StarFox Adventures, the final project from Rare before they make their way into Microsoft country, was a terrific effort, but it falls a bit short given the company's lofty expectations. First off, I hate the fact that there is no jump button. You must run at a ledge and perform a leap of faith to cross any gaps. Also, the automatic locking onto enemies. It would be fine, but the enemies respawn on a regular basis, and it really hinders movement. You should learn to hit the cancel button and run by them quickly or you'll never get anywhere. Also, there are flying levels, but they seem tacked on. In fact, there's a major flying battle, but they don't really prepare you for it at all.
Overall the game plays a lot like Zelda, and that's a good thing. The variety in the fighting is fairly limited, but you can use the abilities your staff gains to up your arsenal. There is also a pretty good variety in the puzzles, though some seem like overkill (i.e. carrying an exploding barrel halfway across a level). The enemies and especially the bosses in the game are very cool, though some of the smaller enemies are just plain annoying.
The high point of StarFox I would say is the graphics. These are probably the best GameCube graphics I have seen yet. Heck you can see the individual hairs on Fox's tail. Aside from the rare framerate hiccup, the graphics and sound in the game seem flawless.
Overall the game was a very enjoyable experience, though it fell a bit short of the instant classic status to which Rare has become accustomed. If you're looking for a fun title on the GameCube, you could do a lot worse than StarFox Adventures.
Create an Account
Member Login
