Just a quick note to say that all the staff members at Zelda Elements (well, I haven’t discussed this with them, but I’m sure they don’t disapprove) wish you a happy, restful, Spirit Tracks-filled Christmas! Enjoy! And I’ll still be posting the news over the break if any comes up! So keep checking back!
In the end of the week of western Spirit Tracks releases, the DS game is now availible in Europe. So pretty much everyone who reads this site should be able to get their hands on it now!
So go and get it! Give it a good play, and tell us what you think, either in the comments below, or join our forums and get involved in the discussion! You can also ask for help on the forums, but don’t forget the handy Spirit Tracks Walkthrough lovingly crafted by our affiliate Zelda Dungeon!
Thus ends the Spirit Tracks hype-mobile. I really should get started on those assignments now…
We’ve seen the eerie US ads for Spirit Tracks (if you haven’t, scroll down a bit), but is Japan taking the same route? The short answer is no. The Japanese Spirit Tracks ads are similar to the Japanese Phantom Hourglass ads – showing Link being helped out of sticky situations by a giant floating stylus. Watch them below!
Today, Spirit Tracks descends upon that place down under known as Australia! I’ll restrain from any kangaroo or boomerang jokes, as being a haggis-muncher, I know how annoying that kind of thing can be.
All that remains now in the West is the European release, which is tomorrow! Hooray!
We all know that Link and Trains are fun individually.В But how do they fare when placed together?В So far, pretty dern well.В I’ve only just completed the first dungeon, so my exerperience is limited.В From what I’ve seen, though, Spirit Tracks fixes just about everything that was wrong with Phantom Hourglass.В But I don’t want to harp on PH here…so I’ll let this guy do it.В (Note: the preceding link contains some swears.В Don’t follow it if you don’t like swears.)
The only real complaint I have so far is the Train Combat.В This consists of blowing the train whistle to scare things off.В Quirky, yes, but not all that interesting.В I’m hoping that’ll pick up once I get bombs, or once I open up more of the world.
Beyond that I’m diggin’ this.В Yesterday I drove a train to a castle, helped a princess sneak out of said castle, and watched an epic sword battle.В Which was about when I realized that I should have made dinner about half-an-hour before the battle’s conclusion.В Not that the battle took that long, I just should have eaten sooner than when I did.В Much more engaging than tapping the screen through dialogue for an equal amount of time.
Also, future Zelda games need to take a cue from ST’s sword fighting tutorial.В Instead of the grueling step-by-step recounting of the insruction manual we’ve been forced to endure for every game since WW, this one simply has you square off against three guards.В I was then told the following (quoted from memory): “OK, now try a slash attack.В If you don’t know how to do this, just ask me.”В That was the entire slash attack section.В The tap and spin attacks were equally short.
Most importantly, this is really fun.В The entire world is, so far anyway, very interesting.В Improbable, certainly…but at least it feels alive.В Which is always a plus for a handheld game.В I was also pleasantly surprised to find the Pan Flute and Whirlwind Thingy didn’t make me all lightheaded.В The slightest breeze is enough to trigger either one.
The cow may say “moo,” but the Sponge says “this game should be on your wishlist.”
Nintendo of America are taking an unusual approach to Spirit Tracks TV ads. Expecting a celebrity sitting in their mansion/tour bus talking about how simple the controls are? Think again.
We haven’t seen ads for Zelda games this wacky since the unnerving, apocalyptic Majora’s Mask series a good number of years ago. And I have to say, I think it’s pretty cool. Perhaps a bit dark for the cheery-looking game, but it certainly stays in your mind. And I’ve studied Marketing, so I have AUTHORITY IN THE MATTER.
There is a shorter version, which is probably for TV spots. I’m assuming this version is for theaters (spelt with the American spelling because it’s an American advert). Though, I’m in Scotland, so who knows what I’ll get. In the States? Let us know where you see the ad.
The English translation of the manga adaptation of The Minish Cap is now released! This is the second last in the series by Akira Himekawa to date, with a Phantom Hourglass not due for an English release until September 2010, if Amazon is to be believed. No doubt there will be a Spirit Tracks adaptation at some point, but that remains to be confirmed, and when it does come about, don’t expect an English translation for a while. So, if you were enjoying Himekawa’s spin on the Zelda franchise, savour this volume, as it will be the last for a while!
P.S. Why is Amazon UK selling Spirit Tracks for a whopping ВЈ38?
In the debut release of the game, Spirit Tracks has now choo choo’d it’s way into the United States. Unlike the last Zelda game, I have triple-checked the release, and I am certain it is today.
Not in the USA? Do not fear, you don’t have a long wait ahead of you.In Australia? Thursday. Europe? Friday. Japan? Ironically, you have until the 23rd to wait. You may want to consider importing it. Hee hee. That’s what you get for not buying enough copies of Twilight Princess!
If you are actually from Japan, what are you doing here? Don’t you have Japanese sites to read?
Enjoy Spirit Tracks, America! Let me know what you think of it.
I’m very sure that after the last few updates, a lot of you are already fully aware of Eiji Aonuma’s views on life, the universe and everything, but he’s gone and done another interview. Although this one is particularly interesting, as it’s with head of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata. In it, Eiji reveals the inspiration behind Spirit Tracks, among other things (I’ll admit I don’t have the time to read it myself – I have too many assignments to think about. Please forgive me *bows low*). It may surprise you!
Have a read
here, if you have the time for a six-page interview. The Iwata Asks series has always been an interesting read. Iwata also “Asked” a lot about Twilight Princess a good two-to-three years ago. If you enjoyed the Spirit Tracks interview, and want more Iwata-interrogation awesomeness, go here!
UPDATE: In a strange malfunction of my mind, I wrote this entire article referring to Eiji Aonuma as Naoto Oshima, the character designer of Sonic the Hedgehog. I don’t know why it happened, don’t ask. I corrected myself before anyone pointed it out to me, though, so I consider that acceptable.
Check out this video interview with Eiji Aonuma (who is clearly on the Spirit Tracks promotional trail right now) that IGN has created. It’s a lengthy eleven minutes, but it’s well worth a watch. Eiji talks about the development process of a Zelda game, his relationship with Shigeru Miyamoto, whether we can look forward to any Zelda remakes (short answer: No), and drops some ambiguous details about the next game on the Wii – he claims that the dungeon-village-dungeon “Flow of the game” will be altered. Sounds like there will be some big changes in store for the series!
In other news from the Spirit Tracks hype-mobile, Spirit Tracks is out in only five days in America, and nine in Europe (eight in Australia – any readers from there?). Who’s excited? Forum user General Salt posted this video for us all, showing some Snow Temple gameplay footage, and a rather obvious tease of the return of a… very popular character. If you don’t want it spoiled for you, don’t watch. Also, forum user breener96 alerted us to this video, showing a very cool box which the game was sent in to the press. Shame it’s not availible to the public – I would love to store my lunch in it and see all the confused faces come 12PM!
