It isn't often we'll see two Zelda efforts on a single platform. NES had it, Game Boy Color had it, GameCube sort of had it, but unless you count ports, remakes, or the trilogy of face-palm proportions on CD-i, there really haven't been many times in history when Zelda fans could expect multiple iterations of the green-clad hero on one platform. So when Nintendo announced The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks on DS, most of us were pretty surprised. Yeah yeah, Link is riding a train and if you hate it you'll eventually come around. The real question though? Is this double-dip of Nintendo's legendary franchise really worth the price of admission, or is it merely a shelf-filling cash-in aimed at the masses?

It's worth the price of admission. That didn't take long to get to, huh?

In the two years we've waited between Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, over a century has passed in this sort-of-linked-together-but-don't-take-it-too-literally world. That little rugrat of a pirate from the first game is now an old man, living with Link in a tiny town on the outskirts of Hyrule Castle. Princess Zelda is alive and well, Linebeck – ok, a relative of Linebeck, since he wears a new hat – has ditched the treasure hunting world of piracy and now runs a humble antique store, and yes, Link has ditched the boat for a choo-choo train.

On the surface Spirit Tracks seems like it's a bit too similar to its Phantom Hourglass roots, bringing back a few tools, many of the same concepts, and all the same gameplay conventions. Starting with control, Link's mobility is virtually unchanged, still offering no option for digital pad and button maneuverability despite nearly every critic in the world begging for it last time around. There's an overworld that's broken up into four main map pieces and a new Spirit Tower that replaces the time-based Temple of the Ocean King in Phantom Hourglass. Drawing your route via train is nearly identical to your boat controls – though now you'll have to watch out for splits in the track, and routes aren't quite as direct. A few tunes return, and it's impossible to run through grassy fields, scour labyrinths, or explore dungeons and caves without feeling an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

That, teamed with the fact that Nintendo insists on treating every player as a complete newcomer to the series, is bound to frustrate seasoned players. Of course, there's also the simple fact that keeps so many hardcore Nintendo fans coming back year after year, console after console, and decade after decade; Nintendo knows how to make amazing games and when it wants to, it dominates this industry. That's exactly what Spirit Tracks is. It has the disadvantage of being a sequel, but the deeper you dig, the more you realize it's not only better than its DS predecessor, but can also stand up to the impressive pedigree the Zelda series is known for.

At the center of it all is the Spirit Tower, which acts as the new labyrinth hub of the game. Keeping the same core concepts as the Temple of the Ocean King in Phantom Hourglass, Link and his new ghostly friend Zelda will get into a rhythm of traveling the lands, returning the power of the legendary spirit tracks using a handy-dandy Spirit Flute, and make their way to a labyrinth, beat it, and then return back to the tower to find another piece of the world map. For newcomers to DS Zelda, this sounds like a fun little back-and-forth. For those who played Phantom Hourglass, it sounds like a repeat design. Where Sprit Tracks gains its edge, however, is in the actual spirit tower itself, as the dungeon is difficult, far more diverse than its predecessor, and is no longer time-based in design. Once an area is beaten, you're finished with it entirely, moving up the tower via a huge spiral staircase rather than going through every finished labyrinth over and over again.

The Spirit Tower is also where the game puts Zelda's ghost state to use, having her take over the Phantom Knights that lurk within the halls of the tower. After a little Metal Gear-inspired stealth sequences, Link gains the power to defeat the Phantom Knights and send Zelda flying into their steel shell. Based on what Phantom she possesses, her skill set changes, allowing her to carry Link on her shield, carry a flame sword to light darkened halls, teleport freely throughout dungeons, or even morph into a ball and destroy barriers and enemies. As the duo climbs each floor the puzzles become more complex, bordering on some of the most unique and mind-bending dungeon play this side of Ocarina of Time.

When it comes to general travel and "out of tower" gameplay, Spirit Tracks is a mix of both amazingly inspired, classic Zelda action, and some segments that should have simply been left on the cutting room floor. True statement: The game runs over 25 hours from front to end. Unfortunate reality: A good fifth of that could have been cut out to better pace the experience. Spirit Tracks is never dull, it's never boring, but it does border on monotonous at times, and while there's always strong writing, beautiful music, and new locales to experience, the designers seem to revel in sending you on ping pong quests, bouncing you from location to location to solve otherwise mudane tasks. Want to get to the fire temple? Tough break, kid: there's a lava river in the way. Don't worry, you're just a five minute drive to the ice village where ice can be made to cool the lava. That is, you can make ice after you take somebody from the ice village to the forest where fresh water can be found; don't want to be making dirty ice. Delivered him there? Nice! Come back later and you can get the ice. Go kill some time. Oh, you made it back to the fire world with the ice? Congrats, it's time to move on. Unless you want to do it all over again in a side quest, that is.

Thankfully, while those moments are truly frustrating for seasoned Zelda fans who just want to get from epic dungeon to epic dungeon, those roadblock moments are also few and far between, and the bulk of the experience – especially the back half of the game – is packed full of amazing content. Link's tools themselves are largely responsible for making the experience so fresh and innovative despite all its formulaic inklings, with even returning elements like the boomerang and bow and arrow getting all new gameplay mechanics built around them. There's a bit too much emphasis put on using the microphone – the Spirit Flute uses it very well, while the whirlwind has you constantly blowing at your screens for the first few hours of the game – but even despite that the uses for puzzles and combat alike are great. The new whip is an awesome addition for stealing items from baddies, moving about the world, and executing short-ranged attacks, and the final sand-based tool in the game is simply awesome; we'll keep that spoiler free though.

Also returning this time around is Zelda's multiplayer battle mode, now supporting four players while sacrificing online play via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Unfortunately Four Swords this is not, with gameplay limited to arena-based gem collecting with each player attempting to knock out their opponents with bombs, trap doors, and Phantoms. The game's design is less strategic or in-depth as even Phantom Hourglass's multiplayer though, with no direct control over Phantoms, and no swords for direct combat between players. It's literally a funhouse of traps and power-ups, with no real direct combat or strategy overall. As a nice addition though, it's single card multiplayer, so at least you won't need to track down other players with their Spirit Tracks cart handy. A tag mode is also included, used for trading treasures from player to player, and while it's helpful, it's also an extremely basic addition; simply pick three treasures you want to trade, and swap them with another DS Zelda owner. It's great for getting the treasures you need for upgrading your train, though good luck getting rare items from buddies that are also out to acquire the top upgrades in the game.

And finally, something needs to be said once again for Nintendo's overall presentation, which is simply outstanding. Some tunes are back from Phantom Hourglass, but for the most part you'll find original compositions and some truly inspired tunes, especially when dealing with the Spirit Flute sections of the game. Visuals are again extremely impressive, even pushing the DS a bit further than the previous game with a few new tricks. The storytelling is right on point, the game's final hour or so is a finale of truly epic proportions, and the bond between Link and Zelda has never been stronger; even if the princess does start sounding like a broken record of overly enthusiastic anime girl dialogue. The game has its slow moments, but the total package is hands-down one of the best on the system, and it fires from every aspect of its design.

Closing Comments
When it released two years ago, Phantom Hourglass blew us away with impressive visuals, beautiful music, and a huge world packed with plenty to see and do. What it was missing, however, was some of the hardcore difficulty and classic dungeon puzzles that longtime Zelda fans have come to expect. What a difference two years makes. While Spirit Tracks has some obvious deja vu elements and can drag on from time to time, Nintendo's latest pocket Zelda trumps the first game hands-down, delivering amazing bosses once again, now complemented with impressive dungeons, a truly epic challenge in the Spirit Tower, and a substantially longer adventure overall. Nintendo fans now have two must-play Zelda offerings on DS, as Spirit Tracks is an adventure not to be missed. Pick it up. You won't be disappointed.

IGN Ratings for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)

9.5 Presentation
The majority of visual and storytelling elements are brought back from Phantom Hourglass, but that doesn't make them any less impressive.
10 Graphics
Once again one of the best visual offerings on the system, going above and beyond what the previous Zelda was capable of.
9.0 Sound
Repeat tunes are a letdown, but the new compositions are well done, and more than make up it. The Sprit Flute pieces should have replaced everything else; simply stunning.
9.0 Gameplay
The dungeons are incredible, bosses unparalleled, and while the pacing isn't always consistent it's one heck of an experience.
9.0 Lasting Appeal
Multiplayer is a letdown, and there are some artificially lengthened segments, but the dungeons, bosses, and tools will make this one impossible to put down.
9.3

Outstanding OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

There is something immensely appealing about the simple act of blowing your train's horn in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. You'll find yourself making the classic "toot-toot" sound often as you travel around the world of Hyrule, reveling in the way it makes your inner 10-year-old kid giggle with glee. Playing Spirit Tracks brings up similar feelings; it's fun and familiar, basking you in the nostalgia of the Zelda series' well-trodden gameplay formulas while adding enough changes to make it feel exciting again. And while its look will undoubtedly bring up comparisons with 2007's superb Phantom Hourglass, Link's new adventure does away with its predecessor's repetitiveness and pacing issues, making Spirit Tracks the superior of the two Zelda games available on Nintendo's handheld console.

It not just an art style that Spirit Tracks shares with Phantom Hourglass. This new game is a sequel, and while, you'll play as a new Link, several familiar faces from the 2007 game make an appearance in Spirit Tracks (some as direct descendants of old characters and some as older versions of their Phantom Hourglass selves). Spirit Tracks takes place 100 years after the events of Phantom Hourglass, and the land of Hyrule is in peril. The demon king Malladus is stirring, threatening to break free from the Tower of Spirits (his prison for the last century) and throw off the chains that have kept him suppressed. These chains are actually the game's Spirit Tracks, a series of lines crisscrossing the world that the inhabitants of Hyrule have been using to drive their trains on. Young Link starts the game as a newly graduated engineer, off to see Princess Zelda and gain his official train driver's qualification. Once there, Zelda confides to Link her fear that Malladus may be on the rise and urges him to take her to the Tower of Spirits so they can both investigate. But before they reach the tower, they are attacked. The tower then breaks into several pieces, and the evil Chancellor Cole and his sidekick Byrne steal Zelda's body for use as the resurrected Malladus' new body. Zelda's spirit remains, however, becoming Link's guide as he strives to prevent the demon king's rise and to reunite his beloved princess back with her physical form.

It's certainly a first for the series for Zelda to die (for all intents and purposes) right at the start of the game and for her spirit to join you for the rest of the adventure, but it's not the only new addition. As well as being a Na'vi-like fairy companion for Link, Zelda can take control of phantoms, which are heavily armed guardians of the Tower of Spirits (and who players of Phantom Hourglass will remember as the near-invincible soldiers guarding the Ocean Temple). You can control both Link and the Zelda-possessed phantoms, and it's this new play mechanic that invigorates the tried-and-true Zelda formula. Similar in concept to the domination rod in Twilight Princess, Zelda-phantoms will dutifully accompany Link as he explores the tower, but you can also assign them specific paths by tracing a line on the DS's touchpad, or even get them to activate switches, carry items, or attack enemies. The cooperative puzzles you'll need Zelda-phantoms for start off quite simply--getting their invincible frames to block a column of fire so you can move Link past, for example, or hitching a ride on their shields to traverse lava pits--but by the end of the game they'll get increasingly complex and will require you to use different types of phantoms (each with its own special abilities, such as being able to roll through obstacles, carry fiery swords, or warp around levels) to solve problems. Even more tricky are several boss battles that require you to control a Zelda-phantom and Link. These fights are tense and exciting, requiring fast reflexes as you're forced to quickly switch between the two characters to find an opponent's weak points.

You can control only Link and Zelda in the Tower of Spirits, an area you'll have to visit several times to gain new maps that open up spirit tracks to different parts of the gameworld. Phantom Hourglass veterans who are worried that the Tower of Spirits is simply another name for the annoying Ocean Temple in that earlier game needn't fear; while you'll make multiple trips to the Tower of Spirits, the repetition and the time limits of the Ocean Temple have been done away with. You won't ever need to repeat the same levels. Outside of the Tower of Spirits and its dual Link-Zelda mechanic, Spirit Tracks plays similarly to most other adventures in the series. You'll venture into a multilevel dungeon, obtain a new weapon, and then use that new weapon to defeat a powerful boss creature at the end of that dungeon. Many of Link's weapons will be familiar to series veterans, including favorites such as the boomerang, the bow, and bombs. There are new weapons, too, including a hookshot-like whip, which Link can use to latch onto beams to swing across chasms Indiana Jones-style, and a special wand that can erect walls of sand.

Such adherence to formula may be the undoing of lesser games, but consistently clever level design and the tricky-but-never-cheap puzzles in Spirit Tracks mean the game is a winning experience at all times. Though the game doesn't stray far from what made the Zelda series great, you'll still feel a palpable thrill when you figure out the way to get that final dungeon key or use your newly found weapon to take down an initially intimidating boss. The game itself is not too difficult--there are only a few puzzles in the final two dungeons that may get you stuck--but the problems you'll have to solve are almost all uniformly engaging and make creative use of Link's abilities and weapons.

What's also surprisingly engaging is riding your train around on the spirit tracks covering Hyrule. You would think that having fixed railway lines to travel on would make moving from location to location boring, but the game throws enough variety at you to make most trips interesting. As well as using your train's horn to scare away livestock clogging up the tracks or using your cannon to blast away roving enemies, you'll have to contend with demon trains cruising the tracks. You'll need to plan ahead to avoid these enemies, keeping a close eye on your map and switching lines when necessary to make sure you don't end up on a collision course. Crashing into one of these enemies is the biggest negative of riding a train in Hyrule. You'll become familiar with the crushing feeling of inevitability that comes when you've made a mistake switching lines and are forced to simply wait until the collision. And every hit sends you right back to where you started your trip, resulting in a fair bit of repetition.

Driving the train is easy: You have three speeds to switch between using a lever on the right of the touch screen, as well as a rope for the horn, which you can pull at any time (toot-toot!). The rest of the game's controls are similarly simple and intuitive, with the touch screen and stylus used for all movement and actions. You simply hold the stylus on the screen to move Link and tap or slash on enemies to attack. It was a winning control scheme two years ago when used in Phantom Hourglass, and it has lost none of its positives today. The DS's microphone gets another workout this time around, though. You can use it as a weapon by blowing into it to send a gust of wind at enemies, and you need to use it to play the spirit flute. You'll learn several songs that you can play on the ocarina-like instrument throughout the course of your adventure, with each song having special effects, such as healing you in dungeons and unveiling hidden chests.

Side quests aside, Spirit Tracks features more than 14 hours of play in the main story, but there's plenty to do outside of trying to stop Malladus. As in most Zelda games, there are plenty of hidden secrets and chests to track down, and many are inaccessible until later in the game when you've unlocked all of Link's weapons. The train is also used in several of Spirit Tracks' side quests. You'll be asked to use your train to ferry fussy passengers, move livestock from town to town, and even hunt down and capture cute rabbits for relocation to a bunny sanctuary. Your rewards for these tasks range from extra hearts to whole new sections of Spirit Tracks, leading to previously inaccessible areas and even more hidden goodies.

The game also comes with a fun four-player competitive mode which, in a plus, can be played by using one game cartridge and the DS' download play mode. It's a pretty simple set-up--you and three other players race around single-level dungeons trying to grab as many force gems before the timer runs out. Dying--either by getting hit by a roaming Phantom or falling victim to an environmental hazard such as lava or a deep pit--will cause you to drop some of your collected gems, which your competitors can then swoop up. And while you won't be able to use your weapons, you can cause mischief to your fellow players in other interesting ways. If a Phantom is chasing you, for example, running past another player will cause the Phantom to switch their brutal attention onto them instead. You can also activate switches to open trapdoors which, if timed correctly, can send your competitors hurtling to their doom, allowing you to pick up their hard-earned gems. Multiplayer games--especially with a full complement of players--are usually hectic and lots of fun as you scramble to grief other players in order to steal their gems. But with only six maps available, multiplayer is more an interesting little distraction rather than a fully-fledged time sink.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks hasn't improved markedly on the visuals seen in Phantom Hourglass, which isn't a problem considering that the first game looked great on the DS. Spirit Tracks is just as impressive, with the colorful world containing a surprising amount of detail to help bring the land of Hyrule to life. This game has an abundance of charm, from the endearing conversations you'll have with Zelda, to the many kooky and interesting personalities you'll come across and even the varied enemies. And while there's no dialogue in the game, aside from some grunts and squeals, the audio is impressive, with a tuneful soundtrack mixing seamlessly with classic sounds from the Zelda series' history (including that familiar yet still triumphant trill when you open chests).

You'll find plenty that's familiar in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, but the inclusion of new mechanics, such as controlling both Link and Zelda, and the simple joy of driving the train lift this game above being just another Zelda adventure. This game is a top-notch adventure, and whether this is your first or 15th time in Hyrule, Spirit Tracks is a must-play.