As she crosses the finish line, she feels, some how, not victorious...

I suck at writing reviews for the simple fact I have ADD, and I often have much more to say than I can organize into a sensible piece. So, please forgive me for the mess I am about to give you...

Mark the date: I have completed my first Zelda Game. It was not the first Zelda I've played by any means. To date, I have played The Legend Of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

I bought Spirit Tracks on Dec 27, 2009, and completed it today at 10pm Pacific standard Time. It is sad to say that most of the others I have had for at least a year and am no where near finishing them. I am not sure if that reflects badly on Spirit Tracks or not, as it is the second of the DS Zelda games released, and by definition, should have surpassed its predecessor in difficulty. While I am nearly done with Phantom Hourglass, I am not likely to finish it anytime soon, as my interest in re-clearing the same f***ing dungeon more than four times has clearly worn out. Yeah, I'm talking about the Ocean temple. *Twitch* But since Spirit Tracks had no such issue, it was a breeze to get through.

Over all...I'm unsure of how I feel about this game. I defended it for so long against the hardcore fans who claimed that a Zelda game with a train as your transport would not work well. I figured that, sometimes, in the gaming industry, changes in the gimmicks of a series can be a good thing. I may have been wrong this time.

Curious on what I mean by gimmick? Hmmmmm....how to explain myself.....

Most Zelda games have certain...elements... that are common. I.e. Rupees. The Boomerang. Potions. Having to collect bottles to carry potion in. Collecting pieces of hearts to make a Heart Container. The repeat-three-times boss kill strategy. These are just a FEW examples, mind you, and some of the games have elements (or as I refer to them: gimmicks) that are completely unique to that chapter of the Zelda
series. Spirit Tracks did well to maintain many of Zelda fans' favorite gimicks, and it introduced a few new ones that made use of the DS system's features:

*Using the Mic to "talk" to some characters, to play the Spirit Flute (oh, I have so much to say on this topic...), and to activate the Whirlwind weapon.
*Using the stylus to move and fight.
*Using the Dual Screens to fight from two angles as two characters (almost like The World Ends With You, but not the same...)
When it comes to using (and abusing) the DS features, no game I've played can hold a candle to what Phantom Hourglass did, and I expected more from Spirit Tracks. They did well, but....yeah....

On to my tangent about the Spirit Flute:
While using an instrument as a major part of the story is not new in Spirit Tracks (Ocarina of Time, anyone?) it was made unique in that you MUST use the mic feature to operate the instrument. Let me tell you something though...Whoever thought up this gimmick needs to either be kicked in the shins or given a high five. I have not decided which as of now. Playing the Spirit Flute was, for me, the MOST CHALLENGING PART OF THE GAME. My mic did not always register when I was blowing (mind out of the gutter please), or it would think I was blowing when I was not. Which makes it difficult to play a part that does not use tubes that are right next to each other (It is a pan flute, in case this did not make sense to anyone.)

If there is a phantom puff of air anytime between notes, it will screw you over, and God help you when you team up with Zelda for her piece. Ugh. I've never had a game make me light-headed before.

So...the shin kick is for the fact it is still to glitchy to be practical, and the high five is for making the game a challenge.

When the boss battles are less challenging than the mini battles preceding them, I tend to lose faith in the people who decided what content to include.

I'm not sure what else to tell you, other than to play the game if you can, but don't rush to buy it. I suppose, if it were to have a rating, I would give it a 6 out of 10; it could have been more challenging and the story was not always very interesting. And the Flute still had issues. Since that was a key part of the game, I am not likely to let it go anytime soon.

Till Next Time.