I’ve recently fallen in love with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, so I was excited at Nintendo’s Big Apple Comic Con booth to have the chance to try the sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, due out for the Nintendo DS later this year.

Animated in the same style as Phantom Hourglass and the Gamecube classic The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Spirit Tracks plays very much the same. Players control Link by dragging the stylus across the screen in the direction you want him to move. Attacking and other actions are also done using the stylus. While I had hoped they would have worked in the use of the directional pad to control Link in this game, it’s understandable that they’d want to keep the mechanics the same for returning players.

What is very different about Spirit Tracks is the ability to control a Phantom, one of the enemies in Phantom Hourglass. The Phantom can do a lot that Link cannot, such as walking through fire or across a pit of lava. Controlling the Phantom was as easy as tapping the Phantom, and then drawing a line in the path that you wanted him to go. This was a little frustrating when trying to get the Phantom to turn corners, because if the line was drawn too close to the wall he’d get stuck.

Even more frustrating was the fact that if the Phantom had to go ahead of Link to clear the way, Link wouldn’t just follow after him, you have to direct him over to the Phantom. It wasn’t difficult, mostly just time consuming. However, the addition of the Phantom added a lot to my experience and made Spirit Tracks feel like its own game, rather than just a straight sequel to Phantom Hourglass.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks will be available for Nintendo DS on December 7th.

At this weekend’s Big Apple Con in New York City, I got a chance to spend a few minutes with New Super Mario Bros. Wii. A sequel to 2006’s New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS, this game will be the first game in the Mario series to feature simultaneous multiplayer gameplay since Mario Bros.

The game performs much like Super Paper Mario did. The Wiimote is held sideways, and you control Mario, Luigi, or Toad with the directional buttons. Simple things like jumping or attacking are performed using the buttons, while more complicated things like Luigi’s spin attack are performed by shaking the Wiimote. Overall, the controls were familiar and easy, and I never found them frustrating. Graphic wise, this game looks exactly like New Super Mario Bros. but performs well on the Wii.

All the reading I’d done about this game told me that New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a cooperative side scrolling multiplayer. But after myself and a fellow Flickcast contributor were handed our Wiimotes and told how to play, what ensued was an all-out battle. We fought over mushrooms, power ups like the Propeller Suit, coins, and reaching the end of the level. We trapped eachother against walls and ran eachother into enemies.

This was a frustrating and unexpected aspect of the game. As much as you do need the other player to reach the end of the game, it can become a contest to see who will end up with the most points at the end of the level, or who can frustrate eachother the most.

You’ll be able to get your hands on New Super Mario Bros. Wii November 15th.