The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
All aboard the Hyrule Train!
Protagonist(s): Link Princess Zelda Genre(s): Action-Adventure Platform(s): Nintendo DS Release Date: NA: December 7, 2009 AU: December 10, 2009 EU: December 11, 2009 JP: December 23, 2009 Developer(s): Nintendo Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: The Legend of Zelda Predecessor: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Successor: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (by release date)

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. Set a century after The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass (and is also the conclusion of the "Adult Timeline"), the game was released throughout December 2009 and was given two years to develop due to its new features.

Why It Travels by Train

1. Not counting the infamous CD-i games, this is the very first time Zelda has ever been a playable character in her namesake franchise. Her main gimmick is to possess Phantoms in the Tower of Spirits to solve puzzles and help Link traverse the Tower to find the Rail Maps.
2. Instead of travelling Hyrule by a ship like in the previous game, you traverse the rails using a train. Just like Linebeck's ship, the train can also be fully customized, although there are only four train cars compared to the ship's eight parts.
   • Even better, the train parts are much easier to obtain than the ship parts were. Instead of being randomly found in chests and salvaging spots, Linebeck III sells them for a set number of treasures (which you can also still sell to him), so the Golden Parts can be found much more directly than before.
3. The graphics are more clean and polished compared to Phantom Hourglass, despite still not aging well.
4. The controls are easier to learn and use than in the previous game, such as rolling now simply requiring a double-tap on the Touch Screen rather than making circles towards the edges.
   • The game also takes advantage of the DS' hardware better, particularly the Microphone and its blowing mechanic to play the Spirit Flute and use the Whirlwind item.
5. Some of the characters in this game (except for Link, who is unrelated to the Hero of Winds) are actually descendants of characters from the previous two games, including Linebeck III (who is the grandson of Linebeck I from Phantom Hourglass), Zelda herself (who is a descendant of Tetra from the previous games), Alfonzo (who is Gonzo's grandson), etc., while the new characters are still worthy additions, such as Anjean, the Lokomo Sages (Gage, Steem, Carben, Embrose and Rael), Byrne, Chancellor Cole, etc.
6. The central dungeon, the Tower of Spirits, is a massive improvement over the Temple of the Ocean King from the previous game for three major reasons:
   • First of all, the Tower does not have a curse that weakens Link and kills him when the time limit runs out; for that reason, there are no time limits and the Safe Zones are only useful to hide from Phantoms while you find the Tears of Light.
   • Second, you only have to visit each section of the Tower once unless you're looking for collectibles.
   • Lastly and most importantly, this is where Zelda's Phantom-possessing powers comes into play, and they are much more useful than Ciela, Leaf and Neri were previously.
7. While the sound effects are mostly taken from the previous game, the soundtrack composed by artists such as Koji Kondo is much more varied than its predecessor.
8. Besides the usual items such as the Boomerang, Bombs, and Bow, there are several new ones to keep things interesting, including the Whirlwind, Whip, and Sand Wand.
9. The locations, or Realms, are much more varied compared to Phantom Hourglass, which mostly had a tropical vibe with some exceptions. Here, however, Link travels to the Forest, Snow, Ocean, Fire, Sand and Dark Realms.
10. Good boss fights as always, such as Byrne, Skeldritch, Fraaz, the Demon Train, and of course, Malladus himself.
11. The game has fifty hours' worth of side quests and collectibles to find, allowing for many replay values.
    • A major side quest involves Link collecting stamps for Niko's Stamp Book, whose designs are creative and based on the areas Link visits.

Bad Qualities

1. While it's a major improvement over the Temple of the Ocean King from Phantom Hourglass, the Tower of Spirits is still very tedious to explore, especially when you're looking for hidden collectibles.
2. The touch controls, while better than they were in the previous game, still may take some time to get used to.
3. The Spirit Flute, despite the songs sounding amazing, is difficult to play because one airstream from your breath can make two notee at once. Later songs even require near-impossible note timing that requires quick reflexes.
4. Malladus is a quite bland and forgettable antagonist, especially compared to other Zelda villains such as Vaati, Ghirahim, Yuga, Lady Maud, and especially Ganondorf. Chancellor Cole and Byrne's more fleshed-out personalities and backstories more than make up for this, however, in the same vein that Ghirahim will for Demise in Skyward Sword.
5. Dark Trains are the most annoying and powerful rail enemies in the game, as they instantly wreck your train in one hit, are nearly impossible to avoid once you're in their paths without changing your course are track breaks, and can only be stunned rather than destroyed.
6. The graphics, while more clean and polished, is still not aging well.

Reception

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks received generally favorable reviews from critics (scoring 87/100 on Metacritic), which have mostly commented on how it improved over its predecessor, Phantom Hourglass, and called it "far more diverse." Praise was given to the dungeon design, the story, the participation of Zelda herself in the game, and the diversity of side quests.

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