With the Nintendo Switch 2 just on the horizon, it feels like The Legend of Zelda’s time on the Switch is coming to a close. It was a great era for the franchise, with not only blockbuster titles like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom becoming some of the best-selling games in the franchise, but also smaller victories like various classic Zelda games being released on Nintendo Switch Online, and other small releases like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. The latter’s presence may not seem like a big accomplishment, but Skyward Sword HD achieved something with a decade-old Zelda game.
The original Skyward Sword, released on the Wii in 2011, received plenty of acclaim in its day thanks to its various experiments and wholehearted embrace of motion controls. Unfortunately, when the new MotionPlus peripheral or a new element like the stamina wheel or shield durability didn’t work for someone, it really didn’t work. Skyward Sword HD hasn’t solved every issue with the original game, but it’s made the overall experience easier to appreciate, and the transition out of a Zelda generation defined by Breath of the Wild is the perfect time to see Skyward Sword’s highlights.
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Skyward Sword HD Is Refreshingly Linear Compared To Recent Zelda Titles
At the top of the reasons to replay The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD in 2025 is how it contrasts Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and even Echoes of Wisdom’s design ethos. Skyward Sword is a linear game, almost to a fault at times, but that linearity allows it to hone in on different strengths than the open-world sandbox Zelda games enjoyed. Hand-crafted, narrative-infused sequences that players progress through and solve in specific ways are frequent occurrences, like in classic Zelda games, to the point of Skyward Sword’s overworld even feeling like the open-air dungeons the BotW duology sometimes attempted.
Skyward Sword’s Dungeons Still Stand Strong
Speaking of which, Skyward Sword is considered to have some of the best-looking and best-designed dungeons in the Zelda franchise, and that’s a far cry from where Zelda has been in the past few years. Complete with iconic Zelda dungeon items, many taking advantage of the controls in engaging ways, navigating through Skyward Sword‘s dungeons is a blast. Once again, this is in contrast with the controversial Divine Beasts and elemental Temples of the open-world Zelda games, which either lacked a spark of genius or crumbled to certain options in Link’s arsenal. It’s a good reminder that great dungeons are still very possible in the modern Zelda landscape.
Skyward Sword Has Different Interpretations of Later Games’ Features
There are an abundance of differences between Skyward Sword and the games in Breath of the Wild’s lineage, but the similarities between them, and what they mean, shouldn’t be dismissed either. Skyward Sword introduced the stamina system and finite equipment durability that later games double down on, though it had its own take on these that set it apart. Arguably, Skyward Sword is the classic-leaning counterpart to Echoes of Wisdom, a BotW-leaning hybrid of open-world and classic Zelda. Now is a good time to examine Skyward Sword HD alongside its contemporaries to make some calls about what balance the series could eventually strike.
Skyward Sword HD Is Accessible, But Still Unique
With all of that said, Skyward Sword HD justifies a modern replay by simply being itself. There is no other Zelda game that looks or feels quite like it, and that’s something to be treasured. Even its combat, whether using the original Skyward Sword‘s motion controls or the remaster’s new controller option, is some of the series’ most involved. From its story, to its bazaar gameplay loop, to its horror-tinged stealth sequences, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD has a lot of strengths that some players may have forgotten, and 2025 is the perfect chance to experience them all over again.
- Released
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July 16, 2021
- Developer(s)
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Tantalus Media
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo