Video Game Review | The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, dev. Nintendo

I can map out my entire life with reference to The Legend of Zelda. At two years old I dare say I was a little little to care about the first game when it was released in 1986, but I did find my way back to it after adoring A Link to the Past in the early 90s, on the Super Nintendo I shared with my younger brother. Then in 1998, Ocarina of Time - arguably the pinnacle of the entire franchise, and assuredly the game that sold me on the series forever after - was released for the N64. I haven't missed a Zelda game since.


Which isn't to say I've finished them all, or even enjoyed them, every one. The Wind Waker, yes... and each of the subsequent handheld installments, from The Minish Cap in 2004 on through 2009's Spirit Tracks, not because they were particularly brilliant, but because there honestly wasn't a lot else for me to do with my DS.

Sadly I couldn't stand the awkward emo wolf-whispering of the last major game in the series, not to mention its ill-advised early motion controls. Twilight Princess was the only reason I bought a Wii, way back when, and I hold it solely responsible for all the garbage I've played on the system since.

Perhaps that's unfair of me. I mean, it did have its upsides: for one thing, it was in widescreen. Yay for widescreen! But when the best thing you can think to say about a game is that its aspect ratio was acceptable, methinks there's a larger problem in play. A larger problem that - alas - also pervades the first Zelda game designed from the ground up for the Wii, because of course Twilight Princess was essentially an ever-so-slightly upscaled Gamecube port. And it showed.


Anyway, let me be quite clear here: as staunch a defender of The Wind Waker as I am, Skyward Sword is easily the best console Zelda since Ocarina of Time. In fact, I think it might be a better game than either of the aforementioned candidates. So considered in isolation, it's rather a masterpiece; gorgeous given the limitations of the system - which I can finally sell on, now that I've played its swan song - and incredibly deep when you recall the one-note nonsense the console has become infamous for. If Skyward Sword is your first or your second or even your third Zelda game, you're going to love it. You are. And don't go telling me you're too old for baby games! You aren't, and in any event, this isn't that, so there.

But I began this review with a run-down of my experience of the series for a reason. Two reasons, even. In the first, I did so to stress that these games are exceedingly important to me, and to many other players like me. They're touchstones of a sort... landmarks by which we may measure the passing of generations, and I don't merely mean in terms of hardware. A new Zelda - and they are not so commonplace as all that: this is only the 8th console iteration in 25 years - so a new Zelda is a potential treasure... to look forward to, to love when the time comes, and to love looking back on after the fact. Or not, as was the case with Twilight Princess.

Largely, though, I started in this manner because, at least as I see it, the problem with The Legend of Zelda - specifically the problem with the latest incarnations thereof - is its legacy. A legacy that has touched me and millions of other gamers, large and small, but also a legacy that means that the developers of Skyward Sword are beholden to certain gameplay elements, narrative developments and indeed, an old-fashioned attitude: whimsical bordering on the nonsensical. In short, because of this legacy, the series has hardly changed since its inception a quarter of a century ago, when the vast industry of today was but a single pixel of a thing, and nostalgia can only transport one so far.


It would be unfair of me to say that there are no innovations in the latest Zelda game. Sure enough, there are a few new twists to turn, including the prevalence of Monster Hunter-esque collectibles around the three broad environments players will navigate over the course of their epic quests: bugs to be caught with your butterfly net, and rare drops which explode out of the family-friendly smoke that envelops dead enemies. Collect enough of these components and a man in Skyloft will use them to improve your equipment.


And there's lots of new equipment: a mechanical golden beetle you guide around in order to cut ropes or sever stalks, a vacuum cleaner you use to suck up piles of dust, and several other additions. Meanwhile most of your old favourites are back, including but not limited to the whip, the slingshot, the bow and arrow and the bomb bag. New or old, pretty much every gadget in this Link's inventory is implemented in an interesting way, up to and including the master sword, which one can loft for massive damage, or use in conjunction with a shield to parry and counter-attack.

It's no mad flurry of waggle either. Skyward Sword takes full advantage of the Motion Plus add-on it requires, and though I'd have appreciate alternative control options for several of the more finicky gadgets, most if not all of the array on offer work as advertised. Thus a sense of novelty will see you the first few hours you spend with each new piece of equipment, but eventually - indeed repeatedly - you realise you're still playing the same old game, just now with working motion control... and however functional they may be - and it bears saying that they were still more functional before the Wii had its wicked way - new controls do not a new game make.


In its own right, Skyward Sword is or is near-as-damnit the equal of the most memorable Zelda games in the series' whole history. It may very well be the best game on the Wii - in my mind only Super Mario Galaxy comes close to touching it - but if you're anything like me, once the nostalgia and then the novelty has worn off, you'll realise you've played it before. And that's fine, as far as it goes, except that Zelda deserves better.

Next time Nintendo makes one of these games, something's got to give. Whether it's the players or what they'll be playing remains to be seen - it could go either way - but take heart, as I do, in the fact that the series' creators seem uncharacteristically aware that they're this close to alienating the very gamers who made The Legend of Zelda such a success almost 25 years ago to this day. I can't give Skyward Sword a pass, exactly, but with that in mind, I am optimistic enough to refrain from damning it entirely.

Video Game Review: 3D Dot Game Heroes

The kingdom of Dotnia has thrived as a hotspot for tourists from all across the land, come to see for themselves the place where centuries ago a legendary hero purged the world of darkness. But the economy has taken a hit of late, less and less visitors are making the trip to see its spritely wonders, and so the King decrees that from its grassy plains through to its quicksand maze, Dotnia be remade in 3D. The upscaling effort works a treat, and though, as some characters complain, there's now an extra dimension to keep tidy, everything seems to be going to plan otherwise...

That is until Dark Bishop Fuelle steals the orb in which the legendary hero sealed away the forces of evil so long ago and sets them loose upon the land, casting the kingdom into a state of chaos once more. As the grandchild of Dotnia's much-heralded saviour, it falls to you to take up sword and shield the better to battle through six holy temples in which the elemental orbs which alone can restore peace to the kingdom are sequestered.

Stop me if you're heard this one before.

3D Dot Game Heroes is one of those games you simply can't talk about without reference to another game. As Dante's Inferno was to God of War, the latest from Silicon Studio - not, as many reviews have asserted, either from Atlus or From Software (its Japanese and American publishers respectively) - is a direct corollary of The Legend of Zelda. Actually, come to that, to describe it as a corollary is perhaps too vague a description: 3D Dot Game Heroes is a down-to-the-ground clone of that NES classic, the likes of which I'm honestly surprised has seen such attention without attracting a lawsuit or two. It wears its inspiration on its sleeves from the get-go, lifting shameless the story - such as it is - the structure, the gameplay, even the isometric perspective of old-school Zelda. And it remains utterly faithful to its roots throughout - to a fault.

But we'll get to that.

3D Dot Game Heroes does very little to distinguish itself from the Zelda games which its developers clearly adore, and those minute differences that there are will all have come and gone inside of the first ten minutes of your experience with the game. First of all, you're not stuck with a single, pre-ordained player character. There are a wealth of pre-made heroes for you to pick from, should you so choose - including a shark's fin, a ninja and various other endearing if rather one-note jokes - but better to take advantage of the fully featured editor to make your own Link. And let's face it: we're all going to make Link. We're going to name our variously created heroes Link. We're going to be Link, for all intents and purposes. Except in 3D.

Well, kind of 3D, because the other differential in play, and the only truly unique thing about 3D Dot Game Heroes, is its visuals: a counterintuitive fusion of blocky, 8-bit pixel art rendered against the grain, in lavish high definition. Think Lego Hyrule and you're nearly there. Neat particle physics have enemies explode into pixels; specular lighting gives the overworld and dungeons a curiously unnatural sheen; there are depth of field effects layered upon every screen. Otherwise, this is Zelda, though and through, from the art to the level design and on. The what if? twist in the aesthetics is weirdly appealing, and though it takes a little bit of getting used to, get used to it you will.

And that's 3D Dot Game Heroes down to a T. An old game, made anew. But gaming has come a way since The Legend of Zelda - in point of fact, the Zelda series has come a long way since The Legend of Zelda - and so Silicon Studio's latest effort is a necessarily antiquated thing, an artifact from untold ages ago refreshed in the superficial sense but not at all where it counts: in the game itself. The overworld is a hodgepodge of short-sighted design, while the dungeons are chock-full of tiresome backtracking and cheap defeats that send you back to the start. The bosses in the latter half of 3D Dot Game Heroes are nearly impossible to defeat, relying on strict pattern recognition and perfect, sustained execution to defeat. You will regularly cast your controller across the room in frustration when facing off against the punishing dragon at the end of the fire temple. And when you realise the final dungeon is a seven-floor affair with bosses repurposed and strengthened at the end of each, yet lacking the warps you've relied on for retries in the past, you will, very likely, give up all hope.

Nostalgia is a fine currency to pay your way with, presuming it comes hand in hand with a refreshing new take on an age-worn affair, but 3D Dot Game Heroes does not innovate in the slightest: it is content simply to emulate, and emulate inadequately in many cases. In so doing, its unabashed adoration for its classic inspiration proves to be its own undoing. It does not take long for 3D Dot Game Heroes to squander the larger part of its players' nostalgic goodwill, and a whimsical, self-aware sense of humour, chiptune music and some neat visual trickery is not enough to overcome that obstacle in the long term. There will be some gluttons for punishment out there who will love Silicon Studio's tribute from end to end, and more power to them for their perseverance against all good reason, but the vast majority of gamers in this day and age will find that 3D Dot Game Heroes wears out its welcome all too soon.