The DS era of Zelda games doesn’t get enough love. Phantom Hourglass was great, even though it suffered (in a very minor way, in my opinion) due to the DS touch controls. Too many people slept on that amazing game, and the undeserved hate it received led to even more people ignoring the superior sequel, Spirit Tracks. Seriously, if you haven’t played it yet, go do it right now. It has everything: trains, an absolute banger of a soundtrack, trains, a panflute, trains, ghosts, and, most importantly, trains. Luckily, great artists like Malin Sandred are keeping the love and adventure alive with work of arts like the one I’m featuring today.
“LoZ Spirit Tracks” is a quaint piece with a simple concept. It’s Ghost Zelda and Link, riding the engine of the Spirit Train away from the Tower of Spirits. However, after looking at it for a bit, you start to see the details and recognize the true emotional depth of the piece. The colors, atmosphere, and style all work together to make it an evocative work.
It looks to me like Link has stopped the train for Zelda to get one last look at the Tower. He’s holding onto the back, one foot firmly planted on the ground. Zelda sits atop the engine, gazing at the tower with longing. After all, that was where she, essentially, died. She’s looking back at what she has lost, hoping that Link can help get her body back and save Hyrule. She sits on the train, full of worry, fear, and hope.
The sky is just brilliant. The color gradient, moving effortlessly from black to blue to purple to pink, gives the piece a fitting, melancholy vibe. It feels like watching the sunrise on the day before school starts. You are sad because summer break is over, but excited and hopeful about the next great adventure. The way the Tower of Spirits is cast as a simple silhouette against the sky reminds our heroes that this adventure will take them far away. But in the end, all roads will lead back to home, back to safety and security (well, sort of).
Malin has quite a distinct art style, which is what first drew me to this piece. It’s soft and not overly detailed, giving the piece a similar aesthetic to the actual game. I’ve always loved how colorful the Adult Timeline games (i.e. The Wind Waker and its two sequels) were, and Malin does a great job of emulating that here. I say it isn’t overly detailed, but the details she chooses to highlight are great. I really like how the light is shining off the front of the train, like someone is pointing a flashlight at the front. It’s muted and blurry around the edges, like how a real light would shine. The blurry leaves in the foreground are also a great little touch that provides an excellent sense of depth.
Spirit Tracks turns 15 years old in late 2024, and I really hope that anniversary drums up some excitement for this criminally underrated DS Zelda game. So thank you, Malin Sandred, for creating awesome artwork like this to help show off just how great it is. If you like Malin’s work and want to see more, you can check out the portfolios on her website or ArtStation account.
