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The Legend of Zelda:Skyward Sword for Nintendo WiiPrice:
$209.98
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword introduces full motion control enabled by the Wii MotionPlus accessory, which synchronizes player...
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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword introduces full motion control enabled by the Wii MotionPlus accessory, which synchronizes player movements with Link's actions while offering intuitive play control. With the Wii MotionPlus accessory, every movement of Link's sword matches the player's motion with exact precision. If players motion left to right, Link swings from left to right. The precision play control is applied to enemies as well, as players must contemplate strategy when battling opponents that actively try to defend against attacks.
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11 Reviews from Epinions.com
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The Legend of ZeldaSkyward Sword Computer Game
Five years ago, Nintendo stunned the world with the release of the Wii, an innovative console that popularized motion control gaming. Yet, in spite of the Wii's great success, Nintendo's console has had a difficult time appealing to so called "hardcore gamers." To them, the Wii for the most part has been just a machine for for mini-game compilations and waggle-fest ports of older games. Although Nintendo released some highly acclaimed games such as Super Mario Galaxy and Donkey Kong Country Returns, each of those games could have still been great without any motion controls. Nintendo had still yet to prove that one could create a deep, hardcore experience focused on motions controls.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, does exactly that. It takes the incorporation of motion controls to levels never before seen in any video game to date, thanks to the possibilities of Wii Motion Plus technologies.
Skyward Sword is a prequel to the beloved N64 classic, Ocarina of Time. Link lives a world called Skyloft, a series of floating islands in the skies above. The titular character Zelda, is Link's close childhood friend this time around and their relationship has a romantic spark this time around. Zelda falls down to the world on the surface below, thus beginning Link's epic quest.
The gameplay still feels like classic Zelda, but very much altered in several ways. The field-dungeon-field formula has been scrapped in favor of a more unified experience. While there are still seven distinct dungeons to go through, the outdoor areas feel like dungeons themselves in their gameplay, including dungeon like elements like puzzles. This helps keep the gameplay fresh and makes the outdoor areas not just be places for traveling to the next dungeon.
The dungeon's themselves are easily some of the finest in the series history. They are expertly crafted labyrinths with some very clever puzzles to boot. Nintendo also made some changes to these by making them less like mazes and more like a series of puzzles and enemy encounters, taking some of the frustration of just figuring out where to go.
The combat of the game is truly where the motion controls shine and fundamentally change how one wants to play a game. Link's sword is completely mapped to the motions of the Wii Remote, effectively placing it in the palm of your hand. You can swing the sword left, right, up, down, and even diagonally. This new control opened up many possibilities in combat that Nintendo took full advantage of. The enemies now block in different directions, and one must carefully observe his opponent to see which direction to swing. Combat is by far the most thrilling aspect of the game, and truly makes the player feel immersed in battle.
Link also has a variety of tools at his arsenal that each use Wii Motion Plus in intuitive way, such as a flying mechanical beetle that's controlled by tilting the Wii Remote. Unlike past Zelda titles that gave the player cool items that quickly faded into obscurity, each of Link's tools feels useful from the time it is obtained, and the player will always have to think to decide which tool to use.
Although the Wii is an underpowered system by today's standards, Skyward Sword is still a very pretty game to look at. The visuals are a compromise between the colorful, cartoony visuals of Wind Waker, and the darker, more mature aesthetic of Twilight Princess. Although the environments are colorful and inspired by impressionistic art, they don't have the cartoon like simplicity of Wind Waker. The character designs seem to come straight out of a Disney feature, and fits the Zelda universe very well.
The music of Skyward Sword is simply one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever made. The player is treated to a huge variety of themes that convey a diverse set of emotions, from the sweeping romantic melody to thunderous and exciting boss themes. Although there is no voice acting, the characters still shine through their expressiveness and appropriate vocal grunts.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, is a milestone achievement in video games and a huge step forward in motion control gaming. It is one of those rare Wii games actually worth purchasing a Wii for. Those who have left their Wii gathering dust finally have a reason to get excited again, because Nintendo has now truly delivered on the promises it made five years ago.
A Huge Step Forward in Player Control
| Author's Rating: |
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Pros: Innovative motion controls.
Inventive dungeons.
Compelling story.
Artistically pleasing graphics.
Fantastic soundtrack.
Cons: Some annoying fetchquests.
Frequent reuse of previous environments, but in inventive ways.
The Bottom Line:
This is exactly the game that we imagined when we first heard of the Wii.
Five years ago, Nintendo stunned the world with the release of the Wii, an innovative console that popularized motion control gaming. Yet, in spite of the Wii's great success, Nintendo's console has had a difficult time appealing to so called "hardcore gamers." To them, the Wii for the most part has been just a machine for for mini-game compilations and waggle-fest ports of older games. Although Nintendo released some highly acclaimed games such as Super Mario Galaxy and Donkey Kong Country Returns, each of those games could have still been great without any motion controls. Nintendo had still yet to prove that one could create a deep, hardcore experience focused on motions controls.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, does exactly that. It takes the incorporation of motion controls to levels never before seen in any video game to date, thanks to the possibilities of Wii Motion Plus technologies.
Skyward Sword is a prequel to the beloved N64 classic, Ocarina of Time. Link lives a world called Skyloft, a series of floating islands in the skies above. The titular character Zelda, is Link's close childhood friend this time around and their relationship has a romantic spark this time around. Zelda falls down to the world on the surface below, thus beginning Link's epic quest.
The gameplay still feels like classic Zelda, but very much altered in several ways. The field-dungeon-field formula has been scrapped in favor of a more unified experience. While there are still seven distinct dungeons to go through, the outdoor areas feel like dungeons themselves in their gameplay, including dungeon like elements like puzzles. This helps keep the gameplay fresh and makes the outdoor areas not just be places for traveling to the next dungeon.
The dungeon's themselves are easily some of the finest in the series history. They are expertly crafted labyrinths with some very clever puzzles to boot. Nintendo also made some changes to these by making them less like mazes and more like a series of puzzles and enemy encounters, taking some of the frustration of just figuring out where to go.
The combat of the game is truly where the motion controls shine and fundamentally change how one wants to play a game. Link's sword is completely mapped to the motions of the Wii Remote, effectively placing it in the palm of your hand. You can swing the sword left, right, up, down, and even diagonally. This new control opened up many possibilities in combat that Nintendo took full advantage of. The enemies now block in different directions, and one must carefully observe his opponent to see which direction to swing. Combat is by far the most thrilling aspect of the game, and truly makes the player feel immersed in battle.
Link also has a variety of tools at his arsenal that each use Wii Motion Plus in intuitive way, such as a flying mechanical beetle that's controlled by tilting the Wii Remote. Unlike past Zelda titles that gave the player cool items that quickly faded into obscurity, each of Link's tools feels useful from the time it is obtained, and the player will always have to think to decide which tool to use.
Although the Wii is an underpowered system by today's standards, Skyward Sword is still a very pretty game to look at. The visuals are a compromise between the colorful, cartoony visuals of Wind Waker, and the darker, more mature aesthetic of Twilight Princess. Although the environments are colorful and inspired by impressionistic art, they don't have the cartoon like simplicity of Wind Waker. The character designs seem to come straight out of a Disney feature, and fits the Zelda universe very well.
The music of Skyward Sword is simply one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever made. The player is treated to a huge variety of themes that convey a diverse set of emotions, from the sweeping romantic melody to thunderous and exciting boss themes. Although there is no voice acting, the characters still shine through their expressiveness and appropriate vocal grunts.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, is a milestone achievement in video games and a huge step forward in motion control gaming. It is one of those rare Wii games actually worth purchasing a Wii for. Those who have left their Wii gathering dust finally have a reason to get excited again, because Nintendo has now truly delivered on the promises it made five years ago.
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