Skyward Sword HD Video Review

Almost a decade after its original Wii debut, Nintendo’s released The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for the Switch. And let’s be frank: Skyward Sword wasn’t the best-received Zelda title ever. Even as it charmed most media outlets, many fans bemoaned its linearity and questionable controls. Frankly, it wasn’t many people’s favorite. Nintendo took the hint, and totally revamped nearly everything for 2017’s Breath of the Wild.

But in a way, that makes Skyward Sword HD more interesting than ever. Nintendo is giving us a rare opportunity to check out a tweaked, remastered version of what might be called the ultimate expression of where the series was headed before its recent course-correction. Revisiting this adventure via the noticeably improved Skyward Sword HD is a fun way to get a better understanding of where The Legend of Zelda ended up 10 years ago, and why Breath of the Wild grew into the revolutionary, radically freeform adventure it became.

As you’d expect, Nintendo has repackaged the 16th mainline Zelda story in high-definition, 60fps style. I couldn’t have been more thrilled to play it on a current-gen console. Although I am a Zelda  fan, I didn’t pick up the original Skyward Sword when it first appeared on the Wii. The true reason seems to elude me at the moment, but I can’t help to think it was because of the motion controls.

Luckily, one of Skyward Sword HD’s best quality-of-life additions is a new gamepad-only control scheme that gives waggle skeptics the option to control the game like any prior chapter in the saga.

Check out the video above to hear, from this former motion-control hater, why I think Skyward Sword HD shouldn’t be skipped. Sound off in the comments with your thoughts. But I hope we all agree that this chance to revisit a somewhat controversial Zelda on a modern machine shouldn’t be skipped.