The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass/Battle mode

The battle mode for phantom hourglass can be played online or with friends. The object of the game is to collect force gems as link or to slash link as the phantoms. Each player is coloured either red or blue, the red player starts as link and the blue player starts as the phantoms. Both the red and blue player has thier own base which they must throw force gems into to collect points. The bigger the force gems, the more points it gives you. However, bigger force gems slow you down making it easier for the phantoms to catch you. Once link is caught or the time is up players swap roles. There is a maximum of six rounds - three are played as link and three are played as the phantoms. However, if the blue player is already winning by the end of round five, the sixth round is skipped. There is a 120 second time limit for each round, but this time can be lengthened and shroted if the correct power-ups are used.

Power up's
There are various power ups to obtain in each stage, The chance of certain power-up's appearing differs depending on the stage and the current situation in a battle. (e.g if a red link was winning there would be more blue powerup's than red ones.) The various types for link include:


 * +30 seconds - adds 30 seconds to the time limit.
 * Speed up - makes link run faster for a short period of time.
 * Clone - makes another link appear on screen to confuse the phantoms.
 * one hit immunity - makes link immune to the phantom's sword once.
 * Shuffle force gems - force gems are taken from there current position and dropped in various locations.

The phantom's powerup's are:


 * -30 seconds - take away 30 seconds from the time limit.
 * Speed up - makes all the phantoms run faster for a short period of time.
 * Clone - makes another phantom appear on screen to confuse link. Player cannot control this phantom.
 * Attack up - the range of attack for the phantoms increases.
 * Shuffle force gems - force gems are taken from there current positions and dropped in various locations.

Link

 * Collect and break as many power-up's as possible, this gets you big plays and aids you mid-battle.
 * With big and medium-sized force gems link moves slower than phantoms, it's much faster to throw and then pick up force gems than to carry them around.
 * Phantoms are much slower than link, carrying the smallest force gems makes link as slow as the phantoms are, so don't be afraid of carrying these force gems around.
 * Don't leave force gems in your base because your phantoms can't enter your base to defend them. Throw them outside the base, preferably in a corner, this allows you to position a phantom in your next turn to defend these force gems, preventing your opponent from stealing your points.
 * even if your opponent has safeguarded your base completely, throw force gems near your base so that you can throw them in on your next turn as link.
 * pile up non-coloured force gems as you would your own force gems, preventing the opponent from scoring points gets you a big play and increases the liklihood of winning.
 * if you can't reach your base very easily, you can throw force gems next to them and then pick up and place them in your base. If you do this you never leave the safety of your base or safe zone and get hit by the phantoms.
 * If your losing because the opponent is guarding all the force gems very carefully, the one-hit immunity is a life saver. You can go collect the force gems and throw them in a nearby safe zone without the worry your going to lose the rest of the turn. If you choose to do this, be wary of the fact that you flinch once you get slashed, meaning you'll have to pick up and carry the force gem once gain. Never use tis technique if a safe zone is not in the near vicinity.
 * If you desperately don't want your force gems shuffled you can run near a phantom before they collect the power-up and get slashed. This makes the turn end and stops the nemey from ollecting the power-up at the price of a big play.

Phantoms

 * Collect and break as many power-up's as possible, this gets you big plays and aids you mid-battle.
 * Place one or two phantoms to guard a pile of force gems - about one phantom for every 5 force gems or so.
 * Don't over-estimate the attack range of a phantom and don't gamble with it. Play is safe to prevent your force gems being stolen.
 * Phantoms are slow and easy to trick, by drawing a line and not lifting the stylus from the ds touch screen the phantom will wait but can move in the desired direction by lifting the stylus away from the screen.
 * By tapping a phantom while it's moving will stop it moving use this mid-path to make a quick stop and slightly confuse your opponent.
 * Don't make all 3 phantoms crowd round the same safe zone, especially if it's a big one. Players can easily maneuver around them and if they do, your force gems are exposed.
 * Sometimes you can't get to certain power-up's because they appear in safe zones. A skilled link would immeadiately travel to such a power-up to collect it. Use your phantom to intercept and surprise link, this could lead to a successful slash.
 * Trapping your opponent is a clever and easy way to defeat them. In a corridor which has two ends, position a phantom on each end while link's in it to win. If an opponent likes to collect items you can trap them in this way if an item appears in one such corridor. Be careful, though, never do this if the power-up is a shuffle force gems or a one-hit immunity power-up.
 * Sometimes, if thier losing, link collects the shuffle force gems power-up. This can be fatal for you, especially if the force gems you own appear next to a safe zone or a base.
 * If link does this, use your phantoms to defend your bigger forcegems and the big force gems that aren't in possession of either player.
 * Although link is invisible while in safe zones you can see the force gem that he's carrying, use this to help find where link is in a safe zone and ambush him once he leaves.