I remember in amazement the first time I played Star Fox. I was about 14 years old and the 3d concept seemed awesome for the time and while the average gamer will think of the series right now would be "average", I have developed a fondness for the franchise that I did not realize until I finished this game.
I waited long enough for the title to come down from $50. It never did and I had to pick it up and after a few hours of button-loving, it's safe to give the game a solid 9 out of 10.
Now why would I give the game such a high score when the rest of the reviews score it average, 6 or 7 out of 10? The game met my expectations and I can give my opinion which in the end is the only thing a review is, the writer's opinion.
Alright, on the actual review.
The gameplay is fine, responsive and smooth. The feeling of piloting is there, the variety of weapons, vehicles and missions make sense for the most part. I don't know why people complained about the land missions. Whatever happened to getting used to the controls? Have we become spoiled, rotten brats or are we wanna-be gamers?
The graphics are on par to most titles today which isn't bad, but usually Nintendo will take it up a notch (see Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat) and wow gamers who have seen it all. My belief is that Namco might have been rushed and they couldn't polish the ground missions the best they could. The Arwing levels however have bright colors, sharp textures and a perfect, smooth framerate that never becomes noticeable.
The one thing that caught my surprise was the storyline. Andross is no longer the final boss, characters key to the franchise actualy die off. How many Mario characters can you count that met their demise? Star Fox has finaly matured into a serious franchise by giving the beloved characters near-death or fatal experiences to make us realize that we actualy care for them. I kept going "Holy crap, they're actualy killing that character off?!"
I found myself growing fonder of characters I have foloowed for four games now, weather it's a childhood issue or not, deep inside I hoped they would all make it out alive.
The multiplayer is awesome, flat out. Lots of levels, characters, weapons and modes. There's not much I can say except the sheer amount of options offered make for a great strategic experience.
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