Star Fox Assault, the most recent entry in the Star Fox series, has had a shaky development history. After the genre-changing experience that was Star Fox Adventures, fans were thrilled to hear that the series was returning to its shooter roots. They were later disturbed, however, by the game's sub-par showings at various press events. Now that the game has been released, opinions are still all over the board. The way I see it, Star Fox Assault is getting a lot of bad press for a lot of bad reasons. There are many promising ideas being introduced that those who are quick to judge are seemingly overlooking. Perhaps by examining the series as a whole, we can nail down some of the new elements in Assault that hold so much potential.

The Star Fox franchise, despite just recently celebrating its 12th anniversary, is still very much in its infancy. Released on the Super Nintendo in 1993, the original Star Fox impressed with its Super-FX-enhanced graphics and fantastic soundtrack. It was all very straightforward; blast various enemies as you fly through a selection of on-rails missions. Many of the gameplay decisions made by the developers were likely a result of the engine being used, and a desire to show it off as much as possible.

Four years later, Star Fox 64 was released on the Nintendo 64. Borrowing many elements from the cancelled Star Fox 2, Star Fox 64 introduced the idea of piloting multiple machines and maneuvering in true 3D. At its core, however, it was largely the same experience as its SNES predecessor. In fact, the Star Fox 64 storyline was meant to replace the one presented in the original Star Fox, and only music from SF64 has been remixed in later games in the franchise. Star Fox 64 could probably be considered the starting point for all other games in the series, as the original Star Fox has been largely ignored save for a musical cameo in Super Smash Bros Melee.

Star Fox 64 was cherished by many for its tight control, epic presentation, and entertaining combo system. Broken down to its most basic elements, the game was about quick reactions and maximizing your score. While it was nowhere near as challenging or complicated as most twitch shooters, it was very fun, and the franchise became Nintendo's main in-house contribution to the genre. Fans eagerly awaited the next iteration in this still-young series, dreaming of the fast-paced vehicular battles on new and more powerful hardware.


The next game to carry the Star Fox name, however, was not at all what people had expected. In early 2001, Rare switched the development of their N64 adventure title Dinosaur Planet over to the Nintendo GameCube. As it turns out, the platform swap was the least of the changes being made; the world of Dinosaur Planet had suddenly been overrun by Fox McCloud and the Star Fox team. The game featured Fox, on foot, exploring the planet in an obviously Zelda-inspired adventure. Despite the radical change in gameplay from Star Fox 64, the game looked absolutely stunning during its development. There were even missions where you got to fly an Arwing through classic on-rails space stages.

I won't talk too much about what became of the now-titled Star Fox Adventures, but while it was critically acclaimed, it was a significant disappointment for much of the Star Fox fan base. The game in no way carried the spirit of the Star Fox franchise that was solidified in Star Fox 64, as it was plagued by abysmal combat, terribly brief and uninspired shooter levels, and a storyline that used the Star Fox mythos in a dishearteningly tacked-on way. Star Fox Adventures had become the black sheep of the Star Fox series - a game that radically deviated from the spirit of the series and produced less-than-favorable results.

Things were looking bleak for the future of the franchise. Fans of Star Fox 64 wanted Fox back in his Arwing, and they wanted him to stay there. There was much joy when it was revealed that the series was returning to its shooter roots in a new Star Fox game developed by Namco. Fox wouldnt only be blasting things in his Arwing, though. He would also be facing foes behind the barrel of a tank and on his own two feet. It was an admittedly worrisome proposition, as fans had already been burned by the on-foot escapades featured in Star Fox Adventures, and others had seen how poorly the on-foot missions had turned out in games like Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. Early impressions were not encouraging, as the on-foot battling was very loose and no flying missions were even shown.

Star Fox Assault was made available early through a promotion with Blockbuster Video, and then unleashed on the gaming public officially in mid-February. The first wave of impressions from the Blockbuster trial were largely poor, citing the on-foot portions of the game as terrible and yearning desperately for the days when Fox would stay in his ship. More favorable opinions arose when the game was officially released, and a kind of split was formed in the fanbase. While no one tried to claim that the game was perfect, some were far more vocal in their dislike of the game than others.