Edge magazine has just hit shelves in the UK and the big news is that Zelda: Skyward Sword has obtained a prestigious ten our of ten score. Why is that a big deal? Well within the games industry Edge magazine is notorious for being sarcastic and occasionally down right harsh with their reviews.
If only they had made a Zorro game this month as well.
But despite the contempt as the industry has for Edge magazine, when they give out a ten, everyone notices. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is Edge magazines fourteenth ten out of ten game in its almost twenty year career. When you look at the games they have awarded ten out of ten to you can see why :-
- Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) – E35 (1996)
- Gran Turismo (Sony PlayStation) – E55 (1997)
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64) – E66 (1998)
- Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox) – E105 (2001)
- Half-Life 2 (Windows PC) – E143 (2004)
- Halo 3 (Xbox 360) – E181 (2007)
- The Orange Box (Windows PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) – E182 (2007)
- Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) – E183 (2007)
- Grand Theft Auto IV (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) – E189 (2008)
- LittleBigPlanet (PlayStation 3) – E195 (2008)
- Bayonetta (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) – E209 (2009)
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) – E215 (2010)
- Rock Band 3 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) – E222 (2010)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) – E234 (2011)
When compared to other game reviewers and websites who give out 98% scores like its going out of fashion – or even the hilarious 6 out of 5 score that Yahoo rewarded to Batman: Arkham City last week, single handedly destroying or credibility to the Yahoo reviews department, it’s no suprise to see that Edge maintains respect for its scoring system. It should be noted, though, that Edge seem to have become more generous in their scoring in the last few years; 9 out of the 14 ten-point games having been released in the last five years.
So why is it also exciting? Well, because the comparisons are already being drawn up between Skyward Sword and the arguably greatest game ever made; Ocarina of Time. Is it better than Ocarina? Is Skyward Sword the best Zelda game ever made? Well, the reviews are trickling in so its only time that will tell. But, its worth getting very excited over and is looking to become the Wii’s swan song game.
So; dust of that Wii, pop out and get some new batteries, curse that you need to buy a motion plus device, and struggle with why your infra-red sensor bar has stopped working, as Skyward Sword launches on November 18th.