The Legend of Zelda : Skyward Sword
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We have collected 22 reviews of the The Legend of Zelda : Skyward Sword. Experts rate The Legend of Zelda : Skyward Sword 9.1/10. Reviewsor.com helps you find reviews, best prices, user reviews of the The Legend of Zelda : Skyward Sword and Wii games.
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The Legend of Zelda : Skyward Sword Reviews
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
A few days ago was the 25th anniversary of Mike Tyson's historic victory to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history. An incredible achievement, to be sure, but if you grew up in the '90s, then you know just how far downhill it went from there. He got into trouble time after time after time until, well, he's turned into this. \"What in Nayru's holy name does Mike Tyson have to do with Zelda?” you may ask, and rightly so. Well, besides the fact that he also spent a brief stint making oodles of money for Nintendo, his downward spiral serves as a strong counterpoint to the beloved franchise. If you hadn't heard, this year is also The Legend of Zelda's 25th anniversary as well. Nintendo's been spending a lot of time hyping that monumental occasion up, but honestly, if all they did this year was release Skyward Sword, it would be more than a satisfying gesture to Zelda fans. Unlike Iron Mike, time has been gracious and kind to Link (even though Link has been known to screw with it once in a while). 25 years after a stout, silent elf-kid took a sword from some weird old guy in a cave, he now lifts it triumphantly skyward. And well he should, because Skyward Sword is the best Zelda game ever made.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
We've come a long way with Link – and Nintendo. Starting out with The Legend of Zelda on the NES, we've gotten lost for hours on end with the little warrior, even taking side journeys like the somewhat perplexing (but still good) Zelda II: The Adventures of Link and his awesome cameo in Soul Calibur II. Every time one of his bigger games come out, there's always some skeptics that go, \"That's it?” This was mainly the case with The Wind Waker (another classic) and, to some folks, Twilight Princess on the Wii. We're sure that Skyward Sword, now in stores, will probably get the same treatment. But no matter. Those who are faithful to the Miyamoto-driven franchise shall be promptly awarded with another enriched journey. When Twilight Princess came out, many thought that the controls weren't really up to snuff, preferring the \"classic” style of the GameCube version over the gimmicky Wii motion controls. But there's nothing gimmicky about how Skyward Sword plays. Everything feels quite natural here, whether you're aiming a weapon to take out an enemy from a distance (always trust a slingshot – or rolling bombs) or engaging in terrific combat that has you side-stepping and striking like a pro.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword finds itself in an unenviable predicament. In the 25 years since its inception, the franchise has picked up a few bad habits. Chief among these are a predictable structure and fetch quests that force you to trudge through hours of ho-hum content before you reach the good parts. However, changing these aspects would require a complete overhaul of the tried-and-true formula, and it could ruffle the feathers of those who seek familiarity. What's a gamemaker to do? In the case of Skyward Sword, Nintendo has kept the elements that have hung like an acidic cloud over past iterations while crafting a new control system to keep it from feeling like the same old game. Unfortunately, the combination is not successful. Inconsistent controls continually torment poor Link, and the predictable structure does little to distract you from these faults. Thankfully, other staples, such as exquisite dungeon design and enticing collectibles, are also present, and the clever storytelling keeps you invested. Ultimately, Skyward Sword commits many of the same mistakes that its predecessors have made, but it still provides enough engrossing content to keep you hooked.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review
It's no surprise that Zelda has historically been a bit of a magpie. It does, after all, tell the story of a boy who destroys the property of others in a ceaseless search for shiny things. In the past, however, it's always been the narrative that has borrowed, its worlds and legends steeped in fantasy and fairytale, with a dash of contemporary heroism as seen in the films of Lucas and Spielberg.But with Skyward Sword, Nintendo pilfers ideas not only from Zelda's past, but its own back catalogue. Link now shares a little of Mario's athleticism as he scampers and leaps, a blur of green compared with the casual jogger we all know and love, even if a stamina meter holds him back from a constant sprint. It's there, too, in the generosity of ideas, which echoes the recent work of EAD Tokyo - though unlike Galaxy and its sequel, it doesn't frivolously fritter away its best ones, making the most of ingenious concepts without falling back on them too frequently.At other times, it's as if Link has the blood of Samus Aran flowing through his veins. There's a nod to the Prime series in the first-person sequences that see you searching for items or characters with your sword's dowsing ability.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
I remember the rush of excitement the first time Nintendo unveiled the Wii's motion controllers. The upcoming system was still called the Revolution back then, and the name seemed well-suited. My mind flooded with visions of how I would use the insane new controller in the future: shooting down opponents with pinpoint accuracy, swinging my sword like a skilled blademaster, jumping with controller in hand as an on-screen Mario does the same – who knows what else? It was a strange, risky move for Nintendo, but the publisher had my implicit trust. I believed Nintendo would figure it out. Sadly, the revolution never really materialized. Nintendo and a few other publishers released plenty of excellent titles throughout the Wii's lifespan, but the majority of them could have been done just as well with a regular controller. As what's likely to be the last major Wii release from Nintendo, Skyward Sword is a fitting finale for the console. This is the first game I've played that delivers on the promise sparked by that initial Wii remote showing. Skyward Sword's combat and puzzle-solving rise above the majority of Wii releases (and even most recent Zelda games) thanks to the clever and challenging implementation of motion controls.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is the greatest Zelda game ever created. It's the best game for Wii and one of the finest video game accomplishments of the past 10 years. The game has once again raised the bar and forged new territory for an iconic and innovative franchise. It's not enough that it finally establishes a powerful, stirring origin story or that it features near-perfect pacing. What puts Skyward Sword over the top is its layered, dense, absolutely perfect gameplay that manages to not only nail motion-controlled combat but remarkably offers a stunning level of diversity. Every story has a beginning, and The Legend of Zelda is no exception - we simply hadn't been privy to it until now. Nintendo is finally willing to take a look at Hyrule's distant past, focusing on a Link and Zelda who are childhood friends before, as you might expect, something goes horribly off track. Link then embarks on a quest with the fate of the world - and his friend - in the balance. Skyward Sword sets a new, important benchmark for Nintendo. Modern video games have made significant strides in how they present stories to audiences, and it seems as though Nintendo has finally taken notice.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Believe me, I know how you must feel. The gag that kept me from extolling the virtues (and lamenting the missteps) in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has been removed, and yet I don't have a full critique ready to go, complete with numerical ranking. The review embargo was lifted earlier today, and I had planned to have my analysis up by now, but there's still more ground for me to cover in this lengthy adventure before I can offer up my last word. I'm sure you're just as disappointed as I am with this development, and possibly much more so, given many individuals' insatiable love for prerelease information, but it's a situation that cannot be avoided. As of this writing, I am just a shade under 37 hours into my sky-faring quest, and I'm currently trying to figure out how to open the door to the sixth dungeon. As a rule, a frog's thirst can't be quenched with a small amount of water, and wouldn't you know it, a thirsty amphibian is guarding my path onward. If only there were a bright gold doorknob, maybe with a triforce insignia etched in the surface, to guide me to my next objective. But things are rarely that obvious in Zelda games.
Review: The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword
No video game bears the same burden of expectation as a new entry in The Legend of Zelda. Each chapter generates a massive wave of pre-release excitement, followed closely by inevitable post-launch debates. Questions like, "Is this the best Zelda game ever?" or even, "Is this the best game ever?" dominate forums for months -- even years. So, is The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword the best game of the franchise? Unfortunately, no. But few things should ever be viewed in absolute terms. The better question would be, "Is Skyward Sword another great Zelda game?" To that I'd say, "Absolutely." Skyward Sword shows that Nintendo EAD has learned a lot since 2006's Twilight Princess and the two portable games that followed. With this latest sequel, the developers have crafted a remarkable adventure that implements some of the most forward-thinking ideas of the series. Forward-thinking ideas in a Zelda game? Yes. While the series is rooted in rote tradition, Skyward Sword finds ways to break out of the mold a little bit, but still retains a lot of the franchise's charm. It's a nice departure from Twilight Princess -- an experience that stuck too closely to series norms and grafted motion controls to a game originally designed for the Nintendo GameCube.
GamePro
11/2011
No longer available...
Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Wii gets one last chance to make good on its potential in Link's latest adventure. Is Nintendo successful, or were we really better off with traditional controllers after all? The Wii Remote really is a remarkably versatile little controller. At it's best, it offers a degree of precision not found with traditional controllers, and completely transforms games in the process. But until now, it's never quite been able to make good on the promise it demonstrated back in 2006. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword does its best to make good on all that nebulous potential. And for the most part, it succeeds. It's not far removed from Twilight Princess and its ilk, but key design decisions make it one of the very few Wii games that I can't imagine playing on any other console. It's proof, if any was needed, that smart design goes hand-in-hand with good motion controls. Enemies encounters are now like a puzzle of sorts, where simply swinging the Wii Remote is apt to result in blocks and even painful counterattacks. The need for a more considered approach is never more apparent than in the first dungeon, which features a boss who mocks and chastises your swordplay as you try to break his defenses. It's frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it, normal controllers almost start to feel primitive.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Preview)
In our previous coverage of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, we focused largely on the overall feel of the in-game world. This time, we thought we'd take things to the next level and look at what it's like to actually play the game, paying particular attention to how Wii MotionPlus will drive the entire experience. Our gameplay demo took place around the end of the 14-hour mark in the game, allowing us the freedom to try out some of Link's more updated skills and abilities as well as a variety of different swordplay moves. The majority of our time was spent in Faron Woods, dealing with a wide assortment of idiosyncratic small-scale enemies who provided the perfect opportunity for some creative swordplay. Unlike Twilight Princess, Link's sword attacks are not confined to just a few moves. The Wii MotionPlus provides a number of different directional combinations: swinging in any direction or lunging forward will elicit a number of basic attacks, while shaking the Nunchuk and Wii MotionPlus controller at the same time will make Link perform a spin attack. Performing a downward motion with both the controllers will also see Link embark on an overhead attack that usually has him stomping right on top of his enemies with the style and panache we love him for.
The Overworld is Actually a Dungeon in Skyward Sword (Preview)
Once upon a time, getting about in a Zelda game was such a clear-cut process. You had your dungeons (anywhere from four to 12, depending) and you had the overworld that linked them all together. Aside from the occasional spin-off (Four Swords Adventures was broken into levels, and Majora's Mask centered around the hub of Clock Town), that's how it always worked. You'd wander around, maybe poke into a cave for a Heart Piece, clear away some scrub, fight some bad guys, and eventually work your way to the next subterranean puzzle labyrinth. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is mixing things up, and -- for the first eight hours of the game, at least -- the results are pretty great. Skyward Sword's design makes the distinction between overworld and underworld much muddier than in past games. Perhaps that's appropriate, since this adventure divides its world into three layers rather than the usual two. Above the dungeons, you have the overworld; meanwhile, above it all is the realm of Skyloft, best described as an aerial take on Wind Waker's sea. At the heart of Skyloft is a large city held aloft by (one assumes) ancient magic or technology or something, but the skies are littered with floating islands, and Link travels between them on the back of a huge red bird.
Setting the Stage for Skyward Sword: A Legend of Zelda Primer (Preview)
Way back in 1985, Nintendo's top development team set out to create a game that would showcase their new Famicom Disc System add-on. The FDS expanded the capabilities of the Famicom (NES) hardware by adding more storage space and persistent, rewritable memory. That meant, among other things, developers could create bigger games that allowed players to save their progress. The team's work eventually led to The Legend of Zelda, a game inspired in part by director Shigeru Miyamoto's memories of exploring the hills near his home as a child. The wandering bands of goblins, parsimonious shopkeepers, and three-headed dragons were embellishments, obviously, but the game did a remarkable job nevertheless of recreating the essence of striking out as a wide-eyed child in a big world full of mysteries and wonders. That was 25 years ago, a fact cheekily alluded to in the opening moments of the latest chapter of the Zelda series, Skyward Sword. Headmaster Kaepora remarks on the 25th anniversary of an annual ritual for the residents of Skyloft before the protagonist Link launches into an aerial chase that smacks more than just a bit of Harry Potter's Quidditch matches.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Preview)
Welcome to the Interrogation Room, GameSpy's signature pre-release game coverage format. Here, a GameSpy editor (typically one who's relatively in-the-dark about the game in question) grills his peers for information on a hotly anticipated game -- hopefully with more entertaining results than the typical boilerplate preview would provide. Eric Neigher, Contributing Editor: So, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Cool, right? What's new about this particular Zelda for Wii? Did you get to kill Ganon? Ryan Scott, Executive Editor: I didn't get to kill Ganon (although hey, let's be honest, you know he's the bad guy). I did, however, get some hands-on time with Skyward Sword's motion controls, which included things like looking around by waving the Wii-mote, aiming the bow with the Wii-mote, swinging the Wii-mote like a sword, and using the Wii-mote for one of those awkward motion-controlled flying sequences that we all want to see their designers burn in the ninth ring of Hell for. Eric Neigher: Sounds like the Wii-mote might not be the best fit for this particular game. Does it include an option to just use a GameCube controller? Also, what can you say about the story of Skyward Sword? What the hell is a Skyward Sword?
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Preview)
A link to the Wii.Skyward Sword was first teased at E3's 2009 expo with a bit of concept art showing off an adult Link and a mysterious woman. Now three year's on there's a slightly bigger offering on the table. At the hands on event for the upcoming Zelda title we're shown three segments from the game: Dungeon, Boss Battle, and Bird Flying. They essentially do what they say on the tin, but despite sounding simplistic, it's a surprisingly heft Wii-centric Zelda title with levels have been tailored specifically with Wii Motion Plus in mind.In fact it goes as far as taking notes directly from Wii Sports Resort and applying them to its basic combat system – a game that provided the standard for Wii combat during Skyward's development period. The result in this demo are quintessential Wii minigames fleshed out within Zelda's universe. Boss Battle takes a page from Sports Resort's Swordplay minigame by applying its sword fighting style – one that uses the Wiimote as a weapon stand-in - and catches the precision of your moves as well as Swordplay ever managed. The basic combat is thrown into a slightly fuller narrative however, which pits you against a ghastly blond called Ghirahim who can teleport around the room and shoot the occasional burst of spells in your direction for you to dodge.
Skyward Sword (Preview)
E3 is a big deal for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, it seems. Shigeru Miyamoto first revealed the game's existence at the show two years ago, and the playable version of the game debuted at E3 2010. Skyward Sword is a pretty big deal this year, too, with the three-part demo being one of the standout titles on the show floor. On top of that, a live, closed-door demo by producer Eiji Aonuma at Nintendo's Developers Roundtable gave a clearer picture of some of Skyward Sword's deeper and more esoteric elements as well. Skyward Sword's three-section public E3 demo consists of a dungeon, a boss battle, and a bird-riding sequence. Chronologically, the bird-riding appears to come first -- it's a competitive sporting event set in Link's skybound hometown, and the hero participates in it while wearing a rustic tunic rather than his usual green garb. Unfortunately, it drags on a bit, seemingly upholding the recent Zelda tradition of starting out a little too slowly. The bird-riding event feels vaguely Harry Potter-inspired, as four boys on birds chase a golden bird, trying to grab a statue affixed to its tail feathers. After a while, the other competitors start chucking eggs at Link to slow him down.
GamePro
01/2011
No longer available...
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Preview)
Will Nintendo's big shift in direction hurt one of their most beloved franchises? We examine the risks the company is taking with the biggest Wii exclusive of 2011--The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. We finally have a three-way battle in the motion-control wars. Sony's released Move, and Microsoft's unleashed Kinect. It took some time, but now the Big Three are on somewhat even ground. Of course, the key to dominating the market is killer software. Nintendo decided to revamp their MotionPlus add-on by including that same technology in every Wii Remote. The game Nintendo's anointed to promote this new all-in-one Wii Remote Plus is Fling-Smash, a side-scrolling action title that stars a ball-shaped creature that most gamers know nothing about. But doesn't Nintendo have some familiar faces that can better expose us to the nuances of this device? Cue Link and his next adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which you can only experience with MotionPlus. Much like Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword has been generating discussion for a long time.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Preview)
There's 50 minutes left of E3 2010. My interview with the legendary Warren Spector had run late, and I found myself running to the South Hall of the convention centre with the intention of playing one last game. That game was Zelda: Skyward Sword, which was finally revealed in Nintendo's press conference earlier in the week. Now I'm not the biggest Zelda fan in the world, but if VideoGamer.com had left E3 without having played it, there'd have been a lot of very unhappy bunnies in our otherwise joyous community. Upon arriving at the Nintendo booth, panting, wheezing and aching from limb to limb, I was welcomed by a queue of truly epic proportions. It looped around the entirety of Nintendo's booth (which is no short distance, I can tell) you), and at my best estimate, would have taken around 3 hours to endure. There was no chance in hell I was seeing Zelda on this occasion.The Gods of Nintendo took pity on me this particular day, however, and sent down an angel from their pixelated white clouds to help me out. That angel was the one and only Charles Martinet, the man who lends his vocal talents to the portly Italian plumber. How did he help me? I hear you cry - well, before my arrival at the Ninty booth, we'd arranged a queue jump (which us media types are entitled to).
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Preview)
The nunchuk controls the shield. Push it forward and up to block an attack. The Wii-mote is the sword - pull it out and then swing it side-to-side for slashing moves or down for a powerful overhead attack. Block, parry and attack the openings and your opponents will fall. The Wii MotionPlus plays a key role in the upcoming Nintendo title The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It’s going to be a bit of a workout, but the overall effects leave a sense of accomplishment and a little sweat. The actual hands-on time at E3 was very brief, a couple of quick battles, some experimentation with the controls and a fight with a mini-boss. Still, the action and control scheme worked well together and the interface was accessible. The game looked pretty good as well.
GamePro
06/2010
No longer available...
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Preview)
Nintendo made a big splash at their E3 press conference thanks to a suite of new titles based on their stable of classic intellectual properties. But none of them may have left as big an impression as the next chapter in the Legend of Zelda series. Reviews editor Tae K. Kim got a brief hands-on demo with the game that left him hungry for more. What weâ??re talking about: The Legend of Zelda series is one of the most revered in all of gaming, so a new title is a huge deal. Where we saw it: I was able to play the game at Nintendoâ??s crowded and busy booth on the show floor. What you need to know: Point in the development cycle: No release date has been formally announced, and hard details are few and far between, but expect Nintendo to take its time with this one. We may all have to wait a little bit for it, but it should be worth it. My take: I have only three words to say here: I want it. Itâ??s Zelda, and I want it. Really, do I have to say anything more than that?
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Preview (Preview)
"So how many people have actually had a chance to play Skyward Sword since the presentation this morning?" Shigeru Miyamoto asks.Lots of hands go up."Now I'd like to ask a question to those people. How many of you, after playing, realised that what happened on stage was in fact wireless interference and had absolutely nothing to do with the game?"Lots of hands go up. Then laughter. Then clapping."Arigato."So begins The Legend of Zelda portion of Nintendo's annual E3 post press conference round table session at the Los Angeles Convention Center. And it is a good place to begin, because Miyamoto's live demo of Skyward Sword was, frankly, embarrassing - one of the great E3 embarrassments, in fact. It was as if Miyamoto, the man who created Zelda, was playing the game for the first time.Twitter, of course, had a field day. As Miyamoto's gestures with the MotionPlus-enabled Wii Remote fell on deaf ears, observers licked their lips and cracked their knuckles. Sarcasm... roll out!As a huge Zelda fan, Miyamoto's explanation of the gaff is gloriously reassuring. It puts the issue to bed, allowing we fanboys to turn our excitable thoughts to other Hyrulian matters.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Preview)
Welcome to the Interrogation Room, GameSpy's signature pre-release game coverage format. Here, a GameSpy editor (typically one who's relatively in-the-dark about the game in question) grills his peers for information on a hotly anticipated game -- hopefully with more entertaining results than the typical boilerplate preview would provide. Eric Neigher, Contributing Editor: I watched you play this for a good 15 minutes, and when I wasn't distracted by the charms of the literally hundreds of tight-frocked booth babes/PR agents that Nintendo hired to physically proffer test systems to us like some sort of Egyptian slave girls, I have to say: It looked just like every other Wii and GameCube Zelda game I've ever seen. What, other than the title, makes this one different from the others? Ryan Scott, Executive Editor: Well, Skyward Sword's big "innovation" lies in -- you guessed it -- the motion controls. The Wii-mote controls Link's sword (the game definitely differentiates between horizontal and vertical motions), and the nunchuk, his shield. Thrust your arm up to put him into a guard mode, and punch outward to prompt a shield-bash. Aside from that, well, it's Zelda. The controls are kind of interesting in practice; I just wonder how lazily I'll be able to lounge on my couch while brandishing my shield and punching thin air.
The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword (Preview)
It's been a year since Nintendo offered us a teasing glimpse of the next Zelda game for Wii, which consisted entirely of Link standing in front of a spectral girl bearing a startling resemblance to the famous Master Sword. According to Nintendo designer, that fundaments of this new Zelda adventure were more or less set in stone back then, with only the art style needing definition. "When you're first developing a game you spend a lot of time thinking about what you want it to look like," he said at an E3 media roundtable event today. "A lot of times there can be a big lag between when the graphics are complete and when the game is done. Last year we showed a piece of art from the game. At that point, most of the game was complete, but all we had to show visually was that single piece of art." Now, after a year of silence on the game, Nintendo finally revealed the full game. Entitled Skyward Sword, this latest Zelda appears to be a prequel of sorts to the series that we've known -- the Master Sword-like girl in that teaser art is the titular Skyward Sword, and producer Eiji Aonuma happily spoiled the story for us: Eventually the Skyward Sword becomes the well-known Master Sword. But it's all about the journey, right?
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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword | $37.47 | See it |
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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword with Music CD | $39.99 | See it |
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Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo Wii) | $44.99 | See it |
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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (w/CD gift) [Japan Import] | $61.66 | See it |
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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Gold Remote Bundle | $209.98 | See it |
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The Legend of Zelda : Skyward Sword : (9.1/10)
22 expert reviews
0 user reviews
