Yesterday, I beat the new Zelda game. It’s always a pleasure playing a game from the Zelda series. This adventure on the DS is no exception. Of the two Zelda styles, this one is the cutesy version where the characters have little feet and no fingers. Link and Zelda look like 10-year-olds compared to the other characters. Incidentally, a couple of weeks ago, I came across this page showcasing some Zelda-inspired artwork. Nothing mind-blowing, but pretty cool.

All the great Zelda action is here. While it may be a little easy compared to past iterations, it’s still pretty long (about 15 hours); definitely long enough to see all the shit in the game. The typically great boss battles are great here too, but it’s too bad they’re over in about two minutes. Once you figure out how to beat the boss, it’s hard to lose.

This game is the ultimate in DS stylus control. Everything is done using the stylus. It’s very responsive too. All the items are intuitively controlled using a series of drag/drops and taps. To throw the boomerang, for example, you actually trace the path that you want it to follow, and let it loose. The ‘use item toggle’ is mapped to the trigger button, so it’s very easy to use an item as well as switch to another one on the fly. I can’t wait to see more games come out on the DS that utilize this scheme. It’s downright sick.

Sailing around in the boat is great fun also. You just plot its path on the seachart, it goes autopilot, and you shoot stuff with your cannon along the way. Eventually, you can use a robot arm to salvage treasure and even go fishing. Great fun, indeed.

There’s only two problems that I have with this game, and they’re both pretty minor. The first is that you have to run through the same temple four or five times during the course of the campaign, which is probably to showcase the innovation of map-making, but it can get tedious during the first half of the game.

The other problem is that when you beat the game, it’s over. Not a big deal for most, but I prefer still being able to roam around the world; maybe with a star beside your name or something. It just allows the user to attain a 100% completion without having to beat the game more than once. You know, the way GTA is.

In conclusion, if you have a DS, play this game. Or don’t.

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Check out the Gamespot coverage of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.