legend of zelda spirit tracks
The Gaming Generation
Video games came into homes more or less in the mid 1980's. Sure there were games before then, before the crash, but I'm considering the NES as the start of what we now know (and love) as gaming. Because of this, my generation is the first that have grown up entirely within the era of videogames. This holds a lot of implications, and I'd like to look at a few of them over time.
I was born shortly after the NES debuted. Even though I wasn't an avid gamer until I was a teenager, I do remember video games always having a presence in my life. When I was about 5 years old, we lived in an apartment complex that had a janitor named Mario. Even though my family didn't own any video game systems at the time, I remember thinking it was funny that his name was the same as the guy from that one game. One issue this brings up is this: what becomes of gamers when they "grow up?"
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
This is a first for us, but this is our second full review of The Legend
of Zelda: Spirit Tracks on the First Hour. Paul first reviewed the game in
early February and praised it for its stellar action and improved
controls over Phantom Hourglass. He did note some
issues with the train in the game, and while most of my opinions will
echo his, I would like to get my thoughts down before I move on to other
games.
This is Nintendo's second attempt at going for an
entirely stylus-driven Zelda experience. I'm actually still a bit
shocked that this works. It's not perfect, but it is definitely not
substantially worse than playing a console Zelda game, and in some ways
works better than the old 2D games. Paul said he noticed improvements
in the control, but either it's been so long since I played Phantom
Hourglass that I didn't notice, or... they didn't make any
improvements. I'm guessing the former as I was rarely frustrated with
the game control-wise.
Just like to quickly mention how awesome
it is that we got two Legend of Zelda games on the Nintendo DS,
especially considering it was nearly three years after the system
debuted that Phantom Hourglass finally landed. It'd be great to see a
third, but I imagine Nintendo will be refocusing their efforts on the
DSi or 3DS at this point. Hey, you can always hire Capcom to make more
portable iterations.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the latest in the revered Legend of Zelda series. I doubt anyone needs an introduction to this series, so I won't give one.
Spirit Tracks is on the Nintendo DS, and is a direct sequel to 2007's Phantom Hourglass. The controls have remained mostly the same, with a few refinements that I'll get into later.
Spirit Tracks follows the story set out by Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. It's now a hundred years later and everything is settled in the new land, with Zelda as the princess. Link is training to become an engineer (get it? Training?) when suddenly bad things happen and Link is the only one who can fix them. We've heard it all before, right? Maybe all except the train part. But this time, Zelda has had her body stolen, and she travels with Link in spirit form. She acts both as fairy companion a la Navi (although much less intrusive), and she doubles as a giant-sword-wielding, invincible suit of armor. Zelda can possess Phantoms and you can control her, in a new twist to the Zelda series. So for those of you clamoring for a playable Zelda character, this is as close as you can (and probably ever will) come.
First Hour Podcast - Episode 1
Welcome to the first episode of the First Hour podcast! In this premier episode, Paul and Greg discuss the site's origins, discuss The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, and argue about the Nintendo 64's library of games.
Please leave us your feedback! We've been listening to podcasts for years but this is our first time actually producing one.
Theme Music
Plok Title Jam - Mazedude
2009 Game of the Year Awards
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
The Legend of Zelda is an old and respected series of games. The brainchild of Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, the series contains some of the best-loved games ever.
When a series continues this long, there's always a risk: either the games stay the same and get stale, or they innovate and don't fit in the series.
December 7 ushered in the latest iteration of the green-clad hero on the DS. Spirit Tracks is a direct sequel to Phantom Hourglass, which itself was a direct sequel to Wind Waker, making this the longest string of direct sequels for the franchise.
Set about 100 years after Phantom Hourglass, it features the descendants of the previous Link and Zelda. But what we want to know, is this game any good? Is it the same as Phantom Hourglass, but with a train instead of a steamship? Is driving a train any fun? What will the first hour of the latest Zelda game be like?