Nintendo unveils new Zelda gameplay, news about Star Fox

In a segment created for the Video Game Awards this past weekend, Nintendo officially introduced gamers to the newest Legend of Zelda title, and man is it pretty.

Being perfectly honest here, the Wii U is surprising me lately with some of the best looking games out there. Pretty much all the Mario titles (including Smash Bros and Mario Kart) have been stunners and Zelda here… yow does that look fantastic. The draw-distances and lighting are incredible and world has that nice and cartoony Zelda feel. Very impressive.

Also impressive are the controls on Epona, Link’s horse. Not having to worry about ‘running into a tree’ while you’re tackling enemies and figuring out where you’re going is awesome and a fantastic evolution for really the whole genre. I also really dig the leaping to fire arrows in slo-mo. Feels like shades of Legolas from the Lord of the Rings there.

Of course, as you saw,it wasn’t just Zelda discussed in that vignette as Star Fox was also briefly discussed. Headed up by Miyamoto himself, Star Fox has been shrouded in secrecy even more than The Legend of Zelda has. So with that in mind, it’s interesting to hear that it should be not only out next year, but should hit the Wii U before Zelda (which is also scheduled for 2015).

Between these two and all the great stuff shown off at E3 this past June, 2015 should be a read letter year for Nintendo, and go a long way towards their return to form.