Look, I understand I’ve been pretty harsh on some of the dungeons and areas in the Oracle games. I really love these games, I swear I do! There are tons of fun areas to explore. In order to traverse a lot of these places, you’ll need to recruit one of three animal assistants: Moosh, the amazing, cuddly flying bear (aka the greatest creation in the Zelda series); Dimitri, the only friendly Dodongo Link has ever met; and Ricky, the boxing-glove-clad kangaroo who can create tornadoes out of nowhere.
Each of these animal friends will help you throughout your quest, but only one will stick with you throughout the whole adventure. There is a “Strange Flute” that you have to find so you can get either Moosh (yes) or Dimitri (no) to join you. But in order to get Ricky to join you in Oracle of Seasons, you’ll have to defend his honor at Blaino’s Gym.
On his quest through the Spool Swamp, Link runs into a sad kangaroo named Ricky. He’s bummed because he lost a boxing match to the champ of the region, Blaino. Now, in order to continue on his quest, Link must challenge the boxing king to a match. Once Link gets the gloves back, Ricky will help him traverse over holes and punch the air so hard that literal tornadoes come out and do his bidding. To put it lightly, Ricky is pretty cool. After traveling across the Holodrum Plain, Link heads to North Horon, where Blaino’s Gym awaits him.
The inside of Blaino’s Gym is very sparse. It’s a square house with a giant ring in the center. There in the center, Blaino waits, gloves always poised, always ready for action. He hops up and down, waiting for his next challenger (i.e. his next victim). Then, you approach him, and he finally speaks.
Yes, da legendary champ has a Boston accent. “You want somt’in’?” he asks us. “Den earn it in da ring!” It costs 10 rupees to have the privilege of fighting Blaino, da champ, da king. Your items are stripped away for the time being, and you aren’t allowed to use anything other than your fists. No rings, no weapons, just throwin’ hands. If you put a ring on, you are disqualified and have to pay more money to fight him. In order to win, you have the impossible task of knocking this beast of a man out of the ring. Good luck.
I think I made it pretty clear in my last two Tingle’s Maps articles, but I’ll reiterate if you’re still confused: I don’t like the minigames in the Oracles duology. This one, however, is actually a lot of fun. I could never get the timing right, so it actually felt like a boxing match. I had to dodge punches and trade blows with da master of “da ring”. My quest could end here if I couldn’t knock him out of the ring! Honestly, once you understand how to guide him to the edge of the ring, it’s a really easy fight. But I refuse to take the easy way out!
After your days-long battle in the ring, Link will eventually become the victor. “Yer fists are golden, kid! You da new champ!” Blaino cries. He suffered with his success for too long, and now he has been taken down by a rookie, an upstart. He’s been the top dog, and now he has something to train for. Link has given Blaino purpose again, and of course, you can always come back for a rematch with 30 rupees on the line.
Complete sidebar, but my favorite thing is that he says “Here, take dese” before he gives Link Ricky’s Gloves. I like to imagine a world where, instead of the Old Man from the original Legend of Zelda saying his iconic line, he says “Here, take dis and become da champ!”
Blaino’s Gym is literally a quarter of a single square in Holodrum. It’s a tiny place, but it leaves a great impression on the player. Blaino is such a fun character, even if he did beat up a defenseless kangaroo and steal his boxing gloves. Hey, at least we became da champ in the end.
