Parent's Guide: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward is a role-playing game where you play as a young elf-like boy named Link, who sets off on an adventure to rescue a girl called Zelda - and save the world from the incoming apocalypse. Along the way you'll have to defeat various enemies, solve some puzzles and give a load of characters a hand.

Despite its bright graphics and friendly demeanour, The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword is probably not a game for the little ones - anyone under the age of about ten will likely find it rather complex. There's very little in the way of voice-acting, so everything is told through long streams of text, and they're kind of crucial to what's going on - ignore or skip over them, and you're likely come a cropper. From the prophecies where "He shall be burdened with the task of abolishing the shadow of the apocalypse from the land" to general conversations with characters such as Zelda ("Rise and shine, Link! Today's the Wing Ceremony! You promised to meet me before it starts, remember?") and Groose the bully ("That could be a major setback toward knighthood, so find that bird or get real used to the taste of failure!").

While Skyward Sword does try to make its control-scheme accessible by putting large, labelled diagrams of the Wii Remote and Nunchuck showing you what button does what at the sides of the screen, it's main selling point can also be it's downfall at times. You see, thanks to the Wii Motion+ accessory, each swing of your Wii Remote is reflected in the same swipes that Link makes on screen - letting you 'actually' do the diagonal swipes, sideways strokes and forward jabs of sword-fighting in your living room. While it generally works well, it can throw a wobbly occasionally and fail to interpret your swings correctly - and as you often need to be accurate to get your strikes between the enemies defences, and it always seems to screw up at the most inopportune moments... It's also worth noting that it does matter which hand you're holding it in - Link has his sword in his right hand, and you must do the same, or the motion detection will be affected. Succeeding in battle in Skyward Sword requires observation skills, quick reflexes, and a fair amount of co-ordination, so if you struggle in one of these areas, you'll likely find the combat quite difficult and give up before the end.

As a cel-shaded, cartoon style adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword contains very little in the way of mature content. With no sex or swearing, and little in the way of true violence, there's little for parents to be concerned about here. While Link does swing a sword at enemies, and has a variety of other weapons too (including a bow and arrow), there's no blood, decapitations or dismemberment, and once defeated, the bad guys just disappear in a puff of smoke.

The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword is an entirely single-player adventure - there's no multiplayer modes or anything.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Nintendo Wii