At long last Nintendo has finally given The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass an official release date, pegging the DS Zelda debut for October 1st.
Picking up where the GameCube’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker left off (and mimicking its gorgeous cartoony art style), Phantom Hourglass follows Link and Tetra on new adventure in which Link becomes deserted on a mysterious island and must collect sand for his Phantom Hourglass in order to advance and rescue Tetra. The game is promising full touch-screen control features, utilizing stylus input to start conversations, slash enemies, throw a boomerang, navigate Link’s ship and so on, and a fun battle mode in which two players can link up locally or online with one player controlling Link on a mission to gather as many Force Gems as possible while the other player hunts Link down.
“Since 1987 The Legend of Zelda franchise has sold more than 52 million units worldwide,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass stays true to the richness of the console Zelda franchise while introducing new controls that allow veterans and first-time gamers to become fully immersed in the adventure.”
Zelda fans and game collectors should also take note of a special reward’s club offer Nintendo has in the works. By registering their copy of Phantom Hourglass and their Nintendo DS system and answering a brief survey at MyNintendo.com, My Nintendo members have a chance to receive a quill pen stylus modeled after an item from the game, while supplies last.