Graphics: 9.5/10
For DS these are very, very good graphics. Captures the Wind Waker style very well. No noticeable frame rate problems or anything, not to me anyway.
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Some of the most creative use of the DS I've seen. Phantom Hourglass will have you blowing and yelling into your DS. Drawing the route for the boat and the ability to take notes on your maps is nice. Everything is done with the stylus. Boss battles are also very creative and fun and make good use of the dual screens. Decent amount of extra stuff to do such as fishing, cannon mini game, archery mini game, etc. The ability to customize the boat was one of my favorite things. It's also nice that having a bunch of parts from a set increases the boat's stamina. One slightly annoying part is that you have to go into the Temple of the Ocean King multiple times and it got kind of boring especially since you are timed, but the frequency lessens later in the game.
Sound: 9.0/10
It's your standard Zelda music. Reviews I've read have all said use headphones. Apparently the sound suffers otherwise. I always used headphones so I can't verify that. My only complaint is that in Wind Waker characters would make a sound when they started talking so you could get an idea of what they sounded like. I missed that. Also during cut scenes it was sometimes hard to tell who was speaking.
Overall: 9.4/10
This was a really fun game, I'm just sad that it's over. I'm not sure of my exact time, but it was very short. But what do you expect from a hand held game? The story was simple, but good. Has likable characters. I love Linebeck. If you liked Wind Waker, you will like Phantom Hourglass. It is a sequel though, so if you have not beaten Wind Waker I would recommend doing that first.
