Review by: Danielle Riendeau

Skyward Sword may very well be the ultimate title in the Zelda series. Boasting an incredibly meaty quest, an adherence to beloved series staples while adding inspired new mechanics and features, and an overall level of quality and polish that most games can only dream of, it’s an honest-to-goodness masterpiece…if only the controls were as wonderful as advertised.

The most obvious series comparisons are with Twilight Princess (the previous Wii incarnation), and Wind Waker, the beloved Gamecube installment. Thankfully, the story and world favor Wind Waker’s more comprehensive (and semi-open world inspired) design, starting you off on an island in the sky, and posing Link and Zelda as childhood friends before the whole mess of evil taking over the world starts up. Also taking a cue from Wind Waker is the unique art style – instead of cel-shading, we’re treated to an impressionistic, painterly style, which serves the aging hardware well and makes a much stronger impression than Twilight Princess’ graphics ever did.

Taking from Twilight Princess, we have a funky companion in Twi, who has less attitude than Midna, but instead recalls a nicer, saner Glaados, analyzing your chances of success in combat and dispensing advice that wouldn’t have seemed out of place in Portal’s world. Also imported (although certainly improved) from 2006’s game is the motion control. We’ll get to that later.

Skyward Sword is very much its own game, and it brings major tweaks to the standard formula. While you are essentially following the same town-overworld-dungeon flow of a traditional Zelda game, plenty of new features have been added and much of the filler has been reduced. There’s more emphasis on puzzle solving in overworld areas before you enter dungeons, for example, and dungeons are more tightly presented than in past titles. In fact, it’s hard not to be impressed with the caliber of level design on display– each temple is a masterfully designed puzzle box with its own flavor, each and every element – from enemy placement to the subtle hints in the architecture fine-tuned for the ultimate “aha!” when you figure out what you need to do, and finally best each room.

The mechanics that govern Link have been enhanced as well. You now have a stamina meter that allows you to leap, climb and sprint, making the platforming much more interesting than it ever was. The whole interface has been given a clever overhaul – instead of wading through menus, various tools are available through a B-button quick menu (just point the cursor at what piece of kit you need at the moment and presto – you’re in business), and other equipment can be assigned to the minus button on the fly. It’s a faster, better way to keep all your gear in order – a godsend because, in a game of this size, you’re going to collect a small army’s worth of gadgets.