It's hard to stand out in a series with such a hallowed legacy, but Skyward Sword makes a valiant attempt.
This telling of the tale belongs at the beginning of the Zelda legend, taking place before any other previous game. Sometime after the creation of Hyrule, a great and terrible being known as Demise began a campaign to acquire the Triforce for himself. The deity known as Hylia hid the Triforce in a landmass that she separated from the earth and elevated into the sky in order to keep the sacred relic safe. She managed to defeat Demise and sealed him away beneath the earth, but still the Triforce remained hidden amongst the clouds. Fast forward to present day, that floating landmass (known as Skyloft) is populated by people who have nearly forgotten the rumors of a land beneath the clouds. Link is a knight-in-training here, and on the day he is supposed to graduate, his childhood friend Zelda runs into trouble and falls beneath the clouds. When Link valiantly follows after to rescue her, he becomes caught up in a conspiracy by a demon known as Ghirahim, who wants to resurrect Demise. Thus, the legend begins anew.
The thing I know you want to know more about is the motion controls in Skyward Sword. Well, for the most part they are very responsive. Since this game uses Motion +, Link will move his sword (and other items) in nearly the exact way that you move the Wii Remote. It's very intuitive, and there are a number of times in both combat and puzzle-solving that you'll have to swing your sword with precision in order to get around an enemy's defenses. Sometimes, the movements to translate perfectly, which can lead to frustration and repetition, but that is the nature of the beast.
The motion controls are obviously the biggest tweak to the tried-and-true Zelda gameplay. Beyond those, not a lot has changed here. There are some new RPG-like elements introduced, as you can upgrade your equipment by collecting certain items dropped by enemies and found elsewhere in the environment, and taking them to a certain tinkering merchant. This is especially important when it comes to your shield, as it will suffer damage and can break in the midst of combat if you don't use it properly. (Meaning: make sure to get a better shield each time one becomes available!) Classic items like the bow and arrow and the clawshots are used with precision now, and new items like the beetle and the whip mix up the gameplay nicely. Oh, and you can bowl your bombs!
The game looks very good by Wii standards. The environments are beautifully colored and spring to life vibrantly. Skyward Sword has a very unique visual presentation to it, using Wind Waker's cell-shaded style on top of Twilight Princess's semi-realistic character models. I'm not too proud to confess that I had my reservations about how it would work, but it turns out to be a perfect fit for this series.
So what are my complaints with this game? Certainly not the amount of content. It took me about 60 hours to play through, and that includes the satisfyingly long story and a whole lot of extras to explore. No, my main complaint is Fi. Fi is a spirit who lives within the sword you carry, entrusted by Hylia to guide you on your quest. And she is so incredibly annoying that you'll be begging for Navi to come back. Fi is incredibly cold, and you'll tire quickly of her stoic speech patterns. And her tendencies to point out the obvious and confirm to you that yes, you are in fact going in the right direction. For crying out loud! Why can't I ignore this girl? She really puts a damper on what's otherwise a fun experience.
Two other quick notes: If you didn't like sailing in the Wind Waker, you'll hate flying around Skyloft on your Loftwing 10 times worse. And the Goddess' Harp is easily my least favorite instrument in a Zelda game. How is it so hard to play that thing when it only consists of swaying the Wii Remote in rhythm?
The bottom line though is that I did in fact enjoy this game. It oozes that classic Zelda charm all over and immerses you in an interesting story that fleshes out the origins of the Legend we know and love. I don't feel I can place it on the same level as some of its predecessors, but it is still a solid game. Even newcomers to the series will want to pick it up, because it's easily on of the best action-adventure games available on the Wii.