This game doesn’t mean to toot its own horn ... it just does. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is a smooth ride across the land of Hyrule, by train rather than by boat. A successor of epic proportions to Phantom Hourglass, the first DS Zelda game, Spirit Tracks carries on the tradition of massive boss battles, picturesque visuals and an entertaining tale.

One hundred years after Link and Tetra ended their adventures and settled down in a land they named Hyrule, trouble is brewing. The Spirit Tracks, bonds that hold an ancient evil locked away, are disappearing. The current Princess Zelda begs the help of young train engineer Link, the player’s character, to aid her in bringing them back. What ensues is an adventure full of peril, laughs and challenges to boot.

The game builds from Phantom Hourglass’s engine and does a superb job of adding new touches to an already solid system. All of the controls are stylus-based, from menus to dialogue to battles. Simply hold the stylus on the area you want Link to walk toward. The farther you move it from him, the faster he runs. Tapping twice in quick succession will get him to roll. Fighting is done by tapping enemies, or making slicing motions with the stylus. A spin attack, Link’s trademark move, can be done by quickly drawing a circle around him.

There has been a lot of controversy over whether or not having railroads was a good idea for a Zelda game. Well, lay your worries aside. I thought that this new concept not only worked well, but was a welcome addition to the lineup of inventions used in the series. You control your train’s gearbox, allowing you to alter its speeds, stop and even blow the whistle. At intersections you can move a lever to choose your path, or if you don’t feel like navigating each turn, you can plot out your path via stylus ahead of time. And these train rides are hardly to enjoy the scenery; enemy ships, trains, monsters and all other sorts of obstacles get in your way and have to be eliminated. Puzzles and hidden items can also be found while out and about.

The game’s graphics are just as good as the previous DS Zelda adventure, looking a little on the pixilated side but having a charm to them nonetheless. The colors are vibrant, and the landscapes are sweeping and vast. What impressed me the most was just how much land got packed into a portable game. The amount of places to visit is broad indeed.

The cutscenes in Spirit Tracks are beautifully executed, complete with dynamic facial expressions and humorous scenes. Any Zelda fan will approve of the character’s personalities, and everyone else will enjoy the lively cast as well. Effects like smoke or lightning look smooth, and everything flows with a very nice frame rate. Effects like water or smoke blend with the rest of the graphics well, too. Granted, Spirit Tracks is limited simply by the resolution of the DS, which really isn’t up to par with much of today’s games. However, the game is not confined by this, bypassing all the “rules” and making you forget that Spirit Tracks is handheld.

The dungeons in Spirit Tracks are challenging, forcing the player to utilize every item he or she has earned, and use different DS features, such as the microphone. In each dungeon a new item is acquired, and that item will be the key to beating the puzzles and the boss. Certain items require you to blow into the mic, and other times, you will have to say certain words through it. This adds a bit of variety to the game, warding off monotony.

The amount of extra features in Spirit Tracks also is exciting. These vary from collecting treasure to customizing your train. You can also ferry people back and forth in you passenger car, helping them with their everyday lives. They will reward you handsomely if you aid them. This lends more play time to the game and also adds interesting side stories. Spirit Tracks has a decent play time, probably taking anywhere from 10 to 15 hours to complete. If you take the time to gather all of the extras, it takes far longer.

Overall, I would highly recommend Spirit Tracks as a fun, lighthearted adventure with a great story, interesting characters and an epic scale. Fighting monsters in the palm of your hand has been taken to a new level with The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. This game once again shows us the promise of the Zelda series and proves that epic adventures aren’t reserved for console and PC gaming. Spirit Tracks runs at $35 new, but you can rent it and give it a shot first. I doubt you’ll regret adding this game to your collection.