''The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass'' is a 2007
action-adventure game
The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...
developed and published by
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
for the
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
handheld game console
A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the cons ...
. It is the fourteenth installment in
''The Legend of Zelda'' series and the direct sequel to the 2002
GameCube
The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
title ''
The Wind Waker''. ''Phantom Hourglass'' was released worldwide in 2007, with the exception of South Korea in April 2008. The game was re-released for the
Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
The W ...
via the
Virtual Console
A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...
service in the
PAL region in November 2015, in North America in May 2016, and in Japan in August. It earned a sequel, ''
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks'' in December 2009.
The game features
3D cel-shaded
Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic th ...
graphics with an overhead camera perspective, employs controls involving the console's
touchscreen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
and microphone, and took advantage of the
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC) was an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo to provide free online play in compatible Nintendo DS and Wii games. The service included the company's Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop game download ...
for online play until the service was discontinued in 2014. The game's story follows that of ''The Wind Waker'', focusing on series protagonist
Link's journey to save his friend
Tetra from the story's antagonist, Bellum, with the help of
Captain Linebeck and his ship, the S.S. ''Linebeck''.
Critics were highly positive towards ''Phantom Hourglass''. Its control scheme was praised, while criticism focused on its online features, which were considered too simple. The game received several
video game industry
The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide.
The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. , ...
awards, including the Nintendo DS
Game of the Year award from
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
,
GameSpy
GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
, and
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
. ''Phantom Hourglass'' was the best-selling game in its first month in Japan, with 302,887 copies sold. In the United States, it was the fifth best-selling game in the month it debuted, with 262,800 copies sold. 4.13 million copies of ''Phantom Hourglass'' were sold worldwide by March 2008.
[
]
Gameplay
''The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass'' is an action-adventure game
The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...
with gameplay similar to the other games in ''The Legend of Zelda'' series. The player controls Link, the protagonist, and explores the world to find new items, information, and allies to help him save his friend Tetra and defeat the antagonist Bellum. The game is divided into two gameplay types: sailing between islands, and exploring the islands and their dungeons on foot. While on land, Link discovers and utilizes many items, including the classic boomerang, bow, and bombs. When sailing, the game shows a map of the area on the Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
's top screen, and a 3D top-down view of Link and his nearby surroundings on the lower touchscreen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
. The player can bring down the map from the top screen to the lower screen to make notes. During certain events, including most boss
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, a ...
battles, a 3D view is shown on both screens, allowing the player to have a wider view of their surroundings. The player controls Link with the stylus, moves him by pointing to the sides of the screen, and uses the stylus to interact with objects and people or attack foes by pointing at them. To travel between islands on the Great Sea, the player controls a paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...
called the S.S. ''Linebeck''. The player can plot a course by drawing on a sea chart, redraw the course to make any necessary alterations, shoot at enemies that attack the ship using a cannon, and jump to avoid obstacles.
The game includes a one-on-one multiplayer battle mode. In an arena, one player controls Link, while the other player, on defense, controls three Phantom Guardians. Players of both sides are aided by power-up items that appear on the playing field. Link's goal is to grab a Force Gem and carry it to his base. The other player, controlling the three Phantom Guardians, must find and catch Link before he returns any Force Gems. When Link is caught, or if the round is over, players switch sides. Each multiplayer game consists of three rounds, and in each round, each player takes a turn at both sides. The maximum length of a multiplayer game is 12 minutes, assuming Link does not get caught. The game supports multiplayer both locally and online through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC) was an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo to provide free online play in compatible Nintendo DS and Wii games. The service included the company's Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop game download ...
, as well as Download Play
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in ta ...
. The game is the third ''The Legend of Zelda'' game to include multiplayer, following '' Four Swords'' and '' Four Swords Adventures''.
''Phantom Hourglass'' introduces the game mechanic of a large dungeon central to the game's story, in this case the Temple of the Ocean King. Link visits the Temple multiple times during the course of the game's story, in order to obtain sea charts that allow him to sail to other parts of the ocean. Throughout the game, the Temple has a curse placed on it that drains Link's life whenever he is inside, but upon obtaining the Phantom Hourglass, Link is able to explore the Temple without being affected by the curse for a limited amount of time. In addition to the curse, Link must contend with Phantoms, a type of enemy exclusive to the Temple. Phantoms are invincible for the most part, necessitating the use of stealth in order to get past them. "Safe zones" are scattered throughout the Temple, and allow Link to avoid both the Phantoms and the Temple's curse. As Link progresses through the game, he is able to access deeper levels of the Temple and stay inside for longer. The Temple, including the puzzles within, will reset whenever Link leaves, but as he obtains new items, he can unlock new routes and shortcuts that enable him to travel through the Temple quicker. All this is done similarly to a dungeon crawler.
Plot
Taking place immediately after '' The Wind Waker'', in which Link defeats Ganondorf
is a Character (arts), fictional character and the primary antagonist of Nintendo's ''The Legend of Zelda'' video game series and franchise, as well as the final Boss (video games), boss in many ''Zelda'' titles. A massive and malevolent creatu ...
who turns to stone and remains at the bottom of a now sealed away Hyrule, Link and Tetra travel over the flooded Hyrule called the Great Sea on board Tetra's pirate ship. Along the way, the pair discover the Ghost Ship and Tetra enters it; however, immediately after entering the Ghost Ship, she screams for help. While Link attempts to follow her, he slips and falls into the ocean. Washed ashore on an island, Link is awakened by Ciela, a fairy. Exploring the island, Link finds the Phantom Hourglass, filled with the Sands of Hours, and meets an old man named Oshus, who wants to help Link find the Ghost Ship and reunite with Tetra. To aid him in his quest, Link enlists the help of Captain Linebeck and his ship, the S.S. ''Linebeck'', which Link, Ciela, and Linebeck use to visit islands across the Great Sea.[ While Linebeck was initially reluctant to team up with the two, Ciela makes mention of a huge treasure, prompting him to agree to help them.
After scouring the Great Sea, Link learns that he must use maps and clues hidden in the Temple of the Ocean King to find the Spirits of Courage, Wisdom, and Power, which in turn will help him locate the Ghost Ship. With the help of the Phantom Hourglass, Link finds the Spirits of Wisdom and Power. When Link finds that the Spirit of Courage looks exactly like Ciela, Oshus explains that she is in fact the spirit, after which she and her other half transform into her true form. Now in possession of the three Spirits, Link, along with Ciela and Oshus, locate the Ghost Ship and find Tetra on board, who has been turned to stone. While Link determines how to save Tetra, Oshus reveals that he is the Ocean King and that he and Ciela had to change their appearances to hide from Bellum, a life-eating monster that Link must destroy to save Tetra. Oshus also mentions that Bellum was the one who created the Ghost Ship and turned Tetra into a statue, and that he has taken residence deep in the Temple of the Ocean King.][ Linebeck quickly readies to abandon their quest, outraged at the lack of treasure to be found. However, his loyalties instantly return when Oshus promises the captain one wish in return for his continued aid.
To defeat Bellum, Link learns that he must forge the Phantom Sword from three unique, "pure" metals located on nearby islands; Crimsonine (Goron Island), Azurine (Isle of Frost) and Aquanine (Isle of Ruins). After collecting and using the metals to forge the Phantom Sword, Link descends to the bottom level of the Temple of the Ocean King to face Bellum. After intense fighting, Link appears to defeat Bellum, and Tetra is freed from stone. After Link and Tetra hurry back to the ''S.S.'' ''Linebeck'' to find Oshus, Bellum emerges and sinks the ship, capturing Tetra and knocking Link unconscious in the process. Linebeck finally shows some devotion when he fights off Bellum while Link wakes up. Then, Linebeck gets possessed by Bellum, forcing Link to fight him, eventually defeating Bellum for good, saving Tetra and Linebeck, and releasing the sand from the Phantom Hourglass back into the sea. Oshus, now in his true form as a ]white whale
The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the wh ...
, readies to depart with the three spirits, while Linebeck, surprising everyone, wishes not for treasure but for his ship back, and Tetra and Link teleport back onto Tetra's pirate ship, where its crew tells them that only ten minutes had passed since the pair left the ship, insisting that their journey was a dream. However, Link still possesses the now-empty Phantom Hourglass, and sees Linebeck's ship on the horizon, knowing that his adventure was real.[
]
Development
Development started in May 2004, at which point the game still had gameplay similar to ''Four Swords Adventures''. At a press conference in Japan for the Nintendo DS in October, Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he is ...
of Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
said that they were thinking of bringing ''Four Swords'' to the DS, which was later confirmed by Eiji Aonuma at E3 2005. In 2006, Nintendo presented the keynote
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
address at the annual Game Developers Conference, where they also revealed ''Phantom Hourglass'' for the first time and presented a demo. Nintendo also revealed that the game would be released in late 2006. For the holiday season
The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...
, Nintendo launched two special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
Nintendo DS bundles, each in a different color, on November 23, 2007. One of the bundles, the Gold edition, was emblazoned with ''The Legend of Zelda''s signature Triforce logo and sold alongside ''Phantom Hourglass''.
The same development team that worked on ''Four Swords Adventures'' also worked on what would become ''Phantom Hourglass''. In the game's first prototype, the action took place in the upper screen while the touchscreen was a flat map that allowed Link to be controlled. However, the developers believed that this interface caused the player to be too disconnected from the game's action, thereby prompting them to switch the two screens. They felt that this interface would appeal to Japanese players, who they said prefer simple interfaces. The developers added a battle mode that was played over Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
to appeal to American players.
The game takes advantage of the Nintendo DS's stylus in several different ways. The player can draw shapes to open certain doors and plot out the path of ships on the ocean, among other tasks. The device's touchscreen can also be used to direct Link's boomerang.[ ''Phantom Hourglass'' features ]cel-shaded
Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic th ...
graphics, similar to that of ''The Wind Waker'', with some influence from ''Four Swords Adventures''. Link and Zelda's appearances in ''Phantom Hourglass'' closely resemble those from ''The Wind Waker''.[
At E3 2007, Aonuma said that ''Phantom Hourglass'' "opened up the 'Zelda''series and avea fresh, new control scheme to the aging ''Zelda'' formula".] He also said that, despite the disappointing sales of ''The Wind Waker'' affecting him personally, he still wished to continue the game's style in another ''Zelda'' iteration, leading to the inspiration for ''Phantom Hourglass''. Aonuma believed that the game's simple controls, with the help of the Nintendo DS's touchscreen, helped make ''Phantom Hourglass'' the first ''Zelda'' game to attract casual gamer
A gamer is a proactive hobbyist who plays interactive games, especially video games, tabletop role-playing games, and skill-based card games, and who plays for usually long periods of time. Some gamers are competitive, meaning they routinely ...
s.
Reception
''Phantom Hourglass'' was released in Japan on June 23, 2007, in the rest of the world in October, and in South Korea on April 3, 2008. The game was considered to have received "universal acclaim", receiving aggregated scores of 90/100 from Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
and 88.82% from GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
. Praise focused on the game's use of unique Nintendo DS features, while criticism targeted its more casual gameplay compared to the previous games in ''The Legend of Zelda'' series. ''Phantom Hourglass'' was the best-selling game in its debut month of June 2007 in Japan, selling 302,887 copies. In the United States, ''Phantom Hourglass'' was the fifth best-selling game in its debut month of October 2007, selling 262,800 copies. , 4.13 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide, with 910,000 of those copies in Japan.
''Computer and Video Games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...
'' called ''Phantom Hourglass'' one of the few "masterpieces" on the Nintendo DS, which made it "worth every penny". Believing that ''Phantom Hourglass'' improves on everything that was great about its predecessor, ''The Wind Waker'', ''GamePro
Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...
'' predicted that the sequel would be another successful game in the franchise. Although feeling that the game does not live up to the standards set in ''Twilight Princess
''The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess'' is a 2006 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube and Wii home video game consoles. Originally planned for release exclusively on the GameCube in November 2005, ''Twi ...
'', ''Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'' still felt that the adventure is worthy of ''The Legend of Zelda'' series, and noted that it "has enough great stuff going for it" for them to consider it one of the year's best video game adventures. GameZone enjoyed the "spectacular blend of touch-screen combat, brilliant puzzles, and ''Wind Waker'' beauty" in ''Phantom Hourglass'', calling it a "can't-miss adventure" and one of Nintendo's and the year's best games. ''Hyper
Hyper may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hyper'' (2016 film), 2016 Indian Telugu film
* ''Hyper'' (2018 film), 2018 Indian Kannada film
* ''Hyper'' (magazine), an Australian video game magazine
*Hyper (TV channel), a Filipino sports channe ...
''s Jonti Davies commended ''Phantom Hourglass'' for its "perfect controls and supreme world and dungeon designs", but criticized the game for only giving around 30 hours of gameplay.
Game Revolution
''GameRevolution'' (formerly ''Game-Revolution'') is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots ...
appreciated the game's graphics, and noted that it uses the Nintendo DS's features better than any other game for the console. Praising its "innovative" and "fun" control scheme, GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
felt that ''Phantom Hourglass'' gave a new life to several of the series' age-old concepts. '' X-Play'' wrote that ''Phantom Hourglass'' definitely felt like a ''The Legend of Zelda'' game, calling it another successful video game for the franchise and a "must-have" for anyone that owns a Nintendo DS. '' The Onion''s entertainment newspaper ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' remarked that ''Phantom Hourglass'' exploits the Nintendo DS's touchscreen to the fullest extent in an imaginative and genuinely fun way. In a perfect 5-star review, ''Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' stated that ''Phantom Hourglass'' is one of Nintendo's greatest achievements and a contender for the best handheld adventure in console history.
Issues that were mentioned in reviews regarding the game included its more casual gameplay compared to the previous ''The Legend of Zelda'' games, which was not well received by some. GameSpy
GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
felt that the game was both easy and approachable enough for casual gamers to play, but sufficiently rewarding and challenging to satisfy hardcore fans of ''The Legend of Zelda'' series. IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
believed the game to be "more casual than we'd like", but still found it captivating, entertaining, and "a true adventure worthy of the ''Zelda'' name", calling it "different, but it's still the real deal". GameTrailers
''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...
stated that the short dungeon levels and hand-holding exploration are "outright disappointing", but when comparing ''Phantom Hourglass'' to the other Nintendo DS games, they conceded that it was still an impressive game, but just a good game when compared to ''The Legend of Zelda'' standards. 1UP.com
''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conten ...
pointed out that the biggest problem with ''Phantom Hourglass'' is that it falls back on using innovations from the previous ''The Legend of Zelda'' games, rather than including new and original ideas.
Finding it difficult for hardcore gamers to fully enjoy ''Phantom Hourglass'', Nintendo World Report claimed that the game's lack of alternative control schemes was a telling sign that Nintendo did not have ''The Legend of Zelda'' fans in mind when creating the game. They still described the game as "decent", but felt that it departs from the rest of the series and that Nintendo should have taken the risk in creating innovations for this game. The American newspaper ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' enjoyed ''Phantom Hourglass'' for the most part, but complained about the timer in the Temple of the Ocean King as unnecessary and gimmicky, remarking that the game's dungeons are only "fun to go through once, but none of them are fun enough to go through 20 times". They noted that the time spent traveling through dungeons "removed all thoughts of it being perfect".
Several websites named ''Phantom Hourglass'' the 2007 DS Game of the Year, including IGN and GameSpy. It was also mentioned in Best of the Year lists from '' Wired'', ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', and '' Edge''. The game received Editor's Choice awards from GameSpot and IGN. It was also named Best Adventure Game by 1UP.com. The game was designated the Best Handheld Game at the 2008 Golden Joystick
The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be voted ...
awards, the 2007 Game Developers Choice Awards
The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.
Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were ...
, the 2007 ''GamePro'' Editors' Choice awards, the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards
The Spike Video Game Awards (in short VGAs, known as the VGX for the final show) was an annual award show hosted by American television network Spike from 2003 to 2013 that recognized the best computer and video games of the year. Produced by ...
, and the 2008 Interactive Achievement Awards
The D.I.C.E. Awards (formerly the Interactive Achievement Awards) is an award show in the video game industry started in 1998 and commonly referred to in the industry as the "video games Oscar". The awards are arranged by the Academy of Interac ...
. At E3 2006, ''Phantom Hourglass'' was designated as the Best Nintendo DS Game by GameSpot and the Best Handheld Game at the Game Critics Awards. The game placed 38th in '' Official Nintendo Magazine''s 100 Greatest Nintendo Games of All-Time.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, The
2007 video games
Video games about curses
Post-apocalyptic video games
Multiplayer online games
Naval video games
Nintendo DS games
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development games
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection games
Stealth video games
Steampunk video games
Phantom Hourglass
''The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass'' is a 2007 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is the fourteenth installment in ''The Legend of Zelda'' series and the direct sequel ...
Video games about pirates
Video games developed in Japan
Video games set on fictional islands
Video games with cel-shaded animation
Virtual Console games
Virtual Console games for Wii U
Spike Video Game Award winners
Microphone-controlled computer games