The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009)

VERDICT:

6/10 Long Journeys

W00t w00t, Blackout 2010!  Well, let me start by apologizing for the lateness of today’s post, a storm took out all the power around my area and I have not been able to charge my computer, or even find internet anywhere.  With that being said, the only option I had to game was on my DSi, and I know it’s another Zelda game (a little too early for that), but it’s all I had to work with.

Before I start to downplay the enjoyment of this game, let me say that I had an amazing time playing this game.  I started Spirit Tracks after my birthday this past December (Omg, I know, a birthday memory again.. Damn, this blackout has me being repetitive), it gave me everything I expected from a Zelda game, but not much more than that.  The graphics resemble Wind Waker, and the story is supposed to be some time after the events of Phantom Hourglass.  Now, we can say that the story is getting stale, but really it is just expanding.  Since these are installments for the Nintendo hand-helds they can’t offer the amazement that we all get from Ocarina or Twilight Princess, but it definitely took my mind off of the blackout all over the Bethesda area.

The story is much like the past cel-shaded Zelda games.  You are the link between the different lands around, which of course are the usuals: fire, water, earth, and ice.  In this game your trusty source of transportation is a steam train and the Spirit Tracks, which you have to revive.  I hate to be brief, but, like all Zelda games, you have some dude who steals Zelda and you have to get her back while you bring light to the world.  Asshole just wants to join the three sides of the Triforce.

So, instead of boring you with another long post about the usual Zelda story, I want to talk about the side missions in Spirit Tracks.  Most the weekend I went around the lands finishing every side mission that I could find.  If you go from town-to-town, people ask you for favors and for rides, and from these they award you with a Triforce-looking-piece that makes the Spirit Tracks grow and reveal new levels.  The fun you can have going around and helping is amazing, and I know that sounds stupid, but side missions sometimes makes a game.  The only downside is the long train rides you have to take to get from town-to-town.  Dumb birds attack you and ruin your trip (like, literally, by hitting you and making you restart the missions).  The side missions in Spirit Tracks really have brought me back to this game.  Since I have not played it in so long, it took me a while to pick it back up, I didn’t know where I was in the game and I didn’t know what was next, but these missions have rekindled my enjoyment of the game.

The graphics are good if you enjoy cel-shading (which I do), the story is great because Zelda has not given me a bad adventure yet (excluding Majora’s Mask), and the gameplay is a great time.  I won’t say that this is one of the best Zeldas out there, it can bore you at times and it can get tiring riding on the tracks so much, but when all you’re expecting is a good puzzles and ongoing adventure, then this game will give you what you need.  Well, to be honest, every Zelda will give you that, but if I had to choose one from the series to play, this would not be it.  And, if I had to choose one to play for my DSi, then Phantom Hourglass would be it.