"Pass the salt"

Nintendo certainly has a collection of strong franchises under its care. The Legend of Zelda and Metroid series are some of the most revered to date. Mario has always had large appeal (but won't stop showing up in ridiculous spin-offs). A slightly lesser known -- but still popular -- series is Star Fox. Its Super Nintendo beginnings are a coveted cartridge, and Star Fox 64 helped introduce the rumble pak and four-player gaming. Rare took the franchise in a new direction with Star Fox Adventure, a game that was met with extremely mixed feelings. Despite being a fun Zelda clone, it wasn't classic Star Fox material. Nintendo has now handed the Fox over to Namco in hopes that the company could successfully merge Star Fox's older (and beloved) flight missions with further investigated ground control. And once again, Star Fox fans are left feeling a little empty after playing Assault.

Graphics:
Star Fox Assault is a pretty game. Its smooth framerate and lush graphics create worlds which are easy to get lost in. Just look at the flight missions. It's a very, very cool effect to see yourself piloting through two different fleets battling in space. Fox McCloud himself isn't looking as furry and expressive as he did in Rare's iteration. The characters have a lot of animation to their brief cutscenes, but the rendering doesn't seem constant. Peppy always looks pre-rendered. The rest of them seem to vary. It was a little deceiving.

Sound:
The Star Fox themes kind of annoy me. I never liked them on the SNES, and I didn't like their orchestral renditions in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Star Fox Assault, on the other hand, sounds superb in this regard. The music isn't just orchestrated, it's combined with catchy drum beats to create a bold and triumphant score. The multiplayer mode appealed to me more than it should have, because the music was so darn good. If everything of the audio was created with this same attention, we'd have one engrossing game. The character voices, sadly, do not make par. It sounds like whoever was in charge of the voice acting forgot to recruit good talent and ended up asking his/her co-worker, "Hey, would you come read these lines for me?" The Star Fox team is an intriguing crew. I want to root for them and feel sad when they're in trouble, but it's hard to take any of them seriously when they come across as reading cue cards and forcing unbelievable accents. Only Falco hits the right attitude of an arrogant bird always embarrassed to ask Fox for help. You think the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess won't be as epic without voices? After hearing those in Star Fox Assault, I'm glad Nintendo has opted to keep Zelda in text.

Gameplay:
Star Fox Assault has met much criticism for its ground-based missions. Yet I can't imagine a game of only flight missions being a very engaging experience. I know I'd get a little sick of it. Because there was a balance of ground and air, I found myself really liking the game's pace. In fact, this game is quick all around. I didn't want to stop playing, because there is never a dull moment. The flight missions rely on protecting a base or following a pre-set pathway and blasting everything in your way. While in the air, you'll have to keep an eye on your teammates (Falco, Slippy, and Krystal) and shoot down any enemies tailing them. It's a little overbearing but chaotically pleasing. The ground missions meet the same franticness. Ground missions, which play out like Jet Force Gemini, generally involve Fox needing to scout out and destroy certain targets. At his disposal is a chargeable blaster, machine gun, [worthless] grenades, rocket launchers, and sniper rifles. It's a standard set. Enemies on the ground appear in thicker clusters, but they are easier to dispose than in the air. Sometimes you'll have to watch the sky at the same time and jump in an Arwing if enemies become too dominant there. And, of course, there are boss battles of the "shoot the obvious weak point" nature.

Controls:
I don't care if the default controls are the most practical, not everybody likes to play the same. Only three controller setups are offered, and none of them can be customized specifically to your liking. In fact, this game has little customization at all. Take a hint from Free Radical, the development team behind Time Splitters. Hot dog, that game could customize. Star Fox Assault will only let you turn vehicles on/off. I think I'm digressing, though. Aside from controller layouts that all have one or two things wrong with them, the game feels quick and responsive. It was really easy to jump into a three-player deathmatch. The ground control can mock a FPS setup rather well. Flying an Arwing is a little tricky when it comes to aiming at something directly below you, but that's a marginal difficulty.

Frustration:
Doesn't just about every game have a frustrating end boss/level? The last level of Assault was making me a little upset. It felt like a convoluted obstacle course where one slight knick on the wall would take 1/4 of my life away. That's not cool. The rest of the game came across as easy, too. I had played it on the Bronze difficulty, though, but I still struggled in some areas and had to restart the mission a few times. The flight missions are generally harder than the ground missions. On ground, the option to duck and hide is always there. In the air, you're being attacked from all directions, and it can get a bit flustering trying to sort it all out.

Lasting Appeal:
On a night when I couldn't sleep, and my friend had left his copy of Star Fox Assault at my house, I thought I would give the story mode a quick try. To my surprise, I made it halfway through the game in under two hours! It only took another two hours to finish up. Shorter games aren't necessarily bad. They have their place in the industry. But Nintendo was asking $50 for this thing. Four hours of gameplay are not worth a $50 price tag! Doesn't Nintendo believe in releasing games for a bargain price? It's definitely rental material, but if you do get suckered into buying it, there are different difficulties to try (which really change the experience). Every mission has a slew of medals to earn for things like keeping your friends alive or finding a special flag in the course. There is also plenty to open for the multiplayer mode. The multiplayer mode reminds me of Halo, except in third-person with furry animals and no blood. I realize it is utterly blasphemous to compare the two games, but the basics are the same, from the weapons to the vehicles. It's actually a surprisingly fun battle if you can get three or four people together and don't have an Xbox. The lack of absolute customization, however, really hurts the multiplayer's longevity.

Overall:
Star Fox Assault is a critic's badminton birdie. What critics don't realize is that the days of flight-only missions may never return, and it may be time to get used to this new style. If Nintendo keeps doing what they do (ignoring people), they'll continue to explore the ground/air combination with their Star Fox franchise. Assault may play like a cartoony hybrid of Halo and Jet Force Gemini, but it's actually fun and frantic and very engaging. I really liked it, to put it simply. But it's hard for me to recommend buying a four hour experience. Even with a decent multiplayer mode, it just isn't a long game. It's also remarkably cheesy and B-grade. Star Fox needs to be taken more seriously. Here's hoping for a sequel.

Points:
+ Balance of ground/air
+ Quick, involving
+ Fun multiplayer
-- Little customization
-- Short story mode
-- Cheesy
+ Great to make fun of!

Score: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/05