LIKED:
-The music (when it wasn’t recycled)
-That the gimmicks didn’t turn out to be gimmicky (see: train and spirit flute)
-A chronology that is easy to follow

DISLIKED:
-When the otherwise great controls failed me
-The really really crappy and bad warp system
-The drab looking dungeons (I’m looking at you, Tower of Spirits)

Let’s be completely honest here, folks. I call myself a Zelda fanboy, but I’m not really. I’m an Ocarina of Time and a Majora’s Mask fanboy, sure. But go further back in the series and I haven’t beat a single other game. I can’t get into Link to the Past, the original NES Zelda frustrates me to no end, and while apparently the Oracle games are the best thing since stuffed crust pizza, I always gave up half way through. In fact, I just sort of wrote the handheld Zelda games off in general. I didn’t even notice when Minish Cap came out, and I casually played most of it later with mostly apathy. The DS has changed all that, however. Nintendo has brought the Wind Waker world to their portable wonder and has only improved the sub-series by doing so. For the sake of pure honesty, I don’t remember Phantom Hourglass except for the fact that I loved it and thought it capitalized on the potential Wind Waker set up.

But that’s a whole bunch of text without mentioning the game of honour once. So how is Spirit Tracks? Did the cartoony Link go too far with trying new things? As someone who cringed with the world the first time I saw Link ride on the screen in a ridiculous conductor outfit, I can happily say that this is easily the best the cel-shaded Link has ever been.

Don't mess with the best, 'cause the best don't mess.

Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of the Wind Waker sub-series is that the games are completely transparent in their chronology. This game does feature a new Link, yes, but the connections to Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass are everywhere and intended to be so. Spirit Tracks takes place 100 years after Phantom Hourglass on new land that has been discovered in that time. Tetra and Link discovered it and named it Hyrule in honour of the ancient land below the sea. Soon after its discovery, an evil force known as the Demon King and the spirits of good had some crazy battle that ended with the Demon King suppressed – not defeated – by the good guys by means of some magical tower. This tower acts as the centre hub for the game world. Those who played Phantom Hourglass will be familiar with how the next part plays out.

Essentially the game takes on the predictable structure of: Spirit Tower section, explore newly unlocked part of world, beat temple, repeat. Luckily, returning to the Spirit Tower isn’t quite the same annoying affair it was in Phantom Hourglass. Instead of being forced to race through the same sections time after time against the clock, Spirit Tracks lets you skip all the previous floors and uses good – and occasionally quite difficult – level design to add challenge to the experience. This eliminates almost all of the gimmicky feeling that the structure had in the previous DS installment.

Speaking of gimmicky, let’s talk about the train. Since Spirit Tracks mostly takes place on solid land instead of an expansive ocean, the boat is gone. No more sailing, not even for a single meter. Its replacement is the controversial train. My initial concerns were largely tied to the belief that it would be too restrictive. This is definitely not the case. Not only are there a large and always growing number of branching paths, but when it comes down to it, even in Phantom Hourglass you would really just draw a path from Point A to Point B. Link wasn’t able to swim around in the ocean just like he can’t run around the overworld by foot. In fact, there are so many paths that riding around in the train even has a great sense of exploration. Unexpected, perhaps, but undoubtedly true. Not just that, but there’s tons to do as an engineer. You can blast enemies, change speeds and directions on the fly, hail down travelling hot air balloon shops, capture bunnies, and even just shoot bombs at rocks. The experience is rich, fun, and even rewarding. Unfortunately it’s far from perfect. Changing directions is possible, but a pain in the ass, and sometimes the overall experience is just a little boring even with all the frills. To top off the list of negatives while travelling, Spirit Tracks has by far the most obtuse and unhelpful warp system out of any Zelda game to date. Its existence is better than nothing, but not by much.

But back to the upside. Back are the touch controls from Phantom Hourglass, and while not everybody loved them, I’ve definitely been an advocate from the start. Link and his bizarre arsenal of weaponry control like an intuitive dream most of the time, and the touch screen allows for puzzles that just wouldn’t be possible on another system. More importantly, the weapons and items are a blast to use. You’ll see classics like the boomerang and the bow and arrow, but that’s where the familiarity will stop. Zelda is a series that continuously delivers by offering unique and fun items and weapons, and Spirit Tracks is no exception. However, for all the praise, touch controls do have their weaknesses. It might be impeccably precise to draw the path for a boomerang, but try to control Link in a tight area surrounded by enemies and lava? Not so precise anymore. It won’t happen too often, but there will be moments that you will likely want to scream in frustration because Link auto-jumped in the lava again when you really just wanted him to hit a switch. Again, it’s not common but it’s worth mentioning.

Speaking of frustration, Spirit Tracks gets to be one of the more difficult Zelda games in recent memory. I am a bit of a pro at Zelda dungeons, usually. I’ll blast through a complicated puzzle that even some Zelda veterans will be stumped at, but by the end of Spirit Tracks, I had to give more than just a few moments to solve the stuff it was throwing at me. I wouldn’t categorize the game as a terribly difficult one overall, but by recent Zelda standards, it definitely grows to be a toughie. Obviously depending on your preference, this will either bring you great joy or great anguish. Personally, I was generally pleased with the challenge.

Writing this review, I’m beginning to realize just how massive Spirit Tracks is. I tend to write brief reviews, and this is a novel before I’ve said half the things I want to. So let me try and be concise when describing the last things that truly stood out to me about Link’s latest adventure.

First off, the music was an absolute treat. Despite some very disappointing repeat tracks in the dungeons, the music is layered, rich, inspired, and easily the best to come out of the series since the N64 era. Of particular note are the duets with the sages that are scattered throughout the game. You play a form of pan flute by blowing into the microphone – which feels surprisingly fantastic instead of gimmicky – in response to the music a sage will play for you. The result is a sense of magic and wonder that has been notably lacking in the Zelda franchise of late.

D'awww

Next are the graphics. Still the best on the handheld, only rivaled by the latest Kingdom Hearts effort. Close-ups are still a little ugly, and there can be some pretty nasty slow-down and pop-in, but overall the game is very easy on the eyes, especially during the rare but extremely beautiful areas that take up both the top and bottom screens.

Speaking of, the boss battles are a complete blast, true to form. I personally preferred the epic and very clever battles presented in Phantom Hourglass, but Spirit Tracks offers nothing disappointing, if not a little more safe. Although the unique train boss battles are worth mentioning as a welcome and intense addition.

Finally, the game is deceptively robust. I spent a lot time beating the main quest and dabbled here and there in some side quests. It’s obvious that there is much more to unlock even though I got to the end credits. The coolest part about a lot of the sidequests is that beating them actually unlocks more “spirit tracks” and therefore more of the world to explore. It’s a really cool mechanic that encourages side questing in a new way.

I would somehow love to say even more about this surprisingly strong title, but I suppose I should wrap things up. It’s cool to see Nintendo continue to grow their franchise in new ways. Spirit Tracks is obviously trying to build a new Zelda mythos and I’m all for it. It’s refreshing to see the start of new characters and legends forming in a land with a familiar name.

Ultimately Spirit Tracks suffers from a predictable structure, graphical slowdown, occasionally sexist game mechanics, and a train that – while usually awesome – can also be boring and hard to use to quickly get to specific places. Also the middle dungeon, while well designed, still takes up a lot of the game and even the best puzzles don’t save it from feeling tired by the end. However, Spirit Tracks succeeds by telling a charming tale accompanied by a robust world, fantastic music (when it’s original), great controls, and a much needed sense of magic. Wind Waker started the trend of proving that Zelda works and even thrives in new environments, and Spirit Tracks just furthers the cause. Highly recommended.