Get Ready For Zelda: Skyward Sword HD's "Smoother And More Intuitive" Controls

I never thought the controls for this game were bad. Fi's redundant low battery and low health reminders were far worse than the controls.

@Tourtus Basically this, I never had a problem other than having to recalibrate the Wii MotionPlus quite a bit.

Controls worked fine for me. My biggest problem with the game was I thought the flying would be similar to the sailing from WW but it just felt bland. Story was great though.

@nessisonett I think that was the trick people didn't realize to do. It was a tad frustrating, but recalibrating your Wii Motion plus once ever 30-45 minutes made it so you had very little control issues.

After Galaxy 2 this is my second most wanted Wii game on Switch. I never really had control issues in the original so I'm happy that they'll be even smoother now.

Now if they can do something about the notification system and Navi on steroids

Controls were never the issue for me with SS. No way they're making me buy SS again with minor fixes, but hey for the people who like the game godspeed.

The game is good, but very disappointing for Zelda

I am a little curious how it's gonna work without the sensor bar. I imagine there will be a button to re-center the sword or something like that.

@Heavyarms55 In the original you didn't need the Sensor Bar and there was a Center option.

I am liking it but let us see if they refine the movement a bit more. Then I will get it.

This game using motion plus for the pointer was so annoying, always having to recenter it, the ir pointer worked fine and didn't require extra stuff.

Also, motion plus is supposed to be this 1:1 movement gyro thing, so I'm curious to know how the joycons can improve the experience. What made it feel great on Wii was the grip of the wiimote, it felt like a lightsaber.

Only controls issues I had were that...shield thrust attack thing, and that stupid finisher thing or whatever. Usually it would just cause me to do a spin-attack or something instead, lol

Already pre-ordered. Loved it on Wii so will enjoy going through it again.

Never owned a Wii nor Wii U, so this generation of Zelda holds no interest for me... My favorites in order BotW, Zelda 2 tAoL, OoT, LoZ (original). After BotW open world, similar to the first two games, I can’t go back to this über linear gameplay.

@Olmectron Oh? I didn't own it back in the day and only played a little bit of it since.

Nintendo knows this game was divisive. Even though I never had any problems with the controls, I can definitely say that the game did a poor job reminding people to recalibrate. It should've been that instead of batteries, for crying out loud.

Did they add a skip for that horrid pineapple monster?

I'm sure I'll double dip because I'm a weak sucker for Zelda.

Another lazy easy cash grab for Nintendo. The guys barely try sometimes. Kind of a slap in the face if you ask me as a longtime fan. They really can't be more creative and remake Majora's or something? Just doing these HD skins is pathetic on their part.

i just wish they would add something else like bowsers fury with mario 3D world

Never played through this game fully but I remember not loving it as much. I’m sure I’d really enjoy it if I have it another go. As of now I’ll probably pass but things might change when July rolls around... unless I’m too busy with Mario Golf. Super stoked for that game!

I’m a huge Nintendo fan but I have zero interested in revisiting this lack luster game.

I never finished it and played a borrowed version, but I am curious to see how it will go. I remember distinctly disliking the areas before dungeons, because they made them too linear and puzzly, like if you were already in a game level before even reaching the dungeon. I remember I gave up in the desert. I know none of that will be changed, but I'll at least play it having the foresight that this terrible design decision was entirely changed in their next entry.

@aznable yea but honestly every Zelda has it’s own style, SS was an amazing game and quite fun actually.

@AgentGuapo SS has more luster than most games out there and more than some other Zelda releases as well. It’s a matter of preference though I guess.

@AlienX : Limited edition with Sword-Con incoming?

From the little I played of Skyward Sword, the motion controls weren't bad, but given the option, I rather play it with traditional controls. Can't wait for the remaster.

Unsubstantiated marketing words. This doesn't even qualify as worth having an article about... The controls aren't going to be different. If Mario Galaxy on Switch taught us anything, it's that Switch Joycons don't feel anywhere near as good to hold as Wii remote and nunchuk did, so if anything you can expect Skyward Sword to feel a little bit worse on Switch.

@Heavyarms55 The sensor bar is pretty old tech compared to what the Switch joycons have. They have an IR camera, accelerometer and gyroscope. I haven't played Skyward Sword so don't know if the IR camera is necessary, but the accelerometer and gyroscope will probably be used for sword camera. If it requires pointing at the screen, they'll use the IR camera for that (like Wonderful World of Goo did on the Switch).

The controls were well for me in the original - and the more immersive controls were actually a big reason why the game became one of my favorite Zelda games (the opposite of most people). But I look forward to them working even better in the HD version.

@Spoony_Tech Really? I always thought the sailing was a bit boring because it was so slow and whenever you wanted to turn around you had to play a song but the flying was fast and fun

Do we know if button controls can be used in docked mode? As far as I know, Nintendo never confirmed that the button controls can be used anywhere else than the handheld mode.

Yeah no, not for 60 bucks. This should’ve been 40 at least.

@xmkbest I have read that the game has Pro Controller support. Nevertheless, don't play this game with the Pro Controller if you have working JoyCons. This whole game is designed around your sword movements. Controlling a sword with a control stick cannot map this very well. By the way, I am still wondering how to do stabs and skyward beams then??

Unsure whether to buy this one as I already own it on the Wii. For £30 I probably would. For £50? No chance.

A part of me really wants to hate this game because I bought a Wii just for Skyward and it actually made me regret buying a console due to it's dreadful controls. That other part of me wants to give it another chance... then again, those cold/hot sections had not to do with the controls, that was just lousy game design...

@Tourtus I'm so happy my switch Joy Cons won't cause her to bleat at me constantly about batteries

@Joriss The problem I have with the game is that it really thinks the player is stupid. I started a new game yesterday. One of the first dialog is about Z-Targeting. Fair enough, you think. But then you should rescue the cat. So first a lot of explanations, and then they show you where the cat is. You get the camera moving to the cat and afterwards the camera shows you exactly which route you need to take. You feel just empty when you "solve" such a puzzle in the end.

I don't care that they most of storage for the game is in the hint videos because they are totally optional. I detest the forced repeating hints every time I get a new item...

@Chandlero Damn, that's right! I forgot about all of that. Well if they fixed Fi and make her say less I might give it a shot...

$60?
smoother controls?
$60?
Elements from the better game; BOTW?
$60?

@NoThxBro
It would on paper feel the same because the original game used the motion plus gyro 99% of the time but the gyro’s on Switch controllers have a faster polling rate meaning smoother more precise movement, cursors on gyros are difficult because you can’t have a fixed deadzone like you’d get with the wiimote’s IR this is why gyro cursors are normally avoided and gyro aiming is used in conjunction with analog sticks. IR was nice for its time for too limited you could never comfortably incorporate it into a dual analog control setup like you can with gyro.

I’m excited for this and glad they’re refining the motion controls. I’ll definitely mix up gameplay between Pro Controller when I’m feeling lazier and some sword swiping action. BOTW was an undeniably excellent game, but playing the Witcher 3 on Switch really does show how little there is to do in the game and how the narrative isn’t all that interesting. That said, the gameplay is smoother in BOTW whereas Witcher feels a bit glitchy sometimes. I’d like a nice middle ground. Perhaps that’s why I’m so excited for some meaty dungeons in SS.

Nintendo: "Even though your My Nintendo account shows you registered the original on Wii and bought the Wii U VC version, we'd still like to charge you full price for this title. You know, again."

Smoother controls doesnt fix the horribly slow pacing of the game.

It's a shame that the developers didn't do more to justify this remake and its high price. SS is one of the few zelda games that I haven't played yet, but I don't think that I'm willing to pay 60 bucks for a game that is apparently a weaker game in the series, and doesn't look that different from the Wii original

@nessisonett,

Never played Skyward Sword, but did enjoy the motion controls on Metroid 3, once used to the system it was such a great control method, I remember in the initial training/into area a part where you shot an item and could basically juggle it in the air, just like shooting a tin can, very good indeed.

Especially when compared to the Wiimote I'd have to emulate with a mouse otherwise.😅

Maybe Nintendo will throw in some new content like they did with the recent Mario port. Also, I didn’t have any issues with the controls just recalibrate when needed and you’re good to go.

The tracking on the joy cons in Labo VR worked great so I'm excited to try these controls

I note "Another reason to buy it (again)" sub heading but this game was ripe for a remaster as it "only" sold around four million copies.

The vast majority of people playing on Switch will never have played the game before.

I am one who owns it on my Wii U (digitally) but I can't wait to play it in HD as even on my plasma tv (which is kind to SD resolutions) it can be a blurry mess.

Also 60fps? Happy days!

I'd hardly call this double dipping, it's been 10 years since the Wii release. $80 over 10 years is negligible.

@Zeldinion The sailing was relaxing to me and there was always something to do or treasure to find. The flying felt empty to me. Plus I just like the sailing music a whole lot more.

The only problem the motion controls ever gave me was bomb rolling and that Balancing game in the Lumpy pumpkin place. Okay maybe the skydiving minigame was a nightmare too but other than that it's all good! Combat was never an issue for me.

Never played this game before. It's definitely got me interested, based on what they did with Twilight Princess HD and Wind Waker HD I'm sure they will prune a few of the more mundane bits out and add a few extras.

I’d love to play with motion controls here and there, but both sets of my joy-cons drift like crazy 😩

I never completed the game back on wii even though I tried to complete it 2 times. I loooove this game but having to sit there with the wii remote is actually the reason why I never got around to complete it. This time though! THIS TIME! 🙏😁

@Yegor you can buy cheap replacement analog sticks from ebay. It's not too difficult to switch them out yourself. I did it with my old joycons and now they work perfectly. 🤟☺️

If Amazon.co.uk would let me pre-order the game only and not the game plus 12 months online I would.
But for sure getting this, I loved flying around and skydiving to levels, was great fun.
Just hope Ghirahim (first boss) is a little easier, he just keeps grabbing my sword, still cant work out how to do it properly. True he does hurt you its just frustrating as hell

@Zeropulse It's not even necessarily about having control issues. Some people just despise using the motion controls in general and hate using the Wii Remote. Not to mention the people who never actually gave it a shot just assuming it would be bad because they didn't like the waggle in most games or they were sick of the gimmick in general. And people not wanting to buy Wii Motion Plus because it felt like Nintendo was selling an add-on to make the controller what it was promised to be already at launch.

This launches on my wife's birthday. Since she isn't a Zelda fan, I won't partake right away but will get this down the line.

I love Zelda, but the only thing I remember enjoying about this game was the sword/shield control. I don’t see myself buying this, especially for $60, especially to play with unreliable tiny joy cons.

@Schizor88 Thanks! I’m definitely going to look into that because I do love my joy-cons and would be a shame to never use them again.

I was happy with the controls on the Wii version. I actually genuinely enjoyed them. This time around I'll give it a go on analogue controls though as the Switch is a 90% handheld game for me and I rarely play tabletop (the having tabletop and tv options are very cool, of course)

Combined with the stability the game will have from 20,000 updates, this will be soooooooo smooth and intuitive.

This game, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are the three Zeldas I want to play the most that I haven't gotten to yet, and this game is super important for the lore, so I'll definitely be getting it. 😄

(I am deeply sorry to add another comment when there were 69 comments already, but I simply must share my opinion XD. No more nice number of comments!)

I'd say they've simplified the actions to make the joycons look more accurate.

Problem with the original Wii version - it required skilled hand eye coordination, something most Nintendo gamers lack.

I'd say they've made it easier for the less accurate cheap ass joycons to register general flailing of arms to do the right onscreen action.

So how about in handheld mode?

Because im not interested in how the gameplay on this game looks in handheld mode.

This is good news! Motion controls are nonsense. Remake the DS games while you're at it! And no more gimmick controls for this legendary series, please.

@Yegor you are welcome. I used a youtube video as guide. It's pretty simple. Good luck with it. 👍👌😊

So glad this is coming to Switch.

I've been dying to play it but don't wanna deal with 360p and a corded Wiimote and Nunchuk on the TV only.

This and Twilight Princess are the Zelda games that I have never got the chance to play them. This is indeed a good opportunity to buy and experience it, especially since they add more control options.

@GrandScribe Navi on steroids! Lol

I didn't have any problems with the motion controls. You just gotta recalibrate it a lot, but they worked great! Except for this, and the controls for that were annoying. Oh and I struggled with this. Y'all are just lazy and doing it wrong.

rolls eyes

Hardcore Skyward Sword defenders in a nutshell. Still unable to realize how quickly they contradict themselves in a single paragraph.

I was hoping to see what the button controls looked like. So much for that.

@johnvboy I think you got an award of some sort when you juggled the can long enough. It was long ago so I don't really remember what it was...

Yes. I have never played it, so this is my chance.

I liked the original, and improvements are welcome. When they bring over Twilight Princess I hope they give the option of motion controls as well. I played it that way originally, and was disappointed the WiiU dropped them.

The original SS played on WiiU with an mClassic doing intelligent upscaling looks really good. Almost HD like so I’d like to see this HD version in a side by side comparison. You guys could do the original SMGalaxy as well as that beauty is transformed by the mClassic!

@Tourtus,

Loved the controls on that game, it just felt so natural.

As a lefty (like Link traditionally), I'm hoping for (but not expecting) some more accessibility & consideration for a smoother personal gameplay experience when playing with motion controls as the game originally intended.

Hopefully there are handed options in this remaster!