The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has bestowed the award of "Best Handheld Game" upon our favorite adventure game of 2007 starring a kid in a green tunic with a fairy flying around him, The DS adventure joins Super Mario Galaxy as the entire Nintendo contingent of this year's Interactive Achievement Award winners, with the rest of the awards, going to, you know, Rock Band and Portal and the other Xbox stuff that got all the other awards last year. We're just glad to see a familiar name or two on the list. As it turns out, good games did come out on the DS in 2007!
[Via press release]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-08-2008 @ 9:09PM
Anticrawl said...
So was this game actually worth playing? I mean no backtracking, decent music and satisfying gameplay. Honestly I don't play my handheld much anymore but I might play it between classes if I can find something to hook me for more than 10 minutes.
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2-08-2008 @ 11:33PM
Guzzie said...
You always end up in the ocean king temple.
The music is mediocre for the series.
Gameplay with the stylus is frustrating.
Most overrated game in the entire series. Quite disappointing when compared with Link's previous adventures.
2-09-2008 @ 12:59AM
hvnlysoldr said...
That's what they said about Majora's Mask and Wind Waker and Twilight... In fact everyone keeps bagging on them for not being ALTP
2-09-2008 @ 6:23PM
chispito said...
Despite what Guzzie says, most players seem to think the controls are awesome. I don't know about the music, but I liked it.
The major "if" is the dungeon that you have to keep clearing over and over. If you pay really close attention, shortcuts become available based on new items, but if you only play the game for an hour or two a week, it's hard to pick up on that stuff.
2-09-2008 @ 1:59AM
Guzzie said...
There was visible progress in each of those. Phantom Hourglass is a stagnant fart in the series. Controls are the largest hindrance. Using the touch screen for everything ruined it. You can't do simple things that you could in just about every previous game. Want to hold your sword out while you move? Too bad, you can't do that anymore.
You can see over walls in the dungeon, they killed the compass, and anyone with the mental capacity of chimp can solve the puzzles. The height of the series for me was the Oracle games. They both had some interesting puzzles, plenty of action, and controls that functioned.
I don't want another Link to the past, I just want another good Zelda Game.
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2-09-2008 @ 2:14AM
Brello said...
The simplified puzzles were what killed it for me. Nothing in Hourglass gave me any difficulty what so ever. I don't like extremely hard games, but this one just seemed sedated. That's not to say it was bad, the boss fights were all pretty darn fun.
Now if only there was a boss rush mode...
2-09-2008 @ 2:43AM
Anticrawl said...
Heh well thanks for keeping me from wasting my money guys, seriously. Didn't need yet another game I won't play. I like that Nintendo is making money off the casual market but I wish they would cater to the dedicated fanbase that has followed them since their entry into gaming.
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2-10-2008 @ 1:28AM
Tamer Brad said...
I bought it, and really wish I hadn't for the aforementioned reasons.
2-09-2008 @ 9:16AM
hutze said...
I don't agree with you guys entirely - yes, going back to the Temple of the Ocean King all the time was kinda annoying, but I also found it to be the most challenging part of the game. Because other than that, it really was too easy.
The controls however were amazing in my opinion, easily the best part of the game. They just worked so darn well all the time, and I never had any problems with them.
So, give the game a whirl Anticrawl, you don't know if you'll like a game unless you've tried it for yourself.
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2-09-2008 @ 10:11PM
Anticrawl said...
Yes yes I know I should try it before making a judgment but one can't rent a DS game locally and I don't have 30 dollars to waste on a game I might not like. From what I hear, with the backtracking and whatnot, I won't. It is eat or play video games in college, not both. It's gotta be worth it.
2-10-2008 @ 2:59AM
manaman said...
Well,
Since there's been a lot of dogging on the game in this thread, I thought I would give some love to the game. I think it's a remarkable one and the controls were a joy. I sincerely hope more developers will opt for stylus-driven 3D play. I think it works extremely well and gave a very console-like feel to the DS. All in all, I think this game is a gem.
Later,
manaman
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2-10-2008 @ 3:57PM
Tony said...
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That pile of poo is one of the worst abortions of gameplay to defile my DS. It's unimaginative, badly paced, poorly designed garbage that sucked £30 out of my wallet and left me crying shamelessly on the floor while it shoved it's poorly animated boot into my crestfallen face.
Apart from that it wasn't bad.
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