Is Skyward Sword worth it?

Wii · 2011Switch HD · 2021Switch 2 · backward compatible

Sources reviewed: 2026-11-10

The Wii release and the HD release do not share a score. I quote both, with the review counts, and I do not invent a hours-to-beat figure.

Scores

Each row is one aggregator. I am not blending them.


Wii (2011)	93	81	1 source
HD (2021)	81	111	1 source
OpenCritic, HD	81% recommend		1 source

How long to beat

The hours cell is empty. HowLongToBeat’s robots file blocks the automated fetch I used for the rest of this site, so I did not copy a main-path or completion time.

Why people split

The arguments that show up again and again are a linear path, repeated trips, the motion barrier, and Fi interrupting. The art direction is a separate point: development notes name an Impressionist and Post-Impressionist influence and specifically Paul Cézanne. That is a style fact, not a score.

Sales

Wii shipments were 3.52 million by March 2012 and 3.67 million by December 2020. HD shipments were 4.15 million by December 2022. A line that says the game “only sold three million” is talking about the Wii figure, not the HD one.

Original illustration of floating islands over a teal cloud sea — Original illustration. Not a captured game frame.

Original illustration of a stone gate with teal flames — Original illustration of a trial gate. Not a captured game frame.

FAQ

Which score should I trust?

Read them as two products. 93 from 81 Wii reviews and 81 from 111 HD reviews were both on Metacritic on 10 Nov 2026.

How many hours is the story?

I am not printing a number. The usual hours site blocked the fetch, and I will not estimate.

Official overview trailer

Sources

Wikipedia: Skyward Sword — checked 2026-11-10
Metacritic: Wii — checked 2026-11-10
Metacritic: HD — checked 2026-11-10

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