Trains! Toon Link! Toon Zelda! Despite its initial cuteness, the actual story of Spirit Tracks is actually a surprisingly dark tale. Within the early moments, Princess Zelda is nearly killed only to haunt the hero for the rest of the adventure. Chancellor Cole and the Demon King Malladus are suitably creepy, especially with the latter’s plan to possess Zelda’s body. And don’t get me started on poor Byrne! Thankfully the art design of the game helps alleviate some of the darkness of the story, as even the evil things have an element of cuteness. I mean, look at Chancellor Cole hiding his horns under not one, but TWO little top hats! Efraimrdz captures this dichotomy between cute and creepy in their piece of art of the terror of the rails: the “Dark Train”.
When looking at this art, your eye can’t help but be drawn to the titular Dark Train first. Not only do the hellish flames beckon your eyes, but the train itself literally appears like it’s going to burst right off the screen! Sparks can be seen crackling from around its grilled mouth. Its eyes are towering infernos, blazing with such heated hatred that the eye sockets can’t even contain it. Even the sides of the train have little slits that are throwing sparks to the ground. The smoke and flames literally crown the top of the train, looking for all intents and purposes like the nightmarish gloom that spreads from Tolkien’s Mount Doom. Like that fabled volcano, this demonic train is a constant reminder of a great evil’s desire to dominate the land.
Keeping the viewer from being swallowed in the darkness of the evil train is a whole lot of cuteness. For starters, despite all its terror-inducing flames, the Dark Train literally looks like a bomb with wheels due to its round shape and blue color. Conductor Link in the background also adds to the levity in the way that he’s standing next to the pig with his arms out. It’s unclear what he’s doing, but I like to think that he’s readying to jump into action to save a porcine life. Alternatively, I also like the idea that he’s worried about the loss of a heaping pile of bacon if the beast were to get run over by the train. In the foreground, we also have Ferrus, the photographer, whose eye is trained on the approaching dark locomotive. This guy must have nerves of steel because he’s extremely close to those rails, so much so that I get nervous just looking at him. As a yearbook teacher though, I admire his dedication to getting the shot. Don’t attempt this at home!
By combining little vignettes of Link and Ferrus with the hellish appearance of the bomb-shaped Dark Train, Efraimrdz manages to capture the soul of Spirit Tracks. It’s a game that celebrates the franchise by telling an epic tale of standing against the darkness despite having faced losses. It may be wrapped in a candy coated toon shell, but that doesn’t take away from the taste of the dark chocolate tale; instead, it only enhances it.
