The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass picks up directly after Wind Waker's ending and moves the whole game to stylus controls — you draw Link's movement path, slash enemies with a swipe, and solve puzzles by literally writing notes and drawing routes on the in-game map, which the DS saves permanently across sessions. It was one of the boldest control experiments Nintendo attempted with a mainline Zelda, built entirely around what the touch screen could do rather than adapting an existing control scheme.

The Temple of the Ocean King is the game's structural gimmick: a central dungeon you revisit repeatedly throughout the story, racing a depleting hourglass timer while dodging the invincible Phantom guardians that patrol its halls, using stealth and shortcuts learned on each return trip. Ship-based sea travel, cannon combat, and treasure-hunting side content round out an adventure that trades Wind Waker's ocean scale for tighter, puzzle-box dungeon design.

This page hosts the verified Phantom Hourglass ROM, built for Delta Emulator on iPhone — load it directly with no BIOS file or extra setup required.