Hands On: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Tested and reviewed by Alex Sanfilippo, age 13.

Are you ready to continue your epic quest? The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS begins right where our hero, Link, left off at the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. At first I was a little skeptical toward the game, because I enjoy playing games with consoles that hook up with the TV, but I have had a lot of fun playing this game. The Phantom Hourglass is the first Legend of Zelda game to be featured on the Nintendo DS; the graphics are very clear for a DS game, and the new controls are fun and easy to learn. Similar to previous Legend of Zelda games, Phantom Hourglass is a challenging game filled with adventures, puzzles, and quests.







In this sequel, Link sets sail with Tetra (who decided to stay a pirate) and her swashbuckling crew. The adventure kicks off with a search for a legendary ghost ship that disappears with whoever is brave (or foolish) enough to board it in search of its treasure. When they find the ship, Tetra, who believes the ghost ship is just some pirate crew up to no good, jumps onboard to get to the bottom of the mystery. Link heroically jumps after her, but he falls into the water--and the ship disappears.

Link wakes up and finds himself on an island. He meets a friendly fairy named Celia who has lost her memory. She takes him to an old man (who she calls Grandpa) to tell you about the ghost ship. Grandpa says to stay away from the ship, but (of course) Link doesn't listen. Now you have the entire island to explore and new skills to learn with the help of Celia and the island's natives.

The controls of this game are completely different from those of its predecessors: All the controls are activated by touch. To move Link, you just drag the stylus to where you want him to go. All sword combat involves the stylus too. When you draw circles around Link, he does a spin attack .To lunge at a bad guy than slash him, you just tap. For a horizontal slash, you swipe the stylus across your foe. To roll, you draw small circles where you want Link to roll to.

For some tasks, you may need to blow or talk into your DS's microphone. Conveniently, when you receive dungeon or island maps, you can draw on them with the stylus to mark important paths and places. You also use the touch screen to sail around and perform tasks while sailing. To my relief, sailing doesn't take as long as it did in Wind Waker. The controls are a new and fun way to experience The Legend of Zelda.

Link also has a stock of his classic weapons. Bow and arrows, the hookshot, bombs, boomerangs and more aid Link on his quest. They all perform the same functions as in previous Legend of Zelda games but have new controls on the DS. For example, you can draw the path you want your boomerang to follow, and tap exactly where you want to throw your bomb. You receive these weapons in dungeons; they're needed to defeat certain foes and perform certain tasks in the dungeons.

In addition to the adventure part of the game, there is a multiplayer mini-game. You can find opponents via Wi-Fi or just by challenging someone close to you who also has a DS. One person plays as Link, and the other player controls three phantoms. The objective of the mini-game is to get as many force gems on your side as possible while avoiding the phantoms. You have three chances to get as many force gems as possible. If you get caught by a phantom or time runs out you switch places with your opponent. You now control the phantoms, and your opponent becomes Link. Whoever has the most force gems at the end wins the game. This minigame can be a lot fun to play with friends.

The release date for the game was October 1, 2007. It is available at stores such as EB Games, Game Stop, Best Buy, and Circuit City for about $34.99, and it's worth every penny. The Phantom Hourglass is one of the best games I have played on the Nintendo DS. It has challenging puzzles, amazing graphics, and fun-to-solve dungeons. It is a truly unique game for the DS.