The first attempt at a zelda for the Nintendo DS and it did great, have minor flaws that i consider held the game back.
Follow after the Wind Waker's Oceanic setting and directly after the story you and Tetra sail the seas in search of the Ghost Ship. Of course Tetra gets captured and link attempts but fails and washes up on the shores of your first town, where you are greeted by a fairy who escorts you to a old man that will teach you the basics of combat.
The controls of Phantom Hourglass are completely on the stylus, left or right handed the same functions are on both sides. You move with the stylus by pressing down on the stylus in a certain direction and link will move in that direction. Moves like the roll is performed simply by making quick vertical zigzags on the edges of your screen. Combat is as good as it can get simply tap the enemy and link will lunge at him or slash him, you can also perform manual attacks by drawing lines to do a horizontal slash or draw a line going away from link to do a thrust, or draw a circle to do the spin attack(Nintendo decided to add a dizzy effect after you do 4 of them, same for the roll.). Overall the controls are flawless with the exception of certain symbols required to draw to continue.
The Fun tools given to you: boomerang, bow, shovel, etc. all play a role in the game and all use the stylus very well. The boomerang you draw its path and it follows, the bow you aim and shoot, the shovel need a quick ruby dig it up and X marks the spot to dig all play a role to find treasures and defeat foes. The Exploration in this game I found to be absent, in the SNES Zelda Heart Containers were hard to find if you play through it the first time with no help, along with secret rooms. But in Phantom Hourglass alot of the Secrets and Containers were very easy to find. Simply talk to NPCs get a destination and mark it on your map and go there and dig it up, might get a chest or a treasure map. If its a map head to the X and salvage it. The dungeons as well were quite a bit too easy even for the casual Zelda fan. Puzzles inside each dungeon could be solved at a glance, mostly look for the sign, note it on your map then solve it at the location. The formula for the dungeon has turned for the worst, mostly encounter grab the key, then open the lock and the occasional puzzle that has a sign with the answer on it. Overall most of the puzzles were answered for you. Boss fights are wonderfully fun but far too easy. The Ocean Sailing is simple draw your route and the ship automatically follows it and the frequent monster jumps out of the water for you to kill, I feel this part of the game could have been better. If Phantom Hourglass had followed the Classic formula from Link to the Past, the overall gameplay would have increased 10 fold but overall a fun and lasting experience.
The Graphics by far I consider the best on the NDS, the view distance on the ocean is high, the surroundings are lush and colorful, cutscenes have cinematic feel to them and are nicely rendered.
Sound was very well done, the music score was properly fitted into each location, though I wish theyd would have used the Link to the past Town Theme.
There is multiplayer in this game but I have no friends or a wifi to play it. But from the tutorial given it looks fun.
Overall this zelda lives up to the wait but I wished it would have been longer, the most you'll spend playing it will be 25hrs. Not Revolutionary but it is the first of the series on the DS and it is great for the first attempt.
Presentation: 9.5/10 - Love the Cinematic feel to the game, use of both screens is done well.
Gameplay: 8.5/10 - Controls are almost flawless, puzzles are easy, exploration is absent, could have been better, overall its still fun.
Graphics: 10/10 - By far the best on the NDS.
Sounds: 9/10 - not as great as other zeldas but good enough.
Lasting Appeal: 8.5/10 - Short can be completed in 10 hours but if you complete side quests 25hrs at most. Multiplayer adds to the lasting appeal as well.
Overall: 8.5/10(not average) - Could have been the only other zelda game with a10/10 at gamespot.