E3 09: Hands On With Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Seemingly in answer to some gamer's concerns that they were turning their backs on "core gamers," Nintendo announced a slew of first party titles at their E3 press conference. One of the games that elicited a huge reaction from the gathered crowd was the announcement of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the successor to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and takes place 100 years after it. The title shares the same look and feel as Hourglass and is again mainly stylus controlled but there are a variety of new features as well. This time on his journey through the dungeons, Link will be accompanied by a Phantom, one of the ghost knights from Phantom Hourglass. The player controls both Link and the Phantom and many of the puzzles require the two working together to solve.

Link's main mode of transportation, the boat, has now been replaced by a train that can be controlled with a speed lever and has a whistle to scare animals off the tracks and a cannon to remove any enemies that may be standing in the way. It's a cute mechanic and makes for a nice change but I must admit I miss the boat. Something about sailing on the open seas seems a bit more adventurous to me.

Of course it wouldn't be a new Zelda game without at least one new weapon. The one they were showing off in the demo was the Whirlwind, a little device that shoots out little, well... whirlwinds. It can be controlled either by the stylus or by blowing into the DS microphone. The Whirlwind is used to its full potential especially in the one boss battle used in the short demo. A giant rhino beetle with a smoking backside was you enemy and could be defeated by using the Whirlwind to blow the smoke off it's butt and then running forward and slashing at its ass. (Wow, there was really no polite way to say that)

Hopefully Nintendo has addressed some of the issues that plagued Phantom Hourglass like the annoyance of having to repeatedly go through the same dungeon over and over. If they have managed to fix the few small things, this title should satisfy gamer's needs for a Zelda title until the new Wii game is announced.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is slated to hit stores just in time to appear in your holiday stocking this winter.