The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

By Winston • October 1, 2007

Platform: Nintendo DS

Studio: Nintendo

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Bar Score:

Phantom Hourglass is the latest game in the long running Zelda franchise. It follows Link (who else?) in an island hopping quest to save Zelda, the world, etc. Along the way Link is joined by an interesting and colorful cast such as Linebeck, a cross between Han Solo and Keith Richards. Linebeck’s ship, the SS Linebeck, moves Link around a series of islands as he searches for treasure and chances to move the plot along. The story is relatively light and harmless with tons of humor thrown in. The hi-jinx of Linebeck alone are enough to make me crack up. Yes Link is on an epic quest, but that doesn’t mean that the player can’t have fun along the way.

The controls of the game are unique in that the player mostly uses the DS’ stylus (that little pen like thing that the player writes with on the touch screen). It’s really weird at first moving and fighting by using the touch screen, but after an hour or two it’s actually pretty comfortable. Goodbye Nintendo Thumb, hello writer’s cramp. There’s only a few times where the controls get in the way of awesomely solid game play.

The sound and graphics really measure up as well. Although there is no voice work in the game, the sound track and the audio effects clearly enhance the overall experience. There are a few instances where the graphics look muddy, but again these are seldom.

This is the first Zelda game I have played in about 10 years. After the PS2 and XBOX took over my life there was no more room for Nintendo and it’s nostalgic characters. I’ve got to admit though that buying a DS is one of my better decisions this year. If can only buy one DS game, buy Phantom Hourglass. It’s a solid game with addictive game play and a kick ass story to back it up.