Zelda Universe-25 Years in 25 Days: 2009

Zelda Universe’s 25 Years in 25 Days is winding down as we approach the Skyward Sword release this weekend. Today’s year is 2009 and not only did we see a brand new game for the DS, but we got to experience one of the most elaborate fan-made Zelda projects of the time. Spirit Tracks was released this year and although it fixed many of the problems that were found in Phantom Hourglass, fans still found things to be upset about. Many thought the game was too high-tech with the incorporation of the train system and others complained that it looked exactly the same as Phantom Hourglass.

Also, in 2009, BMB Finishes released a fan-made, full-length feature film that was loosely based on the story of Ocarina of Time. That film was known as The Hero of Time. Many fans were excited about this movie and it received so much attention that eventually Nintendo got wind of it. They decided that it was too big of a production and at the end of the year, they asked BMB Finishes to remove it from the internet. Finally, the last thing to happen in 2009 came during E3 when a picture was revealed of what was known then as Zelda Wii. Head over to Zelda Universe to read the entire article and to share your thoughts. If you happened to miss any of the previous articles, click here to read them all.

Come winter, Spirit Tracks was released. By this time Nintendo had been sparse with details until a few weeks before release where a load of info hyped the Zelda community. The story was revealed and it intrigued a lot of people. The fact that Zelda was a ghost accompanying you was exciting to a lot of fans tired of rescuing her again and again. At this point, skeptics had finally come to accept the train and gamers around the world ventured through Hyrule in a game that turned out a lot better than most people had hoped for. It really seemed like Nintendo got a really good grip on what worked and what didn’t work for a DS Zelda after Phantom Hourglass. I’d like to say that if Phantom Hourglass was good, then Spirit Tracks was great, and it’s not uncommon these days to see Spirit Tracks in the top 5 Zelda games of fans on this website, and that’s saying something.

2009 also saw one of the most ambitious fan-made Zelda projects so far come to fruition. The Hero of Time was a full-length feature film loosely based on Ocarina of Time. Created by a group of filmmakers called BMB Finishes, the project first came to notice back in 2006 when a trailer was posted online. It generated a lot of excitement and hype at the time, but a lack of updates due to the problems with finding volunteers to work on the film lead many to believe it was a hoax or that it had simply fallen through. Nonetheless, BMB persisted behind the scenes and after several delays the film premiered on June 6, 2009 in Atlanta. BMB held several screenings over the following months, in cities such as New York, Los Angeles and even in Kassel, Germany. After the screenings, the film was premiered online through Dailymotion on December 14. On January 1, 2010, the film was suddenly taken offline and distribution stopped.

I didn’t get a DS until years after it was released and Spirit Tracks was one of the first games I ever played on it. I enjoyed the game a lot, but since I played it before Phantom Hourglass I didn’t really see the improvements that had been made. I had my own complaints about the game such as the traveling time took forever, especially once you started recovering the tracks. I also didn’t like that you had to play through half of the game before any more of the story was revealed to you. Overall, even with the minor flaws, I still loved the game and would rank it as one of my favorites.

What about you guys? Did you like Spirit Tracks? Was it better than Phantom Hourglass? Have you ever seen The Hero of Time? If so, did you like it? What did you think of the poster shown at E3? Tell us in the comments below and check back tomorrow for 2010!

Source: Zelda Universe

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