Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is easily the biggest Wii title at this year’s show. What do the new controls bring to the table?
First of all, everything is MotionPlus-based. Sword swinging works much better than it did at the conference with Miyamoto at the controls. (Side note: fighting the plants always makes me think of this scene from Friday Night Lights.)
The whole setup takes a bit to get used to, but it makes sense. A very specific kind of sense. Wii Sports Resort sense. Rolling bombs works like rolling bowling balls, flying the little bug thing is like flying a plane and sword swinging is the same as there too. It makes for some weird moments, but it also means it’s a refined, tested control scheme that’s been in the works for years.
Visually, the game takes the Ocarina-style realism and fuses it with Wind Waker-style vibrant colors. It may look strange for those used to Twilight Princess, but Nintendo obviously intends this game to be accessible and family-friendly.
We’ll need to see more of the game’s progression to get a good sense of it, but that won’t happen until the game’s 2011 release.
