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CO_17thRecon
Kell Hounds
Major
Joined: 10-Sep-2002 00:00
Posts: 1297
Location: United States
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 Posted: 29-Nov-2002 12:59 Post subject: Game Reconnaissance: StarFox Adventures |
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Game Reconnaissance: StarFox Adventures (Dinosaur Planet)
By: Joseph “the Fox” Garbo
Overview: In recent years, and particularly with the Nintendo64 system, Nintendo has gathered a reputation for selling games that are only interesting to the 12 and under age bracket. While this is true to some extent, many “family-friendly” games are still a joy to play and Nintendo has been selectively bringing more mature titles to their line-up, primarily on their new flagship, the Game Cube. Although rated “Teen” StarFox Adventures is pretty well friendly. There is no blood, no cursing, and the violence is only comparable with similar titles in the genre, such as the Zelda and Metroid series of games. I would recommend the game to anyone 10 years or older (or about that mature anyway), younger children may enjoy the game, but will be frustrated by the frequent puzzles and may be confused by the plot.
Originally, this was an N64 game called Dinosaur Planet. Nintendo got a hold of the game and “canceled” it. During this time, it was made into a Game Cube game and Fox McCloud was made the main character. Although delayed for ages, it is truly a masterpiece that you won’t regret picking up. (Note: Rare has been swallowed by software giant Microsoft. I can only hope that despite this, they will be the team that makes the sequel. Though it isn’t likely. Microsoft won’t make games for competing systems, and Nintendo won’t let StarFox move on to the X-Box.)
Game Play: I could wax poetic on the game system and difficulty for days. StarFox’s battle and inventory system is everything that Azurik: Rise of Perathia’s should have been! Only in one or two situations did I find myself cursing the system, but that was more because it was inconvenient when I needed something in a hurry than because it got me into a bad situation. In fact, I can never claim that I died as a result of a balky item system. The game’s difficulty is quite on the mark. I was almost always challenged, but only once frustrated to the point I had to stop playing the game for some time. And that had been an action sequence, fairly similar to the old Donkey Kong game, and not a puzzle. (In many ways, the difficulty is similar to Super Mario: Sunshine, with practice being key to most areas. Azurik was a different matter; I could never enjoy the game.) The last boss is somewhat surprising, but also cliché if you play a lot of StarFox, but still makes for a challenging and entertaining battle. Game variety is top-notch, as well as the Zelda/Tomb Raider-esque ground sequences, there are vehicle races, mazes, “Sharpshooter” target areas, and the ever-present Arwing space battles.
Graphics: This game is simply beautiful, comparable to Azurik, but probably better. The fur on the main characters – Krystal and Fox -- is excellent, it seems as though someone had the not-so-envious job of systematically placing every single hair. (I imagine it was done with a complicated program running off a math formula though.) The dinosaurs and environments are breathtaking, and the passage of time and lighting effects are great. Rain is also quite well done, and this game has some of the best fire effects I’ve seen since Halo. The only quibble I have is that the fire is somewhat smoky, making it difficult to seem at some times.
Sound: God I want the soundtrack of this game! As well background music that melds into the background so wonderfully I had Final Fantasy VII flash backs, there are three scores that stand out: The “classic” StarFox theme, a new rock song that seems to be a “new” StarFox theme and the jazz song associated with Krystal, which has some very good brass performance. The voice acting is well done, and really brings out the personality of the characters. Only two voices in the game got on my nerves as annoying: Slippy Toad, and the Shopkeeper. Slippy is supposed to be annoying, so nothing new, or even wrong there. But the Shopkeeper is someone you’ll mostly be talking to often and his voice is like nails on a chalkboard. Overall, the sounds are great though.
Things I’d Like to See in the Sequel: Personally, I’d like the ability to play as different characters in different situations, the ones I’d pick for playable are Krystal, Fox (of course) and an old friend who comes back at the end of the game. I’d like to see more features that can be unlocked using the Cheat Token Well. Although “cheats” are not really needed, switching all the speaking parts into “Dino”, or changing your character, or even opening secret areas with no point other than exploring would be nice. Strangely (since I usually pay little attention to such things), I’d also like full names in the credits. These people worked long and hard and all they get is their first initial and last name?
Overall Rating: 9 out of 10
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Jarylan Blackwell
"What the...?! Where did you get THAT?!"
"Creative aquisition."
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Talen
Capellan Confederation
Sang-shao
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1269
Location: United States
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| Posted: 29-Nov-2002 13:22 Post subject: RE: Game Reconnaissance: StarFox Adventures |
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My major problem was this...
You have an adventure game with charecters that have, so far, been nothing more than talking boxes. I liked the Star Fox games for the space flight combat...and didnt give a hoot what they did outside the ship. To me they were all body- (and charecter)less persona's of Wingman...each with his own little deal.
But this game struck me as being a desperate attempt for Nintendo to sell a mediocre combat adventure game. They knew before that someting like it wouldnt have sold for the N64 simply because it wasnt as good as the Legend of Zelda games...or the like. So they stamped on Starfox, added a few things here and there, and relied on the popularity of the Starfox games for it to sell.
The game turned out being a little better than mediocre, but its nothing compared to the likes of Kingdom Hearts or the Legend of Zelda games. I would give what I have played of the game a 7/10...
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"Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well." - Leto II
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CO_17thRecon
Kell Hounds
Major
Joined: 10-Sep-2002 00:00
Posts: 1297
Location: United States
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| Posted: 29-Nov-2002 15:04 Post subject: RE: Game Reconnaissance: StarFox Adventures |
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Hmm. Reminds me of some of the Siskel and Ebert movie reviews. Well, both reviews are still higher than five, but if have found yourself agreeing with Talen often in the past, it might be a try before you buy game.
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Jarylan Blackwell
"What the...?! Where did you get THAT?!"
"Creative aquisition."
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Talen
Capellan Confederation
Sang-shao
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1269
Location: United States
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| Posted: 29-Nov-2002 15:44 Post subject: RE: Game Reconnaissance: StarFox Adventures |
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I am always a try then buy supporter (Game Stop [shameless plug] allows you 7 days to return if you dont like it).
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"Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well." - Leto II
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chihawk
Clan Blood Spirit
Master Bartender
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 8050
Location: United States
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| Posted: 29-Nov-2002 15:50 Post subject: RE: Game Reconnaissance: StarFox Adventures |
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Could always join Blockbuster and rent one before you buy 
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Talen
Capellan Confederation
Sang-shao
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1269
Location: United States
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| Posted: 29-Nov-2002 16:29 Post subject: RE: Game Reconnaissance: StarFox Adventures |
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Their rental prices are getting a bit on the expensive side. almost $6 to rent a game for 5 days...and if you DO like it...you have to go shell out the $50 to buy it.
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"Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well." - Leto II
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CO_17thRecon
Kell Hounds
Major
Joined: 10-Sep-2002 00:00
Posts: 1297
Location: United States
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| Posted: 29-Nov-2002 17:46 Post subject: RE: Game Reconnaissance: StarFox Adventures |
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I can't try before I buy at rental places. I owe most of them $200+. So I have to be pretty sure it's a good game before I buy it. Occasionaly I get a bad one, but it's rare.
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Major Joseph Garbo
CO 17th Recon Battalion,
Harewood's Harvesters
“An engineer can look at a pile of junk and tell you what it was, a good one can tell you what went wrong and an expert engineer can put the pile of junk back together.”
[ This Message was edited by: CO_17thRecon on 2002-11-29 17:47 ]
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Jarylan Blackwell
"What the...?! Where did you get THAT?!"
"Creative aquisition."
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