The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD review – still a cut above

Nintendo Switch; Nintendo
This remastered game from the Wii-era remains a wildly imaginative and magical experience created by Nintendo's brainiest puzzle architects

In 2011, when Nintendo reforged The Legend of Zelda around the waggling of a Wii remote in Skyward Sword, there was a sense that the developer had lost sight of the wood for the trees; that in focusing so tightly on gyroscopic sword-waving, the game lost some of the series' adventurous scope. But now that motion controls are widely accepted, or at least less pressed to argue their case, this HD remake seems more comfortable in its own skin. The hand-swinging sword combat benefits from the Switch controllers' tighter tracking, and new button controls accommodate players who are reluctant to shift from a horizontal couch position.

Motion control detractors may claim that Nintendo is conceding something here, but this is still a Hyrule built around the drama of a directional slash. Slobbering plants can be sliced along horizontal and vertical jawlines, and the glowing seams on robotic totem poles beckon like the tear here" line on a family bag of sweets. Swinging one hand to cut and jabbing the other to parry with a shield is powerful play-acting, and nudging the control stick can't help but feel timid by comparison. It left me wistful for the Wii, the pluck of a bow string transporting me back to Wii Sports Resort; a harp-strum dredging up memories of smiling politely through Wii Music recitals. It's a shame that Nintendo has dialled back on motion controls just as the technology matured.