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The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks for Nintendo DS
In The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks for the Nintendo DS you play as Link, a young engineer who has to restore missing railway lines. You ride a steam train through Hyrule and explore villages and dungeons along the way. You choose a route for every ride. On the track you control the speed, use the cannon against attackers and take into account other trains that may cross your path.
Outside the train you control Link with the stylus. You indicate where he should walk, aim his objects and perform sword attacks via the touchscreen. In the Tower of Spirits you work together with the spirit of Princess Zelda. She can take over a Phantom: a large suit of armor with which you can brave dangers that Link cannot pass by himself. By placing both characters well, you make routes and solutions possible.
You also use the microphone of the Nintendo DS with certain objects and when playing the Spirit Pipes. The alternation between blowing, drawing and pointing makes operation part of the puzzles. You play the main story alone, even if you control Link and Zelda together. You will gradually learn how their options complement each other and which route takes your train safely to the next destination.
Region and language
Our Nintendo DS games are European editions, unless stated otherwise. This product contains a loose cartridge for the European market. A box is only included if explicitly stated in the product details. We note any different region in the product details. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
With The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks for Nintendo DS, you receive a loose cartridge. A box and manual are not included unless we explicitly state otherwise in the product details. This is the standard way we supply this copy.
The history of The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks
The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks was released on December 11, 2009 in Europe before Nintendo DS. Nintendo built on the touch controls of Phantom Hourglass. Director Daiki Iwamoto and producer Eiji Aonuma returned, along with some of the previous development team. The cartoon style was retained, but traveling overland and teaming up with Zelda gave the adventure a different format.
The idea for a train came up early in development. In Nintendo's developer interview, Aonuma said that a children's book about building a railroad had inspired him. The team first tried a system in which you could lay down rails yourself. That turned out to be difficult to combine with the order of the story and the places you were allowed to reach at a certain time.
The final solution was a network of which parts have disappeared. You restore the connections and therefore get more destinations. The rails also allowed for specific challenges, such as waiting at an intersection, reversing, and dodging an oncoming enemy train. In the temple, the return was also adapted: a staircase gave access to the higher parts of the tower. Spirit Tracks uses the same handheld controls as its predecessor, while the train and Zelda's collaboration add new puzzles and decisions.
Similar games for Nintendo DS
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is the most direct comparison. You control Link with the stylus and use drawn routes and map notes. The journey there is by boat. Spirit Tracks makes railway lines part of the planning and lets Zelda participate in puzzles in the tower, so that cooperation determines your solution more often.
Okamiden also uses the stylus to summon special powers and has a partner help with obstacles. You control a white wolf cub and draw with the Heavenly Brush. Spirit Tracks splits puzzle actions between Link and a Phantom. Recognizing two possibilities that together open a passage is important in both games.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates shares exploring dungeons and combining combat with environmental challenges. The properties and equipment of your characters give you different options. Spirit Tracks works more powerfully with Link, his items, and Zelda's Phantom. The train rides also pose a separate challenge between the areas.
Avalon Code combines direct combat with data editing in a magical book. You need to understand which property helps or weakens an item or enemy. Spirit Tracks requires similar thinking about tools, but emphasizes positions and routes. You draw where a Phantom should go and adjust Link's actions accordingly.
In Solatorobo Red the Hunter you visit floating islands, complete assignments and use a robot for fights and obstacles. The similarity lies in investigating individual locations within a continuous story. Spirit Tracks gives traveling itself more fixed rules: you have to take speed, crossings and other train traffic into account.
