The classic style is back and nice, but on foot portions drag the game down.
The Bad: Strays too far from the flying with on foot playing...and really, that’s where all the problems stem from
Okay, so, Starfox Adventures strayed pretty far from the normal formula of Starfox, but it wasn’t too bad. Now, Nintendo decides to go back to the old style, but they kept the on foot part...You can now move on foot to shoot up baddies with guns and to move from vehicle to vehicle. This adds a bit of variety to the missions...but we don’t care. We wanted the old-school playing back, and only that. Too many missions rely on the running and gunning, which makes the total package less fun.
In Arwings, you use A to shoot, B to bomb, Y to boost, X to land, Z to hop out/get in, R to brake and L to roll/ bank. Shots can be charged for tracking blasts, and you find laser upgrades along the way. Flying missions have you in your Arwing on a set path where you tilt the nose of your craft to aim, but ultimately end up on the set route, or some are totally free flying. Tanks are always free controlled. A is shoot, also chargeable, B is boost, Y is hover, and L is bank/ barrel roll. On foot, you can set it to ‘normal’ FPS controls, but the default is a lot like Metroid Prime. A is shoot, Y is jump (not B), but you hold L to strafe and roll, and hold still and use R to aim, like Metroid Prime. Also, B is barrier, little force fields, and Z is to enter or exit a vehicle. D-Pad switches weapons.
Graphics are nice. Nice backgrounds, space looks great, vehicle and character models look great, some really sleek and shiny structures are found, and cool looking lasers fill up battlefields. I also love the space station.
Sound is okay. Fox’s, Krystal’s, Peppy’s and Falco’s, voices are great, while the others are annoying. Music is actually quite good here, classic themes are prevalent. Some good laser sounds and bomb noises here and there. Pretty standard in SFX.
Value is pretty good. You have quite a lot of multiplayer options, weapons, maps, and unlockables, but it’s no Super Smash Bros. and even with four people, most maps feel empty and it’s hard to find people. It’s weird. But if you feel you can use the multiplayer enough to make it worth your time, then go for it. The single player is worth playing through once, but its like Star Wars Bounty Hunter where after the first time, you don’t want to deal with most missions. A few good ones are fun to play over again, to set scores and stuff, but neither the single nor multiplayer alone make it worth buying.
This game strayed farther than we would have liked from the formula, and it seems all Starfox games are held back farther than they should be and none are all they could be. This game is no exception. Its fun to blast through the campaign once or twice, and with friends it can entertain for a half hour or so.
The Bottom line: Single and Multiplayer both lack something that makes them less than they could be, and neither warrant the purchase alone, unless you plan to thoroughly enjoy both. Certainly rent it, or get it cheap (I think it’s only 20$ now) so if you can get it relatively cheap, don’t waste 6$ renting it and just buy it.