Starfox Adventures: Rare Says Goodbye To Nintendo With a Superb Game

Author's Rating:

Pros: Excellent graphics, sound, music, and puzzle/adventure gameplay.

Cons: Critics. Critized. Underrated.

The Bottom Line: 
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Author's Review
Official Name: Starfox Adventures
Developer: Rareware
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: September 2002
Genre: Adventure
Rating: Teen: Animated Blood - Mild Violence
Also Available On: GameCube Only
Multiplayer: No

Intro-
Starfox Adventures was delayed for several years. It was originally intended for the N64. When everyone saw that Majora’s Mask was probably going to be the last major game for the long-lived console, Rare decided to hold out and improve it to GC standards. Even then it was delayed, from early 2002, to July, and then was finally released on September 23, 2002. Down at E3, many gamers were wondering if they would see a Zelda-like game in 2002, seeing as how Wind Waker would be released no earlier than 2003. They got their answer when they saw that Fox would not only step out of the Arwing cockpit, but grace a beautiful planet in much resemblance to games like Ocarina of Time.

The advertisements to Starfox Adventures were endless, getting endless praise, endless media, and the anticipation was endless. When finally released, Starfox Adventures brought a sour impression to most gamers. Maybe it was the weird feeling of Fox outside an Arwing, maybe it was combat system, or maybe it was the overall gameplay of the game. Whatever the reason for the mediocre ratings was, it’s sure that Nintendo will be savoring these and only these last moments from a Rare game.

The story starts out with a fox named Krystal, who is the only survivor of her doomed home planet Cerinia. She answers to a distress call from a foreign planet of the Lylat system, thinking she may find some answers here. Upon arriving at a hostile ship at the top of the planet’s skies, she is attacked by a beast known as General Scales, and drops overboard her magical staff (which will come to play later on). When she narrowly manages to escape Scales, she goes to a temple in the sky called Krazoa Palace. Upon arriving, she is attacked, and then trapped. Who’s doing this? Meanwhile...

The Great Fox has seen better days. So has the crew, because it’s been 8 years since they defeated Andross, and it’s been 8 years of sheer boredom. Peppy has retired from combat (again), but still aids Fox from their mother ship as an advisor, and is respected by everyone aboard the Great Fox. Slippy, still annoying, has turned in the Arwing and has gotten into Cornerian Weapons R&D, and also aids Fox from the ship. ROB, the ship’s operating robot, has been enhanced and redesigned by Slippy, and now looks more retro and has far more personality. 8 years of boredom was apparently too much for Falco, so he disappeared, and hasn’t been seen in several years.

While screwing around on the Great Fox, the crew gets a sudden message from General Pepper. A distant land on the edge of the Lylat System - Dinosaur Planet - has been mysteriously attacked. Large pieces of the planet have begun of drift off into orbit, with even more strain and pressure constricting the planet’s core. If they don’t do something about this soon, the planet could explode, and affect the entire Lylat System. Anxious to get to work, Fox lands on the planet (unarmed to Fox’s frustration), and soon discovers a strange, abandoned spear, with hidden magical prowess...

The rest of the story unfolds nicely, which I will leave to you to discover. Weird things happen, especially during Krystal’s rescue, such as jazzy saxophone music playing as Fox drools over the imprisoned Krystal (heartthrob of the year awards suggest this), and the final battle which was a bit of a surprise. The story of Starfox Adventures was much more intriguing and rewarding than that of Starfox 64. The story is not only interesting, but it makes you want to finish more and more of the game to see what happens next.

Graphical Capabilities-
This is what attracted the greater audience. Most people would prefer to just say it: what I like most is the graphics. I’m not that big on graphics, as I don’t care much as long as the game is good, but I have to give Rare kudos on the amazing character looks and stunning environments. Let’s get to it: this game’s graphical capabilities put 733mhz pretty lolly-pops to shame. Can you name me one gaming hero who has been more graphically enhanced? Look at closely at Fox and you will see that Fox’s fur is individually lined with hair, and has nice looking equipment. Other graphically superb elements in the game include the main characters like Slippy, Peppy, Prince Tricky, and not to mention the visually stunning bosses.

The environments are equally beautiful. The water especially, is some of the finest animation I’ve seen in a game. The trees, lakes, streams, waterfalls, enemies: it all adds up to a visually satisfying environment you want to be around. The weather effects are probably the most effective of all. The rain and thunder effects are surely the finest I’ve seen in any game, and so is the smooth and cool alternation between night and day. Overall, this is one of the most visually effective games I’ve seen on the GC.
Graphical Capabilities: 10/10

Sound Capabilities-
The magic in most Miyamoto and Rare games is the fitting music and nice sound effects. From belching, screams, cries, songs, and voices, the game is just as fitting when it comes to sound. The first and foremost magic in sound comes from the awesome music. The traditional Starfox tune is thrown in there many times, along with passive, action-filled, and suspenseful tunes throughout the game and then some. Other nice sound achievements in the game are the nicely done sound effects. In the combat especially, you wear nice effects like enemies yelling, or the staff hitting, which is very clear and brisk. Hitting your sidekick, Prince Tricky, with the staff always has a nice “snap” to it : ) The last element, voice acting, was (by my part) expected to suck. I’ve gotten so fed up with terrible voices ruining good games, but Starfox Adventures didn’t disappoint, or more importantly, annoy me.

Fox’s voice is tenfold heard as to that of Starfox 64, and it is very nicely done. He sounds very placid, but at the same time not wimpy, annoying, or overly deep. Voices like Prince Tricky don’t really get in the way throughout the cinematics, nor the voices of most in-game characters. Voices from the Great Fox are a different story. Slippy’s voice for one, while as annoying as hell during Starfox 64, sounded real, while as the different voice in this game sounds like it’s trying to be high-pitched and annoying. The same thing for Peppy, sadly, because he was the only one in Starfox 64 who’s voice didn’t annoy me terribly, but here sounds like he’s trying to sound old and brittle. You don’t hear many voices from the Great Fox compared to how many your hear on the planet, so it didn’t get in the way, really.
Sound Capabilities: 9/10

Gameplay-
This is what makes Rare games stand out, and are enhanced tenfold by their usual amazing, stunning array of great graphics and sound. This area of the game, however, seemed to be what soured people to Rare’s last Nintendo game. I can explain it well, and I will, but I simply couldn’t get what got Starfox Adventures the mediocre reviews it did. Anyways, the gameplay in Starfox Adventures is fun, enhancing, intriguing, and very pleasant to work with. The main element from gameplay that wasn’t liked among the audience was the combat system. When you find your staff (and you will almost as soon as you start playing), you are challenged to fight four enemies. This is where you learn the basics. No jump button is a constant problem for people in Miyamoto games, especially in Zelda games. In Starfox Adventures, you’re gonna be jumping as many times as a kangaroo with no legs. I don’t find a problem with it, but it gives a feeling of freedom to gamers in adventure games, so I must list it as a problem. The only times you’re really gonna be jumping is when you run off a ledge or something in relation.

Anyways, the combat system: When you get close to the enemy, if you have your staff drawn, you will go to a letterbox screen and you will got to an automatic targeting system, much like the L-targeting in Zelda games. The automatic lock-on is a problem for many, because it gets in the way if you want to evade enemies rather than going to lock-on and starting a fight. I don’t see why this is such a problem, because all you have to do is withdraw your staff with B and you’ll walk by any enemies you see. In fact, I find the automatic lock-on really useful, because it’s the way I like to fight in games like this, and holding down the L-button or something of the sort was going to be a mite tedious. Like in Zelda, the combat system was quite simple. You attack with A, and block with R. The difference from Zelda is that there is less strategy to be planned when fighting enemies, because you only have the A attack, and all attacks are A with the movement of the joystick. This is what makes combos. For example, if you keep pressing A and hold the joystick down, you do a multiple spin attack with the staff, finished with a staff charge up that impales the enemy.

If you were to not move the joystick as you pressed A, you would do a combination of kicks and horizontal hits with the staff. Overall, the combat system is very simplistic in its nature. The X button, only useful in combat evades to the side, does back flips, and rolls forward. The enemies throughout the game don’t vary much, sadly. Pretty much all of the enemies were just biped lizards with clubs and shields, some larger than others. Unlike in Zelda, however, enemies don’t play a large role in the gameplay. This may sound ludicrous, but it’s true. The magic from the gameplay in Starfox Adventures is the puzzles. It’s not quite like the puzzles from games like Resident Evil, but they are full-blown puzzles nonetheless. Basically, if you don’t like puzzles, you won’t like Starfox Adventures. Unsurprisingly, not many gamers of today like puzzles, so before you shun the idea of trying Starfox Adventures, you should consider the fact that the puzzles are more intriguing, fun, and challenging than they are confusing and frustrating, and it does not divert the game from the adventure genre, so an adventure is not lost to a collection of puzzles at all.

With that said, I should imply that although enemies do not play a large role in the game, the bosses are the single best reason to get this game. As Miyamoto always prefers, the enemies in this game are massive compared to Fox, so you need to find weak spots and use the surrounding environments for the boss fights. A large improvement in the boss battles is the fact that the weak spots aren’t glowing like in Starfox 64, where it was basically begging you to attack them there. My favorite out of all bosses is the King Redeye. You’ll see for yourself how nicely done the boss fights are in the game. Shortly after your arrival to Dinosaur Planet, you’ll meet up with the young Prince Tricky, son of the EarthWalker tribe’s king. From that moment on, Tricky will be your partner in your adventure. Before you click that X at the top of your screen and call him Navi, I think I should say that Tricky is a vital ally.

He does things like find treasure, helping you with puzzles (like doing something somewhere to let you do something else - stay with me here), melting or burning obstacles, or helping you interact with the tribes you meet along the way. Needless to say, Tricky is probably the most useful sidekick ever in a game. He is nothing like Navi, in which he would annoy you during a fight with any new enemy, or constantly stopping you to explain how you use a damn joystick. The main problem with Tricky is not his-it’s yours: you’re gonna hate him no matter what. Although helpful and not annoying, people hate the little guy from all angles. The problem? His happiness. No matter what situation you’re in, no matter how many times you whack him with a staff, no matter how many times you mistreat him for all the wrong reasons, he will have this happy little grin on his stupid face - Result: a mistreated and mentally abused little triceratops.

Once you learn the basics of the game, the rest is just figuring out the puzzles, rescuing the foxy Krystal, and saving Dinosaur Planet. Throughout the game, the progression scheme works way better than games like Banjo-Kazooie or Donkey Kong 64. In DK 64, I had my save file at 99% because I was still missing a couple of regular bananas: it drove me INsane. In Banjo-Kazooie, it got tiring looking for all notes, feathers, and jigsaw pieces. In Starfox Adventures, the only items you really collect are fuel cells, bafomdads, and cheat tokens. You’ll learn how you us these items as the game progresses. When you enter new levels, you have to pass a short-lived Arwing mission by collecting gold rings to open the gate to the location. These (and the last boss battle) will be the only times you ride the Arwing. I’ll leave you to figure out the rest of the gameplay as you progress through the game.

How Should I Play This Game?
The puzzles in Starfox Adventures, which are many to be found, can get tricky, so a short stop at gamefaqs.com or a printed out guide might be useful in some parts of the game, but I wouldn’t recommend getting a store-bought guide at all. The lack of multiplayer makes this a game unsuitable for several people.

Pros
Great graphics, sound and music, puzzles, awesome gameplay, awesome bosses, useful sidekick, and amazing/interactive environments makes for a nice good-bye to Rare’s grace over Nintendo consoles.

Cons
The mediocre feedback has made the game step down a bit. I found that the longevity of the game wasn’t great either (about 5 days to a week of gameplay w/o a guide). I loved the game.

Final Recommendation
This is the bottom line: if you like adventure, if you love puzzles, and if you’re a fan of Rare, then you won’t want to miss out on their last Nintendo game. For people who only like the Fox for his shooting Arwing games, then Starfox Adventures might not be the ticket. I can’t seem to find major problems with the game, and I don’t understand why the game has been labeled by almost all to be mediocre. True, Starfox Adventures will never be classified as Rare’s finest work, but I found that the game was intriguing and fun overall. Starfox Adventures was Rare’s bookend title for Nintendo, and I’m sorry to see them go, but I’m glad they left on such a nice note. Starfox Adventures steps out of the Arwing, but it still manages to show what Rare is made of.

A Tribute to Rare
Over the years, Rare has supported several Nintendo consoles with a collection of outstanding titles. Few could dismiss Rare’s leave from Nintendo as unimportant, so I’ve decided to give a heartfelt tribute to what is probably the finest gaming company ever.

Donkey Kong
Although Donkey Kong and friends are the creation of Shigeru Miyamoto, Rare has forever been enhancing the ape jungle experience ever since DK decided to stop kidnaping Peach and defending his turf from the hand of King K. Rool and the Kremlins.
Donkey Kong Country - SNES 1994
Donkey Kong Land - Game Boy 1995
Donkey Kong Country 2 - SNES 1995
Donkey Kong Land 2 - Game Boy1996
Donkey Kong Country 3 - SNES 1996
Donkey Kong Country - Game Boy Color 1997
Donkey Kong 64 - N64 1999

Goldeneye
Probably the highest rated first-person shooter ever, Rare’s movie rendition of weapon hijacking was named game of the year by God-knows-how-many people, and dominated number 1 on the Nintendo Power charts for well over a year.
Goldeneye - N64 1997

Diddy Kong Racing
Donkey Kong’s side-kick gets his own racing game with a parade of cuddly pals. The gameplay made it much more than a mere racing game, however, and it is still one of the best racing games to date.
Diddy Kong Racing - N64 1997

Banjo-Kazooie - Banjo-Tooie
The Diddy Kong racing bear Banjo and his bird pal Kazooie take on the evil witch Gruntilda to save Banjo’s sister Tooie in one of the best platformers on the N64. Gruntilda returns to seek vengeance on the duo in Banjo-Tooie.
Banjo-Kazooie - N64 1998
Banjo-Tooie - N64 2000

Perfect Dark
The rival to the older Goldeneye, Perfect Dark got insane reviews, a nice collection of awards, and an amazing look o’ graphics. Joanna Dark straps on a holster and takes on one of the most popular first-person shooters ever.
Perfect Dark - N64 2000

The above are just some of the awesome games that Rare has graced over Nintendo consoles. You have surely heard of most, if not played a number of Rare games. They have won many awards throughout their gaming library over the years. Starfox Adventures, the very last Rare game for a Nintendo console, was a sad farewell to Rare. I think it should have won a spot on Game of the Year for the NP awards, but I guess my impression was not the same as gamers. As this is Rare’s last game, I felt I owed it to them and buy their bookend title for Nintendo. On a side note, games like Donkey Kong Racing and the sequel to Perfect Dark have obviously been cancelled. Goodbye Rare, we’ll miss you dearly.

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