Aussie Nintendo - Australia's Best Nintendo Coverage

If you've so humbly read Lucario's impressions, you'll know that he and I visited Nintendo HQ for a special preview event with all the games that'll feature at this year's Connection Tour, plus a couple of bonus titles like Kirby Mass Attack. Throughout the week, leading up to the Melbourne Connection Tour, I'll be releasing my take on not just Super Mario 3D, but Mario Kart 7, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Kirby: Mass Attack. Let's-a-go.

I'm just imagining it now; a random adolescent or adult will walk up to the Zelda demo, be amassed with expectation about how well this new fangled Wii Remote Plus works and soon notice there's no way to rotate the camera, has to flex his wrist to select the right item and is flustered that the game doesn't really track your movements 1:1. They'll leave the demo booth wishing for a simpler time and controller. 

I'm perplexed as to why Nintendo are even showing off Skyward Sword to the public given the learning hurdle myself, Lucario and others were having with the interface. And it's not just the control scheme itself that's a hurdle but the method you'll need to reapproach the gameplay, particularly in the way of bosses (which I'll outline a little later). 

Granted, you can centre the camera whenever you want to lock on and MotionPlus is responsive enough to feel accurate to your swing, but I do wonder if the offset of interface convenience for simulation or 'realism' is a little misguided for a franchise like Zelda.

For example, the essence of the puzzles looks to be very much Zelda-flavoured - that is, use a tool in a certain way to unlock the next room. Yet motion controls and the sacrifice of camera control and item hotkeys means you'd just be performing similar processes through a longer means. For example, the Beetle item (which you control from the Beetle's point of view) can hit aerial switches and enemies, but the inability to rotate the camera means observing your surroundings is a far more fiddly process. And every time you want to hit a simple switch with an arrow, picture this in your head: hold B...point to the Arrow Inventory icon... letting go of the B-button to make the selection...holding the C button... pulling back on the nunchuck...taking aim...and firing. Then again, perhaps this sort of authenticity grows on the player. The puzzles might also become far more inventive and accustomed to these motion controls, further invalidating prior criticism.

What has me keeping the faith was the boss fight with Ghirahim - where he'll anticipate and catch your slash, no matter how precise it is. Most Zelda fans would think an item would be in order to lower his defenses, or waiting until Ghirahim makes a move or use the environment to muster some kind of stun attack, but no, instead you must 'feign' your slash and attack in another direction. You actually have to use combat strategy to psych out your opponent, which is such a fresh, if alarmingly foreign, element to see in a Zelda game; so fool Ghirahim by posing your sword high for a vertical swing, but divert your swing to a horizontal slash.

MotionPlus also lends to multiple strategies in taking down Ghirahim which I won't spoil for you to discover, but gives credence in wanting to experience multiple playthroughs - especially, as I assume the techniques become more advanced as the game goes on. And what reinforces the control scheme's potential promise to deliver is that the gameplay is clearly built around motion control rather than the other way around.

But when all the dust settles, I'm honestly inconclusive about the control scheme. With all the unanswered questions in my head, it's solely why I've been the least enthused in giving an opinion about this game and quite curious to hear your thoughts when you play it at the Tour. Will the control scheme be something you warm to as you come to terms with its intricacy? Or will it sour as the repetition of performing slightly laborious actions in a 50-hour epic sets in?

I'd be lying if I said playing Skyward Sword really excited me. If anything, it's dampened my enthusiasm slightly, like placing tissue-paper strips over a candle flame - not enough to extinguish the hype but certainly ample to let loose some flickers of anxiety. Either way, Skyward Sword absolutely shakes up the foundations of Zelda but whether it's the welcome variety or not, the jury's out.

By Richard Worsley (Kabal)