The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass [DS]

This is where the eponymous phantom hourglass comes in. As soon as your time runs out, Link loses life until he dies, at which point you'll have to start over. Later in the game, there are mid-point saves, but this will still be a point of potential aggravation in a game with an otherwise forgiving difficulty level. Boss battles? No sweat. They're simple and entertaining. But the Temple of the Ocean King is mildly sadistic.

The graphics are mostly good, but they're also very DS: occasionally rough, but consistently colorful and imaginative. For some reason, Link has gone from "cute little boy" to "vaguely Ren and Stempy". His cartoon eyes are weirdly psycho and his wayward eyebrows climb up onto his skull, crawling around on the outside of his hair like bugs. Visually, this is a modest Zelda. But Phantom Hourglass really pulls out the stops during a handful of gorgeous cutscenes featuring paper cutout artwork. These are cinematics well worth the wait, and they give Phantom Hourglass a satisfying emotional and aesthetic punch.

To take advantage of the DS' wireless multiplayer, you can fight inventive puzzle-battles in back-and-forth rounds where players alternate controlling Link and a handful of phantoms who follow whatever path you draw. This pits Link's agility and power-ups against the lumbering phantom's superior numbers. It's a great diversion for how it's unique, in a sort of Bomberman meets Pac-Man meets Counter-Strike way.

But the real reason to get Phantom Hourglass is for its charming, DS-centric high-seas adventure. This is a top-notch Zelda game that just further reinforces why this is one of Nintendo's best-loved franchises.