My favorite portable Zelda game is The Minish Cap followed closely by Spirit Tracks. Both titles seemed perfect for shorter on-the-go play sessions but also offered their own specific set of quirks and challenging puzzles which often competed in scale with those of their much more elaborate console counterparts.
I first played The Minish Cap in December of last year as part of the Ambassador Program for 3DS. I naturally had no nostalgia for the title beforehand. Within minutes, I had fallen in love with it. The Minish Cap has something I very much like to see in Zelda games-a lightning fast beginning. Personally, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword were plagued by too large of an introduction. This problem did not bog down The Minish Cap. You went to the Minish Ceremony and saw the suave and slick Vaati wreak his havoc and you were off on a mission to save the princess. The overworld was large and complete unlike some more recent games (stares at Spirit Tracks and Skyward Sword). The crowning cherry on top, however, was your charming companion-Ezlo. Dang, that hat is hilarious. :xd:
Spirit Tracks was a different beast completely but enjoyable like nearly no other title in the franchise. I was not a fan of losing the exploration aspect in the overworld, however, the dungeons and sidequests were rewarding-I especially made a point of locating every Stamp Station the title had to offer. Also, it was nice to see certain characters from Phantom Hourglass make a cameo return.
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The two aspects of the game, however, that stood out most for me were the music and boss battles. Phantom Hourglass's soundtrack was alright but it's as though the developers over at Nintendo injected morphine into its sequel. I especially enjoyed the fast paced music of the Forest Realm. Also, I will never forget the last few boss battles especially Cragma and Skledritch which remain some of my favorite in franchise history not only due to their colossal scope but near perfect execution.