Topic: The two DS Zelda's!

Everyone dismissed it as a bad game when they tromped through the same levels of the same dungeon for the zillionth time back when it came out...

The DS Zeldas are my favorite two DS games. I prefer Spirit Tracks, though, but I love them both.

I enjoyed Phantom Hourglass and thought the ability to write on the maps and the sailing provided excellent utilization of the touch screen. The touch controls are weird at first but once you get used to it they're actually better than the normal controls given the new gameplay mechanics the screen allowed. That's not saying i would prefer all Zelda's like that just this game in particular made good use of the touch screens and clearly made it a big part of the hook.

Spirit tracks however i was not able to get into, I found the train slow and boring and as such it discouraged me from exploring (my favorite convention of Zelda). In fact it remains the only Zelda game i've never beaten and that's including the two distinct BS Zelda's and some fan games. I'm sure i'll beat it some day but for me i found it disappointing.

I recently picked up both of them, and I finished Phantom Hourglass. It was fun, but revisiting the same dungeon several times got a bit tiring. I haven't started Spirit Tracks yet, but before too long...

I've always been turned off by the touch controls. I'm sure I'd enjoy them if I forced myself to get used to the controls. I mean, I'm a huuuge Zelda fan and it bothers me that I haven't played through the DS games.

I played both games when they came out, I even bought ST with my first job pay along with an DSi XL console! Fond memories
I prefer Phantom Hourglass from those 2! It was unique, stylus only and used the DS capacities very very well! One puzzle drove me mad! MAD!! I somehow decided to close my DS in sleep mode...and did it! I would have never thought of that!
I also liked the wifi game! There were some....awful people (putting it nicely) that turned of their console when I was about to win... but it was huge, my first wifi experience
Now wifi is shut down but it's still a nice game to plat locally, only 1 cart is needed, when you have a DS fanatic as well as a friend

Spirit Tracks... I needed to have it, I always get the handheld Zeldas once they come out... but even though it was different and nice yeah, it didn't have the same "wow" effect as PH! Plus there was no wifi mode... which I found strange!
So, I recommend playing them but if it had to be only one game, it should be PH

Both games are great fun, but they can be a bit too easy for some.

Phantom Hourglass is my favorite game of all time if only because its the first Zelda game that I've played and I loved everything about it. It has that certain charm that I can't see in the other Zelda games like Linebeck (Oh Linebeck, where the hell are you??? ).

Spirit Tracks is ok not to great since the game is too easy and doesn't have puzzle stuck situations except one.

In conclusion, they are really worth it in the library. The DS has tons of great games and it just makes me wonder if the 3DS game quality will ever reach to what the DS has........

I only played Phantom Hourglass as Spirit Tracks was (and still is) hard to find. Phantom Hourglass was definitely one of the weaker Zelda games (Skyward Sword is worse) but still worth playing as long as you've played either version of Wind Waker (GCN or Wii U) for story reasons.

I loved both but spirit tracks was beyond amazing. The main theme music is still stuck in my head, I'll start humming it and it's been years since I played it. And the puzzles actually stumped me at times, which usually never happens. Plus, Zelda wasn't just some capture princess, she actually was with you the whole time. Plus, blowing into the mic for the flute was surprisingly awesome

Spirit tracks was the more enjoyable of the two. Would love a remake for gamepad

Totally agree with everything in this post.

I must say, I wasn't that keen on them. The games themselves are great (as you'd expect), but I thought the controls were a little clunky. I mean, they're generally OK and I don't begrudge them trying something different on the DS, but there were a few times where the touch-screen puzzles just wouldn't work for me. It's the inherent problem of control schemes that are more organic (like touch and motion) in that they're more vague, ambiguous and woolly. There are some puzzles where you have to draw shapes on doors to unlock them and I think drew about 1000 different variations of the same shape (trying every different possible variation) before it actually registered...

But mainly it's the fact that they both make quite heavy use of the dreaded blowing and yelling into the DS microphone gimmick. Which, not only is just a silly and embarrassing thing to have to do, but jarringly breaks up any fun or immersion as you have to put the console to your face and furiously blow into it... Why am I doing this?! This isn't enjoyable...

Oh yeah, I also didn't like the tedious Temple of the Ocean King in PH. Though I did actually quite like the train in ST and I loved the item where you lower and raise sand (can't remember its name).

I remember actually yelling into my DS. But then I figured out you can just bypass that by blowing directly into the mic, it'll register it as the loudest noise

I really liked both, with Spirit Tracks being one of my favourite Zelda game! Especially the soundtrack, I was so much fun just riding the train with passangers and listening to this soothing music lol.
Couldn't really get used to the controls in the begining... I would probably prefer both games if they had normal controls but oh well, Nintendo likes experiments.
Also really enjoyed collecting all the custom parts for your ship / train. I don't really understand why people complain about doing the same dungeon in Phantom Hourglass. Honestly, as you gather new items you could get to the new part of the dungeon in no time, so I didn't really mind spanding +1 minute on it...
Anyway, I'd definitly reccomend both games!

Oh yes, and that puzzle when you had to close the DS....... without internet I'd probably never pass the game heh

I bought the two last month, and currently playing Phantom Hourglass. I just got the Northeast Sea Chart in game.
So far my impressions for Phantom Hourglass is, it's fun and has challenging dungeons. I think the Temple of the Ocean King can get tedious and frustrating but other than that I'm enjoying the game so far. Also, I like how they incorporate external elements like blowing in to the mic and don't over do it.