The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is now out in Japan, and the impressions are rolling in.

IGN's Anoop Gantayat, playing the in-store demo earlier this week:

It was tough to force myself away from the demo kiosk even after playing through the same area of the game multiple times. The wait for the Japanese version of Phantom Hourglass is just a few days, but it's going to be painful.

Wired's Chris Kohler's second impressions, with game in-hand:

Phantom Hourglass is like Mario 64. This is classic Nintendo: they are showing other developers how it is done. Mario 64 wasn't the first 3D platformer, but it was the first one that Just Worked and became the template for others to follow. Phantom Hourglass isn't the first stylus-driven action adventure, but it is the game that will be copied endlessly from here on out. It is like a textbook of how to use a touch screen for a third-person action game.

NeoGAF's sp0rsk chips in with his own thoughts about the game:

In my opinion, this isn't just a watershed moment for DS game design, but it's also the kick in the ass the Zelda series has needed. Playing this has given me a lot of hope for the actual Wii version of Zelda. All the stuff you do with the map, taking notes, this is where it's at.

Famitsu magazine by and large agrees with these lucky guys: the game recieved an almost-perfect score of 39/40. (By comparison, Wii launch title Twilight Princess managed 38/40 from the magazine, and the GameCube's Wind Waker as well as the Nintendo 64's Ocarina of Time pulled a perfect 40/40.)

Nintendo has yet to peg a specific date on the title's release in the States but has told us they plan on releasing it sometime this coming holiday season.