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The Legend of Zelda makes its debut on the Nintendo DS. How has 2007's marquee portable title fared with the critics?

Oh. More sailng. Great.

While fans went crazy over the motion-based controls of the Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the fact remains that the game wasn't originally conceived with it in mind, and it was somewhat noticeable. The premiere DS Zelda title, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, on the other hand, is built around the unique control method of Nintendo's newest portable. The major gaming outlets have weighed in on whether it panned out.

GameSpy, awarding the game a perfect 5/5 score, explains how Phantom Hourglass caters to both the casual and hardcore camps:

Hearts are abundant, things move at speeds that are easy to track with the stylus, you begin with the ability to hold as many rupees as you like, and even if you die, you'll find you haven't lost too much progress. Instead, combat, puzzles, and boss fights are all crafted to place the emphasis on satisfying problem solving and exploration. The difficulty is perfect; Nintendo has crafted a Zelda games that people who have played nothing but Brain Age will be able to finish, but series fans will be able to dive into happily.

Games Radar was slightly less impressed with the game, citing the short main quest as the only major complaint in the 9/10 review. What did ping their radar just right was the improved item usage:

When you realize that the boomerang can spell out your name, there's no question what a godsend stylus-driven items are. Not simply content with giving you huge amounts of control - drawing intricate paths for the boomerang and bombchu never grows old - they've found new things to do with the most tired of items. If the hookshot's tightrope tricks don't make it into the next Wii Zelda, there are going to be some angry letters.

While you may think that Phantom Hourglass is a shoe-in for game of the year, 1UP brings up some interesting points about the series as a whole, and where this latest iteration fits in, scoring the game a 8.0 out of 10.

But another Zelda basically means another carefully choreographed series of fetch quests and multipart boss battles that, if you're less romantic about the series than others, eventually start to feel like going through the motions. Another predictable eventuality is that in every Zelda game, you usually have to find a very specific item to beat a boss just before you reach that boss, and you'll rarely use it again.

1UP's overall view of the series seems to mesh with mine, so its opinion about this game rings true to me. If you're going to include snazzy new moves but place it in the context of a game that won't change its tired structure, why should I climb aboard. I want a Zelda that doesn't have me running around doing errands for hours and travelling across the same seas and dungeons I've been exploring since 1987. I don't know if the game is too entrenched in the setting and story to make major changes, but I do know that I'm starting to lose interest with every "new" adventure.

Hey, thanks: GameSpy, Games Radar , 1UP

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VivaLeResistance

Posted at: 10/05/07 at 1:59 PM PST

man I want a ds so baaaadly.

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