This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

After months, if not years, of speculation, Nintendo have officially revealed that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be getting a high-def upgrade, with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD announced during today’s Nintendo Direct.

The remaster will see the game’s motion controls now handled by the JoyCon, with series’ produce Eiji Aonuma promising that the Switch’s added processing power will result in more accurate movement. Alternatively, you can ditch motion altogether (which you’ll have to if you’re playing on Switch Lite) with swings of the Master Sword instead mapped to the right stick.

In a press release after the presentation, Nintendo have revealed that the upgrade will result in a smooth 60fps alongside the beefed-up visuals. Here’s the shtick directly from them:

“The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD: Originally released in 2011 for Wii, and depicting the earliest story in the series’ timeline – as well as the creation of the Master Sword itself – The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword now arrives on Nintendo Switch with smoother and more intuitive controls, in addition to improved framerate and graphics. In this enhanced version of the game, running at a smooth 60 frames per second, you can choose to play using motion control with the two Joy-Con controllers in a similar way to the original, or use new button-only controls to play the game with the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, in handheld mode, or on Nintendo Switch Lite.”

The game will launch on 16 June 2021, and there’s a snazzy set of JoyCon lined up to accompany the game too.

Modelled after the Master Sword and Hylian Shield, the pair of blue controllers feature designs inspired Link’s iconic armaments.

Check out the trailer below to see the game in action, and to see how the new control scheme works. Plus we’ve got shedloads of official screenshots direct from Nintendo themselves.

Feast your eyes on all 36 of them and let us know if you’re looking forward to revisiting the game down in the comments!

Source: Nintendo PR