| Sononara, there are three switches in the lower left corner of the room that control the functionality of the room. All of the other switches control which rank of the battle squares you play.
Back to those three switches...
The switch in the absolute lower left corner triggers everything.
The next two switches control the mode of the room. Between the 4 different combinations of those two switches, there are 4 different modes:
Temple Maintenence mode, "Inner Sanctum" mode, Battle Squares mode, no mode.
Temple Maintenence mode repairs the lightning gun if it gets damaged.
"Inner Sanctum" mode can only be used when you've nearly completed the 2nd level of the Ice Temple and you (finally) meet Oria. (I'll leave it at that to avoid spoilage.)
And Battle Squares mode activates the game room that you're currently in. You need to win at least one rank (out of the ten ranks in the game) to be able to complete the Ice Temple area. The rest of Battle Squares is entirely optional, but worth the effort at least once to get all the good treasure. After that, most people will use the Ease of Use mod to have the Ice Golem give you all the treasure and experience and skip all the actual battles, since there are 250 solo battles to complete Battle Squares. Yes, 250.
It should also be noted that you can come back to the Ice Temple and play Battle Squares for quite a while after "finishing" the Ice Temple area. But after a certain point, there is no return. Without serious spoilage, you meet up with Oswald again and take another trip on his airship. Up until that point, you can return to the Ice Temple and finish off Battle Squares with your tougher, more experienced characters.  | 
Linear Mode
