The guys at IGN have created another one of their Rewind trailers, where they take a look at a released trailer and provide audio commentary while playing the trailer and rewinding over certain portions of the video.

They recently did this for Spirit Tracks and the video is embedded below. There are a few things they point out that one might not see when watching the trailer for themselves. Beware, there are some spoilers for the early portion of the game found within the trailer.

The guys at Games Radar were able to get their hands on Spirit Tracks and play through the first 90 minutes of the game. They have posted a full review of their hands on experience and it reveals quite a bit of spoilers about the storyline and early portion of the game. Below is a small non-spoiler fraction of the review.

Today, having essentially seen the first 90 minutes of the game (and played through the first dungeon), we can safely say Spirit Tracks is every damn bit as good as Phantom Hourglass, if not even better.

So while that won't put all the critics to rest, I think it might slightly calm down the bitterness over the use of train tracks in the latest Zelda game. It looks like it is going to continue on in the same line of Phantom Hourglass, and to me personally, that is not a bad thing at all. To read the full review of the first 90 minutes of the game, click the link below.

Games Radar: First 90 Minutes of Spirit Tracks

Just days after the launch of the Japanese Spirit Tracks website was launched, the US and UK sites have also been released.

US Spirit Tracks Official Website
UK Spirit Tracks Official Website

This marks the first time Zelda.com has been given a significant update in a matter of years! The US website has links so that viewers can pre-order Spirit Tracks, watch the trailer, or to find out some more information. The UK site is a lot more in-depth, offering a storyline synopsis, information about a few of the characters, as well as a more elaborate image gallery compiled several new screenshots.

We will be updating Spirit Tracks related pages shortly here at Zelda Dungeon.

The guys at Gamespot have put up 9 new high quality screenshots for the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Additionally, there were five new official artwork images released, depicting some of the new and familiar faces that we expect to see in Spirit Tracks. All of these image have been added to the gallery and can be viewed at the links below.

Spirit Tracks Gamespot Screenshots
Spirit Tracks Official Artwork

All the various Spirit Tracks pages here at Zelda Dungeon will be updated over the next few days, as we sort through all the new material that is now available. The release dates for Spirit Tracks are listed below.

North America - December 7th, 2009
Europe - December 11th, 2009
Japan - December 23rd, 2009

Full Nintendo show exclusively from GameTrailers.com. Lots of talk about the New Super Mario Bros and the Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, as well as a brief mention of Zelda Wii. The brand new Spirit Tracks trailer is also shown in the video, but you can view that trailer in its entirety in the previous post just below.

A brand new trailer for the Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks has been released, exclusively from GameTrailers.com.

The trailer reveals quite a bit of Spoilers about the general plot of the game and the role that various characters play. If you want everything to be brand new and fresh when you play the game, I would suggest passing on watching the trailer. For the rest of you that are greatly anticipating Spirit Tracks and want to know everything and anything. Enjoy.

We will be updating many of the various sections at the website over the next 24 hours, with all the new material that is now available from the trailer. Spirit Tracks is set to release in North America on December 7th, 2009, less than five weeks away.

Game Trailers will be hosting a Nintendo special very early tomorrow morning at 12:30am, just after midnight. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is set to be featured, as well as other upcoming Nintendo games. However, several screenshots of Spirit Tracks have already leaked out and we have them available right here at Zelda Dungeon!

Spirit Tracks Leaked Screenshots.

The picture I posted in this news post is one that really stands out to me. The image seems to resemble... Ganon... as a train! click here for a larger version of the image. The series of screenshots seem to reveal a bit of the over lining storyline in the game, so I do not want to go into any detail. Take a look at the screenshots at your own risk, as it does provide a few storyline spoilers.

In what is a bit unusual for the Legend of Zelda series, the Japanese release date has been revealed for Spirit Tracks, but it is after the North American and European release. While North America will get their hands on the game on December 7th and Europe on December 11th, it appears Japan will have to wait until December 23rd. This was all revealed in a recent interview with Shigeru Miyamoto. Here is a full transcript of the Zelda related portion of the interview where Miyamoto talks Spirit Tracks, Zelda Wii, and the Wii Motion Plus.

"I was hoping you'd ask about the most recent Zelda for DS. On December 23rd in Japan we are going to release The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, a sequel of Phantom Hourglass. It's really fun and challenging. On the other hand it might be a bit difficult for many new Japanese Zelda players who experienced their first adventure on Phantom Hourglass. I believe Spirit Tracks have achieved a unique style and I think you can anticipate the core value of Zelda!

And the new Zelda for Wii is beyond that. On developing the recent Zelda for DS, I found out that one of Zelda's core appeals is its uniqueness. Of course we are preparing gorgeous graphics for the sake of users' anticipation for a grand role-playing adventure. But what I believe is very important is the realistic, actual feeling players have experienced themselves; the feeling to have really been on an adventure, to have explored the unknown terrains, to have solved the puzzle through trial and errors, to have themselves grown through various experiences! In that sense, a personal sense of creativity is becoming important among us. We have assembled one of the most creative team for the recent Zelda for DS, and we want to be as creative as possible for upcoming Wii Zelda.

And on a more tangible note, we are utilizing Wii MotionPlus. What has been disclosed so far is that we are finding the most efficient way to utilize Wii MotionPlus to realize the realistic and actual feeling of fighting with the sword. As for targeting, we are utilizing the pointing system of Wii Remote on the previous title. This time we are planning a more convenient and comfortable pointing system." ~ Shigeru Miyamoto

The Spirit Tracks hype train continues along the tracks as commercials are now starting to hit your TV sets across the world. The very first commercial is now available and you can watch it just below.



The video has a short scene of Princess Zelda and Link by the train, and it also shows them meeting up with Link's Phantom friend. A person can be briefly seen standing just behind Princess Zelda early in the commercial, but it is unclear who this person is.

The scene of the phantom transforms into an advertisement of the Spirit Tracks tin and figurine set that we reported on a few days back. In the UK, you can pre-order Spirit Tracks and get the tin and figurine set at game.co.uk.

The video has been added to our Zelda Commercials and Spirit Tracks Videos sections of the website.

The Spirit Tracks hype train is now in full gear. Just today the official Japanese Spirit Tracks Website was launched and it features a much wider version of the European box artwork that was revealed just over a week ago. You can view a small version of the scene artwork just to your right, but if you click here you can get a high quality version of the image.

Ever since the European box artwork was released just over a week ago, there has already been speculation over what the tower in the background is for. The larger scene artwork gives us a much better view of the tower, as well as the volcano and what looks like mountains of ice in the background.

Additionally, it appears that Nintendo will be giving away a feather stylus once again. The feature stylus was made available for Phantom Hourglass but it appears Nintendo is recycling the stylus for Spirit Tracks as well. Here is an image that can be seen while viewing the new website.


Spirit Tracks is scheduled for a release in North America on December 7th, less than FIVE WEEKS away.