After 10 years without a "Star Fox" game (not counting "Star Fox 64 3D"), Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy return on the Wii U in "Star Fox Zero." The announcement of a new "Star Fox" game received a lot of hype before its release, as everyone was so excited to play the game and see the series make its triumphant return. And once it finally came out...well, you can read any "Most Disappointing Games of 2016" list and I guarantee you'll find the game on each one. Naturally, I had to play the game to get in on the talk, and, to be completely honest, I actually thought the game was good.
"Star Fox Zero" was admittedly pretty fun to play: while there are some problems we'll discuss later, I was consistently enjoying myself with the game, I smiled because of the variety of different vehicles you can control and I loved the fast-paced action of the game. The graphics, though I was initially skeptical on them, were actually quite good, the voice acting is decent for the most part, and the characters are still memorable (yes, even Slippy).
That said, the game is very obviously not "perfect." Like everyone is telling you, the controls are a mixed bag: sometimes they're perfectly fine, other times they make the more challenging parts of the game even worse. They're not as bad as everyone makes them out to be, and for the most part, I found myself not really having huge problems with them, but they aren't perfect, and you'll notice that at some points in the game. The game itself, while fun, is also extremely short: upon checking my Wii U daily log after completing it, I found that I did so in just over 4 hours. I don't know, I feel like they could've added a little more story content to extend the runtime a little bit. Furthermore, and most disappointingly, it kinda sucks that, after waiting 10 years for a new "Star Fox" game, we essentially just got "Star Fox 64 AGAIN!" "Star Fox 64" was a remake of the original "Star Fox," and this game is essentially a remake of "Star Fox 64." And if you consider that "Star Fox 64 3D" also exists, "Star Fox Zero" should just be called "Star Fox 64 2/3/4" or something like that, because that's basically what it is: "Star Fox 64" for the third or fourth time. They could've done so much more with the license, and having PlatinumGames at the helm means the possibilities were even bigger, but unfortunately, it does feel at least a little disappointing.
Overall, I certainly see where the disappointment comes from with this game, and I agree that it was a bit of a letdown, but all in all, "Star Fox Zero" is actually a good game and I can certainly recommend trying it out if you're even the slightest bit curious. I had a good time with it and, even if you don't, it's worth it to at least get in on the conversation and chime in on whether or not it lived up to your personal expectations.
Final rating: 7 out of 10 "Good"