The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for Nintendo DS

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is a December 2009 Nintendo DS adventure from the Nintendo EAD team, issued by Nintendo. Metacritic gives it a Metascore of 87 and an ESRB rating of E10+.

Overview

The story takes place a century after Phantom Hourglass in New Hyrule, a land settled by Link, Tetra and the pirates. A new Link graduates as Royal Engineer and meets Princess Zelda, Tetra’s great-great-granddaughter. The railway tracks that bind the Demon King Malladus are vanishing, and the two set out to restore them.

Production began in 2007 after Phantom Hourglass shipped. Wikipedia says the team first planned a short schedule modelled on Majora’s Mask, but extended it to two years, double the estimate. Eiji Aonuma described the process as smooth, and half the team, including director Daiki Iwamoto, carried over. The concept grew out of a children’s book that Aonuma read.

How it plays

Spirit Tracks keeps the stylus controls of its predecessor. Link walks, attacks and dodges by touching the screen, and bombs and the boomerang are chosen the same way. The overworld is crossed by train. The player sets speed and direction, throws switches at track junctions and sounds a whistle to clear animals, and can draw a route on the map instead of steering by hand. Later Link receives a cannon for defence and a cargo car for moving goods between towns, and some missions require carrying passengers who must be kept content.

Zelda has a bigger role than in earlier games. Her spirit can possess a Phantom Guardian in certain dungeons, and the player draws a path with the stylus for the Phantom to follow while Link works elsewhere. Several puzzles depend on controlling both at once. Her pan flute is played by blowing into the microphone, and finishing songs can unlock magic or restore more tracks.

The central dungeon uses a spiral staircase rather than the repeated floors of the previous game, and it has no curse draining Link’s health.

Multiplayer is limited to DS Download Play. Up to four people each need one DS, and a single card supplies the game. Each player controls a Link in a different tunic colour and collects Force Gems within a time limit while avoiding Phantoms. A Tag Mode lets nearby players swap items.

Release and credits

Wikipedia lists release dates of 7 December 2009 in North America, 10 December in Australia, 11 December in Europe and 23 December in Japan. Metacritic prints 7 December 2009 for the North American date. Both name Nintendo EAD and Nintendo.

Reception

Before launch, IGN gave it the Best Action Game for DS award at E3 2009, and Eurogamer’s Christian Donlan called train travel a natural fit for the cel-shaded world. After launch, critics from both games outlets and general news sites praised the story and the new gameplay ideas, according to Wikipedia. Some earlier commentary had questioned whether trains would be as irritating as sailing.

One point of friction was the microphone. Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo criticised its use for certain items, such as the Whirlwind, on the grounds that it would be awkward on public transport.

Can you still play it?

The cartridge works in a DS, DS Lite or DSi and in any 3DS family console through DS mode. Wii U and Switch hardware cannot use it. Wikipedia’s region lock article says DS cartridges outside the DSi-only group are region-free, and that applies to this one, so an import copy is playable.

Because multiplayer never relied on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, the whole game survives the service’s 20 May 2014 closure. Four-player Download Play still needs four DS-family systems and four people in the same room. Nintendo discontinued the 3DS family on 16 September 2020, so second-hand systems are the practical way in.