GBU- Star Fox

Hello g1s, I'm the Wandering_Swordsman, and this the next edition of GBU (the Good, Bad, and Ugly). I take a series or a certain group of games and place fit the games into the above categories. Today, I'll take a look at Star Fox, a series that I think has a lot of unreached potential. Though I won't keep on blabbering, so let's get right to it. There might be slight spoilers, so read at your own discretion.

---The Good---
This one's easy for me. *Star Fox 64* for the N64 definitely takes this spot. It's predecessor for the SNES was a really good game and is known to be the first game to use the Super FX chip (helping create those 3D graphics). Well, the N64 version took what made the SNES version great and made it even better. A true definition of a sequel. This game has a unique feel to it. On one hand, it feels revolutionary, yet on the other hand, it feels like a simple classic. Few games feel like this. Honestly, Star Fox 64 is one of my favourite games of all time and is the only game that I never get bored of. I've played this game for hours upon hours, and I never get tired of it. Just recently, I had a lot of fun playing this game again on the VC.

What makes this game so fun? First of all, it's just classic on-the-rail shooting. 'F'irst you go straight and blast any enemies in your way. Then you go into All-Range Mode where you do 'U'-turns and loops to get behind your enemy and blast them. Then finally, you basically throw 'N'ukes at your enemies to blast them all. F. U. N. That spells fun. Oh, along with blasting your enemies in your Arwing, you get to do the same thing in a tank and a submarine. You always start on Corneria, and you always end on Venom. But your path will affect where on Venom you start and the ending. There are multiple paths you can take, with basically two different endings (well, two different boss fights, the ending scenes don't change much except that if you take the harder path, you'll see THE END instead of Andross' ugly face). It takes you seven levels to finish the game. Now, all of this may not be much but, due to the fact that it's fun, it'll keep you playing. As well, you can receive a medal in each area, and getting all of them for every area is not a simple task. If you accomplish this, then you'll unlock the Expert mode, and that'll keep you going. Simple gameplay equals great replay value.

Really, what can I say about this game? There isn't much to say when it's just classic fun. The controls are great, the graphics are great, the music is great, everything is great! This is exactly what Star Fox should be. Just going around and blasting the hell out of your enemies. The only real flaw of this game is Slippy. He's supposed to be a male, but I'd question his gender if I didn't already know that. Getting in trouble the very minute you start playing this game isn't a good sign. Oh, and there's that incident over at Sector X where Slippy just charges at the boss and gets knocked into another planet, making your next mission be just finding Slippy. Personally, I would've just left him to rot on that planet because he has got to be one of the most annoying characters ever. Die Slippy, die! Do a barrel roll of death!

---The Bad---
The latest entry to the series, *Star Fox Command* on the DS takes this spot. It's not a bad game, it's just that the execution was not as good as it could've been. First of all, let's start with the storyline. A bunch of fish from Venom rise up and want to take over the Lylat System. A little bit on the random side, eh? Not only that, but your progression through the storyline is extremely random. I'm talking about the missions. First you do this, then you do that, and there is no sequences. It's absolute randomness in terms of the missions. Also, the game really feels short. There are 9 multiple endings in this game, but still, you can easily fly through this game in hours. Sure, Star Fox 64 was short, but that was over a decade ago. Even though Star Fox 64 had much more replay value, Command does have online play. That's a plus.

Now onto the big thing: the gameplay. You control the Arwing using the stylus and touch screen. While this is cool, I personally could never get into it. Almost everything is done on the touch screen. I did spend extra time practicing on it, but I just could never catch on. I would've preferred an option where you can use the buttons, though that's just a personal thing. The controls aren't that bad really. Anyways, this game takes a strategic approach, which I like. It gives a breath of fresh air in the series. You have to defend the Great Fox while taking out the enemies. You go on a screen where with the pen, you draw a path for each of the pilots (yes, you use more characters than just Fox, and each person has his/her own stats, which is good). You can collect missiles for the Great Fox and Fuel Cells. What are those cells for? Well, each pilot shares the same fuel tank, and once you run out, it's Game Over. Okay, I can understand the fuel issue, but everyone using the same fuel tank? That's a little on the strange side. Last time I checked, my parents don't share their fuel tanks. It actually gets quite annoying, and you can easily lose a bunch of missions because of that. Anyways, you guide your pilot towards a group of enemies. Once you make contact, you enter the battle screen. Then you fight (in all-range mode). There usually a bunch of enemies in the battlefield, but you have shoot down certain ones. They carry these stars, which you have to collect once you kill them. Kill them all, and you win. Though you don't have forever. You got a fuel gauge to worry about.

I like the idea. Though it's not quite that fun. Almost every mission has the Fog of War, which while can be expected in any strategy game, it does get annoying (afterall, like I said, it is in almost every mission). Again, that fuel thing is also rather annoying. Though the thing is that this game just doesn't have that "X Factor". That unexplainable thing that made Star Fox 64 an extremely fun classic, yet just seems to be missing. Overall, I like some of the ideas presented in this game, but it just doesn't feel quite as solid, or just simply as fun as the first two Star Fox games. Oh, and another little thing that I would like to add. The graphics in this game are really good. The music is okay. The sound effects are okay. In this game, the characters are each given a particular grunt (like in the Zelda games). The idea is okay, but holy crap it's awful in this game. The grunts sound like robots being fucked by porcupines. I can't stand them. Honestly, they're worse than the sounds of goats puking out bobcats while snorting up beans through their anus. I'd rather have Slippy's voice from Star Fox 64. I'd rather just cut off my fucking ears. Or I'd rather just turn off the volume because the grunts are just that abysmal.

---The Ugly---
I'm going to have to give this to *Star Fox Adventures* on the Gamecube. This game was developed by Rare and was actually going to be on the N64 originally. However, it got delayed and sent to the Gamecube. I actually like this game. It's a fine adventure game with some really cool moments. But it doesn't feel like a Star Fox game in the slightest! There are only a few Arwing parts in the whole game. The rest pretty much feels like a Zelda game (I love Zelda games, but that's not what I expect from a Star Fox game). There are also a few little short-comings in this game.

First of all, this game is definitely not going into the Ugly section for looking ugly. This is actually one of the best looking games on the Gamecube. It's definitely right up there the Metroid Prime games, the Zelda games, and Mario Kart: Double Dash (the graphics are really under-appreciated in that game). The music is good as well, often fitting in with the setting perfectly. Though the main thing is obviously the gameplay. Those few short Arwing parts are actually really fun. You have to fly through a certain amount of Gold Rings in order to get past them. As for the on-foot thing, it's well done as well. The only thing is that the combat does feel really repetitive after a while. Though you use a staff to fight, and that staff can also hold magical abilities, like shooting fireballs, freezing a certain spot, creating an earthquake, and so on. Though what I really enjoy about this game is some of the events. You get to ride on a snowmobile in certain instances, and that's a ton of fun. You also get to ride on different dinosaurs in certain places. Oh, that reminds me of your dino-partner, Tricky. Oh God, I hated this kid. Why is it that a lot of partners end up being annoying bitches?! He is helpful throughout your quest, but damn, he just gets on your nerves. Anyways, you do these "tests" throughout the game, in which you do certain things, like place certain objects in certain locations, fight, etc. There are six of them, which are meant to get these Krazoa Spirits that you have to bring back to the Krazoa Palace. There are six spirits, and each time you have to go through the whole palace to bring it to relatively the same spot (it's slightly different each time). It does get annoying and repetitive. Then there is this part where you get captured by the Lightfoot tribe. You go through a certain event, which is cool, and then you find out they have a Krazoa Shrine (where you get the spirit), and you must go through these two tests to get into it. One is the Test of Tracking, where you must find and activate these totem poles under a time limit. That's cool. Though the second test is the Test of Strength, which is a real bitch. Either you have a turbo controller or some personal technique, or you're just going to have to mash that button like there's no tomorrow. Man, I really hated that part.

Overall, there are some good parts and some annoying parts, but it's still decent. The main thing about this game is that you have to find these crystals or whatever. There are four of them. Then you must return them to their respective temples. Two go into one temple, the other two go into the other temple. This mean that you have repeat each temple once. While you have to go on a bit of a different route each time, it still feels incredibly repetitive. In fact, that's probably the main problem with this game. A ton of repetition. You have to go here several times, and you have to go there several times... It does get tiring and annoying. Another thing is that there is quite a disappointment near the end. You're going for the last Krazoa Spirit, and you must fight General Scales (he's been the main enemy throughout the game). You get ready for a battle, but not even a second in the battle ends as something stops him. It's quite disappointing when you don't get to face the main villain one on one. Though afterwards you do fight the final boss, and it was a classic fight (big hint). It's actually fought in the Arwing. Yay, you get to use that thing for like... the eighth time only? Anyways, it was a good ending, but that whole General Scales thing still remains disappointing. As well, the game is a bit short, though it is the longest of the Star Fox games (which is not saying much). In the end, it's a good game. Some great moments, some bad moments, some annoying moments. I do like this game as a whole. Too bad it doesn't feel like a Star Fox at all.

---
Alright, let's recap.
The Good: Star Fox 64 for the N64
The Bad: Star Fox Command for the DS
The Ugly: Star Fox Adventures for the GC

I'm also going to mention Assault. Of the three games after Star Fox 64, it's the one that feels the most like a classic Star Fox game. It also feels really unpolished, which is what keeps it from being to be considered as great as the first two entries. I liked the game, but it's just not up there. Though a polished feel is what makes Star Fox 64 stand up there in the spotlight, even over a decade later. Well, to repeat what I said earlier on this post, it took what made the SNES version good and made it better. LIKE A TRUE SEQUEL! Something that this series needs. First of all, Nintendo needs to stick with one developer. Each of the games after Star Fox 64 were designed by different companies. Second, that developing staff needs to choose any one of the five games and solely base the game off that. Don't come up with another completely different concept (unless if they can really make it something amazing). In fact, if they didn't have Star Fox in their titles, you might think that each game is completely separate. The developers need to take one of the present concepts and just improve upon it. That's all they need to do. I like the ideas in each of the Star Fox games, it's just that the execution doesn't seem to be quite there in any of them after Star Fox 64.

Anyways, thanks for reading through this wall of text. All I'm asking of you now is to rate the blog, leave a comment, and maybe even Digg it. I know the Digg community isn't exactly big on blogs, but it's still a compliment towards me. I don't get anything out of writing these blogs, but a little bit of good feedback and some constructive criticism is payment enough for me (I'm not big on money, though I could really use some right now). I ask you to do the same on other blogs as well. We put time and effort into these blogs, so please, do us a favor and just simply leave a comment. I'm the Wandering_Swordsman, and this was another GBU post. More to come soon, along with some more Perspectives and a Making the Cut post will be done eventually (if I can't sleep tonight or any other night, I'll work on it then). Anyways, good day or night or whatever to all you g1s. I hope to hear from all of you.

Anyways, I'd like to give special thanks to digitaldebaser. Great blogs, great modding, and a great guy. So instead of bitching at him for being a good mod, how about you check out his site?