Cream147

It's honestly better than expected, some of the little tech demos are pretty cool, the mouse minigames are fun and if you want a cheap gateway into a game that actually uses the Switch 2's mouse capability, here it is. And hey, you might even learn something. Of course it should have been free, but at the same time, I've bought games that are worse value for money (such as 1-2 Switch, which this is leagues above).

10 years ago The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword released to typical critical acclaim from the media, but an unusually mixed fan reaction for the series - and it has been the fan reception that has stuck with this game in the years since. That was mostly fair, there were definitely a number of issues with this game such as a very prolonged intro, no option to not use motion controls, a broadly empty sky world which seemed like it could have been so much more, and a particular annoying repeated boss, to name a few. Furthermore, the game was unusually linear for a Zelda game, with very little focus on exploration and more on environmental puzzle solving for progression, with the surface world areas essentially playing like dungeons in themselves. This felt like the opposite of what the fanbase wanted at that time - a large-scale exploration-based game with less of an emphasis on motion controls, as the craze about these had died down. Skyward Sword seemed like a dated game on release, rather than a groundbreaking game in one of their most beloved series. One important thing has happened in the Zelda series since Skyward Sword, and that is of course the release of Breath of the Wild, the Zelda game of many's dreams. With this game, pushing firmly opposite to the direction proposed by Skyward Sword, the future of the Zelda series as an open-world adventure rooted in exploration seems secured. And so we come to Skyward Sword HD. With this game clearly not indicating the direction of the series, we can perhaps view this game in its own right. The critical praise of Skyward Sword did not come from nowhere - there was always a lot right with this game: - The dungeon design was the best in the series, with some interesting ideas such as a dungeon which you largely traverse on a large boulder floating through lava, and general novel puzzle solving. - The dungeon design was helped by an interesting set of items including the return of some classics (e.g. bombs, bow and arrow etc.) and some new ones (e.g. a mechanical beetle that you obtain early on). Included are some new ways to use familiar items, such as the ability to roll bombs like a bowling ball, which add a few fresh puzzle and combat ideas. - Surface world level design, while linear, keeps focused and you are not running through large areas of empty space often. - The addition of a stamina wheel allowing you to run faster and climb higher objects than in previous games. - The ability to upgrade many of the items you obtain throughout the game giving the game more of an RPG-lite flavour than some previous Zelda games. - Fun sidequests up in the sky area give you some downtime can break up the more linear, focused action on the surface world. - A story that, while not fantastic, has its moments and is a suitable beginning to the Zelda timeline And then the HD version has made several key improvements, some of which directly address issues with the game: - It looks visually pleasing. They haven't done much modelling work so the geometry is jagged but the increased resolution and the more defined textures do wonders, and the geometry isn't particularly jarring in the surreal painterly style of Skyward Sword. - 60 FPS. People's mileage seems to vary on this, but for me 60 FPS is world's better than 30 and to see Skyward Sword as the first ever 3D Zelda game officially running at this framerate is a big deal for me and dramatically improves the experience. - The addition of button controls. These are unintuitive at times as ultimately the game was designed to be played with motion controls, but they do the job and provide an option for those who are not interested in motion controls (or want to play handheld, another feature this port naturally adds) - Several quality of life additions, such as faster text skipping, cutscene skipping, less interruptions from your partner, auto-saving and so on. These serve to greatly increase the pace of gameplay, if you're keen to progress quickly the game is going to stop your flow a lot less now. Some of the issues of the game are more inherent and have not been addressed, but by improving the overall QoL they are less problematic than remembered. Furthermore, in a world where now we are saturated with open world games, the old-school linear action-adventure gameplay may be refreshing (if it's to your taste), as they really do not make games like this anymore. The way I see this remake, I think this is a second chance for Skyward Sword. Selected improvements have been made to the experience to enhance it, motion controls are no longer mandatory, and perhaps most importantly, we have the context that the more ground-breaking experience of Breath of the Wild 2 is on its way. With that said, this may be an opportunity to enjoy Skyward Sword for what it is, rather than for what it is not. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it, and if you have the right expectations, there's a good chance you can too.

It's a decent little mobile game, and it has given me a taste of Animal Crossing that I desperately needed. I can't see me playing this in a month though, it just doesn't have the depth required for that sticking power I don't think. Roll on Animal Crossing Switch.

The first DLC for this game was a superb effort. The second is even better. 8 fantastic tracks. 3 great characters. 4 good vehicles (as well as a nice set of tyres and a glider). All of this for a very nice price (In Britain £7 for the individual pack or £11 for the two DLC together, and you'd be crazy not to take the latter option). For this price this is an awful lot of content. The key addition here is the set of 8 new tracks. Unlike the first DLC, where in my opinion there were tracks that were merely ok, in my opinion all 8 of these rank amongst the better tracks in the game. The highlights include the superb Animal Crossing track, which has a completely different atmosphere depending on the randomly chosen season it happens to be while playing it, and the immensely challenging point-to-point track Big Blue inspired by F-Zero. Though not strictly part of this pack I feel that the free update that coincided with its release that included a new 200cc mode deserves a mention. It's simply a wonderful addition to the game that really does make you play it completely differently, requiring frequent use of the brakes (and it is now possible to brake while drifting to assist with this, which is a great addition). This along with the new DLC pushes the entire package of Mario Kart 8 over the top. If Mario Kart 8 wasn't one of the games of the generation when it came out, it surely is now. I hope Nintendo don't stop with it here, I feel like this game has a lot of life left in it still.

What can you say about this trilogy of games. One of the definitive trilogies in gaming is what I say. Fantastic story, phenomenal soundtrack. There are loads of unforgettable moments in here. If you've never played the series, this is a must-buy. If you have, well here's the definitive version at a convenient price.