The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD updates the Wii entry for the Nintendo Switch this July

Nintendo has announced that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD will be heading to Nintendo Switch this July, giving the 2011 Wii game a lick of paint and a few other modern tweaks.

The big change here will be that the game’s motion controls—that saw in most examples the player control Link’s sword with one Wiimote in one hand and his shield with the Nunchuck in the other—will be optional. If you have a standard Nintendo Switch console, you’ll be able to use the Joy-Cons in much the same way, but if you choose (for example, if you’re playing the game in handheld mode or own a Nintendo Switch Lite) then you can use standard controls instead, with the right stick being used to control the direction of Link’s sword swing.

Naturally, this HD edition will also see some graphical improvements, and there’ll also be a specially designed Joycon pair with a Master Sword and Hylian Shield motif released alongside the game for Zelda fans to get their hands on too.

As a brief catch-up, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a prequel of sorts to the entire Zelda timeline, telling the story of how the game’s iconic Master Sword came to be. It’s also very, very good — scoring a perfect 10 in our review at the time. Incidentally, a listing for a Switch release of Skyward Sword was originally spotted on Amazon as far back as last summer.

In related Zelda news, the series’ producer Eiji Aonuma also took the opportunity during the reveal to apologise for the lack of information on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, but promised more news would be coming later this year.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD will release for the Nintendo Switch on July 16, 2021.