Xbox 360
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was arguably the pinnacle of Zelda excellence. By offering the best of everything, Twilight Princess managed to nail an already near perfect formula. So it’s not surprising Phantom Hourglass chose to innovate. The game adopts a semi-2D-quasi-3D look, using a top-down view for most of the game, but switching into full 3D when entering some buildings and during sailing. It looks fantastic, and you’ll feel no shame in showing it off to your PSP brethren.
One thing that's remained consistent across the Zelda series is the soundtrack. You’ll feel at home the moment you hear that fairy fountain music, and before long, the classic Zelda theme and the epic sailing music present in Wind Waker, which has also been carried across.
After a quick re-cap of the events from Wind Waker; Tetra (or Zelda, as I’m sure you remember) goes in search of the Ghost Ship, which has been terrorizing the seas and is responsible for a number of disappearances. But things don’t go according to plan and the evil vessel soon captures her. In a bid to save her, Link attempts to board the ship, falls into the sea and is washed up on a strange island...with a fairy.
From here, Phantom Hourglass continues the winning Zelda M.O. You conquer dungeons, slash enemies, and once again save that easily misled princess from her newest abductor. The stylus is used for nigh on everything: throwing bombs, directing boomerangs, walking, sword slashing and even rolling. However, the stylus comes into its own when you're using the map. The ability to jot down little notes, to remind yourself of areas you cannot access, or a solution for a puzzle, is one of the biggest steps forward. It adds to the sense of adventure, and there are even map-based puzzles for gamers to enjoy.
The whole experience is so brilliantly put together that you may fail to notice the flaws. Those who didn’t like the sailing in the first game should prepare for an even more frustrating experience. To sail you must draw a line on the map for your ship to follow, which seems clever to begin with, but it’s not long before you’re maddened by the lack of control, and no cannon or jump button can rescue this. Rolling can also prove difficult to pull off (you have to circle the corner of the screen), and some of the microphone uses (such as blowing sand off a map) feel forced into the game.
Yet these flaws are minor, and with some of the most impressive dungeons in the Zelda universe and some amusing dialogue, you can rest assured that Nintendo have crafted yet another Zelda masterpiece, a little under a year since the last.
The Legend of Zelda has just been dragged into a modern age by the 21st century’s most influential video game machine. It’s groundbreaking in every sense of the word. Nintendo have done it yet again.