I LOVE it. I think it's fantastic, and yet, it's actually my 3rd favorite Zelda game (after OoT3D and TP).

What prevents it from being my favorite are the fights against The Imprisoned--he's not "hard," I just don't like the structure and gameplay of those fights, as in general I'm just not a big fan of "time-limits" in games, especially Zelda--and a few other nit-picky things such as not being able to name your Loftwing (who doesn't want a giant red bird named Epona?), the soundtrack while beautiful, epic, and appropriately "cinematic" so much of the time just ultimately doesn't have as many tuneful melodies or memorable themes as other Zeldas, and the fact that the overworld isn't connected--it wouldn't have been THAT difficult for the developers to make it so you could travel between them or all the way around ON FOOT.

Like I said though, those are very nit-picky things and it's ultimately just the timed pressure of repetitive Imprisoned battles that make me dock it a bit. It's still a very near MASTERPIECE and easily makes my top 10 games of all time.

So much wrong in this post !

Jonathan Holmes is awesome.

And Skyward Sword is far from the game you describe in the last paragraph, you haven´t even played it yet !

All that game needed was more "islands" in the air ala wind waker, with much more stuff to do.

The game feels like you're playing level by level without freedom of exploration.

OH, and fucking NIGHT AND DAY TRANSITIONS, WTF HAPPENED TO THAT?

It was average by Zelda standards. The visuals and art style are a mixed bag for me. At times I liked the bright colors and how it felt a bit like ALttP. But at other times the SD graphics just seemed dated by 2011, and the watercolor approach seemed like an attempt to mask the weak Wii hardware. I didn't like the motion controls - though this did improve when I got an integrated Wiimote + instead of the dongle. Motion controls were good for duels but made every battle seem the same - and I didn't like them for controlling devices such as the beetle or bombs. The various world areas had good points and bad, but overall weren't very immersive to me. The game generally felt very safe, with little groundbreaking moments. Unlike titles like the original, ALttP, OoT or even TP to some extent, you could hardly call SS "the greatest game yet made".

The game has further gone down a notch in my book after playing WWHD. That game, with it's crisp visuals and tight dual-analogue controls feels awesome, even though it's based on a title 10 years old. Further, some things that I thought were innovative in SS were actually just pulled right from WW and I didn't know it having not played the GC original.

SS with its slow pacing, same-old Zelda stereotypes with the oooohing and moaning characters and lack of gameplay innovation beyond motion controls was for me a bit of a low point in the series. Especially with other games in the genre zooming past it in certain aspects. Playing Arkham Asylum and SS back-to-back made SS seem like a dated B-level game in many ways. AA surpassed in action, presentation, story and atmosphere. After playing WWHD I have high hopes for Zelda U to be what SS was not. Good game though.

I am a big Zelda fan an Skyward Sword was one of my favourite Zelda games. The first part and phi where the low points but it was otherwise an incredible game. One of my favourite games of all time .

Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mak > Skyward Sword > A Link between worlds >> Twilight Princess > Wind Waker

For the first time since OoT/MM Nintendo did something new. The surface while sectioned, it was filled with a lot of thing to do, and with the exception of the whip, every item was used a lot of time outside of the dungeons.

It's good to see major changes in the franchise like SS controls, and now with ALBW dungeons.

Have you played Metroid Prime on the Wii?

OT: I liked the game a lot. The dungeons were pretty good, and thestorywas good as well. I don't think the sky was as good as it could have been, and I prefer the big vast overworlds of previous Zeldas, instead of this compact metroid style. Also, Fi is even worse than Navi, because of the fact that she alarms me when my batteries are low. Not the best Zelda game, but still a very, very good game.

"Decent entry in the franchise", though I actually think it deserves a little better than a word like 'decent'.

Game had quite ingenious dungeon design for the most part, and a good story with good characters. Moreover, the motion controls were excellent. The best way to control a sword in any game I have ever seen and the best use of motion control period. Sure, some of it was unnecessary, like the swimming, but overall the game wouldn't be what it was without.

It's always funny when someone says the game should've been done without the motion. Dead give-away, those people haven't even touched the game because if they did, they would have known the game revolves around being able to control the sword and items completely by yourself. Whole puzzles and the entire combat system literally could not have been done by simple button presses. It would have been another game entirely.

However, sadly the game ruins it with the overworld. The stage-like set-up is inexcusable. I don't know what they were thinking. It should've just been a real world like in all the other Zelda games. There's only one town, and not much else to visit. There's enough collectibles though, I basically 100% the game and it took me 73 hours, so that's quite a long time. Also, the music sadly wasn't really memorable like in other games so all-in-all it lacks a lot of the 'magic'.

It falls in about the center of my Zelda-game ranking.

New zelda games need additional weapons, other then a couple of swords and bows.

Then it will loose all the appeal.

Motion plus is the best of SS.