Aside from Mario, Nintendo wouldn't be the gaming giant it is today without hype from its other famous characters.

Case in point, Link from The Legend of Zelda series. Eiji Aonuma, long-time producer of the Zelda series describes how the newest incarnation of Link's adventure on the Nintendo DS, The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass, is akin to the original Legend of Zelda game that first came out on the NES.

Aonuma reminisces on the aspects that first drew gamers into the series in making The Phantom Hourglass. Also, he relates how the game setting itself became an unintentional sequel to the story of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker game on the Nintendo GameCube.

However, The Phantom Hourglass still has many unique aspects that make it different from the others in its series. Aside from the inherent stylus control, the game also incorporates a head-to-head multiplayer mode which pits one player Link against another who controls three Phantoms in a sort of "capture the flag" game.

Aonuma ends this interview saying that he aspires to create his own series aside from the Zelda projects. Seeing his already impressive credentials, it would be interesting to see what kind of games Aonuma would make if he were given free rein.

Anyway, take a look at the video interview of Eiji Aonuma as he talks about his latest Zelda platformer on the Nintendo DS.