Support NeoGAF

[AGoodODST]

I've come to a realization. The problem isn't All Range Mode. It was never All Range Mode.

The problem is this god DAMN Cinematic/"Target" camera that CONSTANTLY pans while you're trying to aim. That's what causes almost every single frustrating situation for me. It rarely even adds anything. The only time I have trouble with the gyro controls are because my ship isn't moving like I expect it to, because the goddamn camera has a mind of it's own.

The game desperately needs an option to turn that stupid thing off. It ruins almost every boss fight and is a huge "HEY FUCK YOU I'M RUINING YOUR CONTROLS" for a few seconds at least in every level when they have something to show you. Remove that and almost every problem with the controls is gone. Change the "hey look here" into a picture in picture and boom, you're golden (the gamepad actually already does this for important events)

The target camera is seriously like trying to compensate for a drifting right analog stick in an FPS. It is horrible.

You are meant to use cockpit view when forced target mode happens. The game even tells you to switch cockpit view to the TV. Target view is there for having a quick look for incoming attacks and enemy positions that you don't see in cockpit view. Personally I just keep it on the GamePad but it works either way.

Plus, it looks cool as hell.

Also this. I like on the stages where you are escorting the Great Fox flying next to it and using target mode and seeing how small the Arwing is compared to the Great Fox.

 

[Neiteio]

The target view is great because it allows the enemy or obstacles to be much more complex than they would be normally, i.e. Wolf being far more evasive since you have a means of tracking him now, or turrets shooting at you from behind or other angles that simply wouldn't be playable with a normal vehicle view. The target view shows you what's coming (and from where) while the cockpit view allows you to respond with precision. It's also useful when you're trying to put distance between yourself and a big target like a dreadnought while angling around to find the right approach or weak point. Plus, it looks cool as hell.

 

[Llyranor]

Does the Wii classic controller work for coop? Does the wiimote/nunchuck?

 

[CloakedPuppet]

I was toying with the idea of returning my pre-order due to some of the more negative reviews out there. I'm so glad that I took a chance and cracked it open. This game is a ton of fun and the "controversial" control scheme is one of the reasons it is. It gives much more depth to the combat and once it starts clicking you really appreciate the developers thanking a chance on such a unique idea. Kudos to Platunum once again - can't wait to play more tonight!

 

[jariw]

Does the Wii classic controller work for coop? Does the wiimote/nunchuck?

It's in the OT.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Does the Wii classic controller work for coop? Does the wiimote/nunchuck?

Yes and yes

 

[The_Intruder]

Arcade Mode beaten

But man I still feel insecure face to Andross, I dunno why I don't have this problem on the sf 64 version but in this one he scare me a little bit even when I bodied him lol.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

Wait, the gift of getting all medals is the fucking black airwing?

What a cool gift for everyone that already has Falco amiibo, thanks Nintendo /s
Is that really the big hard to get surprise? Please, tell me theres more.

Nope. That's it. If you have the Fox Amiibo (unlocks retro Arwings) and Falco, there's no unlock reason to get more than 50 medals (as that's all you need to unlock all the challenge stages).

Like Arcade Mode, that just unlocks

Spoiler

sound test

, they're just they're for people who just want more challenge, more to do just for doing it's sake.

I'm not really an arcade game, beat the high score/time type player, so I'll just try to get 50 medals and do the challenge stages before moving on. And I'll focus mostly on the hidden medals, 3 ring medals and mission accomplished medals rather than the top score/time ones.


And I agree with SirTapTap about hating the cinematic/target mode. Though I don't really like the all range stuff in SF games much either. It's best as a pure on-rails shooter to me.

 

[ChrisDM]

At least rent it. I was a huge skeptic going in, and had like no hype, but WHOA. This game is quickly becoming one of my favorite Nintendo titles. Like, ever.

I was never really into past Star Fox titles because I found them very limiting. In the old games, you'd fly one way trying to dodge something and be unable to shoot something that just passed by you. But this game solves all of that. Star Fox Zero gives you 100x more control over everything — shooting one way while flying another, tracking what's in front of you and behind you at the same time. The level of engagement between you and the game has increased dramatically.

It's overwhelming at first, but you have to approach it like you're learning how to fly a real aircraft. You are starting from scratch. This is like a new genre of game, and it must be learned, just like how people learned tank controls for survival horror at one point, or command inputs for traditional fighting games. But if you go in with an open mind, it's surprisingly intuitive, and you will only get better.

And when it clicks... Well holy shit. It's just AMAZING.

Do you like Star Fox 64? but with a control scheme that needs 10 minutes to learn, but hours to master?

Y'all just sold me. Thanks for the awesome responses!

Neiteio: What you said about the need to dodge and missing an enemy in the process in Star Fox 64 is something that bothered me and that point alone really has me sold on Zero!

 

[Regiruler]

Arcade Mode beaten

But man I still feel insecure face to Andross, I dunno why I don't have this problem on the sf 64 version but in this one he scare me a little bit even when I bodied him lol.

Because arcade mode is so strict. It's like

Spoiler

losing to the gigarilla

.

 

[Green Mamba]

The alternate missions are all pretty disappointing. Fortuna's the only significant alternate path level, the rest are just asset recycling and two really terrible Great Fox escort missions. You can definitely tell they were all made after the delay, as they all feel really cheap. At the very least Satellite Mission 1 is pretty fun, turned an okay all-range mode mission into a decently fun but short on-rails mission.

 

[The_Intruder]

Because arcade mode is so strict. It's like

Spoiler

losing to the gigarilla

.

Totally agreed, even if

Spoiler

Corneria Hidden Path

is one of my favorite level

Spoiler

the gigarilla

gives us a feeling it is a really dangerous boss. I lost few lives to it in Main Mode because I was so stubborn to beat it in a old way(ala sf 64) but when I've played in the Star Fox Zero way I find this boss really easy, even now I find the first part of this stage more difficult than the boss himself.

But Andross I dunno, he's really creepy in this one (the music help a lot to that).

 

[Kinsei]

I've now done Corneria 2 three times to try and get the last medal but I keep forgetting to let the boss destroy the building. *Sigh*

 

[Regiruler]

I've now done Corneria 2 three times to try and get the last medal but I keep forgetting to let the boss destroy the building. *Sigh*

I actually found that one on accident. Multiple times, actually.

 

[El Odio]

The two asteroid fields missions are ones I really want to play in coop whenever I get a chance. I played Sector Gamma the first time with a friend and that was pretty hectic in a good way. Same with the Aquarosa which is easily my favorite boss in this.

 

[ibyea]

Played Star Fox Zero recently. It's good! I am not a fan of Zoness and there could be more on rails section, but overall the game is fun, the control is very good and some of the battles are intense.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

Aquarosa is super easy with the retro airwing, basically the only thing is useful for.

You will also unlock the Retro Arwing, and you can use both at anytime without using the respective amiibo. If you ask me, more of the Wii U games that have amiibo functionality (with certain exceptions) need to do this.

Not really, as that is a shit final reward for any loyal fan that already has them.

Put that as a cheap dlc and the amiibo, or dont put it in an amiibo and make another thing the final reward. But beating all the game 100 percent and giving you that crap is a serious letdown.
Its like opening the special world is SM3D World just touching it with an amiibo. Its a bad decission because it would have spoiled everyone the final reward (something that would have been cool unspoiled, but her was spoiled becuase they neede to show the freaking amiibo functionality), making it not a cool surprise, and people who actually buy amiibos feel cheated.

Maybe im spoiled from the mario platformers 100% rewards, and the original game didnt had a good reward either (the title screen change and the glasses for fox, although it meant higher difficulty unlocked so maybe it was better than the two airwings).

And the retro airwing is crap and only works well against Aquarosa. It doesnt have lock on and is super hard to use in any space battle that doesnt have floor for charged impacts. And that still bad becuase destroying anything with charged impacts doesnt give you the +1 for group destruction.

Killing and then destroying it before explodes gives you plus one, but that is bad when you can do more points by destroying a group with normal and black airwing.

The retro music in corneria is cool, but it only changes in corneria. Couldnt they really have added super nes star fox comparable music for each stage? was it that difficult?

 

[freethoughtbubble]

I'm not very far since I keep replaying the early levels, but something occurred to me and I want to see if you all agree:

If you enjoy the experience of mastering complex control mechanics, you may enjoy this game. If you don't, you definitely won't.

To be fair, the latter probably goes more like:

If you believe that control mechanics should only ever be simple and intuitive, and that complexity should only arise from the game mechanics, then you will definitely not enjoy this game.

Obviously it's a spectrum, but if you pay attention to discussions on gaf, you'll notice these two philosophies clash over and over again:

Intuitive people: "I hate Monster Hunter. The controls are sluggish and unresponsive, causing me to get hit for no good reason, even when I see the attack coming. I wish they were snappier, like in DMC or Bayonetta."

Mastery people: "I love Monster Hunter. The controls and animations are intentionally designed to have exploitable openings that the player must learn to minimize and guard. If the controls were more like DMC, the game would have an entirely different feel and appeal. It would cease to be Monster Hunter."

Intuitive people: "Street Fighter's not for me. I don't understand why you have to press four inputs just to throw out a dragon punch. It's just an arbitrary barrier to the real meat of the game: footsies, matchup knowledge, and reads."

Mastery people: "I enjoy Street Fighter. I like having an element of execution be part of the game. Practicing inputs and combos in training mode is enjoyable for its own sake and requiring high-level execution during high-pressure situations adds additional excitement to competitive play."

Note that neither side is right in preferring one type of game over the other. What I have noticed, though, is that often people who only enjoy intuitive controls state their preference as if it were objective fact. (I.e., stating that controls are "bad," "broken" or needlessly difficult.) You don't see that with mastery folks too often -- probably because we know we're a small, weird niche of gamers overall. When we get obnoxious, it often manifests in the "git gud" attitude. Which, to be fair, is really fucking obnoxious.

Some people don't like to git gud at the base controls of a game, especially when the game's prequels had highly intuitive controls in the past (talking, of course, about SF here) -- they'd rather git gud at the meta. And that's perfectly valid.

Anyway, just my two cents on something that I think contributes to the divide regarding SFZ.

Fake edit: Just want to add that having to constantly recalibrate the gyro in this game just sucks. You can get used to it, and it's worth getting used to it cuz the game's fun, but it's an unfortunate technical blemish on an otherwise well designed game.

 

[Neiteio]

The two asteroid fields missions are ones I really want to play in coop whenever I get a chance. I played Sector Gamma the first time with a friend and that was pretty hectic in a good way. Same with the Aquarosa which is easily my favorite boss in this.

Now that you mention it, the asteroid levels seem perfect for co-op. The gunner can focus on shooting down the waves of asteroids while the vehicle player adjusts the ship's altitude. Playing by myself, it seems there are always rocks that slip by above or below. Could also help with quickly locating drones on the wings of the Great Fox.

Hoping to play through this with a friend after we finish Heavy Rain.

 

[NEO0MJ]

So I just bought the game, and can see how adapting to the motion controls can be a struggle, especially the chicken walker. Any tips to get more comfortable with the controls?

 

[Kinsei]

So I just bought the game, and can see how adapting to the motion controls can be a struggle, especially the chicken walker. Any tips to get more comfortable with the controls?

Go into training mode and get the high score with the walker, gyrowing, and landmaster.

 

[Neiteio]

(good stuff)

I'm saving your post to copy/paste in other threads (with credit given, of course) when this topic inevitably comes up again. Great analysis of the two types of attitudes.

 

[Neiteio]

So I just bought the game, and can see how adapting to the motion controls can be a struggle, especially the chicken walker. Any tips to get more comfortable with the controls?

With the chicken walker, remember that ZL strafes left and right. If you keep moving, you won't be hit, so when surrounded by enemies, strafe one way and pick them off with the cockpit view. (Alternatively, keep your eyes on the TV but focus on the reticule — that's what moves when you tilt the controller.)

And if you find yourself in a bullet-hell situation, remember the lasers are aimed at your last location, so if you're on the ground, try hovering over them by pulling back on the right stick, or deflecting them with the somersault by double-tapping the right stick left or right.

 

[freethoughtbubble]

I'm saving your post to copy/paste in other threads (with credit given, of course) when this topic inevitably comes up again. Great analysis of the two types of attitudes.

High praise coming from you, Neiteio! As an aside, your impressions were the reason I decided to give this game a shot. I was going to hold off indefinitely after the lukewarm critical reception -- really glad I didn't!

 

[El Odio]

Now that you mention it, the asteroid levels seem perfect for co-op. The gunner can focus on shooting down the waves of asteroids while the vehicle player adjusts the ship's altitude. Playing by myself, it seems there are always rocks that slip by above or below. Could also help with quickly locating drones on the wings of the Great Fox.

Hoping to play through this with a friend after we finish Heavy Rain.

I'd throw the Salvadora in there too. I bet that one would be super fun in coop. I've gotten in the habit of replaying that one and trying to destroy all enemies and minicannons before going for the main guns. It's a fun little challenge.

 

[Neiteio]

High praise coming from you, Neiteio! As an aside, your impressions were the reason I decided to give this game a shot. I was going to hold off indefinitely after the lukewarm critical reception -- really glad I didn't!

Thanks. You really hit the nail on the head with your look at the two types of philosophies. Your example of Monster Hunter is especially apt. I haven't tried that series because the controls sounds complicated... However, unlike the people who don't try Zero for the same reason, I don't write off or dismiss the potential of Monster Hunter. I'm sure it's an incredible game once it's properly learned. And part of me wants to try learning it at some point. But I'd never expect it to click right away. Like Zero and other games with unique controls, it's best to approach it as its own genre — a new set of controls and conventions to be learned, even if superficially it resembles other games with more traditional schemes.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Go into training mode and get the high score with the walker, gyrowing, and landmaster.

With the chicken walker, remember that ZL strafes left and right. If you keep moving, you won't be hit, so when surrounded by enemies, strafe one way and pick them off with the cockpit view. (Alternatively, keep your eyes on the TV but focus on the reticule — that's what moves when you tilt the controller.)

And if you find yourself in a bullet-hell situation, remember the lasers are aimed at your last location, so if you're on the ground, try hovering over them by pulling back on the right stick, or deflecting them with the somersault by double-tapping the right stick left or right.

Thanks. Part of my problem is that the original controls are so ingrained in me and I'm finding it difficult to just ease away from them, especially in high action situations.

 

[Kinsei]

That was fun. Now to go through with the black arwing to try and beat my scores. In addition to unlocking the arwings you also get a new title screen.

If your total score is high enough Pepper will say "What?" just like he did in 64 <3.

 

[Neiteio]

That was fun. Now to go through with the black arwing to try and beat my scores. In addition to unlocking the arwings you also get a new title screen.

If your total score is high enough Pepper will say "What?" just like he did in 64 <3.

This is beautiful.

So I take it you like the game?

 

[Kinsei]

This is beautiful.

So I take it you like the game?

A lot! It's one of the best games in the series IMO.

 

[Green Mamba]

It's also disappointing how few planets there are in this. Only six separate planets compared to Star Fox 64's nine (counting Solar, not sure if that's a planet or a star or what), and Zero's Venom hardly counts and Corneria is used twice in the main game not counting side missions. A lot of this game takes place in space, where asset reuse is the easiest. This game is fun but at the same time feels really cheaply made, but I guess it was this or no Star Fox at all.

Second best Star Fox probably, but that's I guess not really a good piece of glowing praise considering 64 is unbeatable and the rest of the series is so bad. Better this being second best than Assault being second best by no measure but default I guess.

 

[Neiteio]

A lot! It's one of the best games in the series IMO.

I get withdrawals from not playing this game. It's seriously hit some sweet spot in my brain.

I just enjoy manipulating each of the vehicles so much. I love how it feels like a simulator at times, like when you see Wolf behind you on the TV and pull behind him, lining him up in your sights like a Death Star trench run. I find myself physically leaning left or right when I slam on both sticks to turn sharply in one direction, trying to keep him in my crosshairs.

I really, really, REALLY want a sequel. This foundation is so good. And a sequel would be met with a warmer reception because more people will have learned how to play between now and then.

I also wonder if DLC might be a possibility? Nothing has been announced to that effect, but Nintendo's anemic release schedule would benefit from, say, a $10 Star Fox Versus that is essentially a standalone online multiplayer mode.

I just want more! Although in the meantime I'm content to keep replaying my favorite levels. Eager to play Sector Alpha for the umpteenth time after I finish writing this week's stories.

 

[Kinsei]

It's also disappointing how few planets there are in this. Only six separate planets compared to Star Fox 64's nine (counting Solar, not sure if that's a planet or a star or what), and Zero's Venom is tiny and Corneria is used twice in the main game not counting side missions. A lot of this game takes place in space, where asset reuse is the easiest. This game is fun but at the same time feels really cheaply made, but I guess it was this or no Star Fox at all.

Second best Star Fox probably, but that's I guess not really a good piece of glowing praise considering 64 is unbeatable and the rest of the series is so bad. Better this being second best than Assault being second best by no measure but default I guess.

OG Star Fox and Star Fox 2 are not bad.

 

[Green Mamba]

OG Star Fox and Star Fox 2 are not bad.

I can't play the first Star Fox for too long without getting headaches, and I didn't really care for what I played of Star Fox 2.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

It's also disappointing how few planets there are in this. Only six separate planets compared to Star Fox 64's nine (counting Solar, not sure if that's a planet or a star or what), and Zero's Venom hardly counts and Corneria is used twice in the main game not counting side missions. A lot of this game takes place in space, where asset reuse is the easiest. This game is fun but at the same time feels really cheaply made, but I guess it was this or no Star Fox at all.

Second best Star Fox probably, but that's I guess not really a good piece of glowing praise considering 64 is unbeatable and the rest of the series is so bad. Better this being second best than Assault being second best by no measure but default I guess.

That's essentially my take on it. I like the controls and found them pretty easy to pick up. There's just not a ton of content for me since I'm not a set high scores/times kind of gamer. Especially with the lack of variety in planets, mission types etc. in this game.

But it is fun, and it's nice to have Star Fox back and it's a worthy purchase. It's just a solid 7.5 type of game to me, rather than a masterpiece like SF64. Star Fox guard is fun though, and adds to the value of the purchase (assuming you're in a region like NA where it comes bundled).

 

[Neiteio]

FAN FICTION TIME:

OK, so Star Fox One.

I said it before, but I think it'd be cool if there were two campaigns. Same levels, but different enemy arrangements, moment-to-moment action, etc. And different banter, too: One campaign follows Star Fox (Fox, Slippy, Falco, and Peppy), while the other follows an all-female squad (Krystal, Katt, Miyu and Faye).

You play as Krystal in the latter. In this continuity she's the princess of Sauria who attended military school off-planet. She could be an old friend of Fox this way. This could also be how she met Faye and Miyu (from the unreleased Star Fox II). They could be close friends of hers. As for Katt, Krystal could contract her as a hired gun.

The premise could be that Andross has returned through some feat of mad science. Venom is gone, so he makes Sauria his base of operations, leveraging the dinosaur planet's unique properties to revive himself and rebuild his army.

Krystal's team becomes the lynchpin of a resistance movement trying to reclaim the Saurian throne. They reach out to General Pepper and align themselves with Star Fox to try and stop Andross as he begins to spread out across the Lylat System, including planets not featured in Zero (such as Solar and Macbeth).

In terms of characterization, I'd like Krystal to be a good-hearted straight-shooter like Fox. Miyu could be the group's Falco &#8212; a bit cocky, but with talent to back it up. Faye could be the voice of reason, like Peppy, and Katt could be the bubbly comic relief, like Slippy. Granted, I don't how well this matches SFII depictions, but then again, it's a new continuity so everything is fair game!

Their ships could be an evolution of Katt's ship from Zero, with their own unique form of walker/hunter. Perhaps each ship could have a color scheme unique to its pilot; that way Katt could keep her red color scheme but the others could look different.

There could also be a third campaign where you play as the villains: Star Wolf! The team now consists of Wolf, Leon, Andrew and Panther. Being a treacherous swine, Pigma has gone rogue and will complicate the situation later.

I'd also like to see an amphibious "Blue Marine Mode" added to the Landmaster, in addition to the Gravmaster functionality, so that the Landmaster can roll straight into the water and skim the surface like a boat or dive underwater like a sub. In addition, it'd be cool to see the Roadmaster factor into missions.

...just some ideas!

 

[Why would you do that?]

OG Star Fox and Star Fox 2 are not bad.

Star Fox on SNES is my absolute favorite, followed by Star Fox 2 and then Star Fox 64.

I really like 64, but it was a big disappointment to me after the original. Too much focus on shooting and dog fighting and not enough on dodging debris. Plus I didn't like the bosses or music nearly as much.

Star Fox Zero ranks comfortably above Star Fox 64 IMO. The bosses aren't as fun, but the stages are more fun.

I love the inspiration this game received from Star Fox 2. While SF Zero makes me want to replay SF64, it also gives me strong desires to play SF2 and its Walker stages again.

medal locations

Thanks to you too!

 

[Neiteio]

Wanted to put this on the next page:

FAN FICTION TIME:

OK, so Star Fox One.

I said it before, but I think it'd be cool if there were two campaigns. Same levels, but different enemy arrangements, moment-to-moment action, etc. And different banter, too: One campaign follows Star Fox (Fox, Slippy, Falco, and Peppy), while the other follows an all-female squad (Krystal, Katt, Miyu and Faye).

You play as Krystal in the latter. In this continuity she's the princess of Sauria who attended military school off-planet. She could be an old friend of Fox this way. This could also be how she met Faye and Miyu (from the unreleased Star Fox II). They could be close friends of hers. As for Katt, Krystal could contract her as a hired gun.

The premise could be that Andross has returned through some feat of mad science. Venom is gone, so he makes Sauria his base of operations, leveraging the dinosaur planet's unique properties to revive himself and rebuild his army.

Krystal's team becomes the lynchpin of a resistance movement trying to reclaim the Saurian throne. They reach out to General Pepper and align themselves with Star Fox to try and stop Andross as he begins to spread out across the Lylat System, including planets not featured in Zero (such as Solar and Macbeth).

In terms of characterization, I'd like Krystal to be a good-hearted straight-shooter like Fox. Miyu could be the group's Falco — a bit cocky, but with talent to back it up. Faye could be the voice of reason, like Peppy, and Katt could be the bubbly comic relief, like Slippy. Granted, I don't how well this matches SFII depictions, but then again, it's a new continuity so everything is fair game!

Their ships could be an evolution of Katt's ship from Zero, with their own unique form of walker/hunter. Perhaps each ship could have a color scheme unique to its pilot; that way Katt could keep her red color scheme but the others could look different.

There could also be a third campaign where you play as the villains: Star Wolf! The team now consists of Wolf, Leon, Andrew and Panther. Being a treacherous swine, Pigma has gone rogue and will complicate the situation later.

I'd also like to see an amphibious "Blue Marine Mode" added to the Landmaster, in addition to the Gravmaster functionality, so that the Landmaster can roll straight into the water and skim the surface like a boat or dive underwater like a sub. In addition, it'd be cool to see the Roadmaster factor into missions.

...just some ideas!

 

[Kor of Memory]

Couple of quick questions.


1) Is there anything different about the Retro/Black arwing? Or is it just aesthetics?

2) Do the medals from Challenge mode apply to your total?

3) Final Boss:

Spoiler

There is only one way to fight him right? I'm so used to there being a fake-out/robotic version of Andross I feel like the real andross is still out there or something.

Edit:

4) Where is the Sun of the Lylat system? Since Solar is gone, I keep looking for where the sun would be, or even how the system would work regarding orbits and such.

 

[Neiteio]

Couple of quick questions.


1) Is there anything different about the Retro/Black arwing? Or is it just aesthetics?

2) Do the medals from Challenge mode apply to your total?

3) Final Boss:

Spoiler

There is only one way to fight him right? I'm so used to there being a fake-out/robotic version of Andross I feel like the real andross is still out there or something.

Not sure about questions #2 and #3, but regarding the Black Arwing, it takes more damage and does more damage. It's a glass cannon for a more challenging experience. And I think the Retro Arwing lacks lock-on but can charge bomb shots whenever.

 

[Green Mamba]

That's essentially my take on it. I like the controls and found them pretty easy to pick up. There's just not a ton of content for me since I'm not a set high scores/times kind of gamer. Especially with the lack of variety in planets, mission types etc. in this game.

But it is fun, and it's nice to have Star Fox back and it's a worthy purchase. It's just a solid 7.5 type of game to me, rather than a masterpiece like SF64. Star Fox guard is fun though, and adds to the value of the purchase (assuming you're in a region like NA where it comes bundled).

Yeah. If you can get used to and/or like the controls the first playthrough makes a pretty strong impression but digging into the extra stuff the seams become much more readily apparent I think. Better than Assault which comes out swinging in its actually pretty amazing first stage and then catapults into the abyss in the second stage and never recovers.

Anyway, I want to talk about the music and the secret best track in the game: Training.

 

[Neiteio]

Yeah. If you can get used to and/or like the controls the first playthrough makes a pretty strong impression but digging into the extra stuff the seams become much more readily apparent I think. Better than Assault which comes out swinging in its actually pretty amazing first stage and then catapults into the abyss in the second stage and never recovers.

Anyway, I want to talk about the music and the secret best track in the game: Training.

The training track is gorgeous. Personally, I'm fond of Boss A. Love the bass drop!

Regarding the game's content, I'm cool with the 12 main missions followed by side missions that remix or repurpose some of the existing worlds. There's a purity of design to some of the set-piece missions (i.e. Hunter, Salvadora, Aquarosa) that makes me love replaying them.

The only two that actually feel same-y from a gameplay experience are the side missions in the asteroid belt. One is clearly meant to be a challenge version of the other.

 

[APZonerunner]

Shame you can barely hear so much of the excellent music in game because the game has a terrible damn sound mix and lacks any options. How do you not put this shit in?

 

[Regiruler]

Yeah. If you can get used to and/or like the controls the first playthrough makes a pretty strong impression but digging into the extra stuff the seams become much more readily apparent I think. Better than Assault which comes out swinging in its actually pretty amazing first stage and then catapults into the abyss in the second stage and never recovers.

Anyway, I want to talk about the music and the secret best track in the game: Training.

Platinum's composers do some damn fine work.

Their regular Rei Kondoh is really good, and did the final boss tracks for Bayonetta, Okami, and The Wonderful 101.

It's really obvious when you listen to it, because it sounds a lot more like a platinum soundtrack than a Nintendo one (the use of Latin is a dead giveaway).

 

[brandonh83]

Shame you can barely hear so much of the excellent music in game because the game has a terrible damn sound mix and lacks any options. How do you not put this shit in?

I've noticed this too. The sound mixing is absolutely dreadful.

 

[Neiteio]

Shame you can barely hear so much of the excellent music in game because the game has a terrible damn sound mix and lacks any options. How do you not put this shit in?

There should always be more options, for everything, but I honestly am not having a hard time hearing the music...? But yeah, I agree there should be sound settings for all layers (voices, SFX, music).

I'm playing with a soundbar on my TV and it sounds fine, though. Maybe you guys are playing with a surround sound setup and the game isn't optimized well for that?

 

[El Odio]

The way target view specifcally allows for deeper fights against Star wolf alone is going to make going back to 64 hard. Ever run through is the same with blasting them for 2 seconds with hyper lasers while they follow your teammates brain dead and doing a loop a loop to target wolf. Here in their fights they actually seem to alternate between who's on your tail while the others go off and shoot at something else. Don't even get me started on that 1v1 on wolf though. I don't think I've had two run through of that encounter that played out exactly the same.

 

[Neiteio]

The way target view specifcally allows for deeper fights against Star wolf alone is going to make going back to 64 hard. Ever run through is the same with blasting them for 2 seconds with hyper lasers while they follow your teammates brain dead and doing a loop a loop to target wolf. Here in their fights they actually seem to alternate between who's on your tail while the others go off and shoot at something else. Don't even get me started on that 1v1 on wolf though. I don't think I've had two run through of that encounter that played out exactly the same.

The 1v1 Wolf encounter is probably the single most challenging and intense scenario in the entire series. It's the one mission in Zero (or any Star Fox) that I can't consistently beat. It's amazing, and the target view is pretty much essential to keep tabs on your opponent.

Obligatory 30-minute loop of new Star Wolf theme

 

[APZonerunner]

There should always be more options, for everything, but I honestly am not having a hard time hearing the music...? But yeah, I agree there should be sound settings for all layers (voices, SFX, music).

I'm playing with a soundbar on my TV and it sounds fine, though. Maybe you guys are playing with a surround sound setup and the game isn't optimized well for that?

I've tried it every way; a full 5.1 system, a soundbar, the TV speakers. It always sounds like shit. Headphones are arguably the best result, but unfortunately because the game routes a bunch of sound through the gamepad with NO OPTION for anything else (because, again, there are no options whatsoever basically) you lose a bunch of audio by using headphones, and the sound level the gamepad puts out is way, way lower (and for me at least, less satisfying) than what I can get from mixing the TV/console out to the headphones.

It's a mess. Honestly, if you can pick out something like, say, the Jingle that plays when Katt or Bill appear, you must have the hearing of a dog or something, because it's just a muddy mess in the mix for me no matter the situation. I can deal with games not having great native sound mixes because situations differ wildly not just in setup, but in game as well. But to not put in any options (options, it should be noted, that even SF64 had) is ludicrous.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

While not an excuse for the poor sound mix, it's much better with headphones plugged into the Gamepad. So give that a go if you're wanting to experience a better mix.