Switch Funday - The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages - My First Time

Welcome to Switch Funday!

For today's game i wanted to try out the Game Boy Color game The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages. I was always curious about games that had two versions. i played a lot of Pokémon Gold on Game Boy Color and would trade with others who had Silver. So i knew how two versions like that would work. But here, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is one of two The Legend of Zelda games that together tell a bigger story.

I started with The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages because, when i was young, it's the blue version and i like blue. but i do intend to try The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. Whilst this will be my first playing these two games, i did have and did play the Game Boy Color version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.

I remember how good The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX looked back in the day, but what surprised me was how good The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages looked on my TV screen. The music was great, too. i was taken aback by how nostalgic it felt and there was a wave of awe that a game from a console i loved playing looked so great and felt so good in this modern era.

But again, the disadvantage of this system is that there are no game manuals. as a kid, i would've read the manual and learnt about the games. So it's a little embarrassing how long i thought the game was auto saving. the game does have in-game help and a tutorial of sorts, via statues, but in this period manuals were also a tutorial for the game and even offered back story. so it did feel like i was missing some of the game.

What i played was enjoyable. remember, i went in wondering how this story would be told and whether it would feel like a story or part of a story. From the first hour i spent with it, it did feel like it's own story. i saw a couple of hooks for The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, but they never felt like they were gate keeping the story.

The pacing was decent with navigating the world the only thing slowing me down. i did find a few of the character names surprisingly boring and i do wonder what ever happened to Ralph!

If you have Nintendo Switch Online, i do recommend The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages. it doesn't really feel old, it looks amazing big on a TV, and the soundtrack still holds up. Plus, with the Switch version you're able to save and rewind which makes it even easier to play.

Switch Funday - Mario Tennis - My First Time Playing This Super Hard Game That I Couldn't Beat

Welcome to Switch Funday!

For today's game i wanted to try out the Game Boy Color game Mario Tennis. I've always wanted an arcadey tennis game that's more on the casual side and i initially went into this thinking it would be one of those games with popular #Mario characters, but right at the beginning i realized that Mario Tennis is not like that.

Even tho i had a Game Boy Color, i had the purple one, i never looked at the Mario sports games on them. i was more into Pokémon, racing, Loony Toons,  and platformers. I knew of them, but never bothered trying them. i kept thinking i would play these sort of games on the GameCube. So i was really surprised as to what this game actually is.

And what it is is a super hard tennis game that i couldn't beat. i couldn't even beat the tutorial practice stages! I can't believe how difficult it is. it's like the "Dark Souls" of tennis games. the tutorial practice stages offer no hints how to play and when you fail it's the same canned response. playing against other players is also a very long battle against a CPU that seems to want to win even tho it's a practice game.

Mario Tennis is a Game Boy Color game and yet it feels built around a console experience. it's surprising that a handheld game would have such a long introduction and such long tennis matches without even mentioning if there are manual saves, auto saves, or even how to do it. When i found the save function under "Start" the only thing i could do was save and quit. i couldn't seem to find a save and continue function.

the two highlights for Mario Tennis are the graphics, except for the characters as there seems to be no design language as everyone looks different, and the music. Even the minigames weren't fun and that's what i ended the video with. Mario Tennis is the Dark Souls of tennis games and not one i would recommend to anyone other than people really into tennis and Dark Souls, if such a Venn Diagram exists. 

Switch Funday - Pokémon Trading Card Game - My First Time - I Had Fun

Welcome to Switch Funday!

For today's game i wanted to try out the Game Boy Color game Pokémon Trading Card Game. I had a Game Boy Color growing up, the purple one, and i played Pokémon Blue, Yellow, Gold, and Pinball on it. but i never tried out Pokémon Trading Card Game. I didn't know much about it, other than guessing what happens by it's name. Now it's on the Nintendo Switch Online service, i was curious to give it a go and whether or not it would be worth playing in 2023.

I'll admit that i only won the tutorial battle. the other two battles i tried, i lost. but it didn't feel like i lost due to skill but rather i lost due to bad luck. The tutorial is good. it maybe a little too hand holdy for some people, but for me, someone who has never played the Card Game, it was what i needed. the only thing i would've liked is if the tutorial, or game, suggested where i should go with the deck i have. it felt like that it left it up to me, but i didn't know where to go. 

My first battle was against someone in the Poké Lab, i thought that it would be an easy battle as it's right at the start of the game. but it felt like a challenge. i had picked the Bulbasaur Grass Deck so thought the best gym to head to would be the Rock one. But i didn't really have much of an advantage. this game seems to be just Gen 1 Pokémon, so there isn't a lot of choice and my deck had Pokémon of many different types.

I'm glad i tried it out. i do think it holds up today, but i can't compare it to the modern Card Game as i've never played it. but as a strategy card game, it played really well. it's not just the tutorial that was good, but all the information you need is there, too. most of it takes a while to get to, but it's there. this game is slow, but it's what i wanted for my first time, and i could make it go a little faster in the options by speeding up text speed. Even the graphics looked great on my TV. all the Pokémon were clear and some of the card arts i looked at were also cool. If you have the service, i'd recommend giving it a go. i feel that the tutorial is good enough for those unfamiliar with Pokémon, and if you know Pokémon then i feel it'll take less time to get up to speed. i hope you're lucky tho!