- Wisecracking Fox and Cuddly Dino Meet So-So GameStar Fox Adventures frustrated me, and sent me into a love-hate gaming territory I've rarely visited before. Even writing this REVIEW frustrated me. Because I loved some aspects of Star Fox Adventures, I loathed others with equal passion.
On the good side, Star Fox Adventures is beautiful to look at, from the finely rendered fur of the title character, to the supporting characters and several imaginative worlds and environments. It's also occasionally really, really fun to play -- with an enjoyable combination of space battles and creative quests. In these cases, the game has a very Zelda-like feel, and will be a joy for adventure gamers.
I also enjoyed the characters within the game and their development. Some don't enjoy Star Fox's cynicism or world-weary "I just want to get paid" attitude, but I liked it. It reminded me of Han Solo in the original Star Wars movies -- of the tough character with the heart of gold. I'm also in the minority because I frankly loved Fox's sidekick character Tricky -- a cuddly baby dinosaur who's brave, funny, and the closest thing I've seen on Gamecube to a GigaPet. Tricky adds a whole new level to the game because he must be kept fed and happy by feeding him various magical mushrooms at intervals, as well as giving him the occasional chance to play (where, if he's happy enough, he'll change color!). If kept happy, Tricky will not only help Fox in various tasks, but he's also a real help in battling monsters (he can flame them with his breath like a dragon). Tricky has really been brought to life with intelligence and humor -- he's fascinating to watch even when Fox is simply going through his latest fetch quest or series of tasks. At various times, Tricky may roll in the dirt, take a nap, cackle with glee, or offer consolation or support, nuzzling a scared dinosaur or alerting you to the presence of bad guys. I was a sucker for this character and really felt affection for him by the end (I know a lot of people found him annoying, though, so maybe I'm just a softie...)
But on the down side, most of the puzzles and quests are simply variations on the "fetch quest" theme, most involving carrying a barrel of some sort to some other point for access, etc.
The most frustrating thing of all, however? The immense gaps in difficulty between tasks. One quest you're given might be laughably easy -- while the next task, whether it's a Test of Strength or a speeder chase -- might be so hard as to be unwinnable. The game's Saves are doubly infuriating for this reason, as they're chapter-oriented versus task-oriented. This means you might surpass 3/4 of the tough tasks in one section, quit and save your progress, yet come back later to find you have to replay the entire section again.
The Tests of Strength in particular are simply sadistic -- ultimate button-masher challenges which require the repeated pressing of the A button as fast as possible (and I mean FAST). They're horribly difficult and not much fun, and really hard if your controller doesn't have an autofire capability. I finally only beat these by "cheating" after a fashion -- moving a pencil back and forth very quickly across the A button at lightning speed.
Even worse (for me at least) were two tasks near the game's end, in Dragon Rock, involving shooting down masses of enemy planes as they pour toward you -- one at a time -- while protecting the slow and hapless dinosaurs you have to ride at the same time. The first variation of this task (on the back of a slow bronto) I barely got through after two or three days of trying. The second, in which you have to shoot down four different pillars in turn (at over 15 hits per pillar to bring it down) all while avoiding hordes of enemy ships? After two solid weeks of trying, I could not do it. Luckily I have a friend who's a stellar FPS gamer who was able to barely squeak by this point for me (and she took several hours to do it because the odds are so stacked against you). For younger players or less experienced gamers, this particular task brings the game to a grinding halt. There is simply no way to get past this impossible (and impassable) task. Same with some of the speeder races or timed quests -- some of them are babyland-easy, others may take what feels like endless repetition before you are able to progress in the game.
These wildly erratic gaps in difficulty mean if you can't get past the latest really really tough task, you're permanently through. And moments like this just sucked the fun right out of the game for me, despite the fact that I loved other areas (like a spooky moonscape, a seaside town, and the main dinosaur hub city).
It's a shame. The game is beautifully rendered and has its good points, but it could have been so much better.
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