By Elias Dounis on March 3rd, 2005

The Star Fox series is one of Nintendo’s most recognized franchises, and for good reason. The series’ signature "on-rails" space shooter gameplay has provided some of the most enjoyable videogame experiences around, so far withstanding the test of time. The original Star Fox for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) had been one of the first home console videogames to ever let players experience videogames in the third dimension. The title’s on-rails gameplay brought the fast paced and hectic arcade genre of "space shooter" to a new and unprecedented level. Its sequel that appeared on the Nintendo 64 (N64) recreated the magic of its SNES predecessor on a grander scale. Star Fox 64 was faster and more intense, and even introduced one of that videogame console generation’s most addictive multiplayer game modes. After a game like Star Fox 64, fans of the series would be expecting a "true" sequel that’s bigger and badder, and although it has arrived late in the GameCube’s life cycle, this true sequel has finally arrived with Star Fox: Assault.

Just as F-Zero GX had been developed outside of Nintendo by Sega’s Amusement Vision, the development of Star Fox: Assault had been headed by third party developer and publisher Namco. As you will soon discover, Namco has put some hard work into Star Fox: Assault, however the fruits of this collaboration aren’t as enjoyable or worthwhile as Nintendo’s previous collaboration with Amusement Vision for F-Zero GX, or even previous Star Fox games (with Star Fox Adventures not taken into consideration).

You have to give Namco some credit with the direction they’ve taken the series with Star Fox: Assault. Instead of just rehashing the ideas that have worked well in past games, they’ve attempted to change the way things are played by lessening the focus on "on-rails" gameplay and expanding on the "all range" concept that had first been introduced in the canned Star Fox 2 for the SNES, but eventually made its grand debut in Star Fox 64. Of course, Namco has still attempted to retain the gameplay elements which made the past games in the series so great, but they haven’t been too successful in that area.

It’s unfortunate that the series’ signature on-rails gameplay isn’t focused on as much as it had been in past Star Fox games. Only the game’s first and last missions consist of the classic on-rails Star Fox gameplay, with the rest of the game being a combination of aerial combat and ground action in stages that are arena-like in design. Most allow players to take the skies and shoot down some airborne bogeys and land their ship to destroy some more in the Landmaster Tank or on foot with a blaster. Oddly, I see this as a refreshing change for fans of the series like myself, because despite how much you love some things, playing new games that rehash the same ideas over and over again can become tedious and annoying. If I were to compare how this all works to another game, I would compare it to Pandemic’s Star Wars Battlefront, however the scale of things in Star Fox: Assault isn’t as grand or as epic. Additionally, the variety of vehicles available for use is much smaller in Assault. Hopefully, a future installment will expand on this and add more variety.

The on-rails Arwing missions actually featured are, in fact, quite disappointing. While they are much better than those seen in the previous GameCube Star Fox game, Star Fox Adventures, they lack the magic of those seen in the original SNES game and Star Fox 64. Those games assaulted players with a

"The on-rails missions in Assault just seem to be incredibly watered-down."

The Landmaster Tank once again makes its return in Star Fox: Assault, although unlike the single-player portion of Star Fox 64, you will not use the Landmaster Tank in any on-rails missions. The Landmaster Tank is only used in the game’s all-range portions and oddly is not as efficient as destroying things on foot for most of the missions featuring the use of the vehicle. This is due to the fact that controlling the Landmaster Tank can be a pain because it controls like most people would think a tank should, sluggish and clunky.

The game’s default controls can heavily affect the ground based gameplay in a negative way. These default settings shouldn’t be the preferred way to play the game, since it has been proven over the past few years that a dual analog control scheme is ideal for the type of action games that require players to run around and target enemies simultaneously. Fortunately, a dual analog option is included. The other two settings featured are usable, but not as efficient. In fact, the default control scheme has players controlling Fox McCloud as if he were the starring character in Retro Studios’ Metroid Prime games, although, while that control scheme may be suitable for Metroid Prime and its sequel, it doesn’t fare too well for Star Fox: Assault.

Surprisingly, the on foot portion of the game is very well rounded and enjoyable, and also a very integral part of the game’s single-player adventure. It’s not that much different from your run-of-the-mill third person shooter, since you’re running and gunning, destroying key targets that are scattered across the game’s arena-like stages. In an interesting twist, there are two instances in the game where the on foot portion of the game morphs into a more traditional on-rails gameplay type. When this occurs, as Fox, players will hop on the wing of another aircraft, and begin to blast enemies from the sky with a rapid-fire cannon. This new gameplay feature is welcomed, but I have to admit that it isn’t too challenging even on the hardest difficulties, since the attack patterns of enemies are easily remembered in this part of the game more than any other.

There’s quite a long time spent playing Star Fox: Assault on foot with some blasters in hand. In truth, the on foot portion of the game is very simple, and some may even call it primitive, but thanks to the game’s arcade nature and points system, it becomes enjoyable and fun to destroy as many enemies as you can, especially on the more challenging difficulties. If you were to only play Star Fox: Assault on the "Bronze" level difficulty, you’re bound not to enjoy the game as much as those who are playing the game on the "Siliver" and "Gold" levels. The real challenge is found on the more difficult settings thanks to stronger enemies and additional mission goals.

There’s only 10 missions found in the game, and unlike its SNES and N64 predecessors, there are no branching paths of difficulty. There’s only 10 missions that you’ll be playing over and over again on harder difficulty

Many of you already know that Star Fox 64 had been extremely popular during the previous videogame generation because of the game’s entertaining and (at the time) innovative multiplayer "battle" modes. Well, while Star Fox: Assault does improve on this multiplayer aspect, it doesn’t improve on its predecessor much. The battle arenas featured are much like those found in the single-player adventure of the game which allow players to switch vehicles and blast enemies from the sky or on the ground. Despite being primitive compared to multiplayer games such as Battlefield, Assault’s multiplayer modes are enjoyable, but because of the fact that a large number of better multiplayer games exist this console generation, Star Fox’s multiplayer modes can easily lose their appeal to gamers with broadened tastes.

As for the game’s plot (and its dialogue), it feels a lot like something you would see in a Saturday morning children’s cartoon. It doesn’t really take itself too seriously, but at the same time tries to accomplish things that could only be pulled off if it indeed took itself seriously. With this said, it’s not that the game’s plot isn’t enjoyable, because it fits the game well, and for the first time ever, the villain of the past three Star Fox games, Andross, is of little importance in this latest Star Fox game.

Since most reviewers criticize a game’s voice acting often when describing the game’s sound area, I will mention that the clarity of some of the game’s dialogue is a bit rough at times, as if the channel it’s coming through is experiencing some minor static. As for the other sound effects in the game, they’re decent. If they were anything more than just "decent" I probably would’ve found something to praise about them, but they’re not. Although, there is something about the game’s auditory effects that I will praise, and that is Star Fox: Assault’s amazing orchestrated soundtrack.

The Star Fox themes have always featured some of Nintendo’s best melodies and themes, and Namco has taken some of the classic tunes from Star Fox 64 and re-recorded them in all their symphonic glory. Personally, I miss many of the tunes from the

The term "mixed bag" could be used to describe many aspects of Star Fox: Assault, including its gameplay and sound. Of course, the term could also be used to describe the game’s visuals.

Whenever a game has this clean and fluid look to it as Star Fox: Assault does, it earns a "thumbs up" in my book. To me, it’s very important to have a game running at a solid frame rate and have everything on screen show up clearly. With this said, Star Fox: Assault looks very good, however compared to Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, a space shooter and GameCube launch title, Assault just pales in comparison. The draw distance in Assault isn’t too impressive at all (since enemies are only seen at close range), and better textures and details could’ve been inserted to make the game seem less primitive. The GameCube is capable of producing some incredible looking games and its unfortunate that Star Fox: Assault isn’t one of them.

I have to say that, while I did enjoy Star Fox: Assault for a short amount of time, I’m still incredibly disappointed with the result of this Nintendo and Namco collaboration. When someone purchases a sequel to an existing game series that they love, this person is expecting a game that is superior to its predecessor in each and every way. Assault may be superior to its predecessors regarding the use of technology, but it’s not in the area where "superiority" would count most, gameplay. This is not to say that newcomers to the series won’t enjoy the game, because it’s possible that they will, but those who know how great the past games in the series have been will likely want to get rid of Star Fox: Assault not too long after they first pick it up.