The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS) Review

With Hyrule safe once more, iTZKooPA shares his feelings on Link’s latest adventure.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was written off by many early on.  Visually, it’s a clone of the DS’s earlier Zelda title, Phantom Hourglass, which took its art style for Gamecube’s Wind Waker.  Mechanically, all three titles contain a hefty amount of world traveling, the previous two by boat, whereas Spirit Tracks uses a train.  Cue the common audio remixes to the standard Zelda soundtrack, and implement the same slick stylus-driven control scheme and you have a recipe for a “me too” game.  I’ll admit, I was a neigh-sayer when I first heard about Spirit Tracks.  But it’s a fully-realized Zelda title, not some spin-off, so I had to give it a try.  Boy, I am eternally glad I did.

Spirit Tracks kicks off were many of Nintendo’s game do, something bad happens to a damsel.  In this instance, as Link goes to receive his engineering degree (in trains) Zelda convinces him that something fishy is going on.  Attempting to look like a bigger man than he is, Link sneaks her from the grounds, only to have her body kidnapped shortly after leaving castle grounds.  Her soulless husk is taken to be a vassal for an evil demon, while her spirit remains with Link, capable of possessing the Phantoms made famous in Phantom Hourglass.

Link’s ability to order Zelda around in these bodies opens up an interesting dynamic to the adventure.  By incorporating a solo co-op component to the game the level designers were able to conjure up some incredibly ingenious puzzles.  Zelda’s embodiment even lent itself to battle, giving Link someone to distract his enemies with as he attempts to gain the upper hand.  To my knowledge it’s the first time Zelda, in her princess guise, has ever lifted a hand to defend herself, or Link, or even Hyrule.

To reiterate, much of Spirit Tracks is based on the past success of Phantom Hourglass.  Controlling Link and doing battle with him is easy and intuitive, except for the Spirit Flute.  Link’s latest instrument can be incredibly annoying to play due to inconsistencies with the DS’s micrphone.  The players hand also has a good chance to get in the way of the microphone during play as well.  The instrument isn’t used often, but it’s impossible to progress through the game without performing, and probably failing, a few times.  The visuals are of the cel-shaded variety, with Link’s eyes once again roaming around as he dodges foes, or hears things in the distance.  There’s some noticeable lag in the game, specifically around fire, but it runs at a good clip outside these handful of hiccups.  And audiophiles will feel at home with classic Zelda tracks being reinterpreted and mixed in with some new ones.  What defines this Zelda isn’t the intriguing story, one that actually focuses more on Zelda and her growth as a character than Link’s, but its return to head-scratching puzzles, challenging dungeons and inventive boss battles that put the series on the map in the first place.

Spirit Tracks doesn’t layout the game in the typical fashion.  Instead of X number of classic dungeons, the train piloting becomes part of the progress.  Before advancing to the next dungeon, Link and Zelda have to locate Rail Maps, which enable Link to traverse the sparse overworld.  The maps reside on different levels of the Spirit Temple, the epicenter of tracks, with each level offering a dungeon-esque experience.  They’re not quite dungeons like the Sand or Ocean Temple, but they do offer introductory challenges when compared to the upcoming tasks.  Oh, and they feature no boss.  Given how unique each boss battle in the game is, it was probably a conscious decision not include bosses in the temple levels to avoid watering down the main dungeon’s confrontations.  The developers certainly didn’t need to worry about watering down the puzzles by over exposure.  Spirit Tracks contains, without a doubt, some of the most challenging puzzles in recent LoZ memory.  Gamers will be left scratching their heads, but it won’t be in frustration.

The only frustration you’ll receive from Spirit Tracks is from what’s been left out, or at least toned down.  Collecting, whether it be hearts, heart pieces, or some other trinkets that are normally employed by designers, are gone.  That’s not to say there isn’t stuff to collect, there is, but it’s a fleeting experience in comparison to the rest of the franchise, handheld or console.  First and foremost, the desirable heart pieces are completely gone.  Instead players acquire their life in complete foursomes from dungeons, with the rest being rewarded as part of side quests.  The treasure that’s sprinkled around awards money, which is then used to purchase train parts, if that’s something you fancy.  If not, then you just end up with a ton of money.  Which leaves some with only rabbits to collect for awards.  Awards of diminishing return.

Perhaps one of the franchise’s biggest draws has been its overworld.  The ability for players to simply run around between dungeons and tackle side quest, discover caches of goodies and hone their sword skills outside of a difficult boss fight and free from puzzles.  Unfortunately, Spirit Tracks doesn’t have much of one.  Players ride the train from point A to point B with nothing in between.  It’s not a boring ride, there’s stuff to attack and rabbits to find, but at no point can you get out and roam around the area.  The oversight of an overworld is the otherwise superb title’s tragic flaw.

The first impression of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is not a good one.  It looks, feels and plays like its most recent predecessors in every way.  However, the meat and potatoes of the title are anything but your standard stock.  This proverbial cupboard is full of filet mignon and King Edward spuds.

A must have for any Zelda fan.