Zelda: Spirit Tracks has some enjoyable dungeons, but unfortunately, you have to deal with riding a train to get to them.
I was traveling a lot last weekend, so I got a chance to spend some time with the new Zelda game for the DS. Part of me is under the halo effect that anything that Nintendo develops and publishes is going to be awesome, but when I heard that the new thing in this Zelda game would be trains and railroad tracks, I was less than enthusiastic. While the game has been getting a large number of positive reviews, after trying it, I’m not one that quite falls into that same crowd. I don’t like where Zelda is going, but perhaps I’m more in the minority with this. Read on for my impressions from the game after playing it a couple of hours.
I loved the original Zelda on the NES and even enjoyed the Adventure of Link. If someone were to ask me which Zelda was my favorite though, I would actually say that A Link to the Past, the SNES release, is my number one. That game was Zelda perfection. Since then it’s been going downhill, although Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess haven’t been bad. We all know the classic formula for Zelda and what makes it work: interesting dungeons, innovative weapons and tools, and the overall feel of exploration and secrets that can be found in the world.
I guess Nintendo has been trying to innovate Zelda more, first with The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, and now with Spirit Tracks. I’m not too happy about either of the major innovations that these titles have brought: sea travel and now railroad travel. To this day, I can still go back and play the original Zelda or A Link to the Past and enjoy it like I did when I was a kid. But to go sailing on the ocean for several minutes and playing musical instruments to change the wind patterns so I could make my way to another dungeon or island? This is supposed to be fun for me? I think that maybe I’m just too old – perhaps kids like the whole pirate ship theme with Pirates of the Caribbean being popular and all.
Spirit Tracks again brings forth something that kids love but I just find to be a bother: railroad tracks. Sure, the railroad tracks are less detestable than the sea travel found in the Wind Waker, but even then, it’s all still a hassle for me. I want to explore the world looking for secrets while making my way to the next dungeon, not getting on a train and traveling on some train track trying to avoid pigs in the road and changing tracks to make a turn. After playing this I could only think that perhaps Zelda is just not for me anymore. Sure the dungeons are fun, but for me to spend 30-45 minutes just trying to get through fluff to get there has me longing for the days of the NES and SNES Zeldas.
That’s not to say that the game is bad – the dungeons I did get to play were interesting, and from what I saw, the items were innovative. What’s interesting this time around is that Zelda is in spirit form and travels alongside you, which lends ways to more interesting puzzles since she is able to take over armored spirits and the like. But again, Spirit Tracks brings a musical instrument that you have to play like Wind Waker. And can you believe it? It’s even worse in this game than Wind Waker – you actually have to blow on the mic and touch the right pipes in order to play on your woodwind instrument. However, the combination of being forced to play music according to a beat and terrible controls (why does it keep hitting another note when I’m touching the note I want to play?) lead to a lot of agonizing frustration. Note that even light breathing over a foot away from the screen can set the instrument off.
I don’t know if I’m just growing more impatient with games that make me do all sorts of things in order to get to the enjoyable part of the gameplay, but Zelda: Spirit Tracks could not keep me wanting to play. I know there’s some good old fashioned Zelda dungeon gameplay in there, as I’ve gotten a taste of some already, but when I’m playing games like Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes and Dawn of Discovery where I can instantly be playing the game at maximum enjoyment all the way through, I suddenly have a harder time putting up with extra stuff to get there. That’s not to say that the railroad gameplay will be horrible for everyone. In fact, some of you may welcome the railroad gameplay as an innovative feature, but I just can’t be bothered by it. If you can get over the railroad traveling and come to terms with the music playing, I’m sure there’s a great game underneath. With Zelda, there always has been. Unfortunately, I feel like we have to dig more and more to get to the core Zelda gameplay that we all know and love.
