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It is an opinion of mine that I share with many, that Zelda, instead of Mario, should be the character you think of when Nintendo’s mentioned in a conversation. His legacy is amazing. There’s certainly no Mario 2 in the Zelda back catalogue.

The Phantom Hourglass is no different. It’s the game the DS deserves, and so far the only game that fully utilises the innovativeness of the system. Throughout the whole game, I can’t recall once instance where I needed to use the regular buttons; everything’s done with the stylus. Fighting, throwing, running, rolling, jumping, it’s so much fun.

Presentation

The graphics are done really well. The cell shading and the cute character design give the game a very cartoony feel, but it’s never silly or overly childish. Add a Lego Star Wars-esque humour into the mix and visually, you have a very entertaining game.

Plot

The storyline’s a typical Zelda one. Princess Zelda has been captured/altered, and you must get her back and kill all the main bad guy. Nothing hugely controversial happens and it kinda plods along. Nevertheless, because how good the rest of the game is, you don’t really notice. I should add that the sub-plots are fantastic, and break the game up nicely.

The game is very diverse, and if you do start to get bored or a particular setting, the game generally whisks you off to another location. The dungeon’s are by far the game’s best locations. You’ll find yourself spending hours in some of the later ones, solving excellently designed puzzles and putting your stylus through its paces.

Conclusion

Simply a must have for anyone with a DS. I’ve even passed it on to Ellie, whose like for gaming goes as far as Brain Training, and she’s loving it. If I had to say one negative thing about it, I would probably say it’s too easy, but then that seems to be a general trend across all platforms over the last 5 years or so.

It’s a great game, go and buy it.