Star Fox Assault

The Good
Very high production values and good to great cgi/graphics, which are great for such a button masher of a game. It is fun to "run and gun" in this game, and the weapons available are cool, the AI is fairly difficult, especially as you get deeper into the game.
There are lots of bonus items, i.e. Health, bombs, guns etc. so you don't have to waste too much time looking for anything you need.
Lots of crazy action, colour, chaos and fun.

The Bad
It's not a continuation of Star Fox: Adventures. I have to admit that the only other Star Fox game I played before this one was Star Fox: Adventures, which was a great game with lots of worlds and very open. I do understand that this one is more like the original concept so I am sure the fans of the original games will be happy. For what it is it is a fine and fun game, but it does suffer from repetition and mild boredom as the levels are really only giant shoot outs, with no real tactics, puzzles challenge other than to be the last one standing. The game also pulls you along at IT'S pace, not yours. You can not deviate and explore on the ground outside of the task set out for you. Some of the scenarios are so "busy" with enemies you really can't enjoy any of the surroundings. It plays like: 1...2...3....GO! and start shooting and don't stop till you win or you lose. There isn't any stealth involved whatsoever and the run and gun eventually gets a bit tedious. You play so fast you can't help but get the feeling you missed out on something, maybe there was something I missed? A really good weapon, perhaps? An upgrade for the ship maybe? This is also the problem with the space battles, to much on the screen and no chance to explore. Run and Gun.....yawn Because you are rushed to do the tasks in the allotted time, you also find you don't know were to go because you aren't given a chance to explore properly and finish the tasks by trial and error (and lots of lives!). It took me about 10 tries to realize that I am required to ENTER the buildings, and also to find the ELEVATORS which do not look like anything more than openings. It only adds to the boredom factor and is mildly frustrating.
The targeting is hard as you need to push 2 buttons and your toggle to aim, and it is 3/4 3rd person but turning Fox is a real chore. It's like steering a car on any racing game. You can't turn real sharp with Fox and you kind of have to back up and turn him around. You must get behind him to move forward. This is mildly irritating at first but you will get the hang of it, but it is challenging when running along narrow ledges, and you will fall off a lot! This is made worse when you fall from way up high and it was a very hard climb and you must now start all over again! Bottom line though, is that it is too rigid and confining, with limited story and depth.

The Bottom Line
A very well done shoot em up, but not very deep. The story has enough to set the stage for the battle. It is a pretty shoot em up with good production value. A fun time waster. No blood or gore so OK with the younger players, but very busy and complicated tasks/buildings etc. so maybe 10 and up?
Because of the 3 level difficulty settings it has lots of replay value, and is fun in a "best my score" way.
Fun in it's way, but forgettable.