If there ever were a game where the hero seemed to be most out of place, this would be it.
SFA gives new definition to the term ‘fish out of water’ because absolutely nothing in the game bears a relation to our protagonist except the sidekicks and the interchangeable villains. This is a title where the main character was implanted as an afterthought and it’s definitely noticeable from the start. You begin the game in control of not Fox McCloud, but rather a female character who is being chased by the forces of evil. As the story progresses, her character somehow becomes intertwined with that of Fox McCloud’s but not out of sheer genius, but rather out of sheer necessity.
The entire game seems to be facing an identity crisis, you’ll be wading through environments that obviously have no relation to Fox and his cohorts. Sure you can say that this is a change to the franchise but you just don’t do that in this day and age. Would it make sense to all of a sudden place Mario into the midst of a fairy-tale land full of wizards and dragons? In essence, this is what Rare and Nintendo have done and instead of giving Mario a Sword and shield, they’ve given Fox a staff that is capable of releasing magical powers. When I think of
Star Fox images of the Arwing and Fox’s blaster to come to mind and although the Arwing is indeed present in
SFA it’s been reduced to mini-game status.
Speaking of mini-games, this game often feels like one. Whether it’s an odd shooting game or sledding down the side of a mountain, the game features a few breaks in the action that really disrupt the flow of the game. Thankfully most of these mini-games are fun and intuitive but I would have really appreciated had the game been strictly kept as a 3D Adventure game, not
Star Fox Party.
Earlier in the review I made mention to the staff that Fox wields throughout the course of the game. Longtime fans will probably be wondering as to the whereabouts of Fox’s blaster and you’ll be happy to know that it’s present, it’s just that Fox isn’t allowed to use it. The reason? He’s not supposed to be hostile to the environment and inhabitants of Dinosaur Planet and there are a few technological concerns. (Of course this doesn’t stop him from landing his Arwing right in the middle of the planet, but who said videogames had to follow logic?) So what does he do? He picks up a staff and decides to bonk them over the head and flambé them to tiny bits and pieces instead.
To be fair, the combat system is absolutely excellent. The screen changes to a wide-screen format and the game auto-targets Fox to the nearest enemy. What happens is the game essentially turns into a 3D fighting game in that you’re always facing your opponent and you can move freely in 3D space. Pressing different directions will yield different attacks that you will need to string together into a chain of combos. What’s sweet is that the action will freeze every time you make contact, giving the action a really cinematic effect. I personally thought it was awesome and just could not get enough of the game’s combat. Thankfully there’s action in the game and plenty of it.
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