I continue to play classic games I've had for a while but, for some reason, I haven't gotten around to finishing them. A couple of Black Fridays ago, I impulsively picked up a new Nintendo DS Lite ... the gold "Legend of Zelda" edition that came packed with the then-new "Phantom Hourglass." Well, as I was getting into the game (a fun title, by the by, if you don't have it), story points kept popping up that referenced the first title in this continuity, "The Wind Waker" on GameCube. Since I prefer to play games in order (see previous posts regarding "God of War"), I decided to fire up the old WayBack machine (in this case, the Wii) and delve into this merger of Zelda and "Waterworld."

As I looked at my original game save on my old reliable Memory Card 251--why the GCN memory cards used such oddball numbers is beyond me--it was last saved over six years ago. So I started anew ... and this time I couldn't put it down. I just finished it today, and now the story in "Phantom Hourglass" makes more sense. What I like the best about these games is that they are separate and independant from the classic Zelda games (up to and including "Twilight Princess"), and as such they can keep up both continuities at the same time. It appears that the next DS iteration, "Spirit Tracks," will be in the new universe, and while little has been said about the next Wii version, I'd wager it will be in the classic universe.

As to what game I pick up next ... not sure at the moment. Probably will continue with "Phantom Hourglass," if I were to guess, or maybe return to the Ace Attorney series (still working on "And Justice For All").