The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass DSi and DS Lite

The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass Product Details

Released on 19/10/2007

• The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass

  One for the phans...

  Celda, they called it. It was the GameCube's most controversial game and Zelda's most dramatic change in direction since the ill-advised side-scrolling second NES outing, but the cartoony Wind Waker nonetheless had its followers. And despite Twilight Princess's return to a grittier, mainstream aesthetic, Nintendo clearly hasn't forgotten its older, more stylised success. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on DS is very much the next chapter in Link's epic seafaring story.

  Like its GameCube big brother, Phantom Hourglass will present Link's adventures in full cel-shaded (that is, black-outlined) 3D, giving Phantom Hourglass the feel of a moving comic book. However, Phantom Hourglass will play somewhat differently to its colourful forebear by giving gamers a top-down perspective more akin to traditional Zelda outings than the third-person cam of home console versions.

  Cunning control

  It's a trade-off that's looking entirely worth it. Not only is Phantom Hourglass looking stunning for a handheld title, but the control system is built entirely around the birds-eye viewpoint. Making ingenious use of the DS' idiosyncratic features, you'll guide Link almost entirely with the stylus and touch screen; pointing to move, tapping objects and people to interact, and swishing and stroking to attack with sword or other weapons. To put it in context, Phantom Hourglass' touch-screen controls make Wii Twilight Princess' masterful motion mimicking feel utterly redundant.

  Phantom Hourglass also promises to completely reinvent the videogame map system. Never have we seen a map screen like this, where you'll swiftly transfer the map to the touch screen and sit there jotting down all sorts of notes on it with your stylus – treasure locations, unsolved puzzles, you name it – for future reference, just like a real-life professional elf-cum-explorer (such as Link is, of course) would do.

  Phantom Hourglass promises possibly the perfect blend between longevity and pick-up-and-play portable fun.

  And it's not only that which Nintendo have used inventively; Phantom Hourglass will boast tons off neat little DS-specific touches; transferring things between screens by closing the DS, spreading the play to the top screen on occasion; solving puzzles by blowing on the mic... and these are just the tip of Phantom Hourglass's genuine Nintendo genius.

  All of which will come in handy for Phantom Hourglass's diverse, sprawling adventure. Like in Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass sees you once again trying to track down a kidnapped Tetra by exploring a mixture of a water-strewn overworld, devious dungeons and, on occasion (though far less so than on home systems) a small town here and there for the odd fetch-and-carry sidequest. It is supposedly shorter than the Zeldas on the bigger systems, but Phantom Hourglass promises possibly the perfect blend between longevity and pick-up-and-play portable fun.

  The DS's defining release?

  A big factor in Phantom Hourglass's longevity is going to be multiplayer, which we can see hordes of Zelda-loving DS owners absolutely loving this winter and beyond. Described at its most basic as two-player Pac-Man, one player controls a treasure-hungry Link while the other guides guards trying to trap the green-clad scamp – and the best bit is you can play it locally – via both ad hoc and download play, so you won't necessarily need two Phantom Hourglass carts – and, crucially, online.

  The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, then, could well be the DS's defining release and one of the year's uppermost top titles. Indeed, Wind Waker may remain the Zelda series' most hotly debated release, but if Phantom Hourglass ends up delivering as promised then this second Celda will deserve nothing but universal acclaim.

  Preview by: Mark Scott
  Preview Published: 28.09.07

  Published: 28/09/2007

• Happy birthday Zelda! Legendary series is 25 today

  Following the recent celebrations of Super Mario's 25th Anniversary, another Nintendo series has reached a similar milestone. With the original Legend of Zelda going on sale in Japan on 21st February 1986, the franchise is officially 25 today.

  
  

  Sales of Zelda games topped 60 million last year, and while it hasn't been quite as commercially successful as the Mario and Pokon titles, the series remains one of Nintendo's biggest hits.

  
  

  Though Nintendo hasn't announced plans for a compilation similar to this year's Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition, it does have two Zelda games planned for release this year. First with us should be The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, a remake of the N64 classic for Nintendo's newest portable. Ocarina of Time remains the most critically-acclaimed game of all time, and the new version benefits from reworked puzzles and controls as well as revamped visuals to make the most of the 3D effect.

  
  

  Later this year, we'll also see The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii, which utilises the Wii MotionPlus add-on for 1:1 sword controls as well as introducing a new Impressionistic art style. Most excitingly, creator Eiji Aonuma has promised a number of major changes to the Zelda formula. Tinkering with tradition has historically brought about some of the franchise's most memorable moments - from the inventive 3-day structure of Majora's Mask to the initially divisive cel-shaded visuals of Wind Waker - so we're happy to learn that we're in for a fresh take on this much-loved series.

  
  

  We'll bring you release date news for both games as soon as we get it.

  
  
• Iwata spills the beans on Zelda, Zelda and Zelda

  Mario may have had a brand new game announced at GDC, but Zelda wasn't left out of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's keynote speech. In fact, there was plenty of news to go around.

  First up, Iwata revealed that the 3DS remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be hitting shelves in June. That's soon! Fantastic stuff.

  Secondly, he showed a new trailer for the new Wii adventure The Skyward Sword, which is expected by the end of the year. Making use of the Wii's Motionplus peripheral for added precision, the new trailer showed lots of combat, but also puzzle sections where Link has to manipulate 3D objects to open doors, and a tight-rope walking set-piece where the player must keep the remote level to stop Link from falling. The game looks incredible, too.

  Finally, Iwata teased "something" related to Zelda to mark the series' 25th anniversary, which is this year. He wouldn't say what the plan is, but admitted that Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto is working on a treat for Zelda fans everywhere. What could it be?

• Miyamoto spills the beans on Zelda 3DS

  In the latest Iwata Asks, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto talks about why he's been so eager to update N64 games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 for the company's new 3DS handheld.

  "One major reason is that at the time of their release, both games ran at the limit in terms of polygon counts and frame rates," Miyamoto said in the latest Iwata Asks (thanks to Andriasang for the translation and Eurogamer for the spot). The update has given his team the perfect opportunity to deliver the games as they were always intended to be - with the added bonus of 3D visuals.

  Miyamoto went on to add that gamers who played the games first at school would now be in their mid-twenties, and that "the time was right for a remake."

  We personally can't wait to get the chance to charge across Hyrule Field again when Ocarina of Time hits the 3DS in June. Star Fox 3DS is due out later this year, while the console itself hits shelves on 25th March - that's really, really soon!

• Nintendo offers glimpse into the making of Zelda

  Nintendo is one of the most secretive developers around: the Japanese videogame legend makes some of the best games in the business, but it rarely lets us in on how it works. Now, though, Nintendo spilled the beans on how the famous targeting system for Zelda: Ocarina of Time came about.

  These days, plenty of action games allow you to pull a trigger to lock onto an enemy, but Zelda N64 outing was the first to come up with the idea and it was inspired, according to the game general director, Toru Osawa, by a trip to a theme park.

  Speaking to Nintendo head honcho on the latest Iwata Asks, Osawa remembers: "We thought if we went [to the theme park], we might get some ideas. We got our boss's approval, and Koizumi-san, Ikeda-san and I went. It sure was a hot summer! We ducked into a playhouse to cool off. They were doing a ninja show. A number of ninja were surrounding the main samurai and one lashed out with a kusarigama (sickle-and-chain). The lead samurai caught it with his left arm, the chain stretched tight, and the ninja moved in a circle around him."

  The fact that each ninja attacked one at a time, giving the samurai the chance to defeat them, was all the inspiration the Nintendo team needed to revolutionise 3D gaming controls. It an amazing story and if you want to see how it turned out, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is out right now for the 3DS.

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