Unlike the Wii and Twilight Princess, it's been three long years since its release that the DS's first Legend of Zelda hit store shelves. Well worth the wait for many gamers, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is a memorable game in the Zelda series that nobody will soon forget.
Story: "White birds soar freely in the skies above the vast blue ocean. A pirate ship sails along, cutting through the waves. On deck is a crew of pirates and their leader Tetra, a brave and brash girl. Traveling with them is Link, a boy in green. Tetra and Link met for the first time not long before our story begins.
Link discovered that Tetra was the princess of Hyrule, an ancient kingdom destroyed not long ago. After Tetra was taken away by an evil king, Link set out on a perilous journey to find her. He slew many monsters and found powerful weapons. Link became a true hero and rescued the princess from the clutches of the evil king Ganondorf.
Afterward, the pair set out to explore together. This time, they happen upon seas protected by a great spirit, the Ocean King. In these seas, the locals whisper rumors of a mysterious Ghost Ship. Suddenly a thick fog surrounds Tetra's vessel and the pirates spot a creepy, rickety old ship. Brave Tetra leaps on board to investigate, but the Ghost Ship begins to sail away. Link makes a valiant attempt to follow Tetra onto the Ghost Ship, but he loses his grip and plunges into the ocean. He awakens later on an unfamiliar island with a curious fairy fluttering overhead. And that is where Link's new adventure begins..."
Gameplay: O-Boy, O-Boy! Where to start?... Remember when you first found the demo of Phantom Hourglass at your local K-Mart or GameStop, and you figured you'd try it out? Do you remember how awkward and bizarre it felt as you stumbled around trying to control Link via the touch screen, and figured that the concept was never going to work? Well I do. That being said, I was very skeptical about the game when my little sister bought it for me as a Christmas gift, as I probably wouldn't have ever thought of actually buying it myself (I'm not a big Zelda fan). I thought, hey, I might as well try it out. As I turned it on, my anticipation grew, but when the intro-story ended and I was thrown into gameplay, those worries exploded into excitement as the bizarre feelings about the control scheme vanished and its innovativeness emerged. I was very shocked with how well the touch screen worked as your means of controlling the game. Not only did the sheer innovation of that kind of control mesmerize me, but Nintendo took all other aspects of the DS hardware into account. Not only did the bottom screen serve a huge part of the game, but so did the top. As the bottom screen was the part of the DS you spent most of your time, the top screen was also very important as it was where your map (one that you could take notes on by writing on it like a virtual memo-pad, on by pressing down on the d-pad to shift the map to the touch pannel) was displayed. This served an important role, as you would frequently need to mark specific locations on the map to avoid constant backtracking. Also, the mic played a role in Phantom Hourglass, as it usually isn't used in too many games. Such things as blowing into it to make Link blow out candles and yelling into it to get the attention of a Goron on the other side of a river are a few purposes that the mic. played.
While the control scheme is without a doubt the best aspect of Phantom Hourglass, it does take a little getting used to. For example, I didn't know until about halfway through the game, that the L button drew my special weapon (boomerang, bow, bombs, etc.).
Graphics: The graphics are about what you'd expect from the Nintendo DS. The gameplay itself looks very reminiscent of The Wing Waker, but in the cut scenes, the character models are very noticeably pixelated. Overall, Phantom Hourglass looks very nice, at most points, but it still doesn't compare to the effects of other DS games such as Metroid Prime Hunters.
Sound: I really can't say too much here. The music in PH was good, but still not nearly as memorable as the score in Ocarina of Time (N64). The effects of things like: Link screaming when he falls in a trap door/ does a full 360o sword slash, grabbing rupees, the classic "secret has been found" fanfare are all nostalgic of past hand-held Legend of Zelda titles, but don't excel here. Then again, have they ever in the past?
Wi-Fi: If you connect your DS to the internet via wireless signal, you will be able to take Phantom Hourglass online to play a 1-on-1 mini-game with a friend. This isn't a valiant attempt by Nintendo to make Zelda the next big multi-player franchise, but it's a simple little addition to the main quest. To sum it up, this mini-game is like a hide-and-seek game that takes place in small mazes. One player controls Link while another player controls and enemy soldier who tries to stop Link as he attempts to carry heavy Force Gems (like the heavy objects: Triforce pieces, Boss Keys, etc. in the single player game) to the goal. This isn't much, but it's a fun little time waster when you just don't want to traverse the Temple of the Ocean King, for the third freakin' time, on one player.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is easily Nintendo's best effort at a hand-held game. Spanning an incredible length, given the amount of data a standard DS game card can hold, and one of the very best control schemes you'll ever come across in a game, this is one game every owner of a Nintendo DS/Lite should consider picking up. I wouldn't quite say that the game is worth a full $35, but it comes damn close.
Other scores The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass recieved
Game Informer -- 9.5 (out of 10)
Electronic Gaming Monthly -- 8.0, 9.0, 9.0 (out of 10)
Nintendo Power -- 9.5 (out of 10)
IGN -- 9.0 (out of 10)
GameSpy -- 5 (out of 5)
GameSpot -- 9.0 (out of 10)
1up.com -- 8.0 (out of 10)
Story: "White birds soar freely in the skies above the vast blue ocean. A pirate ship sails along, cutting through the waves. On deck is a crew of pirates and their leader Tetra, a brave and brash girl. Traveling with them is Link, a boy in green. Tetra and Link met for the first time not long before our story begins.
Link discovered that Tetra was the princess of Hyrule, an ancient kingdom destroyed not long ago. After Tetra was taken away by an evil king, Link set out on a perilous journey to find her. He slew many monsters and found powerful weapons. Link became a true hero and rescued the princess from the clutches of the evil king Ganondorf.
Afterward, the pair set out to explore together. This time, they happen upon seas protected by a great spirit, the Ocean King. In these seas, the locals whisper rumors of a mysterious Ghost Ship. Suddenly a thick fog surrounds Tetra's vessel and the pirates spot a creepy, rickety old ship. Brave Tetra leaps on board to investigate, but the Ghost Ship begins to sail away. Link makes a valiant attempt to follow Tetra onto the Ghost Ship, but he loses his grip and plunges into the ocean. He awakens later on an unfamiliar island with a curious fairy fluttering overhead. And that is where Link's new adventure begins..."
Gameplay: O-Boy, O-Boy! Where to start?... Remember when you first found the demo of Phantom Hourglass at your local K-Mart or GameStop, and you figured you'd try it out? Do you remember how awkward and bizarre it felt as you stumbled around trying to control Link via the touch screen, and figured that the concept was never going to work? Well I do. That being said, I was very skeptical about the game when my little sister bought it for me as a Christmas gift, as I probably wouldn't have ever thought of actually buying it myself (I'm not a big Zelda fan). I thought, hey, I might as well try it out. As I turned it on, my anticipation grew, but when the intro-story ended and I was thrown into gameplay, those worries exploded into excitement as the bizarre feelings about the control scheme vanished and its innovativeness emerged. I was very shocked with how well the touch screen worked as your means of controlling the game. Not only did the sheer innovation of that kind of control mesmerize me, but Nintendo took all other aspects of the DS hardware into account. Not only did the bottom screen serve a huge part of the game, but so did the top. As the bottom screen was the part of the DS you spent most of your time, the top screen was also very important as it was where your map (one that you could take notes on by writing on it like a virtual memo-pad, on by pressing down on the d-pad to shift the map to the touch pannel) was displayed. This served an important role, as you would frequently need to mark specific locations on the map to avoid constant backtracking. Also, the mic played a role in Phantom Hourglass, as it usually isn't used in too many games. Such things as blowing into it to make Link blow out candles and yelling into it to get the attention of a Goron on the other side of a river are a few purposes that the mic. played.
While the control scheme is without a doubt the best aspect of Phantom Hourglass, it does take a little getting used to. For example, I didn't know until about halfway through the game, that the L button drew my special weapon (boomerang, bow, bombs, etc.).
Graphics: The graphics are about what you'd expect from the Nintendo DS. The gameplay itself looks very reminiscent of The Wing Waker, but in the cut scenes, the character models are very noticeably pixelated. Overall, Phantom Hourglass looks very nice, at most points, but it still doesn't compare to the effects of other DS games such as Metroid Prime Hunters.
Sound: I really can't say too much here. The music in PH was good, but still not nearly as memorable as the score in Ocarina of Time (N64). The effects of things like: Link screaming when he falls in a trap door/ does a full 360o sword slash, grabbing rupees, the classic "secret has been found" fanfare are all nostalgic of past hand-held Legend of Zelda titles, but don't excel here. Then again, have they ever in the past?
Wi-Fi: If you connect your DS to the internet via wireless signal, you will be able to take Phantom Hourglass online to play a 1-on-1 mini-game with a friend. This isn't a valiant attempt by Nintendo to make Zelda the next big multi-player franchise, but it's a simple little addition to the main quest. To sum it up, this mini-game is like a hide-and-seek game that takes place in small mazes. One player controls Link while another player controls and enemy soldier who tries to stop Link as he attempts to carry heavy Force Gems (like the heavy objects: Triforce pieces, Boss Keys, etc. in the single player game) to the goal. This isn't much, but it's a fun little time waster when you just don't want to traverse the Temple of the Ocean King, for the third freakin' time, on one player.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is easily Nintendo's best effort at a hand-held game. Spanning an incredible length, given the amount of data a standard DS game card can hold, and one of the very best control schemes you'll ever come across in a game, this is one game every owner of a Nintendo DS/Lite should consider picking up. I wouldn't quite say that the game is worth a full $35, but it comes damn close.
Other scores The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass recieved
Game Informer -- 9.5 (out of 10)
Electronic Gaming Monthly -- 8.0, 9.0, 9.0 (out of 10)
Nintendo Power -- 9.5 (out of 10)
IGN -- 9.0 (out of 10)
GameSpy -- 5 (out of 5)
GameSpot -- 9.0 (out of 10)
1up.com -- 8.0 (out of 10)
