Star Fox Adventures

Summary

Genre: Action
Number of players: 1

Review

Some years ago, Rare was working on a game for the N64 entitled 'Dinosaur Planet'. However, this game didn't make it onto the console before the Game Cube came out, and so it has now been given a graphics and gameplay upgrade, had the Star Fox licence added to it, and now comes to you as Star Fox Adventures. Unlike the traditional Star Fox games, which feature the hero, Fox McCloud, and his wingmen piloting space fighters against hordes of enemies, SFA is an action-adventure title where you control McCloud as he journeys through the land of Dinosaur Planet. Does SFA prove to be a worthy title despite the departure from the usual Star Fox theme?


Gameplay: Anyone who has played either of the Zelda games for the Nintendo 64 will be struck at how similar SFA is to these games, in many (though not all) respects. Fox does battle with his foes using a magical staff, not unlike Link's sword in Zelda, and there is a lock-on / targeting system of sorts as well. There are a number of items and other weapon attacks which can be used via an inventory or mapped to the Y button for quick access, again reminiscent of Zelda. This isn't really a problem, since Rare manage to pull off the system quite well and since it was so good to begin with, though the only minor gripe is that there is only the one shortcut button, rather than Zelda's three: this is mitigated by the fact that you don't need to change items nearly so frequently as you do in the earlier games.

The inventory system works very well, and is a nice addition: rather than requiring you to pause while you swap items or look out keys, you just need to use the C stick to open the inventory and cycle through items and attacks, which are helpfully sorted into three types. You can continue to move around with the control stick while doing this.

Another major gameplay addition is the introduction of a sidekick to the quest, coming in the form of a young dinosaur named Prince Tricky. Tricky has a number of uses in the game, from digging up underground secrets to blasting fire at enemies or objects. Using any one of Tricky's powers costs him energy, which you can replenish by feeding him some of the excruciatingly-badly-named mushrooms known as 'GrubTubs'. GrubTubs are very abundant around the landscape, as are most other items, so there's no problem with being liberal with your use of Tricky's powers.

The game is filled with puzzles to solve, some of which being simple and some quite tough to figure out, though you are generally never at a loss as to what to do next. It's great fun to progress through the game, and the puzzle-solving is satisfying and varied. Combat, on the other hand, is far less so. Attacking with the staff is, unfortunately, far too repetitive, and requires very little skill to use. Basically, all you do is hit the A button repeatedly, pushing left or right on the third or so swing if you want a little variety in the attacking. It is not a good combat system, needing at most the barest sense of timing in the first swing when the bad guy raises his arm to attack you - once he's hit the first time he gets effectively stunned until finished off. Even when there are multiple foes, the others just seem to stand by while you kick seven bells out of the opponent you are locked onto.

Even so, the gameplay is very good, and top fun to play. A last complaint is that you can very easily see that the Star Fox licence was tacked on towards the end, as the game just doesn't fit into the Star Fox mould - there's no use of blasters or other hi-tech weapons, and Fox instead just uses his magic attacks. The flying missions are rather easy and definitely shallow; certainly not up to the standard of old.


Challenge: The game is definitely lengthy, with a lot to be done. You have ten 'major items' to collect and recover in order to finish the game, and, while the areas that have to be passed through in order to collect these items do seem to be shorter than in other action-adventure titles, they are long enough to make finishing each seem like an achievement. Many of the levels contain some pretty difficult tasks that need to be done, with observation and exploration needed in abundance.

One thing which certainly tones down the challenge levels significantly is the copious amount of advice from Fox's team mates, with advice as to what to do next and where to go being all but forced down your throat. In many cases, it's very welcome, particularly as it's not always obvious what the next step ought to be, but personally I think the advice is often too specific and too frequent to make proper exploration necessary, and this fact can really detract from an action-adventure. You don't have to consult the team mates, of course, but when the option is there, few people will spend more than 30 seconds thinking about the solution before heading straight to Slippy.

All up, though, the game is long and challenging, and is certainly worth one or even several play-throughs.


Graphics: Few people will be unimpressed by Star Fox Adventures' graphics, since they are definitely amongst the best seen on the Game Cube so far. With terrific water effects at least on a par with Mario Sunshine, superb detail on the characters and varied and beautiful scenery, SFA is extremely competent in this area.


Sounds: Most of the dialogue in the game is spoken out loud and not restricted to merely reading subtitles, and the voice acting is, for the most part, very good. Early parts of the game even make use of a special 'dino language' which the game's instruction manual tells you how to construct, and, sure enough, the words you'll hear the characters speak do translate into the subtitled words: great attention to detail! Sound effects are really good, too, with appropriate noises for creatures and spot-on background noises. Music is catchy and very fitting, and, again, few will be disappointed.


Summing up: Star Fox Adventures is a very worthy title to own, boasting a huge quest, excellent graphics and sound, and most enjoyable (if slightly copied) gameplay.


Gamesmark: 92%


Reviewer: Maverik



Tangycheese's opinion: SFA starts off very slowly, but picks up very quickly once you start controlling Fox (you start off controlling Krystal). The quest itself is a decent size, featuring very varied worlds and levels to explore, which means it doesn't become too boring. Pretty much my only gripe is the fact that the fights, while entertaining and reasonably well done, tend to be little more than button mashing. That said, some of the moves Fox pulls off are very neat. A very good game - hopefully this is an example of what is to come from the GameCube.