Eiji Aonuma talks Spirit Tracks in new Famitsu interview

The series producer discusses the games conception and the role Zelda plays

While Aussies have been enjoying The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks on DS for the last week, the poor Japanese will have to wait till December 23 for Link’s next adventure. Famitsu magazine is still celebrating, though, with the latest mag containing some words from the series’ producer, Eiji Aonuma.

Naturally, Mr. Aonuma began with the lead up to the start of the project. "First, let me talk about Phantom Hourglass," Aonuma said. "I’ve been making 3D Zelda games ever since I worked on Ocarina of Time, but really, I hadn’t been able to change the core of the game at all in any project. There have been new gimmicks and ways of presenting it, but I couldn’t fundamentally change the way the game was played. With the Nintendo DS and its new features, though, I could make a really ’new Zelda’ with the hardware.

"You could say as a result that Phantom Hourglass was a dream come true for me," he continued. "It was extremely fulfilling for me to make, but I did also have some things in my mind I had to leave behind for that project. The previous game had Wi-Fi battles where you drew lines to move Phantom Guardians around, and it was pretty fun — I figured that having that gameplay be part of the main story would result in another ’new Zelda,’ and that’s where Spirit Tracks began."

Next, he explained the idea of having Zelda team up with Link on this outing. "I thought the idea of working together with the Phantom Guardians in your adventure was pretty fun," explained Aonuma. "But they’re enemies, after all, so we had to think up some kind of motive for them to be your friends. At the same time, though, I liked how the Phantoms were a sort of ’unbeatable enemy’ in the last game and I didn’t want to change that. That’s how we began to think about some way to use Princess Zelda."

It would be kind of hard for the good Princess to do this in her full self, however, which obviously lead to her being in spirit form in the game. "People on the staff have wanted to have Zelda in the game for ages, but if we did that, then her skirt becomes an issue," Aonuma said. "Having girls in dresses in an action game is kind of hard to deal with. That’s how we got the idea of having her body stolen and her soul going inside Phantom Guardians."

Mr. Miyamoto gave a similar reason for Princess Peach not being playable in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. We’re not sure why they can’t just give her long pants instead of the dress if they’re so worried about any ’reveals’, but that’s Nintendo for you.

Source: Famitsu, translation via 1up