The first Zelda game for the DS was great.
This game was the first Legend of Zelda game for the DS. At the time, I wasn't really interested in Zelda, but now I am a huge fan after playing the games on my Legend of Zelda Collecter's disc I've been neglecting, as well as this game. I bought it on vacation after watching the Simpsons Movie over ten times, and my mom picked this up so I wouldn't watch that.
As mentioned before, this is the first Zelda game for the DS. The intro starts out in storybook form, telling the story of the Windwaker(I'm sure of it). You are now on Tetra's ship, looking for the haunted Ghost Ship. Rumor has it that any ship that travels near it has never been spoken of again. When you find it, Tetra decides to jump onto it, but doesn't come back. You decide to search for it, but miss and wash up on Mercay Island. A fairy, Ciela(who has the same sound effects as Navi from Ocarina of Time, like the nostalgia) gets you up and Link tells her about what happened at the Ghost Ship. She advises you that you see Oshus, who is a real nag. He doesn't let you go thru a mountain path and expects you to wait for a bridge to be built because the monsters there are dangerous! Come on! I beat Ganondorf! After he nags at you, Ciela says it will take a while and you should find a sword. After finding one, Oshus teaches you how to use it and you go into the mountain path. After going through, you find out more about the Ghost Ship, and you need a ship to find it. So you need to find a guy named Captain Linebeck. Apparently he went into the cursed Temple of the Ocean King, and now you have to find him. He's okay, but he's trapped and can't escape because he supposedly sprained his ankle. The temple has a curse that drains the life out of you. There are safe zones that won't drain your life. After lowering the spikes that trap him, he dashes for freedom. Didn't he sprain his ankle? Anyway, you have to find a sea chart in this floor. This isn't really your first dungeon yet.
After you get the sea chart, go back to Linebeck. Linebeck is basically obsessed with finding treasure and is very selfish.(He's one of my favorite Zelda characters) He'll let you go on his ship(reluctantly) and your first goal is the Isle of Ember. This is as far as I will go into the story.
This game is technically the sequel to the Windwaker, although neither of the stories relate to each other, but the story from the Windwaker is mentioned, and the pirates were ported over to this game.
This game also brings back the Great Sea system, although it has been changed up. In this game, you draw a trail to where you wanna go with your touch screen, and the boat drives manually. Also, there are much less islands. Linebeck's ship also has it's own hearts. It has 4 hearts, but you can get more by customizing your ship by changing the parts so they are all the same set. Doing this will add more hearts. The boat is slow, but if you do a sidequest, you will be able to warp to different parts of the sea by hitting frogs.
The graphics are fine for this game. There are a lot of funny cutscenes with Linebeck, and that's why we love him.
The controls involve the Touch Screen. To move, touch where you want to go. To use your sword, drag the stylus. You can also take notes on your map by drawing on it. For example, if you got a sign from a golden frog, you can draw it on your sea chart so you won't forget.
Like all Zelda games, there are sidequests. Some involve getting a Cyclone Slate to let you warp, getting a fishing rod, etc. I think there weren't a lot of sidequests though.
There is also a multiplayer mode. It's called battle. One player is Link, the other plays as three Phantoms. Link has to collect the Force Gems and bring them back to his base, while the Phantoms have to stop him. Each Force Gem is worth different amount of points. The small ones are very light, but aren't worth a lot of points. The medium size ones are heavier and worth more points. The large ones are very heavy and worth tons of points. If you carry heavy gems, then you go slower making you vulnerable to attack. For the Phantoms to move, you need to draw a line on the Touch Screen. and a Phantom will move in that direction. Link can avoid Phantoms by going to safe zones. He can't see Phantoms unless he's holding a Force Gem. Drop the Force Gems on your own base to get the points. After the round is over, or you get hit by a Phantom, a new round starts, with the roles of Link and Phantom changed. Oh yeah, did I mention when your opponent is Link, he can take your Force Gems? Yep. He can use your base and take your gems. If he drops them on his base, he takes the points. If he drops them on a regular safe zone, they become neutral again. There are power ups that can help Phantoms and Link. For Link, such examples would be a clone to confuse the other player, increased speed, extra time, and the ability to take two hits. For the Phantoms, examples would be increasing the size of the sword, increased speed, less time, and bringing back the wind if it was turned off.
There are also Big Plays that you can make in Battle Mode. If you make them, you can get certain items, such as gold ship parts in the adventure mode. They are worth a lot of money and add more hearts if you collect 'em all. When I say add more, it means it adds more hearts than it usually would for a regular set of parts. You can play battle in three ways. You can play with two Ds cards, DS Download Play, and Nintendo Wi-Fi. There is an online ranking system too. I liked the Wi-Fi because it was the only way to play this game without pestering people to play with me. You can't play with a computer.
The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass is a great game. Everything is good, and was a great introduction for Zelda to the DS. The only downsides were that where is Ganondorf? He's not in this game. I know he wasn't in Majora's Mask, but why not this game? Why did they have to bring in Bellum? I know he is mentioned, but still! Also, there weren't a lot of sidequests, but the length of the sidequests makes up for it.....barely. And the game is short too.
This game gets a 9 out of 10 with the title of Superb!