Skyward Sword’s second major area, the Eldin Volcano, shows off the game’s verticality. It’s a volcano, complete with lava flowing here or there, but it’s got more shifts in platform height than I’ve seen in a 3D Zelda previously. It almost, and I say this delicately, reminds me of some of the lava Super Mario Galaxy levels.

The main thing on display when you first get to this area are Mogmas, the second new species to be introduced. Unlike the Kokiri-inspired Kikwis, the Mogmas don’t really have an analog. They’re Goron-esque, but Gorons actually show up in this game. Mogmas are more like burrowing moles anyway. They’re humorous characters and not annoying/creepy like the Oocca in Twilight Princess. At one point, two Mogmas discuss breaking into the area’s dungeon as if it’s a heist movie. Then they realize that they can just burrow inside.

You get access to bomb flowers in this area. As you might know, bombs use MotionPlus similarly to basketball and bowling in Wii Sports Resort. They can be shot like a basketball, or they can be rolled like a bowling ball. At first, the rolling was the bane of my existence. In one segment in particular, I felt it required too much precision. However, as I’ve progressed past that point, I find the bombs to be awesome, and I greatly enjoy rolling bombs with a thick curve to knock out enemies. It is a triumph of the MotionPlus controls that this works so well.

After all this positivity, you get to the entrance of the Earth Temple, and you promptly have to use dowsing to find five parts of a key. However, I tried something different for this. I just ignored dowsing and explored the area. I got all but two of the key pieces, and then used dowsing sparingly to find the last two. I didn’t want to break things, and it was enjoyable. I still think dowsing is stupid, but at least you can kind of ignore it.

I won’t go into too much detail on the Earth Temple itself. There is lava. You blow things up with bombs. You fight Lizalfos, who are tricky bastards. The ball rolling bit, which you might have gleamed from trailers, doesn’t use motion controls like the similar moments in Super Mario Galaxy. Therefore, it’s not overly frustrating.

The boss in the Earth Temple is very cool, though. Scaldera the Pyroclastic Fiend is a suitably epic boss that is way better than the first lame swordfight with Ghirahim. Bomb bowling is used to great effect, and I really enjoyed the battle.

Tomorrow, I’ll detail the third area of the game, which holds some nice surprises.