I admittedly wasn’t very excited when Nintendo first announced Spirit Tracks. I found Phantom Hourglass to be a little to easy, and this is probably due to Nintendo’s casual marketing approach on the DS. I assumed that Spirit Tracks would be essentially the same type of game, but I found that I was mistaken. Spirit Tracks is not only more satisfying and enjoyable than Phantom Hourglass, but I think in some respects it is one of the finest entries to the franchise. You even get to drive a train, and what kid or adult doesn’t like trains.
I feel that in terms of story and premise this is the best of all the Zelda games. Usually the story revolves around you rescuing Zelda from the clutches of Ganon, but not so in Spirit Tracks. At the beginning of the game you find train engineer Link helping Princess Zelda escape from her castle, and after the escape she is actually killed. Her spirit escapes her body, and the evil Chancellor Cole takes her lifeless body to use as a vessel for the Demon King, whom he seeks to resurrect. Your goal is to stop this process from happening by rescuing Zelda’s body. The spirit of Zelda makes herself to known to Link, and they work as a team throughout the rest of the game.
The first noticeable difference with Spirit Tracks from other games in the series, is that you travel Hyrule with the use of a train. You are contained on the set path of train tracks, and you travel to towns, temples and dungeons. The train while initially is enjoyable to use it eventually becomes boring as you feel like exploration is to linear. You can actually expand and open up the map, but you do this by completing some tedious fetch quests. I would have rather had the map open as you play the main quest, because I would have liked to have a better incentive to explore the world early in the game.
Where the game really shines are in the dungeons and temples, because of new items being introduced to the series and the help of Zelda. With the introduction of new items come new puzzles that have never been seen in past games. After seeing so many items reused in the series you begin to feel like you know the solution to puzzles you come across immediately, but in Spirit Tracks that isn’t the case. I found the dungeons to be exciting and more difficult because of the new possibilities opened with the use of new items. I won’t spoil any of the items puzzles, but some of them are very inventive and just plain cool. The staple items in a Legend of Zelda game return also such as the boomerang and bow and arrow, but they are also used in new and inventive ways.
Zelda will also help you in a temple that you visit multiple times called the Tower of Spirits . Her spirit will actually possess guards that are scattered throughout the tower. Each guard has a specific ability, and these abilities will help complete puzzles cooperatively with Link. You simply draw on the touch screen to control Zelda and it feels very intuitive. The puzzles you complete cooperatively are among the most difficult and satisfying puzzles ever seen in a Legend of Zelda game. Outside of the tower Zelda is not used, but she still accompanies you and helps in a Navi like role giving you tips throughout the game.
The bosses in Spirit Tracks are hands down the best and most epic the franchise has ever seen. The bosses are similar to previous games because the key to defeating them is by using the item found in their temple or dungeon. In Spirit Tracks however the items and bosses are much more creative, and as a result the bosses are more satisfying and enjoyable to battle. That is good because I have found the bosses in the past few games have been far too easy to defeat. The bosses are also very epic because they will often span the both of the DS’s screens and as result are towering and menacing.
I do have some issues with the game in terms of control. The game is entirely controlled using the stylus to move Link around and use him in combat. This feels good for the most part, but occasionally you will miss the precision and responsiveness of using the d pad and buttons. If there is a future Legend of Zelda game on the DS, an option for button control would be much appreciated.
There is another problem that comes from the controls which involves use of the DS’s microphone. Some items have you blowing in the microphone in order to use, and this works unless you are in a car or some other form of transportation. When in a vehicle the microphone malfunctions and you are not able to use these items, and being a handheld game you will likely be traveling with it. Many parts of the game can become unplayable due to this problem.
Multiplayer was added to this game which seems extremely unnecessary. You can see that the developers were trying to recapture the gameplay of Four Swords, but it ends up being very boring and shallow. The game involves two to four characters battling out to see who can collect the most rupees, this really isn’t very enjoyable. To top it all off you don’t even have the use of your sword in this mode, and that is a strange omission being that its Link’s main weapon.
The same graphics engine that was used in Phantom Hourglass is used in this game as well. Which means it will be using the Wind Waker graphical style. Phantom Hourglass was an impressive looking game on the DS, and those graphics stand up two years later.
The sound in the game is great, which is no surprise for a Legend of Zelda. The new music in the game stands alongside past games and is very memorable. You will also hear different variations on old tunes from the series. I still get chills every time I hear the tune of successfully completing a puzzle, if you’re a Legend of Zelda fan you know the exact feeling.
Conclusion
As it stands Spirit Tracks is one of the most impressive games in the Legend of Zelda series. I didn’t enjoy the exploration very much in the game which is large part of the traditional Zelda experience. The controls aren’t always great, and the multiplayer is uninspired. But these issues should not keep you from playing this game. I really found the story, dungeons and puzzles great. The conclusion of the story easily the best in the series in my opinion and the dungeons were as difficult and satisfying as ever. If you approach Legend of Zelda games for these elements you will not be disappointed.