Since its 2006 announcement, Phantom Hourglass has been a dark horse. The hype of Twilight Princess steamrolled over any early enthusiasm of a game that looked, in comparison, fairly bland. Now we’re all finished with the TP love-in, eager for more Zelda, the question on everyone’s lips is whether or not Phantom Hourglass provides a worthy follow-up experience.

The answer is a resounding yes.

I was sceptical. Early reports about the touch-screen controls were mixed at best, while no-one I know used it in Animal Crossing. In that game, it was clumsy and imprecise, while in this game it represents a paradigm shift in the way we play handheld adventure titles. Initially, it feels like you have less control over Link; after all, you’re actually controlling a fairy whom Link follows. The clumsy rolling system compounds this feeling - the idea is to draw tiny circles at the edge of the screen, but results are varied to be kind. However, when you pick up your sword and experience the fluidity of the new system, enabling a more precise 360 experience than even an analogue stick, your opinion grows, and does so with every revelation, every new item for you to play with, each entwining the game to its control system, until the final ‘eureka’ moment when you realise, this game would have been impossible without either the touchscreen or the dual screen setup.

With each Zelda game, the fun to be had from obtaining items has diminished. In Twilight Princess, the Gale Boomerang was a nice twist on an old favourite, and the Wii controls helped freshen up the Bow, but ultimately, you knew what you were getting and what to expect from them. The ‘tutorial’ puzzles than inevitably follow the acquisition of a new item are fast becoming stale and predictable. That’s where Phantom Hourglass comes in. Although I have yet to see a single original item, the majority feel completely new. Bombs are a predictable upgrade, but throwing them has never been so accurate. The controls really start to shine when you get the Bow and Boomerang. The Bow is, again, more accurate, but the feeling of tapping away at close enemies with your sword, interspersed with quick jabs of the L button to tap enemies further away quickly becomes routine. So too the Boomerang, though instead of tapping where you want it to go (though possible), you draw a path for it to follow, and clearing rooms of pots has never been so satisfying. I’ve only just realised the full implications of this new technique, making it possible to erect a barrier in front of Link with a bunch of parallel scribbles, and then switching to the Bow to dispatch the sea of stunned enemies. Link is a monster and you’ll never go back. The three items mentioned are the earliest ones, and I won’t spoil the surprise of later items. You’ve seen them before, but each one offers exponentially exciting possibilities.

With regards to the controversial Great Sea, which was a sticking point in our Wind Waker review, you’ll be relieved to know that Phantom Hourglass succeeds everywhere its predecessor fails. The wind mechanic has been removed, and now Link can sail in any direction using his sidekick Lineback’s steam-powered boat. It is as simple as drawing lines on a map. In fact, sailing actively adds to the charm of the game, whereas in TWW it arguably detracted. TWW had the potential to throw colour all over a gorgeous, detailed overworld, yet it featured a few tiny islands in a sparse ocean. Phantom Hourglass didn’t have this same opportunity, as while the land is rendered in 3D, it is constructed very much like a 2D, tile-based game, necessary for the touch controls to work. The DS’s lack of filtering also means that it couldn’t wow gamers with a lush overworld in the same way the GameCube title could have. The sea, now more compact and less segregated, adds a sense of depth otherwise missing. Exploration is actually fun in this new game, as it is less a matter of identifying an unmarked square on your map, sailing there and finding a rock with a treasure chest containing yet more rupees, but of setting a course to untraversed territory and potentially finding a new landmark that offers more than just a small puzzle. The ability to upgrade your boat has also breathed more life into TWW’s broken treasure chart system. In that game, a spot would be marked on a map and you’d sail to it, stop, and press Y. The crane would either hit the floor or come back with a chest containing… you guessed it, more rupees! In this game, a spot is marked on a map and you’ll sail to it, stop, and tap the ‘treasure’ icon. The crane will submerge and you’ll be given indirect control of its hook, swinging it left and right and altering its speed to avoid Metal Octoroks and water currents. When you hit rock bottom, you’ll have either failed to find anything or caught a treasure chest which you then have to negotiate back to the surface. These invariably contain a new ship part, different combinations of which upgrade your ship in different ways, such as extra health or a faster speed setting. Upping the tension, your crane has five hit points that don’t recharge without going to see a ship repairman.

There is so much more to say about the game, but it will have to wait for our import review. For now, I will leave you with a few words about its import-friendliness for those who can’t wait until October. Without a small amount of Japanese knowledge, you will waste a lot of time with trial-and-error unless you consult a walkthrough. Some parts are simply impossible. However, I’ve completed six dungeons with no Japanese knowledge, and the number of times I’ve looked at a walkthrough is still in the single digits. Part of the fun of playing the Japanese version is playing around with new weapons without any kind of tutorial, but of course I’m missing out on some of the story. My recommendation is to buy this if you a) don’t mind missing out on the story or have the intention to buy the English version too, and b) don’t mind looking at walkthroughs or have a workable knowledge of Japanese. Either way, as a Zelda fan, you must own this game come the western release. Some are stubbornly clinging to the idea that this should have used the D-Pad, or included the option, but this is fanboy ignorance at its worst. A game has finally come out that makes A Link to the Past feel like the original Zelda; clunky, clumsy and outdated. How can you not want to play that?