The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (ゼルダの伝説　大地の汽笛) is the upcoming fifteenth installment of the Legend of Zelda series. It is in development for the Nintendo DS. Details about the game were revealed by Satoru Iwata at the 2009 Game Developers Conference. It was scheduled to be released on December 1, 2009. Spirit Tracks was put on display at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

Featuring gameplay similar to that of Phantom Hourglass, the basic premise of the game is travel by railroad. In the promotional video clip, Link is shown riding a cannon-mounted locomotive through various lands, battling enemies along the way. The game also focuses on controlling a sidekick character known as the Phantom, who is possessed by Princess Zelda. Several new characters, items, and abilities have been shown off in three diferent trailers, and the story for Spirit Tracks is a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

Gameplay
The game's graphical style is extremely similar to that of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, as is the gameplay; the top screen is used as a map screen, and the touch screen serves as the action screen. One of the biggest new additions to the game is travel by rail. The player is put in control of a cannon-wielding steam engine that's driving down a network of tracks. The train's speed is controlled with a throttle on the right hand side of the touchscreen, and includes the ability to go full stop, reverse, and blow the train's whistle. Eventually players will have to switch between several different tracks. Many paths lead to areas that have other trains on them, and Link must avoid colliding with these trains. At some point in the game players will be able to customize the train and can lay down their own set of tracks for it to follow.

Another major gameplay element is control of the Phantom, which opens up several new combat and puzzle solving capabilities. On the bottom left corner of the screen is an icon that can be tapped to draw a path for the armored knight to follow. Players can also draw a path to a nearby enemy and the Phantom will attack once he has come within range of his sword. This character is invincible to fire and magma, allowing him to reach areas Link can't. Link can also ride on the knight through lava in order to reach platforms and islands surrounded by magma.

In the promotional video, Link is seen wielding an item resembling a pinwheel whose fan blades resemble Deku Leaves. It is shown to have a similar function to the Gale Boomerang, the Deku Leaf, and the Gust Jar. It also seems to be similar to a fan, as Link uses it to retrieve a key and flip over a large boss resembling a beetle. This item is used by blowing into the DS's microphone and is known as the Whirlwind. Also appearing is the Boomerang. The cannon on Link's locomotive is seen shooting Bombs. In an E3 2009 trailer, Link uses a Whip to damage foes and to cross gaps in a manner similar to the Grappling Hook from The Wind Waker as well as a boss battle in the train against a rock monster with a large eye.

Plot
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. After defeating Bellum in the World of the Ocean King, Link and Tetra set out to discover a new Hyrule. Link, Tetra, and the pirates eventually did discover a new land which they rename New Hyrule and restart the Hylian Kingdom.

In the years afterwards in this New Hyrule, the inhabitants had to deal with a vicious Demon King. In the timespan between the two games there was an epic battle and the spirits of the land helped defeat this evil being. Though they couldn't kill the beast, they could muster just enough strength and energy to subdue him with chains and shackles and bury him underground. The shackles, extending the land of Hyrule in four different directions, became the Spirit Tracks, and the surrounding community used these tracks as transportation railways.

The game opens up with Link – an apprentice railroad engineer – off to Princess Zelda's castle for a graduation ceremony where the honor of Royal Engineer will be bestowed onto him by the princess herself. As she rewards Link for his service, she slips him a note, warning of the suspicious Chancellor Cole, and to take a hidden path and meet her in secret. She requests Links help in investigating the mystery of the vanishing Spirit Tracks – she's restricted to her quarters, but needs Links help sneaking out of the castle to figure out why the Spirit Tracks are mysteriously disappearing all over the land.

Zelda then presents Link with a change of clothing – the Hero's Clothes– which will help Link blend in and trick the similarly dressed guards.

After their success, the two finally make it out of the castle and bump into Alfonzo, Link's Master Engineer who's trained him into becoming the Royal Engineer. Apparently Alfonzo has some history with Hyrule as a soldier, but he's left that life behind. He does help Zelda and Link escape on a train towards the Spirit Tower, but as they're off to investigate, the tracks start vanishing right out underneath the vehicle. After a spectacular crash they are stopped halfway by Chancellor Cole and his second-in-command. The pair easily defeat Link and Alfonzo, and go on to murder Princess Zelda. Chancellor Cole than takes Zelda's lifeless body and uses it as a vessel in an attempt to revive the Demon King.

When Link awakens, he's in Hyrule Castle. Zelda's spirit floats in and after a few moments, Zelda learns she is dead and that no one can see her but Link. With her help, Zelda leads Link to a sword. After a bit of training she then directs Link to head to the Spirit Tower where she might be brought back to life. To help Link, Princess Zelda's ghost inhabits a Phantom and aids Link in stopping Chancellor Cole and reviving herself. Meanwhile Cole is using Zelda's body as a vessel to bring the Demon King back to life. Link must now set out to restore the Spirit Tracks – without the Tracks, the Demon King can not be held down and will be brought back to life. The only way to stop this is to ascend the Spirit Tower, which has been broken apart into segments, and secure the Stone Maps.

4-Player Battle Mode
During the 2009 E3 interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, he was asked if there would be a 4-player battle mode, an idea that was scrapped from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. He then comfirmed that there would be a 4-player battle mode in the game. Although he did not want to reveal too much information, he did state that when playing battle mode, the 2-4 players would play a game similar to tag, and that there would be no swords.

Pre-release reception
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks received the "Best Handheld Game" award at Gamescom 2009. The game was also selected by IGN as their "Best of Gamescom 2009" winner for the Nintendo DS.

Videos
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