Wishes for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

December 5th, 2009, by Zeypher (Carl B.)- With the release of Link's latest DS outing, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks looming within a few days, iNintendo takes a look at some of the wishes the staff have for Spirit Tracks.

The following elements aren't presented in order of how important we feel they should be, nor is this article intended to be a numbered list article of sorts.

Without further ado, here are iNintendo's wishes for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

Heart Pieces
While the first Legend of Zelda for the NES had extra heart containers to collect, and the second title, The Adventure of Link, ditched the heart system alltogether, hunting down heart pieces became a much enjoyed staple of the Zelda series since A Link to the Past. Typically the number of heart pieces needed to create an extra heart container is four, with the exception of Twilight Princess' five. Essentially, collecting heart pieces is like leveling up an HP stat in an RPG, without any level grinding: just exploration. Phantom Hourglass, the prequel to Spirit Tracks, ditched heart pieces in favor of simply collecting extra heart containers to extend Link's life capacity. While it's likely that Spirit Tracks will adopt the same extra heart container system that Phantom Hourglass used, we can only hope that Link will be able to collect extra heart pieces in his latest adventure to extend replayability and add more exploration to the "on-rails" nature of the game's train.

Collecting a heart piece in Ocarina of Time.

Variety of Villages
Something that hasn't been featured really at all in a Zelda title since The Adventure of Link is a great variety of villages. The Adventure of Link had tons of villages and towns -- one for each sage in Ocarina of Time, and then some more. Since Ocarina of Time in 1998, there has usually been a Kakariko Village, Castle Town, and a small town for the three main side races: Deku, Goron and Zora. The Wind Waker did a bit to break out of this mold, mostly due to the fact that there are several inhabited islands in the game. However, since they're simply islands, they're quite small and insignificant. A good number of villages and towns present no worth if they aren't lively, though. No matter what number are present, big or small, they must have enough NPC's so that they feel alive. The worst offender is Twilight Princess' Kakariko Village, which is basically a ghost town. understandably, Kakariko Village in Twilight Princess was ravaged by Shadow Beasts, possibly killing most of the village's inhabitants. The best example of a lively town is Majora's Mask's Clocktown. As the days ticked by, and the crazed moon inched closer and closer to impact, the town's people grew more fearful. Furthermore, the NPC's interacted with each other during the game's many side quests, which brings us to our next wish.

Clocktown in Majora's Mask.

Side Quests and Exploration
To further extend the replay value of Spirit Tracks, the game needs optional side quests and exploration elements to keep us coming back. As of late, Zelda games haven't had a great amount of optional side quests to complete. A perfect example of this is Twilight Princess, which did feature collection quests, but didn't have any side quests that involved helping the world's characters with tasks. If Spirit Tracks is going to follow the example a previous Zelda game has set for side quests, it needs to be that of Majora's Mask. The N64 sequel to Ocarina of Time had a plethora of optinal side quests to complete, with a majority involving Termina's inhabitants. Exploration will also be a huge factor in Spirit Tracks, especially since the game has a closed world type of style with the rail tracks.

Traveling via train in Spirit Tracks.

Tying Loose Ends
With another Zelda game comes another set of explanations for the series' timeline, along with many contradictions. Since Spirit Tracks takes place 100 years after the events of Phantom Hourglass, the game will have to do a lot of explaining as to how Link and Tetra came about the new Hyrule.

Return of the Master Sword and Ganon/dorf
Many would argue that Ganon/dorf is an overused enemy in the Zelda universe. While this may partially be true, Ganon/dorf is an iconic antagonist in the Zelda series. It's already been confirmed that the main antagonist in Spirit Tracks isn't Ganon/dorf, but a mention or revival of somesort for the Gerudo King would be fantastic. This isn't probable however, since Ganon/dorf (along with the Master Sword) is stuck at the bottom of the Great Sea from the events of The Wind Waker. The return of the Master Sword would also be a great addition to Spirit Tracks, since its predecessor, Phantom Hourglass, didn't feature the Blade of Evil's Bane at all. In fact, any sword upgrades throughout Spirit Tracks would be very welcomed.

Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time.


The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is set to release in North America on December 7th, 2009, so be sure to pick up the latest Zelda entry then. We'll have our review up for the game after its release.

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