The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Year: 2009
Rating: E
Time Played: 21.13 hours
For many years, I was never a fan of the dual-screen (DS) line of Nintendo’s handheld systems. I grew up on the standard D-pad and action buttons, so having to transition to a touchscreen was quite the adjustment. I had already played through Phantom Hourglass, so I was prepared to face the less-accurate combat system implemented for the DS Zelda titles. Still, this didn’t prepare me for how frustrating everything else about Spirit Tracks would be.
I get that the Zelda games can be a little repetitive. At least the different “biomes” of Hyrule help create differences between the dungeons that make the gameplay interesting. However, Spirit Tracks does little to distinguish between these dungeons, with each one feeling so similar to the last that I can’t honestly remember what made any of them unique. The fact that the story was so repetitive as to be the same sequence of events for the five different regions didn’t help. But that’s not even the worst part about this game.
What struck me with this game was how tedious it was. While the music in the overworld was the best thing about this game, I spent most of my time on the train tracks schlepping back and forth across the entire map for fetch quests, which weren’t nearly as bad as when I actually had a passenger who required me to conduct the train as if I was a grandmother driving to church. There’s a reason why I’m sure there were tons of sidequests (too many, really) that I never even knew about and don’t ever want to complete. Then, there’s Zelda. For a game where you finally get to play as her (kind of), the fact that Spirit Tracks leans heavily into the “escort mission” mechanic really ruined the whole experience.
The worst Zelda game in the franchise, I give The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks 2.0 stars out of 5.
