Star Fox Adventures didn’t even begin life as a Star Fox game. Shigeru Miyamoto rocked up to Rare’s offices and saw it was working hard on a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo 64 game called Dinosau🍌r Planet. It had an alien world to explore, Zelda-esque puzzles, and an emphasis on fantastical combat that Star Fox had never flirted with before. Because, as I said, it was never intended as one.
Miyamoto thought differently however, and knowing the upcoming GameCube was in rather dire need of b🧸ig exclusives, encour♚aged the studio to change its new IP into a game starring a familiar furry mascot. The end result was a polarising, yet fondly remembered gem which we hardly see talked about in the modern era. That’s a huge shame, since it’s pretty damn good.
I doubt Nintendo intended its introduction to be memorable thanks to a certain scantily clad Princess called Krystal, but I bet my bottom dollar she was the furry ไawakening for hundreds of gamers back in the early noughties. She might have been investigating the destruction of her home planet at the hands of an evil lizard overlord, but that doesn’t stop us from simping something fierce. Things have only gotten worse in the years since, although thinking back I remember Star Fox Adventures beginning on a surprisingly sombre note thanks to melancholy rainfall, ample explosions, an♔d an aura of defeatism. You solved a few standard puzzles involving the lighting of torches and placing heavy objects on switches to progress forward.
It was very Zelda, right down to its movement controls and camera system. That led to an awkward release given Wind Waker was right around the corner, and Star Fox fans didn’t take kindly to the series pivoting to on-foot exploration and combat. I was a fan though, mostly because it was the first Star Fox I’d played and gelled with its sense of freedom the likes of Zelda has instilled in me from a young age. I was a fox, and I could beat up bi𒁃g evil dinosaur people with my sick staff while solving puzzles and helping my friends. There was a lot to love here and few downsides, at least until I got to the infamous jetski section.
I was much too young to power through an on-rails set piece that required you to steer a vehicle through multiple obstacles while fighting off enemies and protecting yourself from taking damage. This was over two decades ago, so there weren’t any forgiving checkpoints or means to save your progress in the midst of iꦜt all. Fail, and you’re right back to the beginning. It’s worth noting that I failed many times before getting angry and handing the controller to my older brother, only for him to fail some more. Games were tougher back then.
A few hours into the campaign, you’re also responsible for looking after a tiny little dinosaur after his mother falls ill. He doesn’t do much except act as a welcome companion across an otherwise lonely game world. It’s luscious and filled with natural variety, but beyond beating up enem🧜ies and taking on the occasional quest there is a l꧙oneliness to this alien planet that doesn’t feel like Zelda or Star Fox. It still seems new even years later, eerily distinct in its tone.
Once the opening story sequence wraps up, I recall hurtling through space towards a new planet. Back then, this was a modern execution of classic Star Fox space combat, which to many felt like what this game should have been instead of walking around on foot with little care for dogfighting. We got the dogfighting iteration in Star Fox Zero however, and thanks to its dodgy controls, it wasn’t the next generation of Star Fox we’d been waiting for either. At least Adventures was bold enough to try something new with an IP drenched in nostalgia. So, why not give it a nice remaster after all these years Rare is owned by Mic💜rosoft these days, but since when has that prevented Nintendo from chasing projects once thought to be squared away for good?
Star Fox Adventures isn’t even the first GameCube title that comes to mind when discussing those deserving of remasters. Super Mario Sunshine already got one 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:despite being rubbish, while Eternal Darkness, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Odama, MGS: Twin Snakes, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and countless others remain trapped in the purple box. If we’re ever going to bring these classics over to Switch or any other future console, please let Rare’s ambitious little not-⛄quite-a-Zelda-clone be at the top of the list.
