Do you suffer from “Zelda Fatigue”? My new review...

Wow, that took a lot longer than I expected. It was over a month ago that I mentioned I was writing a review for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. As it turns out, the last couple of dungeons and the final boss encounter turned out to be a bit tougher to crack than I expected and on top of that was struck with a little sickness known in some circles as "being lazy" for a week and a half. The review is done, now. As always, a taste:
 

If you’ve played any of the previous Legend of Zelda games, you already have a good idea of most of the items featured in Spirit Tracks. The “Zelda Checklist” is in full effect. Bombs? Check. Boomerang? Check. Bow and arrows? Check. A musical instrument that plays magic songs that are only used in very limited, very specific locations? Check – and if it wasn’t obvious enough already, filling in the role previously held by Link’s horse and boat is the “Spirit Train”, your method of traveling the world. The train, however, is a noticeable step down from previous methods of transportation, given the fact that it is quite literally on rails. If you’re like me and enjoy exploring your surroundings simply to answer the question of “what’s over there?”, Spirit Tracks will be a lesson in disappointment. It does its best to liven things up – enemies routinely ambush your train, for example, and as you restore the “Spirit Tracks”, new routes will open up, sometimes opening access to secret side quests. But, more often than not, you’re stuck going where the tracks want to take you, watching the empty, uninteresting world pass by on your way to the next dungeon. At least they let you blow the train’s whistle. 
 
The good news is that once you arrive at your destination, the game picks up considerably. In addition to a lack of creativity, a partial contributor to “Zelda Fatigue” existed simply because, like a lot of Nintendo games of that era, Zelda’s difficulty had softened. You could cruise through Wind Waker and Twilight Princess without ever being in danger of dying. Spirit Tracks, like many of the more recent Nintendo offerings, once again embraces the idea that it’s okay to challenge the player. ( Continue reading...)