The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is a video game that consists of 4 releases

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use the stylus to control the boomerang, write on a map via the touch screen and uncover hidden tresuare. Complete with a multiplayer mode this game has everything zelda fans ever dreamed of, and is the first Zelda game on the nintendo DS.

Overview

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is an action-adventure game developed by Nintendo EAD. It was published by Nintendo exclusively for the DS, and is fourteenth game in the series. It was released in Japan on June 23, 2007, and had it's US release on October 1, 2007. It has sold about four million units. To date, it is the only Zelda game on the NIntendo DS.

Plot

From the left, Ciela, Link, Linebeck, Tetra, and Oshus

Soon after the events of Wind Waker, Link, Tetra and her crew are sailing along the great sea, when they encounter a ghost ship, that has been kidnapping people from the surrounding islands. Tetra boards the ship to investigate, but as she does, she disappears. Link tries to go after her but is left drifting out at sea. He wakes up some time later on a mysterious island, with a fairy named Ciela and an old man named Oshus. With their assistance he enlists the help of Captain Linebeck and his ship to save her, now they must set out to find the location of the ghost ship and rescue Tetra.

Gameplay

The entirety of the game is controlled by the stylus, with the buttons acting as optional substitutes for certain functions. Movement is performed by pressing the stylus, combat by slashing the stylus, the use of items by drawing/tapping with the stylus, etc.. The position of the stylus is represented by a fairy. The game takes place in the same overworld as The Wind Waker, but it is much smaller. Players once again recieve a ship, and navigation is achieved by drawing a path on the Sea Chart. One noteable area within the game is the Ocean Temple. Within this temple, Link continously loses health unless he has obtained the Phantom Hourglass, which delays this effect. The hallways of the Ocean Temple are filled with invincible Phantoms, whom Link must sneak past without being seen.

Chopping up a foe

The DS touch scren allows for unique puzzles and controls never before seen in a Zelda game. Some examples including drawing and tracing puzzles, as well as the new boomerang. The boomerang is used by tracing a path with the stylus, which the boomerang will follow. Two screens also allow for bigger, more intimidating boss fights. The touch screen is also used for marking areas on the map. Players can mark up their map with notes about certain areas, and the quickest and safest routes for travel.

Being the sequel to Winf Waker, The Phantom Hourglass required much travel by boat. Taking to heart the many complaints about the sailing in Wind Waker, the developers changed up the travel for Phantom Hourglass. Rather then a sail boat, Link know travelled with an engine, rather then wind. Link was also able to fire his canon without stopping. To fire, the player simply had to tap on the touchscreen wherever they wished to shoot. Many enemies appear as Link travels across open water, and if killed, can drop a rupee or heart. Sometimes, tougher enemies, such as pirates, will appear. If Link is victorious in battle against these pirates, the rewards are greater. Along the way, obstacles will often present themselves, which Link can jump over.

Throughout his journey, Link can gather a plethora of custom ship parts and, as is tradtion for a Zelda title, plenty of other goodies. These parts come in a variety of themes that can be mixed and match to make the ship one of a kind, or can be assembled with pieces of the same set for bonuses. If you match pieces, you often get a more powerful ship. Heart pieces are also hidden across the land, which can increase Link's total health. The game also has three fairies which Link can power up to increase his attack, defense, and strength.

Multiplayer

The Phantom Hourglass is one of the few Zelda games to feature a multiplayer mode, and the only one with a multiplayer mode that is not the Four Swords. This battle mode can be played locally, or over Nintendo WiFi. The multiplayer battles are a one on one game titled hide and seek. In hide and seek, on player controls link, and the other player controls a trio of Phantom Guardians. Link's goal in the game is to collect force gems scattered around each arena, and take them back to his own base. The Phantom Guardians are tasked with stopping Link from getting any points. When either the time runs out or Link is caught, the players switch sides. Each game consists of three rounds, each player playing on both sides once in each turn. The maximum running time for a game is 12 minutes assuming that Link is not caught even once, and neither player obtains a time bonus.

Players can also obtain certain power ups to give them an edge in battle. These power ups include the speed increasing pegasus boots, the power glove, the decoy, wind walls, and bonus time.

The battle mode also allows players to unlock special gifts in the story. By performing various big plays, certain items can be unlocked in the single player mode.

General Information Edit

Game Name	The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD
Genres	Add a new genre Action Adventure
Themes	Add a new theme Fantasy
Original US Release	Oct. 1, 2007 need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	know the real date?
Aliases
OFLC	OFLC: G
CERO	CERO: A
ESRB	ESRB: E
PEGI	PEGI: 7+