Despite its slow start, Spirit Tracks ends up being a great Zelda game when it's all said and done.
Spirit Tracks contains a story that bears little resemblance to any other game in the entire series. The game starts with Link, an aspiring engineer, leaving his little town to get an engineering license from Princess Zelda. Soon after the ceremony, Chancellor Cole and his rather powerful crony Byrne kidnap Zelda and separate her spirit from her body. Their goal is to eventually call the Demon King, Malladus, back out of his imprisonment and reside in Zelda's body, and after that cause who knows what kind of havoc and destruction. Fortunately, Link is able to see and communicate with the ghostlike Zelda, and they set out on an adventure to restore the Spirit Tracks around the land and stop Cole from resurrecting the Demon King.
The story is mostly well done, with a solid start that is instantly gripping. The plotline doesn't carry itself through a large portion of the game very strongly, but rather uses that time to develop a unique relationship between Link and Zelda, which is a rather refreshing and charming change of pace for the series, seeing as the two have never spent much time together. Cole is a rather shallow villain made interesting and intriguing simply by his deception at the beginning of the game and entirely creepy behavior, but other characters such as the sages, namely Anjean, help keep the story going alongside Link and Zelda. It's a predictable tale, but it serves its purpose in adding something fresh to the series.
The major new element in Spirit Tracks is the train. It is an odd and somewhat out of place object in the game seeing as it's the only part of Hyrule that is even partially industrialized: the rest is just as we remember it in all its medieval-times glory. The train is, obviously, Link's transportation from place to place for the entire game, and unfortunately this is where Spirit Tracks stumbles a bit. Train rides tend to get long, drawn out, and boring even early on in the adventure. There is a warp system, but unfortunately it is made sparse and completely inefficient due to the fact that pairs of warp gates link only to each other rather than just having all of the gates link together. The train is also essential in completing just about every side quest in the game, of which there are plenty, but the hassle of going from place to place diminishes the value a bit. Thankfully the game's length is satisfactory even without doing any side quests.
Spirit Tracks, like its predecessor, structures itself around one central dungeon called the Tower of Spirits. Unlike Phantom Hourglass' Temple of the Ocean King, though, it is not necessary to redo the entire temple upon each visit; fans can breathe a huge sigh of relief. The Tower of Spirits is a solid dungeon that is unique in that Zelda is able to possess Phantoms, creating opportunities galore for creative puzzles involving the cooperation between Link and Zelda. By the time players reach the top floor, there will have been plenty of challenge and inventive puzzles along the way that were a treat to solve.
Unfortunately the game does take its time in picking up the pace. From the game's start up through the third minor temple it's completely easy going, in fact I don't recall being stumped for more than 30 seconds on any given puzzle in that entire segment of the game. However, after the third dungeon, the game simply bursts at the seams and even explodes with the ingenuity and challenge that is to be expected from a Zelda game. There aren't very many items in the game, but the ones available are put to every use possible to push along the brilliant level design and puzzles.
One of the greatest parts of Zelda games has always been the boss battles that incorporate the dungeon's new item in epic, large-scale fights, and Spirit Tracks fully delivers in this area as well. The monsters are always huge, sometimes taking up two screens, and even if a given boss isn't quite that large the battle will always utilize both screens for a better sense of atmosphere and camera angles. Defeating these monsters is usually not too difficult, but the fight is always so grand that watching them writhe in pain and disappear after the finishing blow is a victorious and satisfying moment.
One of Phantom Hourglass' great achievements was making complete touch control work very well, and Spirit Tracks follows in that same path with little change. Running, slashing, using items, and any other action can be smoothly executed with simple touches or drags across the lower screen, and it all works about as well as its potential allows. Spirit Tracks also makes the best use of the DS' mike to date. One item allows you to blow a gust of wind by blowing into the mike and the Spirit Flute, an item reminiscent of the Ocarina of Time itself, is played by blowing and sliding the instrument across the bottom screen to play the correct notes. It all works very well and pulls together a simple, smooth, and effective control package.
Playing the Spirit Flute is a treat not only because of the clever method of playing the instrument but also because of the music that must be played. Every tune played with the flute is delightfully charming and/or epic; in fact the same can be said about most of the game's other music tracks as well. The train riding music in particular is thrilling and epic, so at least the otherwise dull train rides have such great music to make it a little more enjoyable. I may have bashed the train a lot, but the music really is a bright point about it because it gives the rides a sense of wonder and adventure that otherwise would not have existed.
Spirit Tracks pretty much looks the same as Phantom Hourglass. The animation is identical and it still looks pretty solid for a DS game, with smooth animations and remarkably expressive characters. Upon close inspection the graphics look fuzzy sometimes, namely the ground during train rides, but that aspect isn't the overwhelming one: Spirit Tracks is a good looking game overall.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks may not be the best Zelda game out there, and its issues keep it from being notably better than its immediate predecessor, but it's still a great game overall. Its unique story, improved central dungeon, epic boss battles, use of DS functions, and excellent level design all contribute to its overall quality, despite the dull train rides and slow start. Once it gets going, though, it really gets going, and especially from the fourth dungeon and forward, Spirit Tracks is a great game that's worth playing through the slow start for the more than satisfying second half. Those who haven't played a Zelda game are still better off starting with Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, or Twilight Princess, but for Zelda fans Spirit Tracks is a must play.
Positive:
+ Refreshing story with a surprising beginning
+ Tower of Spirits is a much-appreciated improvement
+ Brilliant puzzles and level design in the later part of the game
+ Epic and well-designed boss battles
+ Controls make good use of the DS' abilities
+ Fantastic soundtrack, especially the train riding music
Negative:
- Train rides are long and boring despite the epic music
- Warp system is sparse and inefficient
- Slow and easy early on due to lack of difficulty
8.4/10