The Star Fox series, one of Nintendo's best franchises, returns to the GameCube with Star Fox: Assault.
After deviating from the tried and true space battle/shooter formula in Star Fox Adventures for the GameCube, Assault tries to return to the addictive gameplay fans have come to expect.
When Star Fox first hit the scene on the Super Nintendo, gamers fell in love with its stunning 3-D graphics and addictive on-rail shooting.
The next episode, Star Fox 64, upped the ante with enhanced graphics, voice acting and gameplay.
Gamers took command of Fox McCloud, the leader of the Star Fox bounty team called to protect the Lylat star system from the machinations of the evil Emperor Andross. Along with his trusty flightmates Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad and Peppy Hare, McCloud blasted his way through several stages of intense shooting, ultimately defeating Andross and saving the galaxy.
In Star Fox: Assault, Fox and friends finally defeat Andross' remaining forces only to find a new enemy, the Aparoids, threatening Corneria, the team's homeworld, and the entire star system. This new enemy, insect-like aliens with a collective mind and hive homeworld, is assimilating the whole star system, planet by planet.
Assault's story is significant because it drives the gaming experience. Stages open with intense, strategic war room dialogue and cutscenes introduce and conclude levels, immersing gamers in the storyline while linking one dogfight to the next.
The Aparoid threat, along with appearances from Star Fox's sworn enemy, Star Wolf team, creates a dynamic, engaging and compelling campaign.
The first stage is old school Star Fox, McCloud's trusty arwing jet blasting wave after wave of enemy spaceships. Classic flight-sim gameplay calls for nostalgic button-mashing, but this first stage is deceptive, the exciting beginning to an uninspired, tedious game.
The opening sequence, where Star Fox cuts through Andross' remaining fleet, is a remarkably detailed space scene, complete with active, explosive background combat rivaling the foreground battle, a showcase of the Gamecube's graphical power.
After swooping planetside in pursuit of the last of Andross' forces, Fox comes into contact with the first Aparoid and this is where the gameplay takes a turn for the worse.
Almost every other stage comprises missions where McCloud battles on foot, not in the air. Foot-based levels are Assault's Achilles heel where the game's fun and excitement plummet -- running around as Fox, shooting his blaster or whatever weapon he finds, pales in comparison to the exhilarating art of spaceship dogfights. And as compelling as the storyline is, running around as Fox-on-foot just doesn't deliver the same thrill as flying.
The arwing controls feel great, smooth like the N64 and fully customizable, but ground-based controls are clunky and less responsive and make the ground-based gameplay even more boring and painful. Even stages where Fox commandeers an arwing are dull because their small environments limit the ship's capablities.
All in all, Star Fox: Assault features impressive visuals and airborne excitement. It's when Fox exits the arwing that the game gets awful. And since more than half of Assault's missions are ground-based, this Star Fox doesn't live up to its namesake. Nintendo would be better off refining -- not recklessly augmenting -- the greatness of the old school Star Fox formula.
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