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| Link's train travelling along the Spirit Tracks, and the overworld map showing where he is going. |
In the kingdom of Hyrule, Chancellor Cole has destroyed the Tower of Spirits and stolen the body of Princess Zelda to serve as a vessel for the demon Malladus. The disembodied spirit of Princess Zelda enlists the aid of newly appointed train engineer Link to fix the Tower of Spirits and retrieve her body. To do so, Link must travel along the Spirits Tracks, the chains that were originally used to hold Malladus that have since been re-commissioned as train tracks, to the four corners of the kingdom and find that relics needed to repair the tower.
The game makes extensive use of the DS’ hardware. The player controls Link by moving the stylus around the screen. Combat is handled similarly; the player just has to tap the enemy for Link to attack it. There are also several puzzles where the player has to make notes on the maps with the stylus to solve puzzles. And half of the items Link collects use either the stylus or microphone in some way.
The game is split into among the four different realms of Hyrule, and the player has to go through three sequences in each realm.
In the first part, Link and Zelda have to retrieve part of the rail map that will unlock the next section of the kingdom from the Tower of Spirits. Link controls normally while Zelda possesses a suit of armor that the player has to direct by tracing her path along the map. Puzzles in these areas involve taking advantage of having two people at the player’s disposal or Zelda’s indestructibility. These take the best advantage of the DS’ capabilities.
The next part-and this is the part that takes up most of the game-is travelling across Hyrule on the Spirit Train. The player traces a path along the Spirit Tracks from Point A to Point B, and Link pilots the train there. Along the way the player has to shoot down enemies with the train’s cannon, or switch the train to another track if another train is getting in the way. There is always a town that Link has to stop at first to get directions to the sanctuary of the area, which will then lead to the third part of that area.
These areas can be both good and bad. Travelling across the world by train is a novel concept, but it can get become tedious after a while. It is not the linearity that is the problem, but how slow the train moves and how elaborate the railways can be. The game tries to keep itself from being too repetitive by having enemies attack the train, or have other trains to dodge, but overall a faster train would have been preferred. The music that plays constantly while driving the train does not help at all.
The third part of the game takes place in the area’s dungeon. Link has to retrieve whatever tool is hidden away in that dungeon, then use to reach the end of the dungeon, and defeat the boss at the end of the dungeon with the new tool. These sections are okay, the puzzles are not particularly memorable, but they are never frustrating either.
There are several side quests that the player can make Link do. The two biggest are transporting cargo or people, either within a time limit or without getting damaged. Completing these can increase Link’s health, or open up new railway paths which can lead to new areas or shortcuts. They are for the most part fun little time wasters. The only bad one is the long rabbit collecting side quest. What is weird though is that most of them cannot be accessed by the player until the end. Also, most of them take place in the southwest part of Hyrule which is a waste of the other three realms.
The game’s biggest problem is it’s adherence to using all of the DS’ functions at the cost of enjoyment, especially controlling Link with the stylus, which never feels comfortable. Neither does anything involving the microphone. Combat is difficult too, despite its simplicity since it does not leave much room for maneuvering. Most of the challenge in the game comes not from difficulty of the enemies or traps, but from the difficulty of avoiding really simple perils.
The graphics are pretty good. It is in 3D with a top down perspective, and is cel-shaded.
There is not much story beyond “save the world”. The only really good part is the back and forth between the silly Link and the ghost Zelda, though the rest of the story is not horrible.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is an okay Legend of Zelda that is held back by its own concepts. Not terrible, but it could have been better.
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