"Link returns, with an all new fun adventure waiting to be fufilled!"

Nintendo finally decided to make a Zelda game for the DS. And so Phantom Hourglass, the best Zelda and DS game on my opinion, was born! I enjoyed Phantom Hourglass a lot when I got it. There are a lot of puzzles in the game just to let you know. Some puzzles are hard and some are, well pretty easy. But nonetheless, all of the puzzles are fun. You may get stuck on a puzzle now and then but you won't get stuck forever. Well now here are some facts about the game:

Gameplay 10/10: In one word I can explain it as.....AWESOME!!! The story is great and you always get suprised like when you're at the Ghost Ship dungeon after you beat the boss. Now, the story starts right where WW ended with a short slideshow summarizing up WW. After the slideshow you wake up from the ground of the ship not listening to what Niko, the guy who shows you the slideshow, was telling you. Tetra aka Zelda sees you lieing on the floor and comes up to and tells you to get up. Then out of nowhere an eerie, mysterious fog comes and a big, ragged up ship draws near the pirate ship you are on. Tetra goes to see what happened and gets on the ship which is the Ghost Ship and then she shreiks in terror. Link rushes to her aid but since the Ghost ship was moving he only could hang on the ledge with his arms. Unfortunatly......he falls in to the sea. After that, you wash up on an island. A fairy named Celia wakes you up and you get all suprised and all that. Sooner or later you meet Oshus who is a very mysterious old man that Celia calls grandpa. After some events you meet a person who is called Linebeck in the Temple of the Ocean King. Well that's just about all the beginning but I might have left some of the beginning for you to find out. Now some comments about the gameplay. The gameplay is really good. It makes you want more and more and more! The gameplay makes you want to make a new file and play the whole game again. Sadly, there is only 2 file slots so you'll have to new game some. Nonetheless, I will say it again the gameplay is awesome!

Multiplayer/Online 8/10: If you're thinking its you as Link fighting another Link, you're wrong. The multiplayer/online is very nice and fun and can get addicting at some point. The multiplayer/online is kind of like.....well capture the flag but not much. Its a taking turns game. One person is a Phantom, well actually 3 Phantoms, and the other person is Link(either red or blue depending if you're second or first player). The objective for the Phantoms is to get Link and slice him for the round to be over. The objective for Link is to get scattered Triforce Pieces to the Red or Blue safe zone matters if you're second or first player. There are different sizes of Triforce Pieces. The bigger the more points and smaller the less points. The bigger the more slow you go and the smaller the more faster you go. Also while you are Link you can go into shiny places called safe zones. While in a safe zone you can't get hit by a Phantom. Pretty handy eh? Also, there is a timer so you can't be Link forever if a guy can't get you. Also there are items to help you and the Phantoms so if you're the Phantom, you can always get help from the items. I preferably like being Link. Once again multiplayer/online is very nice.

Controls 10/10: The controls are PERFECT!!!! The game uses the touch screen for like...EVERYTHING!!! It might sound hard to you here and when you begin the game but sooner or later you get used to them and then you're like, "Wow! These controls are awesome!" When you obtain the sword to slice you need to use the touch screen. To use a jump strike you tap on a place or an enemy. To do a horozontal slice you need to draw an invisible lin between you and the enemy or whatever. To do a vertical slice you need to draw and invisible line the way you are facing. To do a spin-attack you need to draw an invisible circle around you fast. During the game you unlock something that was from WW, the super spin-attack! Simply you do a spin attack 3 times and the 4th one will be the great, super spin-attack. If you have WW and you've unlocked the super spin-attack you know what I mean, but if you don't here's what it is. The super spin-attack is Link spinning around super fast for a little while and then you get dizzy but you recover. Now done for sword controls. Also one more thing, you can roll by making tiny circles at the edge of the screen. Now onto item controls! Well the best item that uses the touch screen the most is the boomerang! When you use the boomerang you need to draw a path for it. Just use your stylus and make a path starting from you and ending to you. Then it follows that path. If it bumps into something it will just go back to you. Next, the shovel. Pretty useless but a handy tool for getting rupees. All you need to do is get it out and tap a place and Link will go towards it if he can and then dig in the place where you tapped. Now the bow and arrow. All you need to do is get it out and tap a place where you want to shoot and it will got there. If you tap a place where the arrow can still go past it will. Next is the bombs. All you need to do is get it out and tap the place where you want to throw it or place it. The bomb won't start to go off in your hand unless you put it down then you pick it up. When you put the bomb on the ground it will start to detonate. Next, hammer. Just to tell you im not going in order because I don't wanna spoil the order. Now back to the hammer. To bang something with the hammer you need to take it out and tap a place and it will bang it. If you tap a place and hold the stylus there, the hammer will charge up and then turn big and when you let go it will bang where you held the stylus with more power. Now to grappling hook. To use the grappling hook you need to take it out and then tap a place and the grappling hook will stretch out up to the place you tapped. You can use it to drag yourself to a pole. Also you can drag an invisible line from 2 poles and it will make a tightrope which you can walk on but if you use the grappling hook again the tightrope will go away and you'll have to make it again if you want to use it again. Last but not least item are, bombchus! These are better than regular bombs. When you take it out the map will go down onto your touch screen and time will freeze while you draw a path for your bombchu to follow. You can also move while the bombchu is following its path so you don't have to stand there like a statue wide open. Bombchus will blow up at the end of their path or when the touch and obstacle but they won't blow up if they touch a wall. Bombchus can go through little holes in walls for shortcuts. Now the last set of controls: ship controls. Basicly you need to draw a route for your ship on the sea chart when you get it. Once you get on your ship from an island the sea chart goes down and you need to draw a route. When you get the cannon to fire you need to tap a place or an enemy or whatever to shoot. You can also fire at birds which are pretty good target practice if you think like me. Well those are all the controls.

Sound/Music 8.5/10: Sound and Music are good. They are based on a pirate theme and most of the boss fight music are cool. They suit the boss especially the final one. When you fire a cannon it sounds like a real cannon except way softer. Also when you leave an island with your boat the horn that blows when you leave sounds like a real horn on a ship that's leaving. Well that's just my opinion. Nonetheless, the sound and music are really good.

Graphics 7/10: All the graphics are the same as WW's. Their not all that great as Twilight Princess but they're still pretty good in my opinion. Its clear enough to make out what is what. 7/10 is what I would rate it. Besides, its supposed to have those graphics. Its the sequel of WW so since it continues from what WW left off at, it should have those graphics.

Replay Value 9/10: I rate the replay value 9/10 because the story is so fun, its great to do it 2 or even 3 times again. The boss fights are fun and sometimes you just wanna fight a boss over and over again. Also since this game has wi-fi its a good game do play every now and then. Well once again that's just my opinion. You might not like it as much as me and only play the game and beat it once and then not play again. Well that's what I say about the replay value.

Well that's my review. I hope this convinces you to get the game or if you already have it, you have a better opinion about the game. Thanks for reading!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/07

Game Release: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (US, 10/01/07)