Set a century after The Wind Waker and its sequel Phantom Hourglass, the storyline follows the current incarnations of Link and Princess Zelda as they explore the land of New Hyrule to prevent the awakening of the Demon King Malladus.

Players navigate New Hyrule, completing quests that advance the story and solving environmental and dungeon-based puzzles, many requiring use of the DS's touchscreen and other hardware features.

Production began in 2007 following the release of Phantom Hourglass, with half the team including director Daiki Iwamoto and producer Eiji Aonuma returning.

Spirit Tracks continues its style of gameplay from Phantom Hourglass, in which players use the stylus to control Link and use weapons and items.

This multiplayer mode is non-canonical, as all four players play as different Links, each with different-colored tunics (a style that was used in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures).

Also, although safe zones are still present, being used to hide from Phantoms, the dungeon does not feature a curse that Link needs to protect himself from for a limited amount of time.

Following the events of The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, the previous incarnations of Link and Zelda settled the land, christening it as "New Hyrule" after their old homeland.

[5] Their plan was to produce Spirit Tracks on a short schedule, similar to Ocarina of Time sequel Majora's Mask, using ideas that had been proposed and not implemented in Phantom Hourglass.

[8][9][10] Series sound composer Koji Kondo contributed the ending theme,[11] while Ota was responsible for some of the music in the multiplayer mode.

The book, titled Senro wa tsuzuku,[b] concerned a group of children creating a railway line in a magical countryside region.

As development neared its end, Anomua made a comment about this never giving the feeling of climbing a tower, resulting in the spiral staircase included in the final design.

[14] Using feedback from Phantom Hourglass, the team adjusted the controls so players would find performing Link's actions on the touchscreen easier.

[17] The multiplayer was incorporated based on Miyamoto's liking for The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, wanting something more than the earlier game's battle mode.

[5][18] A survey conducted in the United States signified consumers preferred more independent female characters, including Zelda's alter egos Sheik (from Ocarina of Time) and Tetra (from The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass).

As a result, Zelda actively adventures alongside Link in spirit form, in sharp contrast to the damsel-in-distress role she fulfills in some earlier installments in the series.

[14] Aonuma felt that the inclusion of Zelda as Link's partner in both storyline and gameplay was his favourite part of the game, commenting that Spirit Tracks highlights her personality and characteristics better than other titles in the series.

[15] The team were careful not to focus too much on events from Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, allowing first-time players to enjoy the game.

[20] The antagonists were written to have more personality than in previous entries, with Byrne and Cole being played as contrasting rivals while also being Link's main opponents.

[27] In discussing its potential appearance at E3, IGN's Craig Harris felt that if a playable demo wasn't featured for it, Nintendo would show an "absolutely epic trailer that will bring fanboys to tears in the same way the company did with Twilight Princess in 2004".

[29][30] GameSpot's Sophia Tong commented that it was "well on its way to being a worthy sequel" to Phantom Hourglass, adding that the ability of the characters to "convey the mood" of the game was well-done enough without using voice acting.

PALGN's Jeremy Jastrzab commented that while it doesn't stray from its predecessor much, it features "genuine improvements" over it, citing specifically the flute as a major addition to the gameplay.

GameSpot's Randolph Ramsay called the dungeons "exciting and well-designed", while also praising its side-quests, boss fights, multi-player, and Phantom gameplay, which he says "adds new depth to the series".

On the other hand, he still found the title disappointing due to the train mechanic, which he states was a "foolish" idea by the developers to build a game around.

[65] Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann also found it disappointing in some ways, though he added that the flaws were offset by "terrific puzzle design and a great, fun story that feels noticeably different from the standard "save the princess" saga that series fans are used to seeing".

[66] GamePro's Aaron Koehn praised it for its use of the DS's capabilities, calling the game's offerings a "deep experience", but criticized it for taking too long to get going in the beginning and for doing little to differentiate itself from Phantom Hourglass.

[67] RPGamer's Adriaan den Ouden praised the gameplay, commenting that it was "refined" from Phantom Hourglass; on negative side, he criticized its travel as "slow and tedious", also calling the side-quests "weak delivery subquests".

He called it one of the five best-looking games for the DS, but criticized some aspects of it, specifically its flute item, which he says can be unusable if players are playing on a train for instance.

[74] The Guardian's Adam Boult commented that while it wasn't a "huge leap" from Phantom Hourglass, it is "brimming with innovation", strongly recommending it.

[77] USA Today's Jinny Gudmundsen called it an excellent game for kids who enjoy the intellectual challenge of puzzles inside a captivating fantasy story filled with interesting characters.

[98] Former Nintendo of America Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Cammie Dunaway used Spirit Tracks as a show of its holiday contenders in 2009.