Anyone out there who’s been saying that the Wii is on its last legs should take a look at these brand new screenshots released by Nintendo from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. If that isn’t pushing the Wii engine to within an inch of its life then I don’t know what is.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword marks a turning point for The Legend of Zelda franchise, with the introduction of full motion control enabled by the Wii MotionPlus accessory, which synchronises player movements with Link’s actions, with every movement of Link’s sword matching the player’s motion with exact precision. If you motion from left to right, then Link will swing from left to right. The precision play control is applied to enemies too, which makes battling them even more challenging than ever before.
Wii MotionPlus offers a multitude of actions with just simple, intuitive motions, enabling players to fire bows and toss bombs just like in previous games, as well as use a whip to battle enemies and solve puzzles.
The game also has a distinct new graphical style, resembling a painting brought to life, and you can certainly see that in the first set of screenshots. They seem to be going for something crisp and new that at the same time retains the familiar aspects of the Zelda games that the fans love so much. Sadly we’ve all got to be very patient though, as the game is not scheduled for release until a so-far unspecified date in 2011.
