The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo DS, Wii U Virtual Console
Release Date	Nintendo DS US December 7, 2009 AU December 10, 2009 EU December 11, 2009 JP December 23, 2009 Wii U Virtual Console PAL November 13, 2015 JP August 9, 2016 US October 20, 2016
Genre	Adventure
Gallery	GH Gallery
Rating	ESRB: E 10+

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the second Zelda game for the Nintendo DS and acts as a chronological sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, as well as being the fifteenth overall game in the Zelda series.

Story

The story is set about a hundred years into the future of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, in the new land that Link and Tetra had eventually discovered. The new Link starts off as an apprentice engineer for the royal railroad who aspires to become a railroad tycoon. Princess Zelda tells him about the Spirit Tracks, which were used to seal away the an evil that the land's spirits could not destroy, starting to disappear. While investigating this, they are attacked by the evil Chancellor Cole, who seeks to revive the Demon King Malladus, who was the very evil that was sealed away. Cole steals Zelda's body for use as Malladus's host, separating Zelda's spirit from her body.

Link is the only person who can see and communicate with Zelda's ghost at first. With the guidance of the Lokomo Anjean, the two venture down the railroad to restore the Spirit Tracks and thwart Cole.

Gameplay

The game features gameplay similar to the previous game, Phantom Hourglass, in that Link is controlled solely through the touch screen, with limited use of buttons. The game also contains a larger usage of the DS microphone, such as blowing into it to use the new Whirlwind weapon or to play the game's new musical item, the Spirit Flute. Another new item is the whip, which Link can use to attack enemies from afar as well as to swing from certain branches.

One of the main departures from the previous game is that instead of a boat, Link travels primarily through a train. The player uses the touch screen to plot a route for the train. The train also contains a whistle that can catch others' attention or scare animals from the tracks, as well as a cannon that can be used to attack enemies. Although the railroad is limited at first, more tracks are added as the player progresses through the game. As the game progresses, Link will also have sidequests in which he must transport passengers and/or materials to other stations. Like the boat in Phantom Hourglass, the train can also be customized with special parts eventually. Parts are obtained by trading treasures found throughout the game to Linebeck III.

Another unique feature of the game is Zelda's ghost, who acts as the player's companion throughout the game and helps to guide him. She most actively helps the player in the Tower of Spirits, which acts as the central hub of the game's world and must be explored between dungeons. In many respects, it is similar to the Temple of the Ocean King from the previous game, in that Link must accomplish objectives while avoiding deadly Phantoms. However, there is no longer a time limit, all areas only have to be explored once, and Zelda's ghost can possess certain Phantoms whenever Link collects three Tears of Light for that area. The player can plot a route for the Zelda-possessed Phantom, making her technically playable for these segments.

The game also has a multiplayer Battle Mode, in which up to four players can play as Links over DS Download Play in competing for Force Gems in a variety of environments, while avoiding enemies such as the Phantoms. There is also a Tag Mode in which players owning the game can trade treasure items.

Continuity Notes

• This game acts as a sequel to Phantom Hourglass and is set around a hundred years later. These games are part of the adult timeline branch of the official timeline, and Spirit Tracks is the last known game taking place in this timeline.
• The futures of Tetra, Linebeck, Gonzo and Niko are shown or hinted at, with the latter actually appearing while the former three have similar-looking descendants within the game. Another possible relation is implied by the physical similarities between the girl running the Take 'Em All On! minigame and Jolene the pirate..
• It is shown that Tetra's new nation was also named Hyrule, despite the king's wishes. This also establishes the possibility of more adult timeline games using this Hyrule as a setting.
• This game introduces a new antagonist, Malladus, but he is described as the Demon King. It is uncertain whether or not he is related to Demise's curse or Ganon.

Legacy

Ports/Remakes

• In 2015/2016, it was released for download on the Wii U as part of its Virtual Console.

Sequels

The next Zelda game was The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Nintendo Wii, and the next handheld Zelda would be The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for the 3DS.

See Also

• Characters in Spirit Tracks
• Enemies in Spirit Tracks