zelda: spirit tracks

Spirit Tracks is Nintendo's sequel to the first DS Zelda game. Borrowing its style from the Wind Waker (Gamecube), it continues Nintendo's fine tradition of quality gaming software, offering solid, creative and fun gameplay in a totally immersive world. Lately they have been outsourcing some of their franchises, luckily they kept Zelda within their own tight control. The result is everything you've come to expect from a Nintendo game.

promotion art of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Zelda has always been one of my dormant favorites. I've liked every Zelda game I've played so far, though not one of them has ever made it to my list of absolute favorites. When I tried the first DS Zelda, I wasn't all that convinced and decided to look for other things. About 30 minutes into this sequel I was proven very wrong. The controls take a little getting used to, but once you master them the game plays like a dream.

Spirit Tracks is the first game I play that actually relies on the stylus for moving around. You simply point to where you want to go and Link starts running. Tapping the screen makes Link interact with objects. He can push, pull, pick up and talk to elements within the world this way. These controls are extremely simple but take just a little time to get used to. Once you've mastered them they feel completely natural, making you wonder why you've ever had trouble navigating.

The gameplay of Spirit Tracks is divided into two sections. You have the overview map, which is navigated by train. On this map are several locations you can access which allow you to walk around more freely. Driving around with the train is pretty fun by itself. You can map your route, kill some enemies along the way using your canon and even hunt for rabbits if you want. And if you're taking passengers, make sure to stick to the driving rules or else they'll think you're a bad driver and leave your train.

screen caps of Zelda: Spirit Track

The other areas feature more typical Zelda gameplay. Puzzles that need to be solved, enemies that need to be beaten. During the game you can collect special weapons granting you new options to solve certain puzzles. These weapons are essential to advance and to unlock many of the available side quests. On top of that, you have a set of bombs and your sword. While this doesn't sound like much, the makers made full use of all these capabilities to keep the puzzles and action as creative as possible.

There is an additional challenge as princess Zelda is tagging along on your journey. For the bigger part she just comments on what is happening, but in the tower she can enter the body of Phantoms and she becomes and extra playable character. It's a handful controlling two characters at once, but it does add a lot to the variety of the gameplay.

While the main path of the game is pretty episodic and straight-forward (4 areas, two main stopping points, one tower to rebuild), the side quests and sub games provide all the diversion you'll need. Transporting people and supplying goods to the towns grant you gems, activating new tracks on the map and allowing you to travel to new places. These side quests take up a large part of the game, making it last a lot longer than the main story arc would have you believe at first.

Visually the game is extremely pleasing. It does depend on whether you appreciate the typical Wind Waker style, but it works very well on the DS, making the characters very emotive and recognizable. The 3D is nice, though a little flat on the maps, the other areas are pretty varied and feature the regular details you'd expect from a Zelda game. Including the chickens (though they call them cuckoos now - still looks like chickens to me).

promotion art of Zelda: Spirit Track

The soundtrack too is pretty enjoyable, which is a rarity for DS games. Nice, recognizable tunes that are perfect to hum along with. There is no voice acting, just some small samples of people umpfing ans grunting. The microphone is also used to full effect, as there are a couple of tunes that need to be played on a flute. Cool stuff, just be aware that you'll be looking like a complete idiot doing it in a public place.

Spirit Tracks is a pretty vast game, though it doesn't really look it at first. The maps are quite small, but there are enough locations and plenty of side quests to add to the length of the game. No matter whether you're taking passengers, collecting stamps, hunting rabbits or doing some renovations on your train, there's always some place to go or some job to finish before continuing the main story arc.

The game is perfectly balanced, making full use of all the options on the DS. The gameplay is natural and intuitive, the puzzles varied and creative, the difficulty level just about steep enough. It's definitely one of the best games I've played on the DS so far, the first one is already awaiting my attention. Definitely recommended.

Check the trailer if you're interested