Link in control

by ERIK LEIJON

The latest title in the first ballot hall of fame series, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS/Nintendo, EAD) is the ideal synergy of the innovative potential of the Nintendo DS hardware and the Jack Nicklaus-esque consistency of the Zelda template. Phantom Hourglass isn’t the best Zelda game, or even the best portable version (1993’s Link’s Awakening remains the benchmark), but as far as games that cater to the strengths of the DS, this cel-shaded cousin to The Wind Waker is exhibit A in the case for the DS’s brilliance.

Phantom Hourglass is essentially like any other Zelda—Link must conquer a series of puzzle-laden dungeons in an action-adventure centred around saving the princess. This time, Link is controlled entirely through the stylus pen. Link remains centred in the bottom screen, and touching the pad anywhere a few inches away from him will cause our green-clad hero to walk in that direction. Touch an enemy and Link will swipe at him with his sword, or draw a circular motion for a less precise spin attack.

The weapons from Link’s traditional bag of tricks—from the boomerang to the grappling hook—are here, and by drawing lines on the screen, Link can direct his shots. My only qualm with the control set-up is that the item and map menus are opened by touching the bottom of the screen, and sometimes I would accidentally open those options when I was trying to move Link or attack an enemy. It would have been nice to remove the menu bar during the boss battles, where it isn’t needed.

What deviates Phantom Hourglass, gameplay-wise, is that in lieu of one gigantic world of Hyrule to explore, there are a bunch of separated islands with a customizable boat as your primary means of transportation. The boat scenes are fun and filled with enemies and hidden treasure, as are the regular dungeons (even if they are fairly easy) but it’s strange to be dealing with a series of smaller sections. Charting courses on the sea chart, though, has spin-off potential.

Burn rubber

Speaking of famed game series, Sega Rally Revo (PS3/X360/PC/Sega, Sega Racing) is a truly excellent next-gen update to the bounciest driving game around. The Sega Rally brand of arcade rally doesn’t go for realism, but rather has its own distinctive driving physics, which require a bit of getting used to.

After about 10 races, the Sega Rally epiphany hits, and power sliding your Subaru in fifth gear comes easily. Each car has its own unique traits, although overall the cars swing back and forth along the tracks, similar to a hovercraft. Rather than safely navigating turns, mastering Sega Rally requires knowing the precise time to slide your car through the tight turns without losing speed.

Revo mixes things up with real-time course alterations from tire marks, meaning the tracks get really beat up during a race. The mud or snow tends to stick to the tires, making driving all the more difficult. Sony’s MotorStorm was the first game I can recall with similarly deforming terrain, yet it is more integral to Revo’s gameplay. The upgrades to the terrain are also reflected in the wildly diverse track surfaces, from smooth asphalt to sandy beaches. Each surface causes your car to handle completely differently, and the level of detail of the terrains is next-gen quality. The bare bones six-player online mode has great collision detection, even if it isn’t much different from solo mode. The recent death of Colin McRae has given his series of rally games a cloudy future, so it’s reassuring to know Sega has fashioned their best rally racer yet.