Released in the year of the 10th anniversary of the original The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011), and on the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda game franchise.
The 'Ballad of the Goddess', which is played several times by Zelda on her harp, is, in fact, 'Zelda's Lullaby' from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), but then played in reverse.
This being the first game in the Legend of Zelda timeline, the fact that the Chosen Hero Link rode a red Loftwing bird explains the presence of a red bird symbol on the official Hylian shield crest, which has appeared in many previous games that take place later in the timeline.
The Timeshift Stones from this game have the same blue-purple color as the Ocarina of Time from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998). Since both are involved in time travel, it has been suggested that the Ocarina of Time was made from a Timeshift Stone. Likewise, the Goddess Harp that appears in this game is said to be the same harp as used by Sheik in 'Ocarina of Time'.
Some criticism of the original game was directed at Fi, Link's companion, who would often annoy gamers by constantly disrupting the gameplay with her unsolicited advice (similar to Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)). In this remake, most of her advice is now optional and must be triggered manually, and conversations can be fast-forwarded or even skipped entirely.