Star Fox
As a young ‘kat, I remember eagerly anticipating the release of Star Fox. I had read of it in gaming magazines, and the pending SNES release was top of my wish list. The game was the first to make use of Nintendo’s FX chip, which would provide unique 3D polygon graphics, and it promised to be an exciting, dynamic shoot-em-up game. In an interesting little twist, Star Fox was known as Starwing in the UK, due to a copyright issue, something that would rear its head again later.
I loved Star Fox. It had loads of choices for the player, with three possible paths to the final level, with varying degrees of challenge. Some of the boss fights were exhilarating, and years after I first played it, I got such a thrill from beating Star Fox on the hardest path. The replay value of the original cannot be overstated, but it was with the next game that I found arguably the most enjoyment.
Star Fox 64 (which owing to further copyright complications, became Lylat Wars in the UK) gave an even richer experience. The characters came to life a bit more, with voice acting, quirky moments, and a great deal of fun to be had with bigger and better boss fights. It delighted me in so many ways, and I kept going back to it, over and over again, which is one of the definitions of a great game. It was a further follow-up to the original.
When Nintendo moved from the Nintendo 64 to the Game Cube, they took Fox McCloud from his Arwing, and gave him a ground-based mission. Star Fox Adventures was not originally intended as a Star Fox title, but Nintendo adapted something else, and the end result was a very deep, detailed journey on a distinctly alien world, and a style that evoked the Zelda franchise. It was a good game, but it didn’t hold quite the same replay value to me. Nor did the Game Cube’s first traditional Star Fox entry, Star Fox Assault. It had some fun elements, but there were too many frustrating ones for me to want to go back. The final boss was a particular source of aggravation.
I’ve also played Star Fox Command on the DS, and that was alright without being amazing. I’ve never played Star Fox Zero, which was released on the Wii U, and generally speaking, it’s probably the least well-received Star Fox game, owing to complicated controls.
Nintendo released another Star Fox game, but in a unique twist, this was in fact an old game. Star Fox 2 was virtually complete, but Nintendo pulled the plug on it when they shifted focus from the SNES to the N64. Consequently, Star Fox 2 sat on a metaphorical shelf, waiting for someone to notice it, until along came the SNES Mini. The SNES Mini was bundled with several popular games, and some bright spark at Nintendo realised they could release Star Fox 2 on it, heightening the appeal of the console. Star Fox 2 would also get released on the Switch Online service. Star Fox 2 clearly influenced both Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Command, with Nintendo taking ideas from it to incorporate into those games. It was enjoyable enough, though I confess to not playing it as much as I could have.
Overall, I have come to greatly appreciate Star Fox, and the franchise has been curiously absent from the Switch. My hope is to see something from Nintendo for their next console, since Fox McCloud and his friends a long overdue for a new adventure. All we can do is watch this space, and hope!