of the Earth" and "Chapter of Space and Time" by different teams?
Fujibayashi No, the same team made them in order. At first, I was interacting with the scenario team alone. So, while I was making the scenario, I secretly talked to the graphic artists and programmers who thought "I like it" in Capcom. Such personnel were actually decided by Funamizu (Producer Noritaka Funamizu), who reports directly to me, but I thought it would be better for me to consult with him first. I was angry at Funamizu, saying, "It's my job," but I was able to get the staff I wanted.
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■ After that, I think it's the work of actually making a game, but please tell me the procedure easily.
Fujibayashi At first, I'll start with an image. After thinking about what kind of terrain it is, start making a map. After making it roughly, I thought about the character next. We will modify the scenario while making the game.
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■ Do you sometimes rewrite the entire field?
Fujibayashi That's every day. If you actually move it and think it's different, fix it. When about 60% of the total was completed, Mr. Yamada of Nintendo participated as a supervisor. From that time on, I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Miyamoto's story. So I absorbed something like Mr. Miyamoto's view of Zelda.
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■ Are there any interesting episodes about the joint development with Nintendo?
Fujibayashi I was playing Nintendo games and thought that every game had a common scent. When I met Mr. Miyamoto, it became clear that there was a way to make sense in the game that Mr. Miyamoto thinks. It was a great learning experience for our team to get it. After that, Mr. Yamada and his colleagues ask the character that we casually placed, "What is the name of this character?" Certainly, giving a name brings the character to life and makes the staff feel different. It seemed as simple as "give a name", and the important thing was that I was surprised. That's just one example, but I feel like I was taught the know-how of Nintendo's "making warm games." What I was most happy about was that both Mr. Yamada and Mr. Miyamoto treated me as if I were an employee of Nintendo. Rather than Nintendo or Capcom, he talked to me as a staff member who made games together. In the end, I think that kind of personality is reflected in Zelda.
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■ At the same time, I think this is a game that has a Capcom feel to it.
Fujibayashi It's more about the individuality of Capcom's Zelda team than it is about Capcom. I tried to make the world view interesting with a slightly dark character. What is the difference between Kyoto and Osaka? The place where a little outlaw character appears may be Capcom-like. However, I don't think there is any difference in the system in the game.
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■ Please tell me if there is a story behind this.
Fujibayashi In "Chapter of Time and Space", there is a tower called "Tower of Darkness", and there are people working there, but there are lines that say "I can't finish my charge" and "I can't go home". Some of our team couldn't go home (laughs), so I put them in a parody. However, we are a very homely team, so I was happy with the Nori. The person who came to give the message was involved in the meeting and talked for about 2 hours.
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■ That kind of homely atmosphere may be oozing out in the game. Then, what are the highlights of "Mysterious Tree Fruit" from Mr. Fujibayashi's point of view?
Fujibayashi This time, Zelda was created with the individuality of the entire team. The highlights are the many events and mini-games, and the dungeon gimmicks. I thought about various big tricks that Game Boy can do. The ideas of all the staff are included, and I think it's quite full.
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■ What do you recommend for the link system?
Fujibayashi If you play the two software as a continuation of the story using "Aikotoba", you can enjoy a deeper view of the world. You can also experience the true ending after the story is over. There will be new characters and there will be many events, so please give it a try.
On May 14th, 2001 both of the games, now titled the Oracle series, would release here in America. The games would receive positive reviews and critical praise for the link system that Nintendo and Capcom had developed. Over the years, the games have seemingly faded out of the minds of Zelda fans. Only hopes and rumors of potential remakes are the only true discussion these games draw these days. The concept within the trilogy of games was very similar to Ura Zelda to where Miyamoto wanted what was done in one game to affect that area in the other game. Also, did Majora's Mask overshadow these games? The development of these games runs parallel with each other and Majora's Mask is a beloved game within the Zelda community. Here's to remakes of these games happening on the Switch here in the near future.
