The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

 Switch
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 700 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 467 out of 700
  2. Mixed: 104 out of 700
  3. Negative: 129 out of 700
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  1. nahobino5_
    Aug 4, 2021
    3
    It doesn’t play as smoothly as I’d wish it too. Everything feels very slow and dragged out. And of course, $60 for a barely enhanced HD port is steep. I’m really against the expensive and limited amiibo blocking fast travel as well. It’s just incredibly unhandy.
  2. profittsc
    Jul 25, 2021
    1
    The controls are awful in this game and make it a literal chore to play. Everything revolves around gimmick motion controls that in 2021 just don't hold up. The game is just almost unplayable, for example you have to run around with the L trigger held down just to be able to navigate the camera. Also the sword controls are terrible and just not fun at all, everything depends on you movingThe controls are awful in this game and make it a literal chore to play. Everything revolves around gimmick motion controls that in 2021 just don't hold up. The game is just almost unplayable, for example you have to run around with the L trigger held down just to be able to navigate the camera. Also the sword controls are terrible and just not fun at all, everything depends on you moving your sword in a certain way. Like diagonal up left or diagonal up right or diagonal down left or right or straight up or straight down. It gets really old, really fast !! I am not a Nintendo hater, I loved BOTW and many of the Mario games. Skyward Sword though just does not work at all, maybe if it was $15 dollars in a bargain bin but not a $60 stand alone game.… Expand
  3. rexicola
    May 1, 2023
    1
    really a bad playability, it's sad because the story, the character and the level design are good but why on earth do i need to switch between camera mode and sword mode? it's just not funny, play it 2 hours and gave it up as i know that i still need to play this way to end the game
  4. xrenderman
    Jul 23, 2021
    2
    One of the worst "AAA" games I ever played. First of all, it's super annoying. Repetitive animations, tedious time filters like super slaw climbing. Unskippable dialogs and cut scenes. This bird that you need to fly for 5 minutes to and from the island every time to "fast" travel. Motion controls just don't work properly. New button controls are also not at all comfortable. Every time youOne of the worst "AAA" games I ever played. First of all, it's super annoying. Repetitive animations, tedious time filters like super slaw climbing. Unskippable dialogs and cut scenes. This bird that you need to fly for 5 minutes to and from the island every time to "fast" travel. Motion controls just don't work properly. New button controls are also not at all comfortable. Every time you pick something up - again, same long unskippable animation. I could overcome all of this if the gameplay was good. But no. Combat is the pain in the ass because of motion. Puzzles are so primitive that doesn't require any brain activity. Visually it looks just awful. HD in a name is a joke. Everything is blurry and most of the time it's not a texture but just one color fill of a huge surface. The only good thing about this game is the music.… Expand
  5. evilmidget
    Aug 1, 2021
    1
    Well I can definitely see why this is the least favourite in the series. Horrible control scheme. I can forgive it for the most part, but when the boss fights require precision, it is so frustrating. Not to mention if you use an item during a boss battle and then die, you lose the item for your retry.
  6. Davesreview83
    Jul 24, 2021
    0
    Shamless cash grab that's over priced because Nintendo knows your going to buy the game
  7. deplorable
    Jul 22, 2021
    4
    I'm not sure what nintendo were thinking. Take the worst Zelda 3D game we've ever made and re release it on the switch. I mean the HD graphics... do... nothing. I mean there's only a little difference to what we saw almost a decade ago. I feel sorry for Zelda, HD does not work well on her model.. looks like Ashlee Simpson before the nose job.

    Don't worry they improved the controls...    I'm not sure what nintendo were thinking. Take the worst Zelda 3D game we've ever made and re release it on the switch. I mean the HD graphics... do... nothing. I mean there's only a little difference to what we saw almost a decade ago. I feel sorry for Zelda, HD does not work well on her model.. looks like Ashlee Simpson before the nose job.

    Don't worry they improved the controls... no. no they didn't. I don't know how they managed it but they made the controls worse. I guess if you want to play with the joycons you can go with the terrible game design of waving your hands around like you're a legend in LARP but, that's just bad game design.

    If you want to play it with a controller, first of all the Right stick is not your camera, no because the right stick controls the sword (badly). If you want to use the camera, you gotta hold down another button and use the right stick, but careful in battle because the right stick is also your sword. Do you see the problem.. that's just the beginning.

    This should have stayed in the archives. They've managed to make a mediocre zelda game worse. Give us wind waker... please. maybe i'll forgive.

    Hell i couldn't even bring myself to even buy this game this time, i rented it from boomerang. There's no way i was paying nintendo for a decade old game that i remembered being terrible at the time. And i was half right, i didn't exactly expect them to make it worse. I mean that takes skill and talent.

    Maybe we are spoiled in how good BoW is... and how great it is. But i can play OoT on my DS as a remake, handles and plays fine. I can dust off my gamecube and play wind waker... brilliant zelda game along with twilight princess.

    I put this into my switch, and i just want to play any other game... hell i'd play jon trons bootleg games instead. Nintendo wanted a pay day with this, and they probably got it. But for the future of gaming, it's just another step backwards....

    I'm not sure whose rating this a 10 though, i mean rose tinted glasses are one thing - completely deluded is another. I hope they get the help they desperately need. You rate a game what it is... you don't look at the average and go "bump it up". That's not how it works, a game should stand on its own two feet...    … Expand
  8. PanteraHouse
    Jul 23, 2021
    0
    Full price Wii game in 2021? This is a joke. How can they justify this 10-11 year old game being the same price that BOTW2 will be. Nintendo continues to lower the bar to see how much they can get away with
  9. Ughduty
    Jul 24, 2021
    4
    Boss battles are a pain in the a.. even after you somewhat got over the bad control scheme. There is nothing that really prepares you for them.
  10. Zebunker
    Jul 28, 2021
    0
    Watered down port that is essentaily $35 more than when it orginially came out, with the pay 2 win Amiibo you need.
  11. woolywooly
    Aug 10, 2021
    2
    Terrible terrible controls. If you like games that are fun, then you will hate this. If you get frustrated by games with bad controls, then you will hate this. If you are a casual gamer that simply wants some Zelda fun, then you will hate this game.
    This game was made for the Wii, and the adaption is terrible. This is literally the worse Zelda nintendo ever made.
  12. ReaperOfCrows
    Nov 21, 2021
    0
    It's almost impossible to believe this game came from the same studio as Breath of the Wild, and the older Zelda games. It's the absolute opposite in terms of quality and breadth of content. All this talk about how Skyward Sword HD fixes everything and makes it a truly amazing game is mind-blowing, almost as much as this game getting good critical reviews even on the original version!

    -    It's almost impossible to believe this game came from the same studio as Breath of the Wild, and the older Zelda games. It's the absolute opposite in terms of quality and breadth of content. All this talk about how Skyward Sword HD fixes everything and makes it a truly amazing game is mind-blowing, almost as much as this game getting good critical reviews even on the original version!

    - Yes, the motion controls are terrible. I played maybe half way through the game with them before switching to a pro controller. There's a novelty to them, a small spark of joy from mimicking the action in the game, that quickly wears off after doing the same action 2 or 3 times. The sheer unwieldy inaccuracy of them is such a slight against every minute of gameplay it's crazy to think they thought this is how they should ship the game. The fervor around motion controls must have been so high during this time in the studio.

    - The motion controls are only a small fraction of the problems this game has though. And the alternate controls, while better, are still clunky enough to put them below any of the other games in the series.

    - Backtracking, padding, and repetition. Backtracking, padding, and repetition. Backtracking. Padding. Repetition. AHHHH! There are three small zones to explore in the entire game basically. And you explore not once, not twice, not three times, but four times! At least! They shuffle some rocks around and say, "Hey! Doesn't this feel like a whole new area?" No. No it doesn't. You fight the same main boss at least three times, in the same arena, only getting another annoying gimmick each time. And spinning your stick around to perform an action is cute the first 5 times. But it just makes every movement through the world tedious after 20 hours.

    - The **** underwater stuff, especially the tadpole minigame, is just the valley of bad game design. Everyone has always hated underwater levels, so they decided to make one of the biggest most tedious ones possible for their game. Why?

    This whole experience has made me wonder if reviewers actually played through the game, or just wrote a review based on what they thought fans wanted hear about a Zelda title. I'm just dumbfounded.    … Expand
  13. enp27
    Aug 4, 2021
    0
    Really tried to like this game put it still has to many flaws. I can go in detail mid game refuses to explain hidden mechanics to make it seem difficult alot of vague puzzles and trust I have played many difficult games but this takes the price. Not for hard puzzles but vague mechanic like pulling out the harp there's no way of knowing
  14. Seront
    Aug 12, 2021
    0
    I have played and loved so many Zelda games, but this one is just awful. I never got to it on the wii and picked it up on the switch. I .. loathe this game so much. I hate it so much and I’m so angry for wasting 60 dollars on this trash. I finally deleted it half way through the lanayru desert. The controls are just awful.

    Almost as a rule I do not review things online. I created a    I have played and loved so many Zelda games, but this one is just awful. I never got to it on the wii and picked it up on the switch. I .. loathe this game so much. I hate it so much and I’m so angry for wasting 60 dollars on this trash. I finally deleted it half way through the lanayru desert. The controls are just awful.

    Almost as a rule I do not review things online. I created a metacritic solely because of this game. It belongs in a dumpster.

    Go play breath of the wild again. Don’t buy this piece of crap.    … Expand
  15. Romadu
    Jul 18, 2021
    1
    Uncontrollable, awful camera management. Not fun. A complete waste of time!
  16. mikeje
    Jul 21, 2021
    3
    если бы игра стоила косарик, другой разговор, а так если очень хочется поиграть, запустите на эмуляторе и пройдите, поверьте ни чего не потеряете
  17. ocd_reviewer
    Jul 19, 2021
    0
    The quality of life improvements are definitely appreciated, but nothing that's being brought to the table can remotely justify the current price tag. Recent remakes like Mass Effect: LE, Mafia: DE, and Resident Evil 2/3 are offering so much more for a similar price tag.

    This would be a fine package if it was cheaper, but prices set expectations and Nintendo has failed to deliver.    The quality of life improvements are definitely appreciated, but nothing that's being brought to the table can remotely justify the current price tag. Recent remakes like Mass Effect: LE, Mafia: DE, and Resident Evil 2/3 are offering so much more for a similar price tag.

    This would be a fine package if it was cheaper, but prices set expectations and Nintendo has failed to deliver. Nintendo at the very least could have bundled an art book and soundtrack with this game, that would have gone a long way to justify the value on top of being a true celebration of this title's legacy.

    Pick this up if you're a big LOZ fan, otherwise, I would recommend waiting till it goes on sale for $45 or lower    … Expand
  18. bound4earth
    Jul 23, 2021
    0
    Talk about a cash-grab, they added no controller controls that work well and things like the flying roach aren't even fun to use. They keep saying how can we use the wii-mote, but never asked themselves, does this really add anything or equal more fun, and when you reach the no conclusion, ask why are we doing this? You can argue this game led to BoTW all you want, but it still makes it aTalk about a cash-grab, they added no controller controls that work well and things like the flying roach aren't even fun to use. They keep saying how can we use the wii-mote, but never asked themselves, does this really add anything or equal more fun, and when you reach the no conclusion, ask why are we doing this? You can argue this game led to BoTW all you want, but it still makes it a bad Zelda game. Tell me the first boss fight is fun and dynamic, oh wait... No it demonstrates how Link is no longer agile and the control scheme, even with Wii-mote controls is beyond flawed.

    It says HD but they didn't even try, the door textures like garbage. It would be worth $15, because they upgraded and changed nothing, but considering that, this is the new president telling fans to pay him $60 for nothing. Legit a zero effort cash-grab that fanboys will eat up. truly sad what they put up with and because of that, you will continue to see low effort trash like this and Mario All Stars, which also changed nothing and destroyed that name.    … Expand
  19. zenn22
    Jul 24, 2021
    0
    absolute garbage, spent 3hrs wondering around with no idea where to go, omegalul
  20. Noitamies
    Jul 21, 2021
    0
    First Nintendo licensed game I sell straight away. Masochist. I played 5 hours. You cant just do such awful controls. It's not a game when you cant play it.
  21. Hassan123
    Jul 24, 2021
    0
    The game not ready to be play and also with this price is too much for port
  22. Call-o-freak
    Jul 17, 2021
    4
    This doesn't look better than its Wii Counterpart. Do appreciate the control stick for doing sword swings, but because of joy con drift, I can barely make precise movements. Most of the problems from the wii version are included, such as the empty overworld, annoying character interactions, poor controls, and dragging gameplay. Would be ok if they added new content that didn't costThis doesn't look better than its Wii Counterpart. Do appreciate the control stick for doing sword swings, but because of joy con drift, I can barely make precise movements. Most of the problems from the wii version are included, such as the empty overworld, annoying character interactions, poor controls, and dragging gameplay. Would be ok if they added new content that didn't cost anything, but as we all know, nintendo right now are cheapskates.

    Overall, this game isn't very good, even for a remaster. Save your money for games like Nier: Replicant, Sonic Colors Ultimate, or Pokemon Unite.    … Expand
  23. Gfzact1
    Jul 19, 2021
    4
    The texture's are almost the same it hase no new modes like in sc ultimate (rival rush.jade gost wisp.costumation And 4K)
  24. snallegub
    Jul 22, 2021
    4
    DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. The game nearly is unplayable. You need to reset the motion sensor every 10 seconds. The rope walks for example is pure torture. Every time you try to aim you start by hitting the reset button to get the motion controls to work. You can disable those but then YOU CANNOT TURN THE CAMERA! That is because the sword is then controlled by the right thumb stick. This gameDO NOT BUY THIS GAME. The game nearly is unplayable. You need to reset the motion sensor every 10 seconds. The rope walks for example is pure torture. Every time you try to aim you start by hitting the reset button to get the motion controls to work. You can disable those but then YOU CANNOT TURN THE CAMERA! That is because the sword is then controlled by the right thumb stick. This game is pure agony avoid at all costs. Nobody ever wanted these motion controls and this game should never have been ported.… Expand
  25. SuperFabian64
    Jul 18, 2021
    0
    Low effort port sold at full price. A product that has more or less been available on emulators since the original release of the game. This game deserved a proper remaster. If not, then cut the price in half and drop the HD branding. HD in this case just means it meets the bare minimum a game released today has to uphold; an HD resolution. The texture quality is still that of a Wii gameLow effort port sold at full price. A product that has more or less been available on emulators since the original release of the game. This game deserved a proper remaster. If not, then cut the price in half and drop the HD branding. HD in this case just means it meets the bare minimum a game released today has to uphold; an HD resolution. The texture quality is still that of a Wii game though. They barely touched this one, which kind of makes me wonder what it is that I'm paying for, when the original game exists for a third of the price. Mario's 35th anniversary got 3D All-Stars, and Zelda got this. I'm almost scared of what's to come.… Expand
  26. davygravy93
    Jul 18, 2021
    0
    Another minimum effort port by Nintendo that fanboys will gladly light themselves on fire to defend. The character models have been remastered in HD but the textures on the levels themselves did not get the same treatment, so there is this weird juxtaposition any time you're not in a dungeon(eg most of the time). Its nice that the motion controls are optional but this is somethingAnother minimum effort port by Nintendo that fanboys will gladly light themselves on fire to defend. The character models have been remastered in HD but the textures on the levels themselves did not get the same treatment, so there is this weird juxtaposition any time you're not in a dungeon(eg most of the time). Its nice that the motion controls are optional but this is something emulators figured out years ago, it hardly warrants a full 60 dollar price tag considering the only other improvement is making Fi talk less. The QOL improvements are nice but the core problems of SS weren't the controls or visuals but rather a lack of content both in the sky and in the ground below.

    Playing SS again its easy to see why nintendo moved away from this style of zelda, the intro alone takes hours before you even get the sword and up to that point its just dialogue and cutscenes which a stark contrast to Breath of The Wild a game that takes only minutes to get going. The pacing in general is pretty bad compared to most Zelda games and it comes down to the sheer amount of padding throughout the game. The amount of backtracking you have to do is beyond excessive, there's only 3 explorable areas and you'll be going back to each one THREE TIMES, I dare anyone who played this to tell me collecting the songs at the end was fun, I finished the game just for the sake of writing this review otherwise I would have dropped the game.

    Listen if you like SS that's fine, but allowing nintendo to release port after port with low effort and maximum price only tells them that you're okay with the same garbage being served to you over and over again. Idk about you but personally Id rather have new and innovative games like BOTW than lazy ports that dwell in the past.    … Expand
  27. colee909
    Jul 19, 2021
    1
    It looks like a 2021 link running through a gross blurry Wii world. Button controls SUCK and are completely unintuitive. The biggest improvements are to thinks like Fi and skipping cutscenes, which were inexcusable upon release, so acting like these are significant improvements is really disingenuous. Is the game better than the Wii version? I mean sure I guess. But I promise it's not thatIt looks like a 2021 link running through a gross blurry Wii world. Button controls SUCK and are completely unintuitive. The biggest improvements are to thinks like Fi and skipping cutscenes, which were inexcusable upon release, so acting like these are significant improvements is really disingenuous. Is the game better than the Wii version? I mean sure I guess. But I promise it's not that much better, especially compared to the $20 Virtual console release on Wii u… Expand
  28. somepapi
    Jul 19, 2021
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Skyward Sword originally on the Wii of course had its flaws, the motion controls weren’t super fluid if you were incompetent and couldn’t figure out how to set it up. And it was really annoying to sit through tiny little interruptions every few steps you took unlike Ocarina of Time where Navi was ignorable. This time around in the HD remaster, you can be incompetent and still use the motion controls, and Fi shuts up. Unfortunately this comes at a cost, the accuracy and fluidity is all gone. The aiming constantly drifts with the Gust Bellows or the Beetle. And this isn’t due to stick drift it’s just general bad gyro drift that happens a lot in even some other titles. The motion controls for the bird and sky diving is bearable and the swimming sections aren’t too bad. But they aren’t what they used to be. The game does look really good being now of course in HD and 60fps…. for the most part. During the fire spider boss in the 2nd dungeon it lagged whenever I got close and looked at too many fire balls being thrown my way. It’s really depressing when I see a Nintendo original title, being incapable of being fully played at a constant and clean rate on its own console. On to other reviews i’ve seen, Nintendo almost literally payed off so many reviewers with giving them copies and other goodies, this game has been unfairly reviewed across Metacritic and other platforms like YouTube. They can’t really say the truth about how bad some controls are because they’re product was given for free. So “Brutally Honest Reviews” end up being more like “Im scared this company won’t send me more free stuff reviews”. It’s disappointing that something like this happens. But either way back to the game, I’ve played the first Half of the game already making it past the first Silent Realm. But I don’t need to beat the whole game to make this review since I already did 10 years ago. There is no need to criticize the games story and gameplay at this point because whatever’s been said before will just be said again. But honestly the only thing TO critique is the “NEW” controls that they used. Maybe if Nintendo released a new sensor bar or something for the Switch that would help it that would be incredible. But I doubt it, it would be pretty dumb. The aiming isn’t fun because for some DUMB reason they position the pointer wherever the system THINKS??? your pointer is and not just in the centre... Just put the pointer in the centre whenever it’s needed, and if they need to reset the gyro then reset it. Other wise it comes at a cost like your pointer being in the corner and causing you to aim incorrectly. I cannot stress how bad the 3rd dungeon was because of the Gust Bellow being so horrible, not in the practical sense because it’s a fun item. But because the aiming is actually bad…The sword motions are usually 85% accurate. It’s not accurate too many times for me to say 90% and higher. The bombs are pretty much the same. it always has a good idea of when your joy-con is upwards or downwards to roll it or Kobe it. The reason I’m really giving this game a 8 is because I just like this game and Zelda in general. I payed alot of money for the game, the Skyward Sword joy-cons and the Zelda Amiibo. I do love the story, the dungeons, the combat and characters, it’s Zelda, of course it’s gonna be amazing with you look at the rest and ignore the control aspect to the game. And if this was the Original Wii version I would’ve gave it a 9, not a 10 due to its controls and Fi of course. But this time around. The controls are truly a bit worse, and the whole controller complaints are NOW justified. We didn’t know how good we had it back then… And that’s it for MY TRUE BRUTALLY HONEST review.… Expand
  29. johnnykracker
    Aug 2, 2021
    0
    Unplayable. The controls are probably the worst in any game on any platform. If You want to just play with a control sitting on your couch it is actually impossible to move the camera without holding down the shoulder button. Did nobody quality control this before it was released. Pure garbage.
  30. Stubabyuk
    Aug 10, 2021
    4
    Worst Zelda game in the series gets a mediocre remake and dreadful controls. Avoid.
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Awards & Rankings

56
#56 Best Switch Game of 2021
4
#4 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 106 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 106
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 106
  3. Negative: 1 out of 106
  1. Gamersky
    Dec 20, 2021
    77
    The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD on NS brought this once masterpiece back to the player's vision. However, its crappy control and a somewhat old-fashioned design make it seem less attractive nowadays.
    Read full review
  2. RPGamer
    Nov 22, 2021
    70
    Skyward Sword HD should be commended for its attempt to improve on the original. Having a new control scheme and making a good deal of Fi’s advice optional make it a more palatable experience. However, the game still suffers from pacing issues that made the original feel too bloated as well as a disappointing deemphasis on exploration. This remaster could have realistically improved upon a lot, yet it would still fall short compared to the series’ strongest entries. There is still enough for those looking for a more traditional 3D Zelda experience on the Switch provided they keep their expectations in check.
    Read full review
  3. JeuxActu
    Oct 16, 2021
    65
    Yes the picture is sharper, yes the game is smoother (60fps), yes there have been some improvements to make the adventure more enjoyable, but damn the gameplay has taken a hell of a beating in the back of the head. It was already painful in 2011, it is even more 10 years later, and it is not the tinkering in classic controls that will sublimate the gameplay of this Zelda : Skyward Sword HD.
    Read full review
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