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"Way back in 1994 the SNES was nearly on its last
leg. And until then, graphics and gameplay were quite 2D and all but flat. When
Starfox was released to the gaming public everyone went wild for the polygon images and
"amazing" framerate. Well, Fox McCloud is back, but this time with a
whole new style."
Intro
Looking back at the SNES original, one has to wonder what the heck we were
thinking. A couple weeks ago prior to receiving Starfox Adventures, I fired up
the 'ole SNES and dusted off my original copy of Starfox. Now, I'm all about
vintage gaming but I just couldn't remember why I loved it as much as I did. And I really
couldn't comprehend what made it so successful. I guess we are so spoiled now with 3D
everything, including cel. Nevertheless, the original Starfox was an advent in
the gaming industry and has significantly changed rail shooters forever.
With that said, how can a developer can take the infamy of a game nearly a decade
old and rehash it under a totally different genre and expect it to become
successful? This was the challenge of Rare (moment of silence) and I have
to admit I was less than optimistic at this Mario64-esque type game.
Listen up foxer
I'm not one on stories within games unless it's an RPG. But, truthfully
the story lends aid to the game. So here is the brief lowdown. Krystal (a
foxy fox) answers a distress call from -bum bum bum- DINOSAUR PLANET.
Things run amuck and Krystal is trapped by the evil doom-sayer; General Scales.
Who better to save her and the planet? Fox McCloud of course! Along the way Fox
must retrieve the four "spell stones" in order to release her.
Ok, so it's not the most clever of a story but it fits in nicely with the
gameplay.
Once Fox lands on the planet he comes across a staff that was dropped by Krystal.
The staff is basically the "Excalibur" of the 21st century. It can be used as a
weapon or tool and has a variety of uses which as the game progresses you
discover its potential.
The gameplay of Star Fox Adventures can be summed up with one word: "puzzles".
If you don't like puzzles than please don't even think about inserting this disk
into your GC. To Rare's credit, the puzzles are quite enjoyable and entertaining
yet rarely seems to bring you to the point of madness (a la Resident Evil).
In fact, I doubt you CHEATERS out there would even have to visit
gamefaq.com
more than three or four times. Ok, well I admit that I hit it a few times
myself...
-clears throat-
Anyway, controlling 'ole Fox is a piece of cake. It's very akin to the N64
legacy, Ocarina of Time. The game is your baseline adventure platformer
with few added twists. The most enigmatic thing, however, is the lack of a
"jump" button. Fox is planted in the ground like an oak tree and only certain
"hotspots" will cause the furry canine to move his butt. As the game progressed
I realized where Rare was going with the game (I'll save that comment for
later). So there you have it. You are Fox trying to save the planet and the
girl.
 As with most games, there has to be a "hook". This hook is always a sure hit or
miss, and this time it's a total miss in my opinion. Along your journey you get
the privilege of a tag-along dinosaur named "Tricky". Tricky is the Jar Jar of
the Star Fox world. He's perpetually happy, ungodly cheery and his happy little
face just begs to be punched. Sorry for my angst, but I thought the concept of
the jolly dino was novel, but it ends up becoming more of an eyesore than a
helpmate. SFA fans will pout and claim how Fox can't do it alone, and in fact he
can't. Happy Tricky does provide a significant amount of support to Fox.
First of all he's the "Master of the Inventory". He finds hidden items,
discovers secret paths and will even occasional assist you in some well needed
defense. But again, his never-ending happiness is like a stick in the eye.
Even
after he is bombarded with coconuts the sop still has a grin on his face. If for some reason the idea of a sidekick
appeals to you (why does Rare always find the need for this?), you can
purchase "toys" for the dino-pet and play games with him... yawn
Catering to the inner child again, the combat system reminds you of an old
school beat-em-up. Tapping da big green button causes Fox to whack away at the
enemy, and even produce some neat-o combinations. In fact, the combat system is
so basic that you could honestly fight enemies with your eyes closed. What I
will give credit to Rare for is the unique battle system. Almost taking
off from classic Squaresoft games, when a battle engages the screen goes into
letterbox mode (very nice) and Fox takes his usual fighting stance. Since
the combat basically revolves around two buttons (attack and evade) there
isn't much depth to the actual fighting. In later levels, however, Fox can learn
"spells" for his staff and can do a few neat tricks like freeze an enemy or
turning them to stone. The only exception to the novice combat is the excellent
boss battles. Boss fights are quite enjoyable, and the bosses themselves are
huge and daunting. Classic and old-school, timing is required and I felt myself
tingle while I retrospectively looked back in the days of 2D.
One of the biggest fears when playing a platform-type game is when the game
pigeon-holes you into linear gameplay. The latest Crash game suffered from this
problem. Fortunately, I never felt cooped up or confined to a set path. Sure,
there are certain events that must be triggered and followed in succession; but
for the most part I was encouraged to see how well the game panned out and gave
a nice sense of freedom.
To compliment the open-aired level designs, Rare has also thrown us a few
novelties to break up the gameplay. Scattered throughout the game you will have
access to tons of mini missions that range from playing a FPS to classic Star
Fox air battles. This is actually one of the games biggest saving graces, for
most of these side missions are much more enjoyable than the actual game. You
have to give it to Rare for keeping the "fun" in games. While most might be
looking for more of an adventure (as I was), Rare keeps the classic
thrill of older platformers like the Donkey Kong series alive. Sure it's not
exactly what I was looking for, but it gets the job done... even if it is a bit
elementary.
You've seen the screenshots...
The visuals are what are going to draw the biggest crowd. Do you think a ten
year old boy gives a flying squirrel about a game that was released when he was
two years old? The majority of the purchases (sad but true) are going to
be monkey-like drones that like shiny things. For those who appreciate the
history behind games and the overall impact a game makes within the industry;
great graphics are just a bonus.
With that said, the graphics are amazing. This is some of the cleanest
looking visuals I've seen on any console and just totally oozes with detail. The
graphics are classic Nintendo and if you have played any Rare games before you
shouldn't expect anything less than brilliant. With Rare on top of its game visually, many
times I had to stop myself to take in the overall complexity of the details. The
water effects are some of the best to date, as well as nice fog and lighting
effects. The character animation compliments the backgrounds perfectly, and I
never once noticed a drop in frame rate or even a tiny flicker. The game
is rock solid, so mad kudos coming from a visual standpoint.
Aside from the overwhelming beauty of the game, the environments are
meticulously designed. Not only are the environments interactive but also
dynamically changing. Time of day is effected as well as weather events that are
amazing to watch. The first time I was caught in a snow storm "I couldn't
believe what me eyes seen (in my classic pirate voice)."
There are two things you can always count on with Rare: great graphics and
awesome sound. They nailed the graphics and the sound comes in a strong second.
The amount of voice acting is the most I've heard in any game to date. And it's
good acting too and not some cheesy Silent Hill crap. Sound
effects also fit the mood of the game as well as the fitting soundtrack which
features a wide range of classic Star Fox tunes and I even noticed a few hints
of DK in there...
Overall, this is one of the best showings as far as media goes, that the
Gamecube has seen.
66 Says:
Ok, I've been dying to summarize the game since the opening line.... The bottom
line here folks that this game was not meant for the hard core gamer, or even
the Rare veteran/fan. It was made for 10-15 year olds who are just entering the
dawning age of gaming. Ok, I said it and feel better.
This isn't to say the game is bad. It's not; it's a really fun game to tell you
the truth. Fact is, however, that the game falls short of becoming a classic
simply due to the simplistic control and combat system. If the control/combat
was stepped up a few notches (as well as giving us a jump button for Mario's
sake) this could easily have contended for a Game of the Year spot. Star Fox
Adventures is an amazing try at greatness. I admit I had the game on a pedestal
prior to playing it, yet even my expectations couldn't save this from
mediocrity. As for longevity, the game can easily be completed in under
15-hours.
Even with the game not living up to my expectations, it is a breath of
fresh air to the Gamecube and should compliment the system well. And with the
recent developments at Square I would wager that this will be the last Rare
title ever to grace a Nintendo console.
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