As the fifteenth entry in the Legend of Zelda series, Spirit Tracks has rather large boots to fill. With each iteration, gamers expect a grander, more immersive and innovative experience as they plod across Hyrule or another interesting world. For those of you who played through Phantom Hourglass, you will find that Spirit Tracks feels a lot like it in play control, but is nothing like it in overall feel. Even if you didn't like Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks may have the right combination of elements to please you. Regardless, it's Zelda. And that means it's worth purchasing.

Graphics

The visuals in Spirit Tracks borrow heavily from the style that Phantom Hourglass established. This shouldn't be surprising, as it's running a marginally upgraded version of the same engine. As far as 3-D games on the DS go, Spirit Tracks is quite large. There are some places where the texture work is blocky due to the limitations in the DS's processing ability. Most models on the overworld are simplified to improve the DS's draw distance, and many repetitive objects (such as trees) are sprites that look the same from any angle. In what I like to call "action areas", the graphics look and feel much more like Zelda. It's clear that more effort was put into the action areas, where it belongs. All things considered, it looks pretty good for the DS. Despite that, any DS fan will tell you that the 3-D on the DS is not spectacular, so don't go into Spirit Tracks expecting high quality visuals. They're simplistic and — in some places — crude, but they get the job done with what little 3-D processing the DS has. My only complaint is that the game could have looked better if they had stuck to regular two-tone cel-shading. Instead, they used 3 to 4 layers of shading, and that really cut into the processing budget for the game. Nitpicking aside, the graphics fit the theme of the game, and that's what's most important.

Music

Sound is one of the more important aspects of a video game in my opinion. Spirit Tracks has a simple and memorable soundtrack, with an emphasis on woodwinds, slap drums, guitar, and violin. The result is interesting, and is the first of its kind in the Zelda series. The game has a strong acoustic feel that no other Zelda has, with its lighthearted but bittersweet title theme, adventurous and catchy overworld music, and Byrne's mysterious, string-heavy theme. While not quite as solid a soundtrack as Majora's Mask or The Wind Waker, Spirit Tracks manages to separate itself from other Zeldas and forge its own identity. I think it's a great musical direction and look forward to more music like it from future Zelda games.

Difficulty

One of the problems plaguing most games today is a lack of difficulty. Unlike its predecessor, Spirit Tracks manages to keep a steady difficulty, occasionally upping the ante when it comes time to push the veterans, such as the Defeat-Them-All Challenge in Hyrule Castle Town, which is like a boss rush mode. I still haven't managed to beat it without using potions. The puzzles in this game were crafted by the programmers instead of the level designers, so they often force players to think in ways that they normally wouldn't, which I think is the point of solving puzzles. I won't give anything away, but when I solved some of the harder puzzles, I felt quite dumb. It's puzzles like those that are the most rewarding and help your creative thinking. Nintendo should let the programmers design puzzles from now on, to keep challenging gamers to think in unconventional ways. Overall, the difficulty is pretty good for the veteran, and somewhat difficult for the newcomer. The game places plenty of hints about for puzzles, but also leaves certain puzzles completely unlabeled, so both levels of gamer should be able to get something out of the game.

Gameplay

What can I say? The game plays in a very straightforward way. While on the overworld, you get speed and direction controls, and the camera is manipulated by touching the screen and moving the stylus in your desired direction, just like in Phantom Hourglass. Tapping an object will fire a bomb at it (provided you have the cannon). Most of the controls in Spirit Tracks are just like Phantom Hourglass. A few things were changed for the better: firstly, rolling is performed simply by double-tapping in the desired direction. I think that was a good fix, since moving the stylus in a small circle to roll in Phantom Hourglass was somewhat tiresome and didn't always work. Double-tapping makes more sense and is easier to execute. Another fix I noticed is performing a spin attack. It's rather responsive this time around, so if you find yourself in a pinch don't hesitate to draw a large or even a small circle around Link. Aside from these fixes, it's standard Zelda fare; you explore towns and areas in the wilderness, open up a temple, defeat the boss, and restore some of the Spirit Tracks so you can access more of the world. Due to the changes in difficulty and setting, Spirit Tracks offers more interesting gameplay than Phantom Hourglass.

There's plenty to do while you're out exploring caves and dungeons, too. When you're riding across Hyrule in your train, you'll come across rabbits hanging out on top of boulders. Once you get to a certain point in the game, you'll be able to capture these little guys and bring them to a sort of bunny ranch, where the owner will reward your efforts at catching them. Also present are stamp stations hidden throughout Hyrule, challenging cavalier explorers to get them all. As if this wasn't enough, you can also carry passengers and cargo on your train once you get the passenger and freight cars. When you're on these quests, you have to be careful and pay attention to what's going on. If you don't drive your train properly by following the signs, your passenger will get angry, and if you let enemies hit your train you'll lose some of your cargo. It's a refreshing challenge compared to the so-so sailing that was present in Phantom Hourglass. The train is a bit slower in the long run, but much more interesting.

Items are another part of Zelda that form the backbone. Without interesting and innovative items, Zelda tends to fall flat. Thankfully, Spirit Tracks brings a few new items to the table. The first is the Whirlwind, which acts similarly to the Gust Jar from Minish Cap. It creates a gust of wind that can move enemies and items a short distance. Another is the Snake Whip, which can snatch certain items and allows Link to swing across chasms. There's one other interesting item, but I don't want to spoil the surprise.

The final piece of innovation in Spirit Tracks is the introduction of Zelda as Link's helper character. It's amazing how it took 24 years for Nintendo to bring us the duo working together to save the world instead of Link always saving her. Giving Zelda a more proactive role better establishes her character and attitude, being Tetra's descendant. Games could do with more sass in their female characters instead of the typical damsel in distress or barely-dressed harlot. Bravo, Nintendo, for better representing the fairer sex. I look forward to seeing more of Zelda and Link working together.

Final Verdict

Spirit Tracks is probably one of the last good games that will hit the DS before a successor comes along. The DS has had somewhat of a drought of good games in the past 6 months; the only other noteworthy games in recent memory being Bowser's Inside Story, Phantasy Star Zero, and Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. This is one of the games that any adventure game lover should have. If you enjoyed Phantom Hourglass, you'll love this game. If you thought Phantom Hourglass was so-so and a bit tedious, borrow it from a friend and see if you like the changes. I'm confident you'll find something to like about the game, even if you're not a big fan.

Metadata

Platform(s): Nintendo DS
Release date (US): 2009-12-07
Genre: Action, Adventure
Developer(s): Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone