Skyward Sword Zelda

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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in its first week on sale soared straight to the top of the Nintendo Wii chart. This Christmas will be the Wii's final as Nintendo's flagship console. Also the 25th anniversary of the Zelda franchise the pressure is on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword to mark both occasions accordingly. Regardless of your feelings towards Zelda, Link and the gang, as gamers we are indebted to them a great deal. Few series have held such a prominent role in shaping the gaming industry. While it has emerged on a console which is beginning to look underpowered, Zelda: Skyward Sword is no less revolutionary than its forerunners. Having long given up trying to work out exactly where each series entry falls on the Zelda timeline Nintendo makes it clear that Zelda: Skyward Sword is set somewhere in the distant past. The start opens with cinematics which explain how a war between shadowy forces and a benevolent goddess shaped the game's world. Additionally we are introduced to teenage incarnations of Zelda and Link, who inhabit a group of floating islands called Skyloft, that hover high above what is probably Hyrule. The inhabitants of Skyloft each command a giant bird for their own transportation. The first port of call for Link is his ride to victory in a race that serves as a rites of passage for adolescents on the airborne land mass. Shortly afterwards Zelda is whisked away by dark forces which rear their head in the intro. As expected it is up to the pointy-eared protagonist to save Zelda. Thus he embarks on another epic adventure. Epic is one way of describing Zelda: Skyward Sword. A good amount has altered since the original Zelda was released for the NES a quarter of a century ago, and there's a sense of everything the folks at Nintendo have learned about game development in that time has come together here. The incredibly vast in-game world on the surface is more so beneath it. with concealed caves in areas that are a joy to explore. Plus there are enough side quests to keep you busy long after the campaign is over. There are myriads of weapons to wield, dungeons to explore and mini-games in every inch of the Zelda game. Unlike its predecessors, it is not afraid to innovate. Zelda: Skyward Sword's groundbreaking feature is the integration of full motion controls. Zelda: Twilight Princess dipped its toes in this pond, but the latest entry in the series takes it to the next level. Through use of the Wii MotionPlus expansion, which is mandatory, Link mirrors the player's movements to add precision to the swordplay. There are so many games in the Wii library where motion support has been shoehorned in simply because developers feel they have to take advantage of it, but that is certainly not the case here. The level of finesse makes this perhaps the most immersive Zelda yet. This is best illustrated during the early boss battles, where sleight of hand and deft movements are the key to victory. It just wouldn't be Zelda if you didn't add to your arsenal in each dungeon, and this one is true to tradition. Several of the other weapons benefit from the way Zelda: Skyward Sword embraces motion control. The slingshot and the new flying mechanical beetle device are particularly fun to wield, not to mention useful for hitting switches from a distance.