The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS Review) by Carl B.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
System: Nintendo DS
Release: December 7, 2009

December 8, 2009, by Carl B. - Nintendo released the first DS Zelda title, Phantom Hourglass, on October 1, 2007. The game was a direct sequel to The Wind Waker and even featured the same visual style, albeit toned down due to limitations of the DS hardware. On November 7, 2009, Nintendo released their next handheld Zelda, titled Spirit Tracks. Running on the same engine as its predecessor, Spirit Tracks shared many similarities to Phantom Hourglass, and looking from the outside in, it seemed as if Spirit Tracks was a near carbon-copy of the first DS Zelda title. Is The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks too similar to Phantom Hourglass, or is it a fresh experience?

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks takes place 100 years after the events of Phantom Hourglass. Link, Tetra, and the group of pirates have seemingly found a new land to call Hyrule as Spirit Tracks takes place in a far more rural Hyrule than any game has seen before. In Spirit Tracks, a new Link travels to Hyrule castle to get his engineer certificate; the land of new Hyrule is littered with train tracks called the Spirit Tracks, and the inhabitants traverse the country in trains. After Link receives his certificate, Princess Zelda slips him a note asking him to meet her in a private place. It is revealed that something is going on with the Spirit Tracks, and a Hylian noble called Chancellor Cole is trying to revive the "Demon King." Princess Zelda's soul is split from her body and she accompanies Link in spirit form as he tries to restore the Spirit Tracks and prevent the resurrection of the Demon King.

Running on the same engine as Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks plays very similarly to its predecessor. Players control Link with the touch screen, as well as all of Link's items. Items work in the same intuitive way as they did with Phantom Hourglass, including being able to draw a path on the screen for the Boomerang to follow. Spirit Tracks features some new weapons to the series, such as the Whip, and also has many new puzzles for new and old items alike. Game progression is similar to other games in the Zelda series, having players complete tasks in the world before they can enter the game's many dungeons. Link's health is dictated by how many hearts he has, and players can find additional heart containers scattered around the world or by defeating a dungeon boss.

The overworld in Phantom Hourglass was traversed in a boat, similar to The Wind Waker. Spirit Tracks carries over that same type of world exploration, only in the form of a train. Instead of being able to draw a path anywhere on the screen like in Phantom Hourglass, however, in Spirit Tracks players can only follow tracks that have been unlocked. For some players this might feel limiting, but there are overall more locations to stop at, more overworld side quests, and a more genuine feeling of exploration than what was in Phantom Hourglass, mostly due to Spirit Tracks taking place on land instead of on an ocean. As players progress through the game they can complete a number of optional side quests to unlock alternate and new tracks, often times unlocking new locations and even more side quests.

When not traveling the world of new Hyrule on the train, players will be exploring the game's many locales and dangerous dungeons. Compared to Phantom Hourglass, more of the game takes place in these different locales instead of sailing the seas in a boat or traveling the land on a train. Dungeons are far more creative than in Phantom Hourglass as well in their presentation of puzzles and boss battles. Spirit Tracks isn't the hardest Zelda game, but it is certainly a lot more challenging than the insanely simplistic Phantom Hourglass.

A major complaint many gamers had with Phantom Hourglass was with the Temple of the Ocean King. After completing a dungeon players had to return to game's central dungeon and replay every floor until they reached a point where they could use their new items to move forward onto something new. Spirit Tracks features a central dungeon similar to the Temple of the Ocean King, called the Spirit Tower. After every dungeon in the game players will return to the Spirit Tower, only this time players don't have to go through several floors they have already completed. Furthermore, the Spirit Temple presents creative and challenging puzzles that the Temple of the Ocean King doesn't feature, with the main gameplay element of the Spirit Tower being Zelda's role. Only in the Spirit Tower, Princess Zelda is able to control the body of a Phantom (the enemies that insta-kill Link) and players are able to control her movements with the touch screen. This creates highly intuitive puzzles that force players to use both Link and "Phantom Zelda's" strengths to carry on in the adventure.

The visual style in Spirit Tracks is identical to that of Phantom Hourglass; only the game feels fresh due to it taking place on the lush, rural lands of Hyrule instead of on the Great Sea. When travelling the world by train players are able to see the great scope of the world, and Spirit Tracks features four different landscapes: Forest, Snow, Fire, and Water.

Spirit Tracks' soundtrack is also highly superior to that of Phantom Hourglass. The majority of tunes in Phantom Hourglass were incredibly boring and uninspired, particularly the dungeon theme. Spirit Tracks features a multitude of fantastic tracks, most notably the overworld theme that plays when players are travelling by train.

Spirit Tracks also features a local multiplayer mode that is different from the online multiplayer found in Phantom Hourglass. One team controls a pair of Links as they try to collect as many Force Gems as possible while the other team, composed as Phantoms, attempts to stop them.

The Verdict

Sound
14/15 - excellent soundtrack that is only held back by the DS' sound limitations.

Graphics
19/20 - While it's the same visual style as Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks looks leagues better due to the game having many different environments.

Appeal
23/25 - Spirit Tracks features the highest number of side quests in any Zelda game since Majora's Mask. A variety of locales and a central dungeon that is actually fun will keep players engaged throughout the entire ten-plus hour experience.

Gameplay
37/40 - Spirit Tracks runs on the same engine as Phantom Hourglass, so many fans may see this as a cop-out by Nintendo. Intuitive weapon control and creative puzzles keep Spirit Tracks from being a mere carbon copy of its predecessor.

Overall
93/100 - The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is a fantastic game and a major step up from its predecessor, Phantom Hourglass. While many of the same elements from the previous game are included in this new DS adventure, Spirit Tracks adds enough, mainly in the form of replay-ability and puzzle solving, to keep the experience fresh.