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Okay, let me get it straight off my chest that I haven’t played that many of the Zelda games. Especially the recent ones.
I’ve played and beat (a loooooong time ago) The Legend of Zelda [NES], played Zelda II: The Adventure of Link [NES], I’ve played and beat Zelda: A Link to the Past [SNES] multiple times. And I’ve played and beat Zelda: Ocarina of Time on both the [Wii] and [3DS]. But after that, there’s a giant gap in Zelda games I haven’t played. So it’s hard to compare what’s innovative and not innovative from Skyward Sword. That said, I’ll continue with my review.

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

This game is pretty awesome. The controls were quite unique. Specific sword slashing took me a while but became easy, I did struggle with thrusting the sword even at the end of the game. It was pretty really difficult for me which is ironic cuz i’m awesome at thrusting IRL (ba dum dum ching). The stamina gauge, though seemingly cumbersome and unnecessary at first, provides quite a bit of challenge. Shortly after the game starts, managing the stamina gauge definitely all becomes second nature to control.

I think swimming, as always, was a bit difficult to control but I won’t dock that down for points cuz that’s only a pretty small part of the game.

The puzzles in this game were really good, as expected from a Zelda game. There’s definitely a lot of unique puzzles which are allowed due to the controls.

The mini-games are fun too, as usual. Like Ocarina of Time and collecting those 100 Skulltula Tokens, Skyward Sword has 80 Gratitude Crystals. The good thing is that many can be earned 5 at a time for completing a small errand/task. Personally, I found collecting the Gratitude Crystals to be much less annoying.

I remember how difficult getting a heart piece was in Ocarina of Time when hitting targets with your Bow and Arrow while riding Epona (your horse) on the Wii. I had to put a post-it note on the TV for where the arrow would strike. After I did that, it was easy. But then doing that exact same thing in the Ocarin of Time on the 3DS was ridiculously easy because of the gyro-feature. That said, I did struggle doing the pumpkin toss for a while. Shooting the arrow, while gauging power, with the Wii controller wasn’t that easy. Still, I got the hang of it.

The “Wheel” mini-game in Skyward Sword, where you can make money really fast was probably the minigame I played most. For some reason, the wallet size in Skyward Sword is a staggering 9900 rupees. Far more than the 999 in A Link to the Past and 500(?) in Ocarina of Time. And, being the perfection/completist I am, filled my wallet to the max before finishing the game. I think I only had 3000-4000 rupees just before the final boss/point of no return so I had to earn like, 6000 more. Fortunately, the best prize on this is 500 rupees. I had basically tried to learn “how to beat this game” in my first few attempts. It didn’t take long, but I found a pretty decent winning strategy. Eventually, I was able to beat it pretty consistently, getting 2×500 in a row multiple times, and getting 4×500’s in a row! 4 times in a row! AWESOME STREAK! That was my most epic moment of this game :) I was able to earn 6000 in probably about an hour/hour and a half of playing that game. Not that long, all things considered.

BTW My total playtime for this game was 57 hours.

Also: Man, this game is HARD. Like….it’s not the puzzles, and fights in general…but I struggled with almost all the boss fights except the pirate ship tentacle monster. When I did Boss Rush mode at the end for my Hylian shield (which requires 8 boss fight wins in a row), I was like, sweating cuz it was so intense and difficult. Seriously though, I’ve played many Zelda games but these bosses and fights were by far the hardest I’ve experienced, in general. That said, after you know how to beat a boss…it IS significantly easier. I went into each boss adamant about not looking at any hints…so as not to “cheat” the first time, and definitely struggled. But doing a boss fight a third time (cuz the second is still kinda hard), you see how easy they can be.

Also: Man, the dungeons are LONG. There are fewer dungeons in this game than most games. I know you usually start off with 3 hearts in Zelda but in this one, you start off with 6. Meaning there are less dungeons and final bosses where you earn full heart pieces. There are also two tokens that you wear to give you 2 hearts. So basically, it’s 5 hearts you don’t earn (through bosses) short of the other games. HOWEVER. The dungeons are pretty long imo. They do come with (thankfully) multiple save points for the casual gamer like myself. I know I could beat Zelda: A Link to the Past, and get everything, in like, 8 or 10 hours. This game took me 57…and I’m sure replaying this game wouldn’t shorten it considerably. Maybe I’d do 30 or 40, but I doubt I could cut it shorter than that. It’s definitely a long game. Though comparing it to say, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I don’t know (tried to look at my saves for times, but couldn’t find any).

The weapons you use in this game are interesting. Like Ocarina of Time, you start off with a Slingshot. However, you NEVER get a boomerang in Skyward Sword! I find that just WRONG! but it actually works out well. And I think in the other games, you get Bow and Arrow fairly quickly. Well, in Zelda: A Link to the Past you do, as well as the original Zelda. But in this game, it’s the last item you get. And once I got it, I could see why. You can be SO CHEAP with a Bow and Arrow. Sniping from afar….so fun, very cheap :) It’s a good move that they gave you that weapon last, cuz I exploited the heck out of it.

STORY: 9/10

I was a little disappointed with the story for most of the game. It seemed like for 80% of the game, you didn’t know WHY you were doing anything. Like, you sorta knew (to save Zelda) but there’s gotta be more, right? Anyways….I think 4/5 of the way into the game, you get a bit more story. And then you get a lot more in the last 1/5 and the end.

I think the story itself is great. Everything seems to make sense, I guess. Like, as the first Zelda game (storywise)…it (sorta) explains all the other Zelda games. There are multiple references to Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and that world/storyline including the Sheikah and the Gorons. Of course, I don’t know what any other references there were, having never played Majora’s Mask or Twilight Princess. There certainly weren’t many to A Link To the Past….but that game seems to follow something else entirely. I think the Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask world is the world they want as the “official” timeline. I can see why, Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, and Majora’s Mask are all masterpieces. But what’s up with the Minish Cap? :P And a Link to the Past doesn’t follow any of this stuff other than that the villain is Ganon.

One very interesting thing…is that I feel I understand now why this series of games is called “The Legend of Zelda”….as there’s certainly a lot of legend, and story around Zelda. Link is definitely the savior of each game, but the story of legend is and was always Zelda. Sorry Link.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

For a Zelda game, they’re great. For a Wii game, they’re great. But I really didn’t like the….blurred out look for things that were further away. I felt that this sort of thing distracted me from the game slightly. Anyways, it’s definitely it’s own Wii visual masterpiece. But it doesn’t hold up to PS3 or XBOX 360 standards. Not even close.

MUSIC AND SOUNDS: 10/10

As always, Zelda BRINGS IT when it comes to music. Not much else to say…the little spins on known themes were cool. I’d love to figure out the story behind the Skyward Sword theme and playing it backwards to create Zelda’s Lullaby from Ocarina of Time.

FUN: 10/10

This is one of the best games I’ve played in a while. Well, I guess Zelda: Ocarina of Time goes up there as well. I think that because of HOW this game is played (with the Wii Controller and Nunchuk) sets it apart from the other Zelda and can be more fun than Ocarina of Time (gameplay wise). However, Ocarina had better bosses and the story was much better. Skyward Sword had some Ocarina of Time-esque time travel but not quite the same. And man, how many times do you have to fight the same boss in Skyward Sword >:( SERIOUSLY W.T.F. The Imprisoned THREE TIMES?! >_< Do you know how many times you had to re-fight bosses in Ocarina of Time? Um....NONE? (I think). Oops, that's a sorta side rant. Anyways, Skyward Sword IS fun.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This game proves once again that awesome gameplay, story, and music can trump cutting edge graphics. That a game without blood, sex, and violence can still be amazing. It’s definitely a great game…comparing it to a truly epic Zelda game like Ocarina of Time, I thought that the story was weaker but all the other things were close in comparison, quality wise. The repetitive bosses are a little tiring, and the boss difficulty was a bit too hard I think, compared to Ocarina of Time…but nothing substantially worse. The dungeons are fewer, but more creative and longer.

So, despite my few 9s…

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GAMEPLAY: 9/10

It took a few levels to get used to the 3D, as well as how to move but you get the hang of it. By the end, I was moving in ways I didn’t think I’d be able to do in the beginning. There is one thing, that is the most important thing in this game and relates to gameplay: Mario’s shadow. Sometimes the 3D can be really…tricky. I found myself only able to move in some places because of Mario’s shadow. Without that aspect, this game would be 10x harder. Even the levels where the shadow is missing are considerably harder than the ground levels.

One of the hardest parts of the game is that it wears on your stamina. I think it’s your visual stamina, but I might be incorrect. In a 2D game, you see things for what they are. In a 3D game, especially when you’re Mario, jumping on blocks/clouds in the sky, where there’s no shadow for Mario, your brain really has to think hard to determine one thing all the time: where you are. It’s really frustrating in this game sometimes, and the reason why I’ve knocked gameplay down a point. Otherwise, you move like Mario and everything do/can do is pretty much what you’d expect Mario to do.

Regarding Difficulty: This game is either too easy, or pretty damn hard. There are 16 worlds, comprised of about 6 levels per world. The first 1-7 worlds are easy. So easy that this game was originally a joke to me. You could finish some levels so fast, it was ridiculous. Of course, me having to get the 3 Golden Coins per level made it trickier but regardless, the first 7 worlds are such a joke. The game really starts to get complicated on the 8th (and what I thought was the last) world. It was much more difficult than the super easy levels before it, but that’s not a bad thing due to the rest of the game’s ease. Despite that, after you finish the 8th world, you’re introduced to 8 more “Special” worlds. These 8 worlds, in which some levels are re-done older levels, with twists, were much more complicated. Some of the levels were damn frustrating even. Overall, if you look at the game’s difficulty, there are more difficult levels than easy ones. Don’t let the first 7 worlds fool you, this game can be pretty difficult even to a seasoned Mario pro.

Two other ways they made the last 8 worlds difficult, other than modified surroundings and environment, wwre the 30s time limit levels (in which you can gain 10s for every enemy you kill) and the stupid Shadow Mario (not to be confused with Mario’s shadow). The 30s time limit levels aren’t too difficult, as long as you kill a bad guy here and there, but they do give you a sense of urgency, making you play faster and force stupid mistakes. To be honest, I think I only died once to the time limit expiring, most times were just careless moves due to lack of time. One of my biggest peeves of this game was Shadow Mario. He’s a character that follows your exact moves, about 1-2s behind. Meaning if you stand still for 2 seconds, he catches up to you, and each time he touches you, you get hurt. In the first level with him in it, I tried to run away from him as fast as I could, not realizing he just mimics your moves. I kept dying to him repeatedly and I was swearing at the game “this guy is so f*cking fast, it’s so unfair”….not realizing it was me that was fast, and that I wasn’t supposed to stay still. I really really hated the levels where he followed me, I think I found those to be the most difficult levels. That is until you get to Special World 8, where most of the levels put the 30s timer on you AND Shadow Mario. Ugh. Like I said, they really made this game hard. Especially at the end. At least I wasn’t disappointed with the ease of this game, the feeling I got from the first 7 worlds. I didn’t feel like I was cheated out of my money on this joke of a game that I finished in a few days.

GRAPHICS: 10/10

Everywhere I read, they said that in this game, the 3D is necessary to playing it. I found this not to be true at all. While I played most levels with 3D on near the beginning, it became quite tiring on the eyes and I proceeded to play most of the game without 3D. Regardless, this game is a visual feat. I thought that with so few levels, they really did a small, crappy job on this game but that’s not true at all. After playing all 96(?) levels, there’s quite a bit of variance in levels….despite some levels being redone old levels. [Note: Super Mario World [SNES] had 96 levels too…just thought that was interesting]

MUSIC AND SOUNDS: 10/10

Once again, Mario takes some of its classic music and reinvents it, or creates new, interesting music. One of the funnest things about this game is getting these rainbow coloured musical notes to appear. If you collect them in the right order, the play a little Mario melody as you get them, it’s quite nostalgic and cool at the same time.

FUN: 10/10

I’m really happy with how well Nintendo did with this game. It’s got all the Mario fun of old games, small 2-D puns (like cardboard cutouts of enemies and 1-up mushrooms). It’s just plain fun. The powerups are cool though it’d be awesome (though maybe a bit OP [overpowering]) if you could throw more than 1 boomerang with the boomerang power. Still, the Toonoki Suit and the upgraded Toonoki Suit are really fun and useful. One of my “I’m having difficulty with this level” things to do was to go to S1L1, beat it in 50s but get the Toonoki Powerup. Grab two of those, save it before a difficult level….and if I couldn’t beat the level in a few tries, I’d quit and start from the save with the 2 suits. It ended up working really well. I know you get “special” power-ups if you can’t beat a level after 6 or 8 times but I found that as kind of a hack. There’s no fun in running around with Star power (invincibility) cuz you’re too n00b to beat something with normal powers.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’d say this is almost a perfect game in terms of Mario games…but overall, compared to other games, it really falls short on story. Like, it’s no Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Maybe visually. Maybe in fun….but without story, you’re simply left with a pick up game with no emotional attachment to. Just like for the New Super Mario Bros. [DS] that I beat last week, I doubt that in a months time, I’d remember any of the levels, or any of the secrets in these games. I’d have to rediscover them if I replayed them. It’s kinda sad, almost feels like a waste of time playing these types of games. Even more wasted than playing other games that at least give you a story/something to think about. The only thing this game helps you with is improve your general gaming ability. But there’s no “remember when this happened?”. Like remember when you rode Epona and beat that Luigi looking character in Zelda: Ocarina of Time? Or when you stealthily went through the Gerudo Fortress? I do. But if you say “Remember when you beat that airship level” it’d be like “huh? which one…also…no”. Or if you asked “Remember doing the Bowser level” and you’d be like “well, I did it 16x but I don’t remember them… :/”. See?

Oops, sorta went on a bit of a rant there!

Anyways…I definitely recommend this game to longtime Mario fans. Despite beating it in 6 days (and I think 2 of the days, I didn’t even play it), I don’t think it’s a really short game, especially if you’re not a Mario pro. It’s got the fun factor you’d expect form Mario games but the 3D twist is nice compared to the general 2Dness of the games (though I haven’t played Mario Galaxy >_<). Anyways....