The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Review - DS

As the follow-up to the first Zelda adventure on the DS, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks has a lot to live up to. Although it was a great game, Phantom Hourglass had some fairly noticeable flaws that required attention in this sequel. Thankfully, this new adventure proves itself worthy of the Zelda name.


 
All Aboard
 
Early on in Spirit Tracks, our hero Link travels to a large tower. Through the narrative, it becomes apparent that the structure is an integral part of the story and Link will be returning to this puzzle-filled location multiple times throughout the game. This realization is bound to bring back painful memories of the Temple of the Ocean King, the horribly dull dungeon that Link was forced to replay ad nauseam in the game's predecessor, Phantom Hourglass. This unfavorable comparison is not helped by the return appearance of the lumbering Phantom knights and the glowing Safe Zones (where the Phantoms can't detect your presence) within the tower. Luckily, better game design prevails here, as Spirit Tracks does not require you to repeat floors in order to reach new levels of this central dungeon.
 
Spirit Tracks is quite obviously a sequel to Phantom Hourglass in that the two games share many similarities. The graphics, for example, are practically identical between the two. This is fine, however, since they're darn nice-looking games. The DS's limited 3D capabilities work quite well with the cartoony, Wind Waker inspired visuals. Vehicular travel is again a large part of the game, and you'll be spending plenty of time tooling around Hyrule in your train, blasting enemies with its cannon and tracking down hidden locales. One of the more interesting additions to this sequel is that Princess Zelda plays a much bigger role this time around as she accompanies Link on his journey. Without giving away any spoilers, Zelda's presence definitely adds to the gameplay and having her along for the ride results in some amusing dialogue sequences.
 
There may be some disappointment over the fact that there are fewer traditional dungeons in Spirit Tracks than in other Zelda titles, but this actually works to the game's advantage. Instead of falling into the standard Zelda formula (go to dungeon, get new item, defeat boss with said item, move on to next dungeon), the Hyrule of Spirit Tracks feels more like a fleshed-out world filled with multiple towns to visit and new people to meet. There are also ample side quests that serve to open up even more areas to explore.


 
Of course, that's not to take anything away from the game's dungeons, which are exceptionally well-designed. Sure, they still rely on solving puzzles with, say, the boomerang that you found inside it, but with fewer overall dungeons, there is more opportunity for the game to make effective use of the items outside of their respective dungeons.
 
Commuters be warned--this is one of those games that requires you to blow into the DS's microphone to activate certain items. If you don't want to look like a goof creating miniature tornadoes with the Whirlwind item, you'd best finish the first dungeon in the privacy of your own home instead of on the bus. Still, the microphone controlled Spirit Flute is actually pretty fun to play.
 
Although the dungeons are suitably tricky and enjoyable, special mention should be made to the aforementioned Tower of Spirits. It is where the player experiences the game's much publicized gimmick of controlling one of the Phantom knights in conjunction with Link to help solve puzzles. The abilities of the Phantoms allows for some ingenious (and occasionally quite devious) traps that are very rewarding once you solve them. Without the repetitive nature and obnoxious time limit of Phantom Hourglass's Temple of the Ocean King, this multi-story keep is a place that you'll actually look forward to returning to as you play.