Star Fox General Thread

Just got myself an SNES Classic after waiting an hour or two at my local store for the weekly delivery. Can't wait to see what Star Fox 2 is like.

I really need to get my hands on one, honestly. Just to have one.

Even if I have to pay a scalper.

If you can figure out your local retailer's restocking schedule, it's just a matter of getting there on time. That's what I did. Don't let the scalpers win!

I was rewatching Dinosaur Planet footage and it made me melancholy, like always.

I would like Krystal to get a redesign one of these days. Her SF redesign always looked jarring to me. She doesn't quite match the other characters.

In Star Fox Assault, it was established that an Aparoid attacked the Lylat system 17 years ago. Why did it take the Aparoids 17 years to send another attack?

Might be a strategy similar to the Tyrannids. Send a large "scout fleet" to take over the system if they're a weak pushover, but if not, at least give the greater fleet a feeling for what they're up against in the near future.

I brought Zero but can't play it due to Splatoon ruining my analog stick. Last time I checked the gamepad was mandatory. I think you can, however, set the game to d-pad, right? Would that be advisable?

Out of the hour~ of Zero I was able to play, I don't quite get the complaints. Everyone made it seem awful. It's... Normal Star Fox? The only negative things I've seen is that it rehashes the same SNES/64 plot.

At least for me, the reliance on the gamepad's second screen and gyro controls makes it unplayably bad.

It's the controls, and the gyrocopter sections that ruined the game. Seriously, this is one case where Miyamoto's utter insistence upon innovation backfired, big time.

Hopefully Platinum was clever enough to design most of the game to function without the gamepad behind the scenes; should make it easier to port Zero to the Switch and hopefully give the game a potential second wind. Might help if they included a multiplayer component similar to what 64 or Assault had.

All the more reason why I believe Gyro controls are the devil, and nothing can convince me otherwise. This kind of crap makes Command's stylus controls look good.

edited 25th Mar '18 6:57:37 AM by RainingMetal

It doesn't help that all the non-gyro elements just feel like standard Star Fox. The series doesn't feel like its evolving in its design, with stuff like on foot sections Assault and RTS elements in Command being the closest we get to interesting gameplay elements we've gotten in the last 13 years, and those weren't exactly perfectly executed either.

When you compare it to the big leap forwards that Zelda, Mario, or Metroid have done, the whole thing feels a bit lacking. Heck even if something like Kirby gets criticism for the games feeling too similar, at least they're completely intuitive and friendly for a new audience.

Zero somehow manages to have both stale mechanics for old fans and a botched attempt at innovation for new ones.

edited 25th Mar '18 8:36:48 AM by BorneAgain

I can't say I noticed the gyro controls. I play Splatoon on gyro, so gyro controls are second nature.

Honestly for me it's not the gyro controls that are the worst; I dislike them and would prefer good ol' analog-stick aiming, sure, but it's semi-workable.

It's having to look back and forth between the gamepad screen and the television that kills it for me. Especially when combined with the gyro controls.

It's just the most awkward, unplayable control scheme I have ever encountered in my life. I beat the game once and haven't touched it ever since.

A thousand times this. Its the single worst forced application of the Wii U gamepad and in terms of a bad control gimmick applied to a major Nintendo franchise, only rivaled by Metroid Prime Hunters in sheer discomfort. And at least the latter was just a spin-off, not the main game intended to reboot the series.

Sometimes I wonder if Miyamoto knowingly sabotages games like Star Zero. Or Paper Mario Sticker Star.

I think Miyamoto had an interesting idea he thought would breath new life into the series, but even getting beyond the actual execution of the two screens concept (which might have worked better with a 3DS dual screen in my opinion), the bigger issue was that this was not the time to apply it.

In 2016 Star Fox hadn't had a new console game in over 10 years, was suffering from diminishing sales with each new game since 2002 (64 remake excepted), was releasing on a low selling console already in its final days, and was not blowing anyone away with its graphics or design. It was in an uphill battle for fan interest as it was and introducing a control mechanic that at best, was going to take a time investment to get used to and at worst would never be comfortable for some players likely diminished a lot of the remaining curiosity many might have had.

A Mario, a Zelda, hell even a Sonic could afford to be experimental with something like control given the safety net of their popularity. Star Fox couldn't and that sales didn't even crack half a million units sold illustrates that better than anything.

edited 1st Apr '18 1:43:24 PM by BorneAgain

Basically, Nintendo (or Miyamoto) sees a gimmick, they want to use the fuck out of it because it's there. Never mind if it's detrimental to core gameplay or the fanbase's wishes, policy demands that you use it.

Eurogamer rumor: Retro's next game is a Star Fox racer with elements of F-Zero and Diddy Kong Racing.

A racer? Wait, are you saying that this is going to be canon?

Kinda wish it would include all of Nintendo's space franchises.

I would laugh if they included a female bird character who in her spare time is a bounty hunter and is named Nara Sumas.

Not punny enough!

I sort of have an idea in my head of what this could turn out to be and it's pretty exciting. Imagine starting out on a land track, shooting down bogeys overhead to build up and fire off your boost power through loops and sharp turns. Then, you come to an intersection and you can decide whether to continue on the ground or take to the air to engage in aerial dogfights for boost and drop bombs to mess with racers on the ground. We could even have seamless transitions between a planetary surface and outer space.

You can have story bits slotted into the single player mode races and in the hub world, and in between races you can use money earned (based on enemy kills and race position) to upgrade and customize your ship, explore for collectibles and even play some minigames.

edited 15th May '18 12:48:35 AM by edvedd

I'm assuming this possible Star Fox Race would take place after Zero and hence exclude Kyrstal. Although, it'd be funny if they took advantage of Star Fox 2's official release to include Miyu, Fay, and Algy.

I really hope they forget Zero exists and focus on the 64 or SNES timeline.