The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

System: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Nintendo
Price: $34.99

As one of the few direct sequels in Nintendo's well-known Zelda franchise, Phantom Hourglass follows most of the tried-and-true mechanics of the other games. There are plenty of switches to hit with your boomerang, a princess to save, and loot to be gathered while your out adventuring. It maintains the more cartoonish style that debuted in The Wind Waker on the Gamecube. This is both a strength and a weakness for the game, depending on your style. (Personally, it love the bright colors and exaggerated facial expressions that Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass use.)

One aspect of the game that caught me a bit off-guard was the control scheme. Most games for the DS give you the option of using the face buttons or the stylus (or some combination of the two) to move your character, blow up those blocks, or dodge incoming attacks. With Phantom Hourglass, everything is mapped to the touch screen except for a few menu controls. (You do use the built-in microphone to solve a few puzzles and beat up an enemy or two, but it's otherwise left alone.) This was a little hard to get used to at first, but once I got the hang of it, it was an easy and intuitive way to play. Want to slash that chu? Tap it with the stylus. Want to clear the ground surrounding you? Draw a circle around Link to unleash a spin attack. Rolling didn't play much of a role in the game, and it's a good thing, too -- the gesture for initiating a roll was to draw circles at the very edge of the screen. It didn't work well in tight spaces.

The storyline follows Wind Waker's very well. Link is off with Tetra sailing the Great Sea and generally having a good time with the pirate gang while searching for a mysterious vessel known as the Ghost Ship. Well, you find it, and lo and behold! Tetra is kidnapped, and it's up to Link to rescue her. The story takes quite a few twists and turns after that, but it's an enjoyable ride.

All in all, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is a great game. It is, however, a little on the easy side. The puzzles aren't as devilish as they were in previous Zelda games, and the temples aren't as long. (This last point is actually in the game's favor somewhat; handhelds aren't designed to be hand-friendly after eight straight hours of play.) The worst, however, is the Temple of the Ocean King. You will be tasked with traversing this labyrinth several times. The journey becomes less (or more) tiresome as you get new items, but solving the same puzzles and evading the same enemies time after time sucks the fun out of this part of the game. But for the Nintendo DS owner who just might be a Zelda fan, this is still a worthy entry in one of Nintendo's longest-running series.

Score: 8.5
This is a fun romp of an action game, but there's nothing that makes it really stand out from the crowd.