The difficulty with reviewing Zelda games is that very few people have never played one. People who write for gaming websites of any type are particularly likely to have donned the green tights at some time in the past, and more than likely multiple times. This means that to review a Zelda game is to have preconceptions about the series before one has even begun the game. From my experience, there are generally three types of Zelda users: the lovers, the haters, and the lovers turned haters. Some didn’t appreciate the change to a cartoony Link. Others can’t stand the adult Link from Twilight Princess. A few weird malcontents can’t stand either. Nevertheless, every voice cries out when a new Zelda game is announced, and fortunately for the fans, they usually shout the loudest.
When Spirit Tracks was shown at E3 earlier this year, it was met with many cries of derision. “Link on a train? Preposterous! This is completely out of line with Zelda lore!” said obviously with a posh British accent. And groans of “No more toon Link!” I even read forum posts, much to my chagrin, of people musing on the future of Hyrulian technology, as though spiritual trains somehow herald the end of magic and the beginning of Industrial Hyrule.
I suppose the point of all this meandering is simply to point out that this is another Zelda game. It follows many standards, introduces some fantastic new additions, and rings true to the series as a whole. It has much in common with Phantom Hourglass, as it should because this is the DS line of Zelda games and the entire toon aesthetic just works on the platform, but also mixes things up in ways that will feel great to the opened minded. Personally, I am an unabashed Zelda fan, and this review will make that quite obvious. For me, the series can do no wrong. But even were I not, the mere technical precision, the wide open world full of depth and humor, and a top-notch presentation that only Nintendo seems capable of delivering at times would make Spirit Tracks a year’s best, and certainly one of the best of the handheld games of 2009.
Link’s means of travel in Spirit Tracks is a Spirit Train. The game opens with our young hero taking his engineering exam. He travels to Castle Hyrule, resplendent with green gardens and quaint stone buildings as always, where everything proceeds to go terribly wrong, a grand evil looms its ugly head, and things happen much as players would expect. If it happened any other way, I think fans might revolt. The beauty of the Zelda formula is that its charm never loses its luster (to most of us). Somewhere along the line it transformed from an eye-rolling acceptance to a nostalgic necessity. Someone messes with Zelda, the dude in green tights gets mad, and the quest begins.
Central to the land, which is divided up into four elemental sectors, is the Spirit Tower. Early in the game the Spirit Tower is broken up into four floating pieces and Link is required to chug-chug along to each of the world’s sectors to find ways to put it all back together. The overworld is replete with places to explore, monsters to shoot cannonballs at, and rabbits to hunt (more on that later). The train aspect does make exploration a slightly more linear affair, but in reality it isn’t as oddball as people might want to believe. The rails are preset, and while at first I thought it would have been much more interesting to draw one’s own rails around the map, after some thought I realized the impracticality of this. For one, preset rails cut down on exploration time immensely. Link has the opportunity to discover new lines for completing side quests in the game. These new lines often have new stations to venture to. The rails act as arrows pointing directly where he needs to travel. Players certainly don’t have to wander over to the new dungeon or cave, but are rewarded for doing so. Preset rails are also necessary due to the nature of the map. The advantage that Phantom Hourglass had in its overworld exploration was that everything was on water. When travelling on water, one could pretty much expect nothing hidden under the waves unless there were a treasure map to go along with it. If there were an island, Link could sail over and check it out. He didn’t need to explore lots of unknown territory just to spot the land mass. If Spirit Tracks had a “draw your own
rail” mechanic, players would waste hours and hours traversing these rather large maps in an effort to stumble across the things they needed to find. It would also make the bunny hunting mini-game insanely more difficult and quite simply not worth doing.
My point is, while the train tracks aspect of the game did feel limiting at times, it was really the only way to play it. My only critique with that in mind is the warp gates, which were completely inadequate to fast travel. There are three gates per sector on the overworld map. Each gate leads to one of the other realms, but Link needs to drive to a gate from wherever he is in order to teleport. Unfortunately, unless he happens to be right there, driving to a gate is generally not that much quicker than just driving to a destination. The ability to travel from anywhere on the map, ala Phantom Hourglass, would have been loads more convenient. I didn’t mind having to find all the gates, I’m always down for such discoveries, but making me travel to each one every time was just a chore.
Link’s quest takes him to five standard dungeons and the Spirit Tower itself which serves as a massive, multi-tiered dungeon (with no frustrating and unnecessary time limitations). The dungeons are fantastic in a way that both innovates and adheres to tradition. Many of them do bear the tired old puzzles from every other Zelda game (when will they stop forcing me to push blocks along icy paths?), but there are also new toys to play with that more than make up for old tricks. The whip in particular is surprisingly fun both in combat and in puzzles, and I found myself enjoying a minigame for the first time in Zelda history as I swung my way around a mountain in a whip-race to the top. The other new gadget is a whirlwind making fan that requires one to blow in the mic. This can be slightly wearing after a time, particularly in the first few hours of play, but its novel at first and players aren’t required to use it for most of the game anyway. My favorite addition to Spirit
Tracks is the Spirit Flute. In true Ocarina of Time tradition, Link is given an instrument to play, and this one takes the shape of six pipes that require players to blow into the DS. The stylus is used to maneuver which pipe Link is presently blowing into, and it’s truly the most entertaining instrument to play in the series. It feels like playing an electronic pan flute, if one can imagine that. My only complaint was the scarcity with which it’s used. Then again, maybe it was just right and any more would have wore on me.
It certainly would not be a Zelda game without epic boss fights, and several times while playing this game I remember thinking to myself, “these might be the best bosses in Zelda history.” The boss of the fire temple in particular I found to be immensely fun, and the only one not completely fresh is the first in the game, which oddly enough was the one showcased at E3. It’s fairly standard Zelda fare itself, but the others are a blast.
The other giant addition that Spirit Tracks introduces is Zelda’s constant companionship and assistance. Anyone who has seen the trailer knows that Zelda loses her body. She doesn’t lose her soul, which consequently finds Link and follows him around. This is the Zelda I’ve always wanted. After I played 2008’s Prince of Persia, I remember thinking how cool it would be if the Zelda series followed this formula of Link running around together with Zelda in a similar fashion to the Prince and Elika. Somewhere across the ocean someone must have thought something similar because Spirit Tracks is very reminiscent of that mechanic. In regular dungeons and on the overworld she is just a “spiritual” guide, talking to Link, giving him advice, et cetera. However, when in the Spirit Tower she has the ability to jump into these giant suits of armor, who are invincible to all but rats and sand, and help Link mess some bad guys up. She carries him across lava, assists him with puzzles, and cuts enemies to shreds. Working in tandem with Zelda has a learning curve, but once mastered is one of the most satisfying aspects of the entire game. One boss in particular requires a cooperation between the two nothing short of symbiotic. The Zelda interaction as a whole is easily my favorite part of Spirit Tracks. It makes Link’s quest less lonely, adds a whole batch of personality to an otherwise mute character, and the cut scenes between the two are hilarious and adorable.
Critics will scoff at a train-riding Link, and fans will play it regardless. It’s often pointless to review a game like this because opinions are so likely to be formed before touching the thing. But as a lifelong Zelda nut who both looked forward to Spirit Tracks and feared it would repeat some of the frustrating aspects of Phantom Hourglass, I found myself in love with everything about it.
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| Title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks |
| Publisher: Nintendo |
| Developer: Nintendo |
| Platform(s): Nintendo DS |
| Release Date: December 7, 2009 |
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| Doin It RIGHT:
- Link and Zelda together at last!
- Fantastic dungeons and epic boss fights.
- Great mixture of innovation and classic gameplay. |
Doin It RONG:
- Poor fast travel option.
- Side quests can get a little tedious.
- No Triforce. |
FINAL SCORE: 9.5 / 10
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