Star Fox Adventures

The Good
The game plays like a (N64/Gamecube/Wii) Zelda game, which means it is basically an action adventure game - something which might be a bit irritating when you hear the Star Fox name. Apart from that you get all the great features from the Zelda games: excellent controls, a cute setting with different sceneries in different parts of the world and wide landscapes.

Graphics are just excellent: The characters have detailed shadows, you get dynamic day / night changes and nicely animated water. The closer an object is to the camera, the more details can be seen like very realistic fur for our foxy characters or single blades of grass on the floor. Combined with nice facial expressions the visual impression is just excellent - and Fox's expression when taking an important item is just priceless.

The Bad
The game plays exactly like Zelda. In fact the differences are so minimal that it would be enough to replace the main characters (Fox with Link / Crystal with Zelda) and leave out the occasional Arwing scenes to get an original Zelda game. As already said this is not bad in terms of gameplay, but it doesn't have elements to set it apart from the Zelda series - be it gameplay, levels, mission design, story or graphics. Even those few additions not seen in Zelda games like your little dinosaur companion "Tricky" didn't make an considerable difference - he could just be a fairy with new abilities...

Aside from the conventional adventuring the game adds in a few interludes like a racing game (where you have to chase enemies) or shooting sequences (riding on the back of a dinosaur and shooting incoming objects). And this is were the real trouble begins: While those "minigames" add a diversion to the rest of the gameplay, they are not optional. And unfortunately some of them are actually quite difficult - namely that one last rail shooter sequence a few minutes before you reach the final boss. It's ridiculous: You play through the entire game, just to be confronted with an extremely hard sequence of an entirely different genre than the rest of the game. Just imagine you'd play a turn-based strategy game, but at the end of the final battle the game would suddenly switch to first person mode and require you to kill the boss in melee combat. Seriously: Mixing of genres is nothing bad per se, but please prepare the player for the task adequately! That scene was definitely one of my most frustrating game experiences since I started playing games...

The Bottom Line
Starfox Adventures is an excellent Zelda game with Starfox characters. I'd highly recommend the game, though it may be frustrating towards the end if you are not into button smashing.

The Good
The graphics are some of the best I have ever seen, rare have really milked the gamecube’s capabilities and have packed a lot graphical treats in to it as well as it being technically masterful and skilfully coded. And a few of the little minigames are sort of fun.

The Bad
Where’s the gameplay eh rare? If the developers spent as much time on the game’s structure and puzzles it would be amazing, but they err, haven’t, they have simply put there effort on the good graphics and forgot about the rest of the game sadly. Its structure is very linear and the puzzles are laughably easy, if you’re a Zelda fan you will stroll through it very quickly. Speaking of Zelda, this Starfox has a nasty habit of simply aping everything that oricania of time does, making it strangely familiar… though obviously not as good since it doesn’t have half the excellence or fun or the genius of any Zelda title. The plot is quite frankly a load of stinking rubbish; I haven’t herd such rubbish since sonic adventure, some of the cut scenes are funny as they try to be emotional, exciting or epic and end up being silly. Another thing sonic adventure has in common with Starfox is the horrible voice acting it’s terrible, window smashingly bad. Oh it’s also far too easy and lacks in after game fun. It really should be better since to all to development time and hype surrounding it.

The Bottom Line
All graphics, no substance

The Good
Rare can't fail with graphics and sound, and this game is not an exception. Locations are beautiful, characters detailed and well-animated. The game is one of the few modern releases that manage to impress me with the graphics (In some cases, there's fur effects and depth-of-field). Music is excellent. Voice acting isn't stellar but it works wonderfully and no character is actually annoying.

Playability is wonderful. I might describe it best as "Zelda without the annoyances" - no beep-beep when you're low on health, can save just about everywhere, and no need to hurt fingers because enemies are targeted automatically.

While the plot isn't that complex, it still manages to keep me interested all the way. Cutscenes are very competently done.

Slippy Toad's in-game hint system is definitely welcome, even if it's not very helpful in all situations. Thanks to it, I never really got stuck.

The Bad
Well, Rare has the reputation of adding weird near-useless items in the game, and this game is not an exception. I don't know if it's that bad, though. The puzzles weren't very challenging, but I suppose it's also positive (better easily done than impassable). Overall, the game has "a huge bunch of cool ideas that aren't too well joined" kind of feel.

The Bottom Line
Fox McCloud gets to explore the beautiful and atmospheric Dinosaur Planet on foot, recovering some mystical stones and passing small challenges. This game is just like Zelda games, just a bit more refined and evolved, and far more linear in structure.

Some might say the game is too easy, but I found the game to have just the right amount of challenge. It never got too easy, it never got too hard. With a very linear plot, it was much like a scenic ride through the planet with some puzzles along the way and more than enough action. Even if it still uses the platform game cliche of "n different levels with different themes", the game surprisingly manages to create an interesting atmosphere in each location.

As for if it's a good Starfox game, I'd say yes. The space shooter sequences aren't too large parts of the game, but I've always wanted to see Fox adventuring on foot.

And once finished, the game hasn't left me with a "glad it's all over" kind of feeling. While one might say it won't reward the player at all and thus it has no replay value, I think it actually is worth playing again. The game is not really amazing to complete, but through and through, with very small exceptions, it has been really really fun. I will play again, and I'm hoping for a sequel.