The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo DS)

This is my first review, so here goes:

There's few times when I finish a game and verbally say `wow'. Spirit Tracks is one of those games and I can honestly say it's the most fun I've had playing a Zelda game (or a DS game, for that matter). The game's presentation is pretty impressive and you'll find few games on the DS with as high production values.

The control scheme is incredibly intuitive and it'll take mere minutes to understand the basic mechanics. If you've played Phantom Hourglass you'll feel right at home here. Link is entirely controlled via the stylus, while either shoulder button will activate your secondary weapon. Don't worry if you're left handed; Nintendo has you covered here.

There are less main dungeons here than there are in previous games - 5 in fact. There's still a returnable dungeon like there is in Phantom Hourglass, but you're not required to visit previous floors, there's no time limit and utilizing the phantoms is actually part of the mechanics instead of avoiding them completely. However, having less dungeons isn't a problem at all because for what Spirit Tracks lacks in quantity it more than makes up in quality and passion. Spirit Tracks is a game that feels as if a lot of love and thought just went into. Often you might be left after solving a puzzle and end up thinking `How on earth did they think of that?' The boss fights are all impressive and utilize both the DS' screens and each one is more impressive than the last. The final boss fight sequence instantly became one of my favourite boss fights ever.

There's also hours worth of side quests to do, which will give you access to extra sections of tracks, allow you do customize your train, upgrade your shield and sword and even change Link's clothes. If you just want the collect treasure then you're also free to do that - which is where the mini-games come in. Spirit Tracks has five mini-games, all of which are completely different from each other and incredibly fun. Each one act as a means to gain useful items, treasure or just to pass the time.

The characters carry the same charm as they did in Phantom Hourglass and each town has its own unique qualities. There's no Linebeck like there was in Phantom Hourglass this time around though (who has arguably the best character in that game), but you do have Zelda tagging along with you instead. Spirit Tracks actually manages to make Zelda more than just a plot device and actually makes her into a fairly charming, likeable and entertaining character. She's also an integral part of the gameplay too.

The music - especially the overworld music (which you'll be hearing a lot) is incredibly well done. There's even the added touch of the train sounds actually syncing up with the music. If I had a top list of game themes, Spirit Track's overworld theme would pretty high on the list. It's incredibly catchy, gets you in the mood and you'll probably be whistling or humming along to it as you play. There's a few other songs in the game that stand out as well, such as the Goron Shooting Range theme.

Graphically, you're not really going to get any better on the DS. Spirit Track is a pretty gorgeous game considering it's on the DS and the only games that springs to mind with comparable graphics would be its predecessor and Avalon Code. This is a perfect example of why a stylised art and graphical direction are much better than trying to look realistic.

There are a few minor problems though, but they might only be a problem to the completionist. When you start a game, certain items from the treasure pool will become rare and incredibly hard for you to come by - probably to promote the trade system. This is a problem when collecting train parts since they all require a certain amount of treasure to purchase. There are workarounds to counter this, but they're still fairly time consuming. The rabbit catching fetch-quest can also a bit long and tedious, but not something to worry about unless you really want to go for a 100% save game or want your sword to shoot beams. There are also sections of slowdown while on the tracks when certain enemies appear in certain areas, though this isn't much of a problem.

So overall, I personally find this game to be the best handheld Zelda game available. While Link's Awakening and the Oracle games were amazing for their time, Spirit Tracks just brings everything to an entirely new level while still managing to introduce some new themes without falling on its face.

It's not your conventional Zelda game, and it's all the better because of it.

If Metacritic has thought us anything, it's that gaming journalists have a herding instinct. The last Zelda DS game was almost universally praised for it's brilliant controls and all of it's Zelda-on-the-go goodness. Then the wind changed. Now it's the done thing among critics to complain about back tracking and repetition across the Zelda series so this has dominated the reviews, opinion pieces and feature articles that I've read in the last year that discuss this game. Very odd, because Metroid-vania games are all about back tracking and most FPS games or God of War clones seem to be constructed out of kits in an ikea warehouse. And yet critics ignore this and hand out 5 star reviews to the most pedestrian trash. But I digress....

My point: this little gem of a game has the miss fortune of being released at the height of a Zelda back lash in the press. So forget what the journalists are saying and just play the thing; it's brilliant!
The development team have clearly learned from most of the short comings in the previous Zelda DS title (Phantom Hour Glass): the story is more engaging, riding the train works better then the boat system, a lot of the back tracking is optional and the treasure hunting is less onerous. There are some flaws: the vehicle up grades are as pointless as before and yet again you get access to the last dungeon when you've only seen 2/3 of the game world (meaning you suddenly have to go on a lot of side quests if you want to see everything - many of the quests are closed to you until the penultimate dungeon has been completed, so you really can't do them until the very end). Once the final boss is within my grasp I just want to beat it, but I know that it'll be a long time before I come back to the game once I've completed the story, so I find myself jumping through hoops in trading quest after trading quest which I would have enjoyed much more had they accrued earlier in the game. Also, the battle mini/multi player game is back and is as uninspiring as last time. Note to Nintendo: Zelda didn't need this for 20+ years, so what changed?

So why still give it 5 stars? Because whilst not perfect, it really is a wonderful game and a must for DS owners. The puzzles are ingenious and the characters are full of charm. The pacing of the first 2/3's is spot on. The control is so intuitive that I have stopped noticing it, and the music is brilliant. It may not be as good as Ocarina of Time, but then what is? As it stands, this game is a special one and has reminded me of why I liked gaming in the first place: it's fun, it makes you think and it can capture your imagination.

In short, if you are even slightly interested in this game then you really ought to get it. It's got that Zelda magic that has made the series one of the crown jewels of video games. If you have never played a Zelda game or an adventure game before then you are in for a treat you won't forget in a hurry.
In fact, I am jealous of kids who get to play this as one of their first gaming experiences. They will have many happy memories, were all I have are dark recollections of 'Way of the Exploding Fist' and 'The Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles game'. Urk.
There, I think that'll do.

Phantom Hourglass was a good Zelda game and it looked very different from any other Zelda game which came before it - Spirit Tracks continues that look and improves on it.

Spirit Tracks makes fantastic use of cell-shading and 3D graphics, you can skip past the explanatory animated scenes which link various parts of the game but you won't want to, they really help to marry together the story and the actual gameplay.

In Phantom Hourglass you got to sail a boat and fire a canon - here you get to drive a train and toot the whistle, it doesn't sound as exciting but it feels like a much more efficient way to get around the map and again it gets the full 3D treatment (you do eventually get to fire a canon though!). You expect puzzles and interesting characters in a Zelda game and this doesn't disappoint. The world you find yourself exploring looks terrific and colourful, the movement is always smooth and where in the past certain aspects could feel repetitive - here it always feels fresh and you don't find yourself groaning at having to go back again to the tower. It's not just the visuals which impress, a lot of effort has gone into making sure that the audio effects in the game go along well with what you're seeing on screen. Whether it's an intake of breath, an echoed shriek, or dramatic music - you'll be wanting to play with the volume up!

The genius behind Spirit Tracks really comes down to the fact that Nintendo have taken all the best aspects of Phantom Hourglass and incorporated them into a package which should by rights feel like a re-hash of the first game (many of the same features are carried across to this game, and although the train is better than the boat - it's not too dissimilar), but infact manages to feel very new. The controls are again all stylus based (you can't use the buttons to control Link) which I expected to find frustrating but it's pretty slick and feels natural. There are some gimmicky moments which involve blowing into the microphone - but thankfully those are kept to a minimum (I always feel that novelty moments like that in such games are done for the sake of it) and the game does spend a lot of time explaining things - but that's only fair on those who are new to the Zelda franchise.

In a nutshell: This doesn't just look the business - it's a genuinely fun adventure involving Link and Zelda which will provide you with many hours of gameplay. In years to come this will be considered to be a classic game in the Zelda back-catalogue - and rightly so.