The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

 The Legend of Zelda games used to be a rare treat. With a few exceptions, most games in the series were typically separated by a period of at least four or five years. Some time after the venerable The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, things began to change. Barely even a year after the Hero of Time’s debut, Nintendo began to step up production on new Zelda games. It seemed as though every other year brought with it a new adventure for Link. It was about the time Minish Cap came out on the Gameboy Advance that I was beginning to feel a bit of Zelda fatigue. My condition was only worsened by the flaccid Twilight Princess on Gamecube – a game that, despite buying it when it first came out, I still have not bothered to finish. This was, by and large, due to the fact that the gameplay mechanics had stayed rigidly formulaic for years and years. When Zelda games were few and far between, it was easy to excuse the 4th consecutive re-appearance of the Hook Shot. But now that Zelda games were hitting store shelves fast and furious, the distinct lack of innovation was taking its toll.
 
 

Which brings us to The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the Nintendo DS. Spirit Tracks employs Link as, of all things, a train conductor – in a world where magical railroad tracks keep the ultimate evil at bay. Of course, the tracks begin to disappear, and things go from bad to worse as Princess Zelda’s spirit is separated from her body – and only Link can see or speak to her. Thus begins the quest not only to restore the namesake tracks, but to return Zelda to her body as well. The idea that the world hinges on the theme of trains, as if it was the most important aspect of that world, feels off to me. I don’t mind people who like trains, and I get that the real-world invention of the steam engine actually was a revolution – but the concept of a big demonic locomotive (with a scowling face on the front), and the fact that it is Link’s destiny to become a train conductor, bestowed on him in a ceremony similar to being knighted, seems a little too silly. Thankfully, the game doesn’t dwell on this story aspect too long, and shifts gears to focus on Zelda and the relationship she shares with Link. As is always the case, the translation work by Nintendo’s Tree House localization team is top shelf quality, imbuing Zelda herself with tons of adorable girly personality. This extends to all writing in Spirit Tracks, with some genuinely laugh-out-loud dialog. Story was never a primary focus in Zelda games, but there’s enough here (with some great nods to Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass) to keep you satisfied.
 
If you’ve played any of the previous Legend of Zelda games, you already have a good idea of most of the items featured in Spirit Tracks. The “Zelda Checklist” is in full effect. Bombs? Check. Boomerang? Check. Bow and arrows? Check. A musical instrument that plays magic songs that are only used in very limited, very specific locations? Check – and if it wasn’t obvious enough already, filling in the role previously held by Link’s horse and boat is the “Spirit Train”, your method of traveling the world. The train, however, is a noticeable step down from previous methods of transportation, given the fact that it is quite literally on rails. If you’re like me and enjoy exploring your surroundings simply to answer the question of “what’s over there?”, Spirit Tracks will be a lesson in disappointment. It does its best to liven things up – enemies routinely ambush your train, for example, and as you restore the “Spirit Tracks”, new routes will open up, sometimes opening access to secret side quests. But, more often than not, you’re stuck going where the tracks want to take you, watching the empty, uninteresting world pass by on your way to the next dungeon. At least they let you blow the train’s whistle. 
 

The good news is that once you arrive at your destination, the game picks up considerably. In addition to a lack of creativity, a partial contributor to “Zelda Fatigue” existed simply because, like a lot of Nintendo games of that era, Zelda‘s difficulty had softened. You could cruise through Wind Waker and Twilight Princess without ever being in danger of dying. Spirit Tracks, like many of the more recent Nintendo offerings, once again embraces the idea that it’s okay to challenge the player. The end result is a far more engaging experience.  No longer are enemies simply annoying obstacles to be swatted away at your leisure, but genuine threats that must be managed and dealt with in order to survive. Health-restoring potions are more than just items you forever hold on to “just in case” – they’re lifelines that can mean the difference between defeating a tough boss and having to repeat the long walk back to where you died. This says nothing of the game’s mind-bending puzzles that typically involve Zelda’s ability to possess and control the giant armored Phantoms. In post-N64 Zelda games, most puzzles could be solved so quickly and so easily, they could hardly even be considered puzzles at all. On the flip-side, many of the later puzzles in Spirit Tracks were so devious that it actually took multiple play sessions in order to devise their solutions. If that’s not enough, the game manages to find the tried-and-true sweet spot of being challenging without getting frustrating – something that was a staple of every classic Nintendo game of yesteryear. If there was one sore spot to this, it would be the controls: controlling everything with the touch screen is a good idea on paper, and it’s executed about as well as one could hope for, but it remains mostly a novelty and is not intrinsically better than traditional controls. It’s fine as it is here, but with as many times as Link accidentally jumped off the edge of a platform, I occasionally found myself wishing for a d-pad control method.
 
 Though it may have some dull edges, I had a lot more fun with The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks than I expected. Everything that’s good about this game is more engaging than a Zelda title has been in years. If you’re a fan of Link’s exploits, but feel as though they’ve been losing your interest lately, Spirit Tracks may just be the pick-me-up you’ve been looking for. 
 
(This review was originally posted on TSSZnews.com, on February 11th, 2010)