END OF THE WEEK

Well, roughly around 11:00 this morning, I raced down to my local gamestop to pick up my copy of spirit tracks. I was so anxious I popped it into my Dsi as soon as I got back to my car. I plugged my DSi into my speakers, and enjoyed the title theme all the way home. Now that I've had my hands on the game for about five hours, I though I'd tell you what was going through my mind as I tried the game for the first time.

The first thing that hit me (in fact, I realized this before the game even had a release date) was that the game has great music. Every theme fits what's going on in the game to a tee, be it conducting your train, or simply strolling about town. I fully recommend using headphones through out the entire game. That is, if you can deal with all of the squeaks coming from the freshly voice acted link.

Speaking of dialog, The game definitely feels like the lines are ripped straight from an anime. It's hard to explain, but it all feels very anime like. even the new characters and action cut scenes feel like they were made for TV Tokyo. I mean just look at this guy:

Point proven, I'm sure.

Not that any of this is bad, mind you. It's just different. Actually "different" is the best word to describe a game like spirit tracks. Yes, a lot is borrowed from phantom hourglass, but so much is new, that you'll almost never relate it to that game. (unless of course you're reminiscing about returning characters.)

Everything feels fresh. So for those of you who were worried about the train just being another gimmick, it is! But, it's a good gimmick! (as if such a thing could exist.) I was very excited for the train. Mostly because one of my childhood dreams was to be a locomotion engineer. (oh Thomas the tank engine.... what would my childhood be with out you?) I'm no ferroequinologist, today, but I still love trains, and this is as close to being an engineer as I'll probably ever be. (yet another dream met, thanks to Nintendo.)

The game supposedly clocks in at around 25-30 hours, so be prepared for a long adventure. I know what I'm doing once this article is posted! Expect a full written review in a few days!