The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

[--JoCa--]

Come ON! Classics are classics... There's nothing most rewarding than setting up my old SNES just to play ALTTP... I have Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Zelda 1, Zelda 2, Masters Quest on GC... I don't think I need nothing more... Just a multiplayer zelda, like Four Sword Adventures for GC (Wii DS could be great. Just like Echoes of Time).


Oh, new titles are always welcome. They could turn out to be great (four swords) or lame (oracles). But hey, it's 50 50, right?

 

[Joe88]

They could turn out to be great (four swords) or lame (oracles). But hey, it's 50 50, right?

I hope thats a mistake and you got the games mixed up ...

 

[--JoCa--]

They could turn out to be great (four swords) or lame (oracles). But hey, it's 50 50, right?

I hope thats a mistake and you got the games mixed up ...

No! I have SO MUCH FUN playing Zelda Four Swords with my brother! Hahahahahaha

But the oracles were lame...

 

[Tozarian]

The graphics look nice! Depending on how good this is, I actually might not pirate it!

 

[wanderone]

^ 100% agree.

i hated phantom hourglass and this looks even worse.

the zelda started dying with windwaker. not to say windwaker was bad...it just started going downhill from there.

after watching the trailer for this...i had to counterbalance the garbage factor of this with some link's awakening

No, they haven't killed it yet. PHG was just the first stab, SW looks to be the second stab. :-P

Seriously, I **HATED** PHG. It played more like a puzzle game than an adventure game (Which is what it should be to remain faithful to the series). But it sold well I guess (@#$@ newbie gamers! ;o) j/k). And now it looks like they've cookie-cuttered it and instead of riding a boat through the ocean we'll be riding a train through the wilderness (Mechanical vehicles don't belong in a sylvan fantasy adventure game IMO...kinda completely ruins the feel of any Zelda I can imagine). The 3D cutscenes (And overland travel) look horrible. This series really needs to be taken back to 2D.

I guess this is how Zelda is going to be now and all us old gamers (Us fuddly-duddlies) will just have to deal with it and move on. This pretty much stabs the heart (or the stomach...nothing like a painful death by gutbleed) of the Zelda franchise for me anyways. Oh well...one more reason to dislike the DS.

Where the heck is Miyamoto when you need him? Did he sign off on this crap?

)

Slightly off-topic: I wish they'd bring out a new Metroid Prime for the DS. Even though the 3D gameplay didn't beat the 2D gameplay of the older games, at least it built upon the Metroid mythos/franchise rather than tear it down.

 

[Joe88]

They could turn out to be great (four swords) or lame (oracles). But hey, it's 50 50, right?

I hope thats a mistake and you got the games mixed up ...

No! I have SO MUCH FUN playing Zelda Four Swords with my brother! Hahahahahaha

But the oracles were lame...

now I know your not a real zelda fan

both orcales games were pretty much the best 2d zelda games released (not counting link to the past)
not only that they were 2 completely different adventures and not a reskin like pokemon, but also were released at the exact same time and could be intertwined with each other after you finished one game to get the true and final boss of both games

 

[Skyline969]

now I know your not a real zelda fan

both orcales games were pretty much the best 2d zelda games released (not counting link to the past)
not only that they were 2 completely different adventures and not a reskin like pokemon, but also were released at the exact same time and could be intertwined with each other after you finished one game to get the true and final boss of both games

Unfortunately, I must disagree with you Joe. As I have said before, I believe that Link's Awakening DX is more fun than the Oracles games in my opinion. I mean, sure the Oracles games can be entwined, but something about Link's Awakening DX just makes it so fun. I can't quite put my finger on it though.... Don't get me wrong, the Oracles games were very, very fun, but like I said, I think LADX was just a little better.

 

[Fakie!]

Meh... I didin't really like PH so I don't think this game is for me. Nintendo should have made a traditional 3D Zelda game for the DS. I'd take one of those over PH any day.

I agree that PH felt more like a puzzle game than an adventure game.

 

[Vater Unser]

Yeah Nintendo they said its looks like phantom hourglass great cant wait for this game

"Yeah", "great"?

Phantom Hourglass's ridiculously blocky graphics weren't pretty, even Alundra 2 on the PSX looks way better (as well as pretty much any of the 3D RPGs for the DS. )
I can't believe Nintendo is making another game based on the exact same half-assed engine Phantom Hourglass had, with virtually no changes...It literally looks JUST like Phantom Hourglass. Yay for monotony?
I really don't see what there's to praise, except for the fact that it's another game with the word "Zelda" in its title. Spirit Tracks is pretty much the absolute minimum of what Nintendo could've come up with as a successor of Phantom Hourglass.

 

[CockroachMan]

Yeah Nintendo they said its looks like phantom hourglass great cant wait for this game

"Yeah", "great"?

Phantom Hourglass's ridiculously blocky graphics weren't pretty, even Alundra 2 on the PSX looks way better (as well as pretty much any of the 3D RPGs for the DS. )
I can't believe Nintendo is making another game based on the exact same half-assed engine Phantom Hourglass had, with virtually no changes...It literally looks JUST like Phantom Hourglass. Yay for monotony?
I really don't see what there's to praise, except for the fact that it's another game with the word "Zelda" in its title. Spirit Tracks is pretty much the absolute minimum of what Nintendo could've come up with as a successor of Phantom Hourglass.

They already have Phantom Hourglass engine ready.. why would they start over again!?

Majora's Mask was simply Ocarina of Time with a new mask gimmick and it was a great game, same to the Oracle games. In fact, that's the vibe I'm getting from this: a more alternative Zelda, like Majora's Mask was.

You're being a little too exigent here, Phantom Hourglass is by far one of the prettiest 3D games on the DS to me.. it pushes the hardware in every possible way. The characters sure look blocky when zoomed, but they are fine during most of the gameplay when the camera is farther. A 2D game would look prettier, sure, but 3D opens up a lot of possibilities to make gameplay more interesting.

 

[airpirate545]

I hope Nintendo doesnt make this DSi exclusive to promote the DSi

 

[Mangofett]

They could turn out to be great (four swords) or lame (oracles). But hey, it's 50 50, right?

I hope thats a mistake and you got the games mixed up ...

No! I have SO MUCH FUN playing Zelda Four Swords with my brother! Hahahahahaha

But the oracles were lame...

now I know your not a real zelda fan

both orcales games were pretty much the best 2d zelda games released (not counting link to the past)
not only that they were 2 completely different adventures and not a reskin like pokemon, but also were released at the exact same time and could be intertwined with each other after you finished one game to get the true and final boss of both games

How the fuck can someone even COMPARE Four Swords to the Oracles?

I'm a hardcore Zelda fan. My username since 2rd grade has been the same Zelda inspired name. Oracles are my favorite Zelda games.

 

[Joe88]

now I know your not a real zelda fan

both orcales games were pretty much the best 2d zelda games released (not counting link to the past)
not only that they were 2 completely different adventures and not a reskin like pokemon, but also were released at the exact same time and could be intertwined with each other after you finished one game to get the true and final boss of both games

Unfortunately, I must disagree with you Joe. As I have said before, I believe that Link's Awakening DX is more fun than the Oracles games in my opinion. I mean, sure the Oracles games can be entwined, but something about Link's Awakening DX just makes it so fun. I can't quite put my finger on it though.... Don't get me wrong, the Oracles games were very, very fun, but like I said, I think LADX was just a little better.

I got stuck in on one of the dungeons in LADX, lol
I never finished it, I should go back

but yea LADX was a very great game
but four swords wasnt on the other hand was not...

 

[Skyline969]

now I know your not a real zelda fan

both orcales games were pretty much the best 2d zelda games released (not counting link to the past)
not only that they were 2 completely different adventures and not a reskin like pokemon, but also were released at the exact same time and could be intertwined with each other after you finished one game to get the true and final boss of both games

Unfortunately, I must disagree with you Joe. As I have said before, I believe that Link's Awakening DX is more fun than the Oracles games in my opinion. I mean, sure the Oracles games can be entwined, but something about Link's Awakening DX just makes it so fun. I can't quite put my finger on it though.... Don't get me wrong, the Oracles games were very, very fun, but like I said, I think LADX was just a little better.

I got stuck in on one of the dungeons in LADX, lol
I never finished it, I should go back

but yea LADX was a very great game
but four swords wasnt on the other hand was not...

Four Swords was alright if you played with 3 or 4 people. Playing with only two people, though, it sucked.

 

[Vater Unser]

Yeah Nintendo they said its looks like phantom hourglass great cant wait for this game

"Yeah", "great"?

Phantom Hourglass's ridiculously blocky graphics weren't pretty, even Alundra 2 on the PSX looks way better (as well as pretty much any of the 3D RPGs for the DS. )
I can't believe Nintendo is making another game based on the exact same half-assed engine Phantom Hourglass had, with virtually no changes...It literally looks JUST like Phantom Hourglass. Yay for monotony?
I really don't see what there's to praise, except for the fact that it's another game with the word "Zelda" in its title. Spirit Tracks is pretty much the absolute minimum of what Nintendo could've come up with as a successor of Phantom Hourglass.


They already have Phantom Hourglass engine ready.. why would they start over again!?
Look at it. Maybe because it sucks?
I'm not saying Nintendo should start the game from scratch, but obviously they didn't bother to improve the look of Spirit Tracks over Phantom Hourglass one bit, either. The blocky graphics of Phantom Hourglass already pissed me off quite a bit back then, because there never was any good reason why the game had to look like that in the first place. Yes, the game's supposed to have classic 2D gameplay like the other handheld Zeldas, but that doesn't mean everything has to look like it, too.
I wouldn't even mind the blocky levels when at least they had some other details that covered them or made up for them, but no. All is made from the same blocks and same textures over and over and over again, which makes the game look simply dull. The idea of building levels from pre-made objects wasn't exactly new when Phantom Hourglass was made, but it rarely was any more painfully obvious. For god's sake, the tiles in Phantom Hourglass appear like four times bigger than in any SNES game, it's just painful to look at. Even ALTTP looked more detailed, and I'm not even sure whether PH's 3D graphics are a pro or a con there.
The game actually looked good in a few spots, like when you enter a house or fight a boss, because those places are all "custom built", and not made from huge bulky blocks. If the whole game looked like that, I'd most likely even be on your side. Unfortunately, it doesn't.
Another thing that comes along with Nintendo's decision to use some awkward pseudo-2D engine instead of a proper 3D engine (with full 3D action, rotating camera views, leveldesigns that expand into every direction, y'know, the essential stuff) is that everything looks so damn flat. Not only are all of the floors perfectly even, it also appears like none of the levels are more than three blocks tall. No such things as slopes or at least minor irregularities in the floors, just the same floor texture applied to large, flat fields which sometimes take up multiple screens.
Anyway, I really see no point in further explaining why the game looks bad when there's tons of games on the DS that undeniably look much better. Just compare it to Final Fantasy III, that game was released way earlier and still manages to look way better.
The only thing that looks remotely good in Phantom Hourglass is the cel-shading, but sadly that alone doesn't make up for what makes the game looks bad.

QUOTEMajora's Mask was simply Ocarina of Time with a new mask gimmick and it was a great game, same to the Oracle games. In fact, that's the vibe I'm getting from this: a more alternative Zelda, like Majora's Mask was.

Come on, you really can't compare that to Spirit Tracks.
First of all, Majora's Mask DID look a lot better than Ocarina of Time. The environments were a lot more detailed, all of the textures were vastly improved and a huge number of new textures were added, I'm pretty sure many of the settings had a higher polycount, too, and pretty much all of the visual effects were improved. It also made use of a bigger color palette and had a more high-contrast look to it.
Secondly, Ocarina of Time never had bad graphics to begin with, especially not for 1998. It also doesn't have any of the flaws Phantom Hourglass had, be they gameplay-wise or design-wise.
Thirdly, while Majora's Mask really was an "alternative" Zelda, I don't see anything about Spirit Tracks that makes it special in any way. If you call Majora's Mask's huge-ass mask feature a gimmick, then what in the world is Spirit Tracks' railroad driving..thing?
There were over twenty masks in Majora's Mask, three of which changed Link into a whole different form with different moves and gameplay mechanics, which also allowed for some of the hardest puzzle designs ever seen in a Zelda game, and each of the masks came with its own sidequest. Oh, and the whole "moon about to hit earth in three days" story? Yeah, totally not worth mentioning, since it certainly didn't affect the way you played the game at all. It may not have been the invention of the wheel, but come on, those things were everything but a gimmick. Riding a train, however? How does that add to the core gameplay experience? Once you've entered a dungeon, it'll most likely be like that feature never existed, just like the sailing in Phantom Hourglass. In addition, being stuck on tracks leaves you with even less freedom of movement than the boat in TWW and PH did, and it just hardly fits into the Zelda universe...What's next, cars? Airplanes? Segways?
Has there ever been a less Zelda-ish Zelda game?

QUOTE

You're being a little too exigent here, Phantom Hourglass is by far one of the prettiest 3D games on the DS to me.. it pushes the hardware in every possible way. The characters sure look blocky when zoomed, but they are fine during most of the gameplay when the camera is farther. A 2D game would look prettier, sure, but 3D opens up a lot of possibilities to make gameplay more interesting.

Except for the last sentence, I couldn't disagree more.
If you've read my post this far, you've probably figured out that I wasn't talking about the characters at all when I said the game looked blocky. Seriously, didn't you notice the blocky structure of EVERY surrounding in the game?
And how is this game pushing the DS hardware, exactly? First of all, the polycount is just ridiculously low in many parts of the game, thanks to its blocky structure. Secondly, almost the whole game is limited to one fixed camera angle that won't ever allow you to see what's in the distance, again reducing the number of polys rendered when compared to "full" 3D games like Super Mario 64DS or Metroid Prime Hunters. Having a fixed camera in a game would normally allow a dev to create some crazily detailed environments, but apparently Nintendo wasn't willing to take that chance. Twice. There's also nothing else impressive going on on the screen that'd make me say "Oh wow, impressive use of the DS's capabilities!". None of that changes when you're riding your boat, since it's mostly just water, maybe with one halfway decently rendered isle and an enemy or two in the background.
The game looks like ass and it's beyond my understanding how anyone could believe those graphics actually push the DS's hardware much, let alone "in every possible way". Like I said, the only thing worth mentioning is the cel-shading, and it's not like that alone drains every bit of power out of the hardware. There's also some points where there's 3D graphics on both screens, which may be impressive from a technical point of view, but doesn't make the game itself look any better.

 

[lilaznkid]

You have to wonder if the blocky environments and level design as well as the repetitive textures in Phantom Hourglass were the best they could do with a 1 gigabit card. Will Spirit Tracks be on a 2 gigabit card?

Anyways, I'm not too concerned about the graphics of Spirit Tracks but rather interested in what they plan to do with the train concept. It looks pretty fun in the trailer and has potential to be yet another great Zelda game.

 

[shakirmoledina]

i think it will pretty much be the same except tht they will remove the concept of the PH and maybe sailing will be exchanged with something else... still i am looking forward to this
BUT... I haven't finished part 1 since by backup save got formatted off the computer and my niece overwrote my save with hers lol... back to square one i guess

 

[Artia]

Weel, quite impressive video. Hoping this will be a masterpiece for NDS as the last zelda has been

 

[Skyline969]

I wish they'd make a free-roam Zelda for the DS like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, or Twilight Princess. This "closed-course" exploration system they have is kinda irritating. By closed-course, I mean you're restricted to only where the boat/train can take you. You can't go into caves or anything else unless you land on an island or whatever you do on ST (I would assume stop at a station).

 

[Sir-Fritz]

I hated phantom hourglass' dungeons cause they were so boring, minish caps dungeons on the other hand were really interesting.. heck in the first one your in a massive barrel that can roll. From what ive played of ph (and like about 4 dungeons) their all just walk around a area with square rooms and do stuff.