"A New Journey in the Lives of StarFox"

Introduction
I am definitely one of those die-hard StarFox fans, but that doesn't mean I can't give the pros and cons of a game. I was very skeptical at first and almost didn't buy it. For about a year my patience was wearing dangerously thin. But all the waiting had finally paid off. I dashed into Media Play, grabbed this game, gladly paid full price, and later that night I zipped through my chores in an extreme hurry. When I finally popped this game into the GameCube, I was very satisfied. Overall, I enjoyed this game. Keep reading to find out why.

Storyline (9/10)
Okay, this takes place a year after StarFox Adventures and the StarFox team is still kicking! Well, except for Peppy. But he is still hanging out on the ship and gives advice to the rest of the team. Rob is on the ship as well still giving tips on the mission. As always, you play as the awesome Fox McCloud leading the way. Your teammates; the egotistical Falco Lombardi, the energetic Slippy Toad, and the new member Krystal fight along beside you. General Pepper gives word to StarFox about a new threat in the Lylat system. It's up to you to help StarFox in finding out what it is and destroying it! But it's going to take more than saying that to get it done.

The plot seemed exciting enough and got me interested in playing. You'll endure missions on foot, in the Landmaster and in the much loved Arwing. This has a perfect mix of space, land, and visiting many cool planets. What really impressed me was how much action was packed into the game. Almost every mission is full of shooting enemies from all sides, trying to protect your teammates, and locate a certain button all at the same time! There's no time for a bathroom break here, folks. But I'm sure you'll enjoy the adventure.

Game Play/Controls (8/10)
The controls took some getting used to, but they have three different setups to suit your style. There's even a taunt button which I found very amusing. The Arwing and Landmaster are easy to control and glide smoothly. They basically use the same controls as the previous games. Yes, you can still “barrel roll” for all of you obsessed with that phrase. As for on foot missions, it's a bit difficult sometimes. There's no first person view and the camera is always behind Fox which gets annoying. He runs fast, but his shooting is slow and it gets rough when too many enemies are attacking at once. I wasn't impressed so much with how this was developed. Though I admit it was really fun and thrilling to stand on the wing of an Arwing in some missions! I have to say that the game play was fun.

Graphics (7/10)
Now here I was a little disappointed. The good thing was that the game did not act slow or choppy at anytime. That was excellent especially when you had a bunch of bad guys coming at you from all sides. The Arwing flights were pretty well done too, with hundreds of ships zooming through the blackness of space. The bad thing was that there was much less detail than StarFox Adventures. All the little things in SFA really impressed me. Here, it wasn't so good. They did not develop the characters as well as SFA either. Their mouths move but don't match their words very close, they don't blink often and some aren't furry anymore. They changed the looks of some of the characters too which wasn't so great to me, but it could've been worse. I don't rate a game only on graphics, but they could have spent a little bit more time on them.

Music (10/10)
I loved the music just as much as the first two games. It matches the scenes perfectly and doesn't get repetitive or annoying. Plus, it doesn't drown out the sounds or the voices. If you liked the music from StarFox 64, then prepare to be swallowed in memories. They bring some of those tunes back and sometimes remixed them. This was a good job in my eyes. When you aren't shooting the heck out of some crazed villain, please take the time to listen to the amazing music.

Sounds (10/10)
These were cool too. Kaboom! Wow, even now I can still hear them. They did well on making you feel like you were actually in a big space fight. This also brings back memories of SF64. They were clear but didn't interrupt the voices or anything. I don't have much else to say except that this was clearly well done.

Voices (5/10)
The reason why I separated voices from sound was because this was the part that upset me. No, it really upset me. Just the fact that almost every character's voice is different and some don't match shows a lack of respect for StarFox. Even though this is supposed to be a year later, they should have stuck with the same voices. One year does not completely change your voice. If they couldn't find the same actors, so what? There are tons of people out there (including me) who can do a much better job imitating the old voices. They could have at least found some similar to the old ones. They obviously did not take time to look. This brings down my liking of the game way down. So if you're a huge fan like me, you have been warned.

Replay Value (8/10)
Some complain of this game being too short, others like it the way it is. You might say this is like StarFox64. You have a certain number of missions to complete and you can save in between them. Later you can come back and play them over again to earn more points and badges. Some parts I wouldn't want to play through again, but I couldn't put this down without playing for a long, long time. The multiplayer is pretty fun too, so if you have family or friends who love StarFox, try it out. Even if you are stuck in a certain part of the game, you can always try a different level. There is plenty to unlock and discover to entertain you for hours and hours.

Conclusion
Storyline: 9/10
Game play/Controls: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Music: 10/10
Sounds: 10/10
Voices: 5/10
Replay Value: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

This game was fun and I hope you understood my points. You might not be so much into StarFox and your opinions might be different, so I suggest you rent it first. Even if you don't like the game so much but you're a huge fan, buy it anyway.

Overall, this was a pretty good game though it could've gotten a little more work. But it will certainly be the next chapter in the StarFox story. All throughout the adventure, you'll come across old and new friends. Oh, and not to mention old and new enemies. For those of you who like a good laugh now and then, you'll love the humor in this game. There will even be times when you might get a little emotional. StarFox will always live on forever in our hearts, and I hope you have as much fun with them as I did.
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Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/05, Updated 05/01/05