When you think Nintendo franchises, you’d immediately be drawn to pick Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong as your holy trio, possibly Metroid if you correctly agree that the series outings on the SNES and GameCube were masterpieces.
But back into the mid-nineties, when home consoles were only starting to embrace 3D as their gimmick of the generation, the Star Fox franchise was wowing home’s with then incredible graphics from the polygon factory Super FX chip.
Although horrifically dated now, the core gameplay of an on-rails shooter with decent controls and memorable characters made what could have been a glorified tech demo into Nintendo’s latest franchise.
After cancelling a sequel on the SNES, the franchise moved up a generation with a remake called Star Fox 64. Whilst it wouldn’t push the graphics envelope like its earlier iteration did, it did innovate as the first title from Nintendo to support its new Rumble Pak, a feature that’s become such a staple to gaming, that when Sony dared release its updated version of the Dualshock controller for the Playstation 3 without a rumble feature, it was cited as antiquated on arrival.
But 1997 was the last major hurrah for the Star Fox franchise which has bounced around the blackhole of dead franchises since, not for like of trying though. With the GameCube, Nintendo pushed/forced the brand on to Rare’s new Zelda clone for brand recognition and created not only the franchise’s first spin-off but its first major hiccup.
Star Fox Adventures, whilst not a truly bad game, was of course, nothing like its predecessors spare a few bridging space battles which were great, but few and far between. Nintendo, undeterred, pressed on with their next title, this time handing the franchise over to Namco.
Whilst Star Fox Assault was an actual sequel to the original titles in terms of core gameplay, with a plot that didn’t involve series antagonist Andross taking over the galaxy, its introduction of poor on-foot sections, turrets and free-roaming tank battles further devalued the core-gameplay of its origins.
Nintendo’s then final stab at the franchise was for its new-fangled Nintendo DS, utilising its touchscreen features for, of all things, a hybrid-strategy title. Whilst Star Fox Command did try to stick to its routes, it was ultimately a failed experiment, along with the multiple endings which showed the franchises lore spinning out of control.
Since then, Fox and the gang have been relegated to cameos in Super Smash Bros and a remake of SF64 for the Nintendo 3DS. The series' lack of fortune in Japan is often cited as a reason for Nintendo’s reluctance to continue releasing titles, although the last universally acclaimed title being now just shy of twenty years old might be another.
The series even skipped the Wii, despite the Wiimote and Nunchuk being a perfect match for on-rails shooting.
The series even skipped the Wii, despite the Wiimote and Nunchuk being a perfect match for on-rails shooting.
With the on-going failure that is the Wii U, Nintendo has relaunched the franchise, this time asking for Platinum Games' helpful hand in development to reinvigorate the series. Its journey from unveiling to shipment being mired in unsatisfactory playtests and criticised graphics.
Nintendo promised to fully justify and utilise it’s much maligned gamepad to deliver an experience unlike anything before it and one that, spoilers, should have stayed that way.
Before moving on to the elephant in the room, let’s get one thing clear. Star Fox Zero is a reboot of the franchise. All the extra characters and sequels from Dinosaur Planet to Command are jettisoned out of the series' canon.
The story is an expanded version of the SF64 (in turn an expanded version of SF) with some different settings, bosses appearing in different stages and expanded plot elements. At its core however, the story is the same.
An evil scientist called Andross wants to take over the galaxy and it’s up to a vengeance seeking fox, a meme spawning rabbit, a cocky falcon and an annoying toad to stop him, traveling to different worlds in their spaceships/tanks/rubbish helicopters and destroying everything in their way to Andross’ homebase.
Now onto the elephant.
In an attempt to justify said gamepad, Star Fox Zero utilises a control scheme, which for lack of better terms; is the most ill-thought out introduction to the franchise, ever.
SF0 offers the player two different views, one on the TV and one on the Gamepad screen and both have to be used concurrently in every mission. By default (although you can switch them), the TV displays the general view the player is accustomed to which is used to control your ship/tank/helicopter.
The gamepad however shows a first person view used for aiming. Rather than use one analogue stick for aiming and one for shooting, the gamepad’s gyroscope is used to aim, meaning you must move it to shoot down enemy ships. The left analogue stick is used for steering your vehicle whilst the right controls boasts, braking and the all important Barrel Rolls.
So yes, this means you’re required to switch between them.
It also means that the best way to play the game is sitting down, cross-legged with the Gamepad resting on your legs and constantly flicking your eyes up and down in the more hairy moments. Virtual Reality it is not.
It also means that the best way to play the game is sitting down, cross-legged with the Gamepad resting on your legs and constantly flicking your eyes up and down in the more hairy moments. Virtual Reality it is not.
From Kotaku...Sorry
The first level in the game is Corneria and, whilst nearly identical to it's SF64 version, the new controls kind of work. Sure, the ill-thought immersion somehow makes shooting more challenging, but with the game being on-rails and constantly propelling you forward, you only have to worry about strafing.
No, it's when the game re-introduces it's All-Range Mode levels that the controls falter.
All-Range Mode is where the series offers you full, 360 degree control in an open arena (going out the parameters causes you to perform an automatic U-Turn). Usually, there's a massive boss or a battle with Star Wolf that's simply to big to be contained within the constraints of being On-Rails.
It's here, with the added element of fully controlling your vehicle that the new controls become too convoluted. Having to constantly switch between dodging enemy fire, recalibrate your aim, briefly fire and try to progress morphs from fair challenge to poorly designed calamity.
On a repeat playthrough; a massive boss dubbed Aquarosa utilises all of the above points, moving the franchise to near-perfect controls to malaise.
Also, in some nitpicking, whilst your vehicles have a free 180 degree view of firing, you're left with a surreal image of your ship flying miles away towards the left or right of your TV, with your laser firing 90 degrees straight with enemies miles away. Whilst ridiculous, it's the lesser of two evils and the idea of the game not allowing this would be even worse.
As mentioned before, there's far more All-Range missions here than previous titles and it's these missions with the massive boss battles that deliver the most amount of frustration, not due to unfair challenge, but badly implemented controls. Whilst it's possible to get used to the controls (to a certain degree), it will almost certainly be after your first playthrough and possibly many hours beyond that, by which point, you'd have moved on.
This isn't a case of "git gud", as titles like the Souls series offer decent controls beneath merciless AI and simply not sharing information usually reserved for a tutorial. The game's controls are nothing more than a failed gimmick and stinks of an idea that was too big to drop and this was the best they could do.
SF0 brings other ideas to the table, your Arwing now transforms into a bipedal vehicle called a Walker. An idea first seen all the way back in the cancelled Star Fox 2, the missions often involve the Arwing having to enter an enemy ship and disable a core/shield generator/etc. You can also gain the ability to transform during missions, allowing multiple routes on repeat playthroughs.
The Landmaster also returns, with a transformation of its own. Instead of limited hovering, it can also fly at a limited capacity. The All-Range battles return from SFA and the new controls make an already tedious feature more boring.
The third vehicle and newest is the Gyrocopter. A poorly controlled Drone-Helicopter hybrid, it's main function is to drop a small Robot to hack enemy computers or lights or alternatively, collect medals or drop bombs. By far the most tedious missions, they are mercifully few and far between.
One of the games more positive features is the amount of routes the game allows you to take. In SF and SF64, you had three for three difficulty settings (where completing or failing to complete certain prerequisites allowed you to switch). Here, there's a twenty different possible routes to Venom. Of course, a lot of these involve skipping large portions of the game, but it's a neat idea nonetheless.
Whilst the graphics were one of the initial points of criticism when the game was first unveiled, the game looks decent enough. It runs smoothly and only slows down when things get truly hectic. The Voice-Cast do their damnedest with necessary and hammy, over-the-top performances although the script nearly consists of every line in SF64 making a appearance.
The lack of any online multiplayer is bewildering. The only mode available for two players is a Co-Op mode where one player controls aiming and the other flying. I would dare say, if you can spare any friendship breakers, the game should be played this way as it's less frustrating.
A playthrough on average will last a few hours. Unlike previous titles where losing all your lives results in restarting the campaign, here you can restart wherever. So when I inevitably died on Venom due to the difficulty spike, whilst nice that I didn't have to start again, it meant the game felt that much smaller.
I won't complain that the game is short, heck, SF64 can be finished in under an hour if you know what you're doing. More stages however would have been welcome, especially with the development time the game underwent.
By the time I finished my first playthrough, whilst there was some truly great moments, it was the unfair challenge that stuck with most of all. Star Fox was always a title that I could rely on for a few hours escapism; smash my way through an army of enemies, have a chuckle at the plot and take on massive bosses and feel like an ace pilot, even if it was just for a few hours.
The game reminds me a lot of Skyward Sword, another reimagining of a loved franchise with motion controls marketed as the innovative force that would carry the franchise for years to come. Like that title, I was left feeling just annoyed at the artificial difficulty and how the game's new innovation felt like it was only for the benefit of the developers and not the player.
I'd say I wish the game had the option to switch to traditional controls but the All-Range missions are built for this new scheme which would make it impossible. Even so, if it did, I'd happily rectify my opinion on the title as one where, despite being a rinse-repeat of the last major hurrah of the franchise, it was still a fun way to kill a couple of hours.
But with it's set-up; the game's innovation comes at the expense of immersion and fun. This is easily Nintendo's biggest duff title in quite sometime and for those Wii U owners starved of games, I can't recommend it.
Sure, you might get used to the controls and yes, the on-rail missions are perfectly acceptable, but for me; the majority of the game feels like an unfair chore to get through and ultimately, a non-fulfilling, tiresome and frustrating one.
One that this iconic franchise didn't deserve.
4/10
H
@Retcon_Nation
On a repeat playthrough; a massive boss dubbed Aquarosa utilises all of the above points, moving the franchise to near-perfect controls to malaise.
Also, in some nitpicking, whilst your vehicles have a free 180 degree view of firing, you're left with a surreal image of your ship flying miles away towards the left or right of your TV, with your laser firing 90 degrees straight with enemies miles away. Whilst ridiculous, it's the lesser of two evils and the idea of the game not allowing this would be even worse.
As mentioned before, there's far more All-Range missions here than previous titles and it's these missions with the massive boss battles that deliver the most amount of frustration, not due to unfair challenge, but badly implemented controls. Whilst it's possible to get used to the controls (to a certain degree), it will almost certainly be after your first playthrough and possibly many hours beyond that, by which point, you'd have moved on.
This isn't a case of "git gud", as titles like the Souls series offer decent controls beneath merciless AI and simply not sharing information usually reserved for a tutorial. The game's controls are nothing more than a failed gimmick and stinks of an idea that was too big to drop and this was the best they could do.
SF0 brings other ideas to the table, your Arwing now transforms into a bipedal vehicle called a Walker. An idea first seen all the way back in the cancelled Star Fox 2, the missions often involve the Arwing having to enter an enemy ship and disable a core/shield generator/etc. You can also gain the ability to transform during missions, allowing multiple routes on repeat playthroughs.
The Landmaster also returns, with a transformation of its own. Instead of limited hovering, it can also fly at a limited capacity. The All-Range battles return from SFA and the new controls make an already tedious feature more boring.
The third vehicle and newest is the Gyrocopter. A poorly controlled Drone-Helicopter hybrid, it's main function is to drop a small Robot to hack enemy computers or lights or alternatively, collect medals or drop bombs. By far the most tedious missions, they are mercifully few and far between.
One of the games more positive features is the amount of routes the game allows you to take. In SF and SF64, you had three for three difficulty settings (where completing or failing to complete certain prerequisites allowed you to switch). Here, there's a twenty different possible routes to Venom. Of course, a lot of these involve skipping large portions of the game, but it's a neat idea nonetheless.
Whilst the graphics were one of the initial points of criticism when the game was first unveiled, the game looks decent enough. It runs smoothly and only slows down when things get truly hectic. The Voice-Cast do their damnedest with necessary and hammy, over-the-top performances although the script nearly consists of every line in SF64 making a appearance.
The lack of any online multiplayer is bewildering. The only mode available for two players is a Co-Op mode where one player controls aiming and the other flying. I would dare say, if you can spare any friendship breakers, the game should be played this way as it's less frustrating.
A playthrough on average will last a few hours. Unlike previous titles where losing all your lives results in restarting the campaign, here you can restart wherever. So when I inevitably died on Venom due to the difficulty spike, whilst nice that I didn't have to start again, it meant the game felt that much smaller.
I won't complain that the game is short, heck, SF64 can be finished in under an hour if you know what you're doing. More stages however would have been welcome, especially with the development time the game underwent.
By the time I finished my first playthrough, whilst there was some truly great moments, it was the unfair challenge that stuck with most of all. Star Fox was always a title that I could rely on for a few hours escapism; smash my way through an army of enemies, have a chuckle at the plot and take on massive bosses and feel like an ace pilot, even if it was just for a few hours.
The game reminds me a lot of Skyward Sword, another reimagining of a loved franchise with motion controls marketed as the innovative force that would carry the franchise for years to come. Like that title, I was left feeling just annoyed at the artificial difficulty and how the game's new innovation felt like it was only for the benefit of the developers and not the player.
I'd say I wish the game had the option to switch to traditional controls but the All-Range missions are built for this new scheme which would make it impossible. Even so, if it did, I'd happily rectify my opinion on the title as one where, despite being a rinse-repeat of the last major hurrah of the franchise, it was still a fun way to kill a couple of hours.
But with it's set-up; the game's innovation comes at the expense of immersion and fun. This is easily Nintendo's biggest duff title in quite sometime and for those Wii U owners starved of games, I can't recommend it.
Sure, you might get used to the controls and yes, the on-rail missions are perfectly acceptable, but for me; the majority of the game feels like an unfair chore to get through and ultimately, a non-fulfilling, tiresome and frustrating one.
One that this iconic franchise didn't deserve.
4/10
H
@Retcon_Nation
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