Found these 2 gems at my local retro game store. Where do they rank on your all time Zelda list?

35 Comments

  1. thomas_powell

    Phantom Hourglass was great. Spirit Tracks was fun, but I never finished it. I didn’t like the train mechanics as much as the boat mechanics from PH, and for me it felt like a step back

  2. Um. They were okay. Not bad, not great. The barometer I use is; would I play again today. Probably not.

  3. Compared to other Zelda games? On the lower half of the list, with spirit tracks slightly higher than phantom hourglass. They were fine games, but I prefer most other 2d and 3d Zelda games over them.

  4. Thoraxekicksazz

    The bottom. I can’t stand the touch screen controls.

  5. Force321X

    Phantom hourglass had better world traversal but the repeat dungeon after every main dungeon was way more tedious compared to spirit tracks. Both games hold very dear memories

  6. Topazthekid6

    Spirit tracks is fun, my only complaint is before you can enter a dungeon you have to use your mic to a instrument exactly as it tells you too, took me many of trys just to enter the first dungeon in the game

  7. Doot_Doot_Dee_Doot

    I liked them just fine. Spirit Tracks was my favourite just because I like trains. Phantom Hourglass was also good, though I never got the chance to play Wind Waker, so I didn’t have that to compare it to. By today’s standards, they may not hold up as well, but I maintain that there is no such thing as a bad Zelda game, especially from that era of gaming. Wii/DS era brought some serious heat, at least in Zelda terms.

  8. JustafanIV

    Excellent DS games and solidly in the middle of Zelda games for me. I’m slightly biased though because Wind Waker was my first Zelda and so I loved the continuation of that timeline in these games.

    Also, the Spirit Tracks theme is just pure fire.

  9. Pretty low. I particularly didn’t like them, even though I completed both.

  10. Dr-Gooseman

    I had fun with Phantom. Was like a little baby windwaker lite.

  11. Lunala475

    Phantom hourglass is exceptional, I don’t understand the hate it gets. S tier

  12. Mend1cant

    For the actual content I’d call them low-middle of the pack, but damn if Nintendo didn’t maximize every single function of the DS. The touch controls worked effortlessly. The random puzzles just using the DS were a treat. Closing the top screen to make an imprint for a map? Simple yet genius.

    Also no other Zelda game has come close to how amazing the map is. Just being able to write notes changes how complex a dungeon can be, and I wish they did more with that.

  13. mzxrules

    Spirit Tracks is better because you can make the Choo Choo noise to the music.

  14. the_wafflator

    They are mediocre at best tbh. I’ll never forget the time I tried to play spirit tracks on a plane and the noise from the plane made the microphone constantly trigger so I literally couldn’t play. (there’s an item that you activate by blowing into the microphone)

  15. luugi_06

    Spirit tracks is in the upper middle. Windwaker being my favorite, it’s only natural Spirit Tracks is up there. Never played the other though

  16. JESUSSAYSNO

    Spirit Tracks was a lot better than Phantom Hourglass. Just more feature rich, and I remember it having more relevant content.

    Both are lower middle of the pack on the overall zelda list. Better than Zelda 1 and 2 for sure, and they’re less historically substancial than ALTTP or the GBA games, but similar quality as overall games in current year. Pretty much on par with Minish Cap.

  17. Eversion28

    Near the bottom, honestly. Didn’t like the stylus controls and the graphics style. I love wind walker though.

  18. Haunted-Chipmunk

    I had a ton of fun with multiplayer mode on phantom hourglass with my friend. Never beat spirit tracks

  19. No_Establishment7368

    You gotta pull the sheet all the way down or when you are in bed, it will just ride up, and you will have to do it again

  20. InformalLove116

    I definitely enjoyed them and grew up with them as a kid. I literally played through PH a week or two again after almost a decade. I have vague memories of playing it in second grade as well. I remember being stoked when I was like 9 and reading some gaming magazine my dad bought for me while we were out doing something together- in his truck and seeing the adds for Spirit Tracks saying Zelda would join Link on the adventure and be playable. It was fun and I enjoyed it possibly a bit more than PH.

    Overall for all the people that hated the DS mechanics using the stylus for them they were still great and looked really good for a 3D game on the DS. I wouldn’t rank them near the top of my Zelda list though, but they’re worth playing

  21. Lepineski

    Somewhere above the cd-i game but below everything else.

    I’d say they’re close to Four Swords.

  22. Rutegger

    The worst handheld Zelda titles by a longshot.

  23. MetalSandwiches

    Phantom Hourglass was Mid and and Spirit Tracks was Mid-er. 

  24. darren_meier

    Near the bottom. The fond memories I have are mostly related to them reusing a visual style I enjoyed in better games. Sadly they’re among the weaker installments in the series, sandwiched between significantly better mobile Zelda titles on both sides by *Minish Cap* and *Link Between Worlds*.

  25. nattacka

    Looks like the pekka from coc, did they steal this from Zelda 😦

  26. Real_Dotiko

    Phantom Hourglass ruined my DS trackpad 😅

  27. I wasn’t into spirit tracks much but I did enjoy phantom hourglass

  28. Honestly, I would have liked them a lot better if there was an option to use standard controls.

  29. Monotonegent

    I liked these a bunch but I probably wouldn’t play them again unless they were remade

  30. SustyRhackleford

    The final boss fight in phantom hourglass had probably the worse touch screen mechanic I’ve ever dealt with. That gesture of a sideways hourglass is super annoying and I can’t imagine most kids were able to do it super easily

  31. Forsaken-Badger-9517

    I only ever got to play phantom hourglass, and I thought it was a pretty cool legend of Zelda game!!

    Either way, they’re both classic!

  32. Trajik07

    Is DS retro now? I refuse to believe I’m that old!

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