Video Game Review: Star Fox Adventures

Star Fox Adventures

Nintendo Gamecube

If you come into this game expecting another high flying Star Fox adventure, think again. This game is nothing like past incarnations of Star Fox games. Sure, there are a few traditional Arwing flying levels, but these are extremely easy as well as very few and far between.

The obvious comparison I can make with this game is the Legend of Zelda. As soon as you take control of the game, the parallels become obvious. The graphical style, character controls, the story telling. Even the camera controls and the "lock on" battle system are eerily reminiscent of the Zelda games.

This game tells the story of Fox McCloud and his legendary Star Fox team. They come to help out a planet inhabited by dinosaurs that is in distress. Chunks of this world have broken off and are now orbiting the planet, held in place only by a mysterious magical energy coming from the planet's surface. The story line was mainly a secondary thing for me - so don't quote me on any of this. But the only way to save the planet was to find these mythical stones and return them to their proper place. With each stone Fox would receive a Krazoa spirit that he would have to return to the Krazoa palace. When all stones are returned, the day would be saved. Not only would the planet return to its proper alignment, but Krystal (who Fox falls in love with, even though she is in suspended animation after the opening chapter of the game when you briefly play as her) would be freed from her confinement.

So basically you just wander the world, fetching stones and spirits and returning them to their proper places. Cool.

From what I understand, this game was originally called Dinosaur Planet, and didn't feature any of the Star Fox characters. But because the makers of the game were afraid this wouldn't sell States side due to unfamiliarity with the project - they made it a Star Fox game deep into production. Again, don't quote me on any of this.

As mentioned, you will undoubtedly find this game very similar to any of the 3D Zelda titles. Although it is a blatant rip off, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. While it lacks the charm and that certain special element that makes each Zelda game a unique and wonderful experience - this is still a pretty fun game.

One thing that makes this title different from Zelda is that you obtain a sidekick shortly into the game. Your sidekick is a little triceratops that follows you around and helps you uncover secrets and solve puzzles on your quest. He really is a cute little guy. Although he can assist you in battle by breathing fire on your foes, I find for the most part he is pretty useless in battle. But he is definitely necessary for finding things and unlocking new areas in the game for you.

In true Zelda clone fashion, there are a lot of secrets to find and items to collect. Scarabs take the place of rupees, and are used as currency on Dinosaur Planet. Fuel cells power your ship. Health upgrades can be found by smashing barrels and boxes that are strewn across the planet.

Really the main point of the game is going to new areas and finding these keystone thingies. You then have to take the stones (you can only find one at a time) to a temple on the map. When you insert the keystone, you become infused with a Krazoa spirit that increases your health and grants you new magical powers. Also like in Zelda games, these powers can be programmed to controller for easy access at the touch of a button. Once you find the Krazoa spirit, you must .return it to the Krazoa Temple. Doing so opens new areas of the game, where you must then set out to find the next stone. So on and so forth.

Expect lots of really cool and unique levels - as well as some fun puzzles. Nothing is ever really too difficult to figure out what to do here. There aren't many big boss battles in the game, but the ones that there are are pretty creative and fun to take on.

As mentioned, there are only a handful of traditional Star Fox Arwing flying levels. Mainly these levels are used when you go from one area to the next looking for key stones. Since some of the chunks of this world are orbiting Dinosaur Planet, you have to take to your Arwing to reach them. These levels are pretty much just filler - as they are extremely easy. You can barely die playing them if you tried. For fans of older Star Fox games, you will breeze through these with no problems whatsoever. While flying is pretty much an after thought in this game, the final boss battle does take place in your trusty Arwing. And he is pretty hard. So it is cool that there is at least one redeeming part to the flying sections in this game. Otherwise that whole part of the game would have been completely forgettable.

The look of the game is amazing. Despite being over ten years old, it looks great - and I can hardly believe that this was done on such an old console. This looks better than a lot of Wii games out there. The colors are bright, the stages are crisp and finely detailed. The special effects such as water, explosions, and magic swirly things are all eye popping. The sound is great too. Throw on some headphones and turn off the lights. This game will completely suck you in.

The only complaints I have are relatively minor. Like I said, despite being a blatant Zelda clone, it isn't quite as fun as the game it is trying to mimic. A lot of times all of the fetching becomes tedious, whether it be finding the key stones and returning them, or finding the Krazoa spirits and returning them.

The game could also do a better job letting you know where to go next. The world of this game is very big, and often times if I had stopped playing for a couple days or so - I would come back and have no idea where to go next. There is an in game clue system, but at times it can either be slow to update or just simply incredibly vague. And of course, the flying stages could have been a lot better.

While this isn't the Legend of Zelda, and it will never be, it is still a decent game. It is true that all the fetching can be a chore at times, but for the most part this title is a lot of fun. Despite the limitation of your quest, there is a lot to see, a lot to find, and a lot to do. The world is amazing and really comes to life in a way that few other games are able to duplicate. The story wasn't great, but I really wasn't playing for the story anyways.

It looks like Zelda, it plays like Zelda. It's not as fun as Zelda, but I still had a good time. If you have never played this before, you can't go wrong checking it out.

Overall:

B