Star Fox Adventures Review

'More runs then guns'

Rareware have yet again managed to show that they know how to produce a masterful and immerseful game with brilliant music and excellant graphics.

This game is somewhat different to Rare's usual pattern of 'collect 100 of this, run around and collect 1000 of the spinning things etc'. It's actually like a Zelda game, but has Rare's trademark humour in it.

The story sees General Scales using the power of the spellstones to tear apart Dinosaur Planet, and it's up to Star Fox and his crew to save the day. The arwing missions are back (yay!), but most of the time you'll be walking around. You find a staff, which you can upgrade with special powers like earthquakes to kill the massive RedEyes and Fire Blasters to shoot switches. However, though some of the puzzles are challenging, they all appear to have the same structure. Collect 3 things to open a door. Defeat some enemies to get a key. Shoot the switches to reveal a path. Push some blocks to progress. It sounds boring, and it is at times BUT (and that's a big but), the twists and turns of the puzzles will keep you going. Cannons to shoot things with, disguising as a Sharpclaw (enemy) and other things. You aren't alone in this adventure either. Prince Tricky, your dinosaur sidekick can use a Flame Attack, Dig for stuff and stay on switches. Unfortunatly he requires Blue GrubTub Fungus which in some cases is a real pain to find. This will frustrate you and you'll have to start again. Peppy and Slippy help you as well, althoguh Peppy dosen't do much and Slippy gives too much away. But then, that's Rare's style. Nice and easy.

The graphics are heavenly. The water effects are brilliant, the scenery and vivid textures are nothing short of unspeakably good. Detail goes right down to the fur, it's that good! No rough edges to destroy the flow of play and no hint of slowdown. The voiceovers are both hilarious and not in one bit chirpy and the characters have real personalities. Rare's Fox is sarcastic and witty in every sentence, and wants to get his money quickly. The music isn't what you'd expect from a Rare game, and in the first 45 minutes you'll hear some of the saddest, most heart breaking themes that Rare has produced. The level music is sometimes a bit generic but most the time, varied and pleasant to listen to. The ambience is good as well.

A game that you'll need, with loads of items and secrets to unlock. Brilliant!

Best Bit:

It's Rareware! C'mon they're one of the best developers in the world. The bosses are great fun to battle though, and you'll get pure satisfaction when the boss blows up in dramatic Zelda style.

Worst Bit:

Walking sometimes goes down to the bare depths of tedium at times. It's really pedestrian and no fun. Also, the endless Collect-A-Thon challenges won't please some people.

Graphics 96% 'Masterful'
The textures are really, really good and there is not an ounce of slowdown and rough edges. The water effects are REALLY impressive as well.

Sound/Music 93% 'Sadfox Adventures'
Some of the music is really really sad. But generally there are really good tunes in there, apart from the generic typical environment ones. They just suck big-time.

Gameplay 87% 'Simplistic'
The gameplay is very varied and the arwing missions are great. But walking gets boring when you don't know what you're doing. Slippy gives too much information away and literally guides you through the game like a walkthrough person.

Value 90% 'Shortfox'
The game comes to an end too quickly with no multiplayer either. But first time round you'll really have a hard time with some puzzles. Then you'll play it again and again until you faint. Then you'll abandon it in search of a new Starfox game because you thought it ended too quickly.

Overall Score: 91.5%
Verdict: A good starfox game, but not what you'd expect. Especially considering it's coming from Rareware. But oh well?

Extra Info:

What the game lacks:
The game lacks any guns. It's clearly more Zelda than Starfox. It's basically just Zelda without difficulty and loads of items.

What could make it better:
More arwing missions. The ones that it has are brilliant but too short, lacking in enemies and repititive. It could have gone a long way with more arwing missions. Even a multiplayer would have been could and pushed the score up to 95%.

What it has:
- Playability.
- Simplicity.
- Variety.

What it doesn't have:
- Multiplayer.
- Any sort of gun.
- Enough length

This review was added on 26th January 2005 by nGaming user ProReviewer.