Fun puzzles and small innovations makes this game a ride you want to take.
The story is a bit different than the prior Zelda games. Instead of being a lonely village boy that becomes a hero of the nation, Link is an engineer who is going to Hyrule Castle to Princess Zelda, for his certification of being an engineer. However as he meets the Princess, a man by the name of Chancellor Cole has Zelda killed in order to sacrifice her to a resurrecting demon by the name of Malladus. To make matters worse, the Tower of Spirits is destroyed, while the Spirit Tracks are slowly disappearing. The only way to make things right is if the you return the Spirit Tracks and fix the Tower of Spirits, which in turn will help you retrieve Zelda's body and stop Malladus' resurrection with the help of an elderly woman named Anjean.
Overall I did not really care about the story. It felt a bit too predictable and most of the characters felt too annoying or childish. I understand the heroes not exactly being adults, but as opposed to her previous incarnations, Zelda is just so annoying and selfish. She constantly nags about her lack of body, and just is a pain to be around. Link is alright in this game, but I really didn't care about him either. It's just that the characters are kind of bland and after seeing the previous games' versions, you were hoping them to be more mature. This doesn't really ruin the game much, but I wish Nintendo put more effort in presenting the story.
Most of the games in the Legend of Zelda series brought in a new feature that plays a prominent role exclusively in that said game. In Spirit Tracks, the new feature brought in is the ability to use a train as a means of transportation. Using the train, you travel a series of areas, based on the "Spirit Tracks" you retrieve. This involves you first playing a piece on your pan flute. Doing this, you can travel the Spirit Tracks to the temple and defeat the monster, which fixes a piece of the Tower of Spirits.
The train system is a rather simple feature that can be easily mastered. You are in control of the speeds of the train, the next direction of the train you want to take, and the artillery of the train (a simple cannon). Before you ride off, you can mark a plan to your destination on which directions you want to go in. However if there are enemies in your path or a short stop you want to make, you can easily make detours or completely change your destination without using the map.
The train controls in general are smooth, but one problem that I have is how redundant and repetitive the train riding is. It's alright riding the train, but I honestly would have appreciated it more if Nintendo had implemented some sort of warping mechanism for those long train rides. This is mostly because you will be spending most of your time riding a train, and nothing much is added to the action but a few enemies and puzzles here and there. The train mechanism by all means isn't horrible, but at the end of the game you will be sick of all that train traveling.
As you defeat each Temple, you must return to the Tower of Spirits and go through a mini dungeon in the tower. The objective in the dungeon is to collect three Tears of Light, which enables Link to slash the guardians of the floor (also known as Phantoms) in the back. This in turn enables Zelda to take over the Phantom, in which she can be used in the ways of combat, puzzles, and other deeds to allow you to get progress done. At the end of each level in the Tower of Spirits, you are given a rail map of the new area unlocked, so you can visit the towns and eventually face another temple.
The standard controls for Link are pretty simple and feels like a more updated version of A Link To The Past, which is a good thing. Swiping and pointing the stylus at the enemy triggers a sword slice and jab, while tapping on the ground allows to you maneuver a quick roll. Just holding the stylus in front of Link allows him to walk. Items are triggered through either quick taps, but there are a few that require a blow on the DS microphone to work (like the pan flute, in which you use the stylus and blow to play).
Another set of controls that are in this game is Zelda when she in the possession of a Phantom. Her controls are a bit different than Link's, since she can only move and attack based on a pre-drawn trail or if Link calls her. This means that you cannot really make split second decisions with Zelda (though she does automatically attack if an enemy is nearby). There are many obstacles that Zelda must face, including her fear of rats or her inability to cross sand. This leads into some interesting moments in which you must switch back and forth between Link and Zelda in order to be able to pass obstacles based on either member's shortcomings.
The dungeon and temple designs in the game are rather smart; yet follow the traditional sense of temple objectives found in the Zelda titles. This means that initially you are in access of a small area, and as you unlock different rooms. This allows you to find a special item, which enables you to finish the temple and proceed to defeat the boss with the said item. This then fuses with the concept of switching between Phantom Zelda and Link to solve different puzzles. One small annoyance I do have with this is that sometimes when the action gets intense, it is very difficult to switch back between Link and Zelda to do their parts. This then leads to many annoyances and often death, due to stupid choices. Those problems aside, the progression in the game with the temples is rather well.
The difficulty in this game really varies. In some parts of the game, it plays so easy that any Zelda veteran or newcomer can easily breeze through the whole area without trouble. Then there are some areas that are painfully annoying, due to diabolically designed puzzles or just unfair difficulty that causes you to constantly die. The difficulty can be hard at times, but not so hard that it can warrant the player to quit.
Another problem I have with the game is the linearity. This may sound weird, as pretty much all the Zelda games are open ended. The game itself is open ended, but besides the main quest, there really isn't much to do. Sure you can do some small side quests, like take someone on a train ride to a different area, but it just doesn't have that open-ended sense of discovery the other games have. The secrets in the game are lacking, like any hearts or collectables (aside from treasure that you can sell). I just wish there was more added to the game's world to make it compelling to explore on, but unfortunately it kind of felt a bit bare.
The graphics in the game are very well done and is based on the Phantom Hourglass engine. The character models look rather nice and the whole environment just looks nice to look at. The enemy designs are also very nicely done with a ton of detail on them and their surroundings. The game also runs very well with no slowdowns experienced in the game at all. Nintendo did a job well done in recreating a fresh new looking world.
The sound in the game is also serviceable. There are many catchy tunes in the game (especially the overworld theme), but there is nothing huge in particular that sticks out. The music is often played through a pan flute, which is the instrument that Link plays throughout the game. I find it a bit disappointing that the game lacks any memorable tunes, mostly because of how well known Nintendo is known for making fantastic tunes. Then again, this is not a huge fault, as the music is serviceable.
The sound effects in the game are also good. The voices of Link's yells and Zelda's terrified screams are spot on and not too annoying, which is a relief with the reason being that you will hear those sounds a whole lot. The sword slashing and breaking sounds are all standard and all sound like they are supposed to.
The lasting appeal of the game all depends on your experience and smarts in the puzzles. The game itself is a rather long journey, but there is nothing huge to do after the main quest. Due to the small size of the maps, the exploring in the game is very limited and there really is no reason to play multiplayer. However, the games main selling point is the good single player game, which should provide hours of fun.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is a bit flawed, but it is still a good and impressive game. The game's small shortcomings are matched with a good single player campaign and fun gameplay. Any gamer should have fun with this game, let alone the Legend of Zelda fans. With all these perks, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks will fit the bill for a fun game.