The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
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| Released on December 7, 2009, and developed by Nintendo EAD, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the second stylus-tapping Nintendo DS game for the storied action-RPG franchise |
I played through 2007's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass a few years ago after acquiring a working Nintendo DS and loved it (and reviewed it), though I thought there were a few areas upon which it could be improved. Overall, the game does its pristine Zelda lineage proud, but repetitious, timed visits to its central dungeon, some minor control issues, and graphics and sound that don't quite feel top notch put the game in a strange, high-tier "great, but could be better" category. Thankfully, Nintendo EAD apparently noticed the same issues in their work, and returned two years later with 2009's The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, an even greater game that smooths out the flaws in its predecessor.
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For this long time Zelda fan, Spirit Tracks presents some promising story possibilities. The series split into three different timelines after 1998's Ocarina of Time, and Spirit Tracks closes out the trilogy of games begun by 2003's GameCube entry, Wind Waker, where the legendary kingdom of Hyrule now lies sealed beneath the ocean, and its descendants live scattered about on small islands. In Wind Waker, the evil central villain of the Zelda series, Ganondorf, is resurrected, but defeated, eternally turned to stone, and buried miles beneath the sea. Hyrule's descendants then band together to search for a new home, and 2007's DS entry, Phantom Hourglass, takes places during these events, concluding just as a new continent is discovered. Spirit Tracks occurs 100 years after Hourglass, once the Hyruleans have settled into the land, along with several other groups who already resided there. The land is intersected by mysterious train tracks, and as the game begins, Spirit Tracks' iteration of the legendary hero, Link, is training to become an engineer. Hey, if all that made no sense, no worries. This could be your first Zelda game with absolutely zero background, as the story within the actual game itself is fairly self-contained.
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In short, the tracks, known as Spirit Tracks, have begun disappearing, and young Princess Zelda, who Link would be serving by driving the trains as an engineer, asks Link to help her investigate. The duo are then attacked by the evil Chancellor Cole, and Zelda's body is taken away as a possible host for the ancient demon king, Malladus. Cole also fragments the mystical Spirit Tower in an attempt to give Malladus power, wiping out a large chunk of the Spirit Tracks (which are linked to the Tower) in the process. Spirit Tracks' gameplay loop is then introduced, as Link, along with Zelda's incorporeal spirit, must visit the game's central dungeon of the Spirit Tower, solve puzzles and fight their way up to help restore Spirit Tracks, which then allows them to visit new areas of the game map on Link's train, where they'll interact in a new town and complete tasks to gain access to that region's dungeon, in order to restore the next level of the Spirit Tower, which they'll then visit in order to restore more Spirit Tracks, to visit the next town, to get to the next dungeon, to then unlock higher floors of the Spirit Tower, etc., etc., until they can defeat Cole, stop the resurrection of Malladus, and get Zelda's spirit back into Zelda's body.
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Now if that sounds complicated, well, it kind of is...but not in a bad way. As in Phantom Hourglass, the player controls Link solely with the DS Stylus. Touch a point on the screen and Link runs to that spot, tap on an enemy and Link slices them with his sword. These controls feel just a bit more refined than those in Hourglass. As an old-school gamer used to a regular old controller, this generation of Nintendo, featuring motion controls on their home console Wii, and stylus controls on the DS, are the least intuitive to me. They work, but they're not my preference. Tightly clutching a little pen for hours on end with my enormous, arthritic hands is not ideal, but I was able to enjoyably get through this 30 hour game by doing so. There are a few moments I'll detail soon where I don't think the controls are perfect, but Nintendo definitely fine-tuned them for this game.
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The player also uses the stylus to traverse the overworld map, and can both draw out a path on the map for the train to follow, and actively tap in real-time to choose directions at forks, while controlling speed and direction, and even the train whistle. Even if the player has already drawn a path, they can still change it in real-time with the stylus. Controlling the train is so intuitive, it even became second nature for an aging troglodyte like me (who as I mentioned, struggles with controlling the on-foot portions). Early in the game, the player even gets a cannon on their train to deal with enemies, which they can easily aim and even swing the camera around 360 degrees at any point to get the best view of their foes. At first, I was disappointed that so much of the game involves travelling around in the train, and that what little fast travel the game offers is essentially just warp points unlocked late in the game. However, I came to love traversing Spirit Tracks' overworld.
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That love comes down to several strong attributes. For one, the overworld is varied and looks great. The cel-shaded graphics here are a notable uptick in quality from those found in Phantom Hourglass. The on-foot portions of the game are played from a visually pleasing isometric overhead perspective, but the overworld train portions are wonderful, third-person, full 3D. Each region of the overworld, from fiery volcanic plains, to icy hills, to a railroad-connected series of islands, looks great and has exceeding charm. Seagulls fly around you, dolphins swim beside you, there's always something going on, and you can see miles in the distance, with the Spirit Tower always looming. The music here is also an improvement. Phantom Hourglass suffers from a lack of musical tracks, and much of what's there consists of short loops. Spirit Tracks remedies this with hours of earthy music, much longer loops, and a buoyant, catchy, dynamic overworld theme that I still can't get enough of. This soundtrack feels like the terrestrial completion of Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass' seabound, less grounded themes.
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The overworld presents tactile pleasures in addition to the sensory ones. Blowing up bad guys is fun, but there are other tasks. Shooting rocks as your train passes them will yield money and sometimes health. You can also hunt down rabbits hidden around the overworld, and trade them in to a trademarked weirdo Zelda character who will give you items like heart pieces to increase your overall health meter, which you'll need...because Spirit Tracks is hard! Both the large set of overworld dungeons, as well as the central Spirit Tower dungeon feel like they were created by a puzzle master. The overworld dungeons are reminiscent of those in other Zelda games, featuring multiple floors, locked doors that need keys, and a battalion of monstrous enemies. Also like in previous Zelda games, about halfway through each dungeon, Link must fight a miniboss, whose defeat yields a new item, which makes previously inaccessible areas free to roam. However, many of these items are quite unique and take smarts to rightly utilize because...
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Holy cow, I alluded to it earlier, but Spirit Tracks is one of, if not the most brain-taxing Zelda games ever made. The overworld dungeons are tricky, and you'll have to use your brain and hand-eye coordination to a high degree, but the Spirit Tower is like a nightmarish Sudoku puzzle brought to life in the best way. Princess Zelda really gets to shine in these segments, as the player must control both her and Link to reach the top. The tower is populated by an army of iron glad guardian phantoms who can make quick mincemeat out of Link. However, if Link finds three "tears" in a given section, he can charge his sword, and then stun a phantom by hitting them on the back...at which point the floating spirit of Zelda can inhabit their bodies. At this point, the player can bounce back and forth between controlling either Zelda or Link, as Zelda now has the power of whatever type of phantom she's hit (i.e., a wrecking ball phantom, a warp phantom, a torch phantom). The puzzles in the tower sometimes require Zelda to inhabit multiple types of phantoms, but they always require frequent team work with Link, necessitating some serious lateral thinking from the player. If you've got a child under ten years old who can make it through this game without help, you need to have that child tested for Mensa.
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With so many dungeons, such a large overworld, and so many tasks, Spirit Tracks is no short game. The player can even unlock additional tracks in each area by completing a major task, often involving hauling large items by train for NPC's. These extra tracks give the player even more areas to explore, more items to collect. Link can even customize the train with parts found in dungeons. Thankfully, despite all these tasks, in the classic Nintendo way, a low-patience player can race through the game without doing almost any of them. However, for anyone who loves to 100% this type of game, you'll be playing for quite awhile. There's even a very fun and involving multiplayer mode, and though you'll have to find someone else with a DS (or up to three other someone's with a DS) to play it, you only need one game card, adding even more value to this little cartridge.
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I also feel that classic Nintendo sense of excellence here. From the way both DS screens are utilized during cutscenes, and particularly introductions to boss battles to give a sense of scale, to the cohesive, highly detailed art style, to the cohesion and tightness between the two diverging gameplay styles of the overworld and on foot portions of the game, Spirit Tracks is clearly the work of a brilliant team from a brilliant development house. It's the best of the Nintendo DS Zelda games, and a worthy ambassador for the Zelda name. While I don't always love the stylus controls during the on-foot sections, I can't deny that I love this game. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is incredible. It's also a lovely ending to the Wind Waker timeline, leaving Link and Zelda in a hopeful place, full of possibilities, free of the looming specter of Ganon and the ghosts of Old Hyrule. For this long time, and I do mean LONG TIME Zelda fan, Spirit Tracks is a gift.
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