Play The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Online

Phantom Hourglass came out for the Nintendo DS in 2007, developed and published by Nintendo. It arrived when the DS was full of games trying new things with the touchscreen and dual screens, and this one felt like a natural part of that experimental phase. It picks up right after the events of The Wind Waker, continuing the story of Link and Tetra on the high seas.

You control Link entirely with the stylus, tapping the screen to move him and slashing it to swing his sword. Your main goal is to find the Ghost Ship and rescue Tetra, which involves sailing a steamboat between islands, exploring dungeons, and collecting sea charts. Two mechanics stand out: you draw your own paths and map notes directly onto the bottom screen, and you repeatedly delve into the Temple of the Ocean King, a central dungeon where a phantom chases you under a time limit. The pacing is steady, with puzzles that make you think about the dual screens and the touch controls, though the temple revisits can test your patience. It feels like a clever, portable adventure that fully embraces the hardware it was made for.