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Life & Arts

Star Fox rises to a familiar level

'Assault' creates new challenges by building on features of the past

Derek Lanphier
The Daily Cougar

Star Fox is back from his rumored acid-induced trip with dinosaurs, and thank a higher power, because this game is not Star Fox Adventures. Much unlike the other Star Fox games on the GameCube, Star Fox: Assault returns our favorite space-mammal to the cockpit of the Arwing -- well, sometimes.

The opening stage will remind gamers of the hours of gaming they spent defeating the evil tyrant Andross in Star Fox on the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64. This time the Lylat System calls upon Star Fox to subdue a rebellion by Andross' nephew Andrew, and the remainder of the evil tyrant's fleet. Although the game starts out to seem like a rehash of the other Star Fox titles, it quickly takes a turn as the game's new enemies are introduced, known only as the Aparoids. Star Fox is taken through a series of levels combating the new enemy until their demise.

The "on-rails" gameplay is back as Fox takes to the skies and blasts everything in his path, while the free-roam levels are slightly modified. During free-roam, players can switch between the Landmaster Tank, the Arwing or just blast things on foot with a variety of different weapons. Unfortunately, the Arwing levels are the most fun as the controls really muck things up on land. Not to mention the indoor/ground levels are poorly designed and the controls are frustrating. 

The game would have been better with more Arwing levels and maybe only one or two ground missions. The missions are pretty much the same as well -- just blow everything up.

All the primary and secondary characters from past games make an appearance somewhere, including StarWolf, although his team has changed, and Krystal (from Star Fox Adventures) now takes Peppy's place in the team. 

Fans of the Star Fox series will love the new versions of old songs from the N64 days; the sound is much like the old games as well. Voice work is so horrible it becomes humorous, but of course that's just like the old games, too. The well-known ships like the Arwing and the Great Fox are redesigned and look pointy and awesome -- the angular design is a throwback to the original game. Fans will be pleased.

In fact, the Arwing missions are visually some of the best sequences seen on the GameCube, while the ground missions seem lacking. The game is very short, so it's only worth buying for die-hard fans, or if gamers want to wait for the price to go down.

Multiplayer is very fun and will last players longer than the single-player game.

To put it simply, the game is flawed but fun, and fans will enjoy it.

Plus, ‘Assault' is almost talking-dinosaur free.

Star Fox: Assault

Rated: T for Teen

Nintendo Games for GameCube

Verdict: Despite its flaws, fans and anti-dinosaur activists will be pleased.
 

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