The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD makes a few smart improvements to an excellent game. A cumbersome control scheme still holds it back, however.
When Nintendo announced The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for Nintendo Switch, fan reaction was mixed. Some fans were disappointed that we weren’t getting the Wii U ports of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess; others had wanted more substantial information about Breath of the Wild 2. But there were indeed some fans who remembered Skyward Sword on the Wii as a flawed but ambitious Zelda title with a lot going for it, and were eager for a chance to replay the game.
I count myself among the third camp. While Skyward Sword will perhaps never be as universally beloved as A Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time, it was a challenging, creative and thoughtful Zelda game, at a time when the franchise was starting to fall back into complacency. Skyward Sword HD is a faithful and loving remaster, including everything that made Skyward Sword work, and excising a lot of what didn’t.
