Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was the first entry in the Zelda series to arrive on DS, and pleased a lot of people in the process. It's also home to one of the most memorable puzzles in the franchise, which (spoiler alert!) involves physically closing the DS console itself to transfer an image from the top screen to the bottom screen.
This puzzle serves as a reminder of how Nintendo is capable of thinking outside of the box with its games, but the thing is, this idea was used in another game that was released before Phantom Hourglass hit store shelves – and it wasn't a made by Nintendo.
The developer responsible is Cing, a company which is sadly no longer with us. However, Cing worked closely with Nintendo and produced games like 2005's Another Code: Two Memories (Trace Memory in North America) and 2007's Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Both of these games feature a variation of the 'close the console' puzzle. Interestingly, Nintendo owns the IP for both of these titles; characters from Another Code and Hotel Dusk appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as 'spirit' characters.
Did you know about this puzzle being present in another game? Or is this news to you? Share your thoughts with a comment below.
Comments 23
Hi yes I did! Tho I always wonder and never tried out what happens when u play on 2ds? Or playing Zelda on wii u how did they get around the issue? Xxx
@Dragonslacker1
Does the 2DS have an option to go to sleep? If you can get it to go to sleep I can see it solving the puzzle. If there is no sleep function then the puzzle is probably unsolvable.
@Dragonslacker1 The 2DS has a little "Sleep" slider at the bottom of the console to put it in sleep mode. I believe that functions (as far as software is concerned) the same as closing the lid on a DS or 3DS.
@Dragonslacker1 the 2ds has a switch to put it in sleep mode so you can do that and the puzzle will work, for wii u idk tho
Hard to forget those games exactly cause of those unique puzzles.
Took me an embarassing amount of time (and constant going back and forth thinking I missed something) before finally solving it by accident in Another Code. I closed the console to think out of frustration and heard a weird sound XD
But thank to that it 'only' took me many minutes to realize Phanotm Hourglass was trying to pull the same trick on me.
@Dragonslacker1 on 2ds there is a switch that puts the console in sleep mode which is the same as closing the screen
I believe you just press the home button on the Wii U version and it auto solves, not sure
I remember that puzzle in Another Code. I think I nearly broke my screen trying to print those stamps on the screen with the stylus.
@Meteoroid they had a good run eh. Unfortunately they just didn’t make the most profitable of games
I recently replayed Another Code for a stream, I played it injected in a Wii U VC title and you can do the "close the system" on there by pressing the home button or opening the VC menu from in-game. The same can be done in the officially released Wii U VC version of Phantom Hourglass.
Never played Another Code on the DS (I played the Wii game, though). Do you recommend it?
I LOVE Hotel Dusk, my favourite DS game, and Little King Story, another Cing game that became one of the best Wii games, imo. Another Code on Wii, however, was... just ok.
Well to he honest I remember this puzzle very well from Another Code and didn't know it was in PH. I don't think I massively enjoyed the DS Zeldas, though I've recently noticed there's a hack for both of them to change the controls to more typical d-pad ones.
I like how Zelda has some innovative puzzles. I hope the trend continues in the sequel of BOtW
Stravinsky reference?
I never liked how the DS games played on the Wii U. It felt strange to have half on the TV and half on the gamepad.
This is news to me since I haven't played those other two games! Haven't played Phantom Hourglass myself either since it came out! I still have my copy though.
I either never played Hourglass or never got to the point where you close the console, but I do remember the puzzle in Another Code. Those early DS games were amazing, there was so much innovation going on, stuff like Pac Pix and the Kirby Rainbow Brush game were unlike anything seen before.
While I didn't know such a puzzle had appeared in any other DS games, I did know exactly what puzzle this article would be talking about. Feel like everybody remembers that particular puzzle in Phantom Hourglass.
This one only took me a couple minutes to figure out back when I played Phantom Hourglass. I knew that the DS could register when the system was closed by the time I played it (via sound bites in some games when reopening it). Still, the "Aha!" moment hit full force.
@PessitheMystic I feel like Cing was ahead of their time. I think they would have done very well in today's gaming landscape where visual novels and point-and-click adventures are more welcome than they were in the mid-00s.
I don’t know why, but I can remember so vividly solving the Phantom Hourglass puzzle sat on my bedroom floor in my mum and dad’s house. I can literally picture it all so clearly. That was over 14 years ago…
I didn’t know the puzzle was in other games too though!
A phantom thief
@BakaKnight That's exactly what my brother did in Phantom Hourglass too. He was so excited by it I'm pretty sure he went back to his previous save so he could show the puzzle to me, his little sister. It's a cute memory :3
It's also how you beat a specific pig in The World Ends With You.
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