The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks introduces a steam powered train to the Zelda series. When Link sits in the engine car the DS game goes on rails. Players can control the speed of the train with a switch on the touch screen. Move the throttle all the way up to chug along at top speed. Move it all the way down to reverse.
In the E3 demo a few obstacles make Link’s path to the purple flag a challenge. Animals occasionally lounge on the train tracks. You could ram into them, but you’ll lose a heart. Pulling the string in the top right hand corner down makes the train whistle to scare critters.
The train has a cannon which you can fire by poking the screen. Cannonballs shatter rocks which lie on the train’s path. You can also shoot rocks as you roll by to get rupees and hearts. The train’s cannon is Link’s main weapon to defend himself against flying enemies.
Left and right icons pop up on the bottom of the touch screen when it’s time to turn. See the blue icons on the top screen? These represent other trains. You need to avoid these by turning to avoid a collision and, perhaps, stopping Link’s train to let other trains pass.
Once you reach the flag Link enters a dark cave and meets a boss monster. During this fight you don’t have to turn the train, the one-eyed monster is enough to worry about. You can damage the monster by shooting its eye with your cannon. Hitting the powder kegs Link’s train drives by knocked the boss back too.
