Star Fox Adventures was the oldest game on my backlog. I remember picking it up when it launched back in 2002. A new Star Fox game? A new RARE game??? Day fucking one, I said! This game should be GODLIKE.
I recall playing up to the point where I had to run around collecting 20 scarabs, got bored, got frustrated, and never played again. That was about 2 hours into the game. I was SO disappointed. The overworld design was just so confusing and I could not deal with the CONSTANT fetch quests, and this is coming from someone who loved DK64, BK and BT.
Finally, almost 12 years after its launch, I decided to return to the game, now armed with a bit more patience.
First thing I noticed: Rare truly were technical wizards. Even by todays standards, Star Fox Adventures looks fantastic, from both a technical and art design perspective. There are basically no load times: transitioning from overworld to dungeon is seamless, something even the newest Zelda games are still incapable of. Hard to believe it was an early Gamecube game from 2002! Its probably one of the best looking Cube games, and it's running at a perfect 60 fps. Super impressive. Why did Nintendo let these guys go? >_<
David Wises soundtrack is also fantastic, though it clashed with what I was seeing at times. It definitely meshed with the whole Dinosaur Planet aesthetic, but not so much with the Star Fox characters. Hard to follow up Koji Kondos Star Fox 64 soundtrack, which some of the best music ever in a game.
Aaaaaaaaand the praise ends just about there.
Star Fox Adventures was a game in development hell, and it shows! Originally an N64 title, Miyamoto forced Rare to make Star Fox the main character for some fucking reason. Rare was also one foot out the door in 2002, and it really feels like they just gave up on this game, because there is some sloppy stuff going on. Its a Zelda clone that is decent in some respects, but downright bad in most.
My original criticisms from 12 years ago still stand. The levels are gigantic and maze like in structure. The NPCs are not helpful at all, usually spouting completely useless dialogue, including stuff like I dont feel like talking. As I result, I felt lost during the majority of my playthrough, and had to consult a guide multiple times to just know where I had to go next. Because I kept running in fucking circles. The controls in general were sluggish and Fox moved way too slowly considering how much walking there was in the game. I wish I could ride the little dinosaur or something. It doesnt help that you are constantly running around collecting things. At a fundamental level, the game is just badly paced, and its not FUN to run around the world with Fox. You know theres a problem when the best parts of the game are the sequences where you control the Arwing in space!
Some character designs are decent, most are bad. A whole lot of HERP DERP dinosaurs, and Star Fox team members. Krystal is horrible, good god. Now that Ive played the entire game, I honestly do not understand the appeal and popularity of this character. She doesnt do anything! Nothing. Why do people want her in Smash Bros again?
Voice acting was brutal, especially coming off of some of the best voice acting ever in a game from Star Fox 64. The story/script was really bad too. Lots of cringe worthy dialogue/delivery throughout the entire experience.
Then, theres all the little things. Like in Zelda, Fox can jump by running off a ledge. However, unlike Zelda, Fox only jumps when the game wants you to jump. In other words, you can solve puzzles that involve jumping only the specific way the game wants you to solve the puzzle. For example, I can clearly jump over those spikes from this platform. So I try but Fox doesnt jump. He grabs the ledge. Sorry, you have to push a block for 3 minutes, climb up, THEN jump over the spikes from the exact, correct platform. Why can't I be creative with my puzzle solving? Baffling game design decisions that made me question whether people even tested the game, or if they just cranked it out because they knew they were on their way to Microsoft in a couple of weeks.
Its been 12 years, and Im still waiting on a true follow up to Star Fox 64, because this aint it. While it had its moments (some neat boss battles, unique puzzles here and there, great aesthetic, as I mentioned), Star Fox Adventures was a mostly boring experience that was a pain to get through.
Why the fuck did I just post a review of Star Fox Adventures? God Im bored.
I know! This is the Sonic Community thread, right? Its been 2+ years, how about I play a Sonic game?
NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z:
Its going down. I just popped this fucker into my Wii, lets see just how bad it is. Cant be worse than Colors!
I recall playing up to the point where I had to run around collecting 20 scarabs, got bored, got frustrated, and never played again. That was about 2 hours into the game. I was SO disappointed. The overworld design was just so confusing and I could not deal with the CONSTANT fetch quests, and this is coming from someone who loved DK64, BK and BT.
Finally, almost 12 years after its launch, I decided to return to the game, now armed with a bit more patience.
First thing I noticed: Rare truly were technical wizards. Even by todays standards, Star Fox Adventures looks fantastic, from both a technical and art design perspective. There are basically no load times: transitioning from overworld to dungeon is seamless, something even the newest Zelda games are still incapable of. Hard to believe it was an early Gamecube game from 2002! Its probably one of the best looking Cube games, and it's running at a perfect 60 fps. Super impressive. Why did Nintendo let these guys go? >_<
David Wises soundtrack is also fantastic, though it clashed with what I was seeing at times. It definitely meshed with the whole Dinosaur Planet aesthetic, but not so much with the Star Fox characters. Hard to follow up Koji Kondos Star Fox 64 soundtrack, which some of the best music ever in a game.
Aaaaaaaaand the praise ends just about there.
Star Fox Adventures was a game in development hell, and it shows! Originally an N64 title, Miyamoto forced Rare to make Star Fox the main character for some fucking reason. Rare was also one foot out the door in 2002, and it really feels like they just gave up on this game, because there is some sloppy stuff going on. Its a Zelda clone that is decent in some respects, but downright bad in most.
My original criticisms from 12 years ago still stand. The levels are gigantic and maze like in structure. The NPCs are not helpful at all, usually spouting completely useless dialogue, including stuff like I dont feel like talking. As I result, I felt lost during the majority of my playthrough, and had to consult a guide multiple times to just know where I had to go next. Because I kept running in fucking circles. The controls in general were sluggish and Fox moved way too slowly considering how much walking there was in the game. I wish I could ride the little dinosaur or something. It doesnt help that you are constantly running around collecting things. At a fundamental level, the game is just badly paced, and its not FUN to run around the world with Fox. You know theres a problem when the best parts of the game are the sequences where you control the Arwing in space!
Some character designs are decent, most are bad. A whole lot of HERP DERP dinosaurs, and Star Fox team members. Krystal is horrible, good god. Now that Ive played the entire game, I honestly do not understand the appeal and popularity of this character. She doesnt do anything! Nothing. Why do people want her in Smash Bros again?
Voice acting was brutal, especially coming off of some of the best voice acting ever in a game from Star Fox 64. The story/script was really bad too. Lots of cringe worthy dialogue/delivery throughout the entire experience.
Then, theres all the little things. Like in Zelda, Fox can jump by running off a ledge. However, unlike Zelda, Fox only jumps when the game wants you to jump. In other words, you can solve puzzles that involve jumping only the specific way the game wants you to solve the puzzle. For example, I can clearly jump over those spikes from this platform. So I try but Fox doesnt jump. He grabs the ledge. Sorry, you have to push a block for 3 minutes, climb up, THEN jump over the spikes from the exact, correct platform. Why can't I be creative with my puzzle solving? Baffling game design decisions that made me question whether people even tested the game, or if they just cranked it out because they knew they were on their way to Microsoft in a couple of weeks.
Its been 12 years, and Im still waiting on a true follow up to Star Fox 64, because this aint it. While it had its moments (some neat boss battles, unique puzzles here and there, great aesthetic, as I mentioned), Star Fox Adventures was a mostly boring experience that was a pain to get through.
Why the fuck did I just post a review of Star Fox Adventures? God Im bored.
I know! This is the Sonic Community thread, right? Its been 2+ years, how about I play a Sonic game?
NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z:
Its going down. I just popped this fucker into my Wii, lets see just how bad it is. Cant be worse than Colors!
