Okay, we have to ‘fess up. When we said that posting on this blog was sporadic because of technical difficulties, we were only telling you half the story. It’s true that the site was down and temporarily unavailable, but that only happened because we coshed the web monkey over the head and pulled the plug on the server. We needed time, y’see. Time to sit back and enjoy this new Zelda adventure without any interruptions whatsoever. And oh boy, it was sure worth it.

Phantom Hourglass is a direct sequel to The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which was released on the Nintendo GameCube way back in 2002. Picking up where the last game left off, our hero Link is sailing with Tetra (a.k.a. Princess Zelda from the lost Kingdom of Hyrule) and her crew of pirates in search of new lands to explore. It’s not long before they encounter trouble, however. Tetra is kidnapped by a mysterious Ghost Ship, and Link must rescue her by recovering an ancient artefact called, you guessed it, the Phantom Hourglass.

That’s the plot summary out of the way, now about the control scheme; it’s a work of genius. Using the stylus and touchscreen, players use a series of taps, lines and sweeping movements to move, fight, take notes, and interact with other characters. When controlling Link on land, you simply tap the screen in the direction you want him to move, and then use the same motion to to communicate with other characters and gain information. Whilst at sea, players will be able to navigate a path for Link’s ship and fire the onboard cannon at passing enemies by tapping the screen over them. It works really well, better than expected even, and it’s so accessible that anyone can just pick up and play.

In terms of visual design, the game employs the same cel-shaded graphics as the Wind Waker, but also uses the top-down perspective as seen in earlier titles like A Link to the Past. In this way, Phantom Hourglass manages to straddle two different eras in Zelda history, seemingly looking both forwards and backwards at the same time. The music is fabulous too, with traditional sound cues mixed into a upbeat score that encapsulates the spirit of adventure.

Phantom Hourglass also features an online multiplayer mode, a first for the series which we’ll be covering in greater depth in a future post on WiiWii. Essentially, it allows two players to go head to head via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or the Nintendo DS’s Wireless connection. One player assumes the role of Link, with the aim of gaining as many points as possible by carrying Force Gems back to their base, whilst the other controls a trio of “Phantoms” who try and make Link drop his precious treasure. As an added incentive, performing big plays in the multiplayer mode will unlock gifts that can be used in the single player mode.

When we first heard that Phantom Hourglass was going to be a sequel to The Wind Waker, we couldn’t help but scratch our heads. That game is widely regarded as the weakest “Link” (sorry) in recent memory, so it was surprising that Nintendo should choose to revive it for Zelda’s debut on the DS. Luckily the gamble paid off, because the end result is a fantastic experience that delivers on two fronts; it perfectly demonstrates the strengths of the DS as a gaming device, and it vindicates the game’s producers for remaining faithful to the world of the Wind Waker. Go play.

Wii Like: Stylus control, accessible gameplay

Wii Don’t Like: Single player game isn’t long enough

Rating: ★★★★★

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 10:09 pm by Bulent Yusuf
DS, Latest Games, Reviews.