Nintendo Roundup Page 4

02 Jul 2009 at 10:33:54 by Tim McDonald

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)

Considering the panic that erupted when Spirit Tracks was first shown, showing Link in a train, it's really pleasing to be able to say that this appears to be a standard Zelda game. Three sections were on offer – a dungeon, a boss, and a train level – and the first two, at least, are Zelda by the numbers.

That's no bad thing, mind, and they're both mixed up nicely. The dungeon section showed off the Phantom, a huge armoured warrior that Link now has the ability to control. You draw a path for it with the stylus, using it to occupy enemies that are invulnerable from the front so that you can sneak behind to administer a killing blow, or simply to kill smaller foes. It's immune to fire, and can be ridden through lava pits or used to block flame blasts, and you'll need to use it to hit switches, too. It controls well, although there was a bit of an annoyance in one switch-hitting puzzle that relied on Link hitting two switches and the Phantom hitting two switches in a very specific order, as when moving the Phantom from the first to the second, it tended to whack the first one again, requiring a restart of the puzzle.

The boss fight on offer didn't use the Phantom, instead showing off the Whirlwind tool. Link has the ability to fire out whirlwinds to clear gas or stun enemies, used by tapping the icon, aiming with the stylus, and then (of course) blowing into the microphone. The boss, a giant insect, needed to be stunned by blowing the poison gas it exuded away from its back, at which point you could, uh, stab it in the ass. Another set of enemies were used for the second phase when the insect took to the air. Hitting them once turned them into prone mines, which could be blown towards it during one of its diving runs using the whirlwind. A simple boss fight, then, but showing off the usual Zelda flair for bosses that require more thinking than action.

The train section didn't fare so well. As with everything else, it's controlled by the stylus, using a lever to speed up or slow down, and to choose which track to proceed on at a fork. The train's whistle is used to scare creatures away from the track, and tapping the stylus on a screen fires out the cannon. This was slow and fairly dull by itself, acting as a rather boring shooting gallery, but the enemy trains served only to make it annoying. These things wander around the tracks, moving faster than you do, and acting as a one-hit kill if they catch you. They're also unkillable. Great.

So, classic Zelda gameplay with a new and annoying twist. If the train sections are tightened up this could be as much of a must buy as the rest of the series, but we'll have to see how it all ties together to be sure.

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