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Rareware had been a prominent second party developer for Nintendo throughout the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 eras. They brought us such classics as the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Banjo-Kazooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Goldeneye 007, and Perfect Dark. And of course, as Nintendo entered into a new generation of gaming with the release of its Gamecube, Rare was in the process of developing new titles for the system. Among them was a game entitled Dinosaur Planet, which Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto later slapped the Starfox brand onto, giving us Starfox Adventures, Rare’s first and only venture into the Starfox franchise as well as the only game Rare ever released for the Nintendo Gamecube.
In 2002, Microsoft purchased 100% of Rare’s stock from founders Chris and Tim Stamper as well as Nintendo, bringing production of Rare’s proposed Gamecube titles to a screeching halt. This occurred towards the end of Rare’s development of Starfox Adventures and Rare was forced to finish the game quickly. This quickly becomes apparent as players enter into the later stages of the game, wherein they will find themselves revisiting old dungeons, completing uninspired puzzles (with icons appearing that would indicate to players precisely what item to use and where), and abruptly entering into a Krazoa Spirit side quest that comes completely out of left field and is an unnecessary addition to the SpellStone-collecting quest. Toward the end of the game, you’re practically given the last few Krazoa Spirits right at the last second.
The original intention for Dinosaur Planet was to have the player assume control of both Krystal and a male protagonist (later replaced by Fox McCloud, lead protagonist of the Starfox series) for a large portion of the game. Instead, the player starts off controlling Krystal very briefly and then controls Fox for the rest of the game, Krystal being encased in (quite appropriately) crystal up until the very end.
The controls are very simplistic; though there are various power-ups that Fox obtains for his staff throughout his quest such as fire and ice, players will usually just find themselves mashing the A-button repeatedly to conserve their magic meters. When travelling to portions of the broken planet, the player will assume control of the Arwing in the traditional Starfox style. However, these portions of the game are some of the least fun as you struggle to obtain every last gold ring in order to progress to the next part of the game. It’s not that there is no fun in a good challenge, but these parts of the game are uninteresting and offer little enjoyment; they are merely a fanservice to nostalgic Starfox veterans vying for more space shooter action as in the series’ SNES and N64 installments (in which case they’re playing the wrong game altogether).
The game also forces several mini-games onto the player, usually as part of a test to obtain a Krazoa Spirit. Among the most grating are the Test of Strength (which you have to repeat later on in the LightFoot Village) and the Test of Fear. The Test of Strength involves serious A-button mashing (tip: rub a spoon over the A button instead; for some reason, it works). The Test of Fear requires the player to move the control stick left and right to keep a meter within the green portion of a line at the bottom of the screen while frightening, but mostly distracting, images play on the rest of the screen.
The game’s conclusion is perhaps the most rushed of all; once Tricky, Fox’s triceratops sidekick, departs, players finds themselves unable to revisit the majority of Dinosaur Planet. Instead, Fox heads straight to the Krazoa Shrine to obtain the last few Krazoa Spirits, free Krystal, return her staff, and enter into the final boss battle against Andross, the antagonist of previous Starfox games. Andross’s insertion into the game was handled very carelessly. After a confrontation between Fox and General Scales, the game’s real antagonist, is brought to an anti-climactic interruption, Fox finds that Andross was the mastermind this whole time. The battle is fought with the Arwing, the game’s sole instance of Arwing-based combat. The process of defeating Andross is almost exactly the same as it had been in Star Fox on the Super Nintendo and Starfox 64. Players are also in for a special surprise during the battle which I will not spoil.
For all its faults, Starfox Adventures has redeeming qualities. For fans of the series who were itching for something different, Starfox Adventures offered more freedom for exploration by delving into the adventure genre. The storyline is intriguing, the characters fulfill their reduced roles well (I find that Peppy and Slippy work far better as support from behind the scenes than they do as hack pilots who need to be rescued every three minutes), and the environments are beautifully rendered. In particular, I love watching the effects of the wind and the rain on the river in ThornTail Hollow. Starfox Adventures has been seen by some as a half-baked Zelda clone, which I would not call an inaccurate assessment, but if given the proper time and care that goes into each Zelda game, it could have been just as good. Think of Starfox Adventures as Zelda with more of an emphasis on technology than on magic… and also with anthropomorphic animals rather than humanoids.
Overall Score: 6.5/10
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Rareware
Platform(s): Nintendo Gamecube
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T - Teen
Release Date: 09.23.02
The Good: Graphics, storyline, characters, new angle on Starfox universe
The Bad: Rushed and incomplete feel, simplistic controls, easy puzzles, overly difficult challenges
The Ugly: What’s up with that lady (or is that a man) running the shop at ThornTail Hollow?