What do you get when you cross Ocarina of Time with Wind Waker? One of the greatest epics ever! That’s what! From the very beginning, Skyward Sword engages you into the game with an incredible prologue and fanfare before even showing you the title screen. Clearly a lot of love went into the production of the game as a center piece for the series’ 25th anniversary. Even more so, if you happen to get the limited edition that included a gold Wii-mote and a copy of the 25th Anniversary Symphony Concert CD. Plus the requirement of the Wii Motion Plus finally showed us what the Wii’s motion controls were really all about. Honestly, who didn’t first imagine wielding the Master Sword when the controls were first introduced? It’s just a shame that it took this long for a game to use it properly and so late in the console’s life cycle.

So, first of all, lets begin with the graphics. This is one of the most beautiful games to grace the Wii. When screens of the game where first shown at E3, many let out a groan cause it reminded them a lot of Wind Waker. Now personally, I had no problem with Wind Waker’s art style. Back then I thought it was a great idea to go the more cartoon cel-shaded style, and still do. It allowed for much more expressive characters. And the execution of the art presented us with one of the most vivid and beautiful games on the Gamecube. Now, don’t get me wrong, Twilight Princess was gorgeous as well. But it didn’t feel as lively. It was a much darker and muddled world and style didn’t lend itself to well to expressions. They were still able to express them well - I know we cried at the end when Midna left - but not as well as in Wind Waker. Skyward manages to blend Wind Wakers more vivid look and feel with Twilight’s more grown-up feel to present as a living, breathing water-color world. Objects at the far distance look like blobs or water-color paint and the closer you get to them the more detailed they become while still retaining that painting feel. I really hope they keep this style going forward for adult Link games just as they’ve kept the cel-shaded style for young Link games.

Controls… what can be said about the controls. If Nintendo is known for one thing, it’s for tight controls. As with just about any Nintendo title, the controls are very responsive and intuitive. Not once do you ever find yourself fighting to controls. If you fall or get stuck, it’s pretty much your fault. Even the Wii Motion Plus controls are almost perfect. You do occasionally get a sense of some lag between when you perform an action and seeing it happen on screen, but that’s to be expected since you can very well swing your arm around a lot faster then the sensors have time to capture, process, and send each and every movement in real-time. But it’s not to bad. One decision on the Nintendo’s part did seem a bit odd though. For some reason, the game is not Sensor Bar assisted like Wii Sports Resort was. Which made some controls, mostly menu selections, a bit awkward; requiring quick, broad swings to get them to work sometimes.

Gameplay is unlike any other Zelda game before it. Sure, you got your typical find a key, open a door, defeat a room of baddies, open a treasure chest. But that’s about the only thing that will be familiar. In Skyward Sword, over-world and dungeon have kind of been blended into one. No longer do you spend a few minutes traveling from one dungeon to the next to get to the meat and potatoes of the game. You will easily spend hours getting to you next destination as the typical over-world is now crawling with baddies and puzzles to solve before reaching the entrance of a dungeon. And once inside a dungeon, well hold on tight! Gone are a lot of the typical switch puzzles in favor of more motion controlled and exploration based puzzles.

As for the story, well, don’t want to reveal much. It’s well known that this game takes place much before Ocarina. Lets just say it’s placed at the very beginning of the current timeline and reveals a whole lot of the stuff that makes The Legend of Zelda a legend. But suffice it to say, you’ll be in for a treat. The storyline is so well presented and thought out, you find yourself caring for all the characters you’ll run into. You won’t want to rush through this one, trust me.

In all, this is a must get! Many other reviews have said this is by far they’re most favorite Zelda. I won’t go that far. I still think Ocarina of Time is by far the best in the series, but Skyward definitely comes in a very close second for me, followed closely by Wind Waker. It is very beautifully executed and makes you wish they had come out with this sooner. A must get!