With The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD around the corner you'll have seen that a glut of reviews have popped up, including ours, and now Eurogamer's Digital Foundry has produced an updated 'face-off' article comparing the new release with its GameCube and Wii predecessors.

Overall, the impression is a positive one, with the substantial resolution increase and improved visuals among the positives highlighted.

Visually it's a much sharper, richer looking game. No stone is left unturned in the overhauling of textures, and even character hair is remapped with a brand new asset - while shadow resolution is boosted too. Even the bloom effect is intensified for some cut-scenes, just like the Zelda: Wind Waker HD project on Wii U. Alas, geometry is left as-is from ten years ago, meaning we get the same rudimentary character designs and terrain dimensions, at times looking a little primitive for a 2016 release.

However on balance it's surprising how well the game holds up, and certain efforts are made to embellish the world - if only as a small gesture. For example, scenery is retouched in places like Ordon Village, and new trees are added to fill out its barren hillsides. Otherwise Nintendo's original location designs return as-is, and we've yet to spot other terrain tweaks in spots like Kakariko Village.

A negative highlighted is that in exceptional cases, one being the foggy area in Faron Woods, there are actual frame dips not seen on the GameCube and Wii. This is put down to the shift in resolution and the related strain on the hardware, whereas the older hardware was operating at a more manageable 480p. We suggested in our review (as a hunch) that the perceived lock of 30fps (which holds for the vast majority of the game) was down to the Wii U lacking the power to aim for 60fps, and this seems to affirm that belief.

In the end, though, Digital Foundry is happy with the remaster.

On the whole, Zelda: Twilight Princess HD does everything we had hoped for in this remaster, and though there will always be some lasting 'wants', the turnout is strong enough to make a return to this game all the more compelling.

Are you planning to pick this up on Wii U this week, and are you happy with its performance on a technical level? Let us know.

[source eurogamer.net]