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Star Fox: Assault 
Release date: 14 Feb 2005
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Mygamer review
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Several years have passed since the events of Star Fox Adventures and a new threat is bearing down on the Lylat system. Aparoids - creatures able to assimilate just about any being or machine and use it for their own purposes - have launched an all-out assault and crippled the Cornerian fleet. As before, all that remains to stop this latest menace is Fox McCloud and his Star Fox team.
In Star Fox Assault you spend a significant amount of time outside of the Arwing's confines. Many arena-styled missions require you to move about in the Landmaster tank or even on foot. As Fox moves about he'll find a large assortment of small arms ranging from the default blaster to a homing missile launcher and even a sniper rifle. The default blaster charges and locks onto targets just like the cannon found on the Arwing and Landmaster. You can tap the button to fire quickly or hold it to lock onto a target and fire a single, more powerful blast. The weapon's particle effects change color several times as energy is drawn in and power builds up. Weapons continually spawn as you move about the levels, as do enemies from Aparoid hatchers which are frequently your primary targets. As always, you'll uncover power-ups, rings, and special items such as bombs as you destroy enemies either with a vehicle or a hand weapon.
While Arwing controls are defaulted and can't be changed, there are three control configurations offered for Pilot/Landmaster situations. Dual Stick and Single Stick control schemes are usable, though far from perfect. With Dual Stick the Control Stick moves your pilot or Landmaster and C stick moves the camera. On foot R shoots and A switches weapons which is not only counter-intuitive, it's redundant since the Control Pad already cycles through weapons. With Single Stick, A shoots; however L's pressure-sensitive double functioning for strafing and rolling will have you entering the wrong commands in a crunch, similar to how L makes the Arwing roll and turn sharply. Aiming is done by holding R and moving the Control Stick. Last and least is R Button Run which utilizes R to move forward and to back up you must hold L and down on the Control Stick. L and up on the Control stick moves you forward just like R…stay away from this one. Neither scheme offers an easy way to turn around.
Star Fox Assault is too much foot and too little wing, and there is a definite lack of vintage Star Fox action. When you are finally given the chance to control an Arwing, it feels very much as it always has with a few exceptions. Aside from the awkward dual role of the L button, navigating up and down even in three-dimensional space is difficult because the Arwing can't move at a 90-degree angle, not even when the brakes are on since maneuverability is greatly hindered when braking. The boost gauge allows for a small portion of boost energy to be consumed at a time or all at once. Pressing boost a second time slows the Arwing to normal speed. Special maneuvers are easy to perform and consume only a portion of the gauge. A simple flick of the C Stick in the appropriate direction either executes a loop or a 180-degree turn. Even braking lasts for a long time and allows for hovering in all-range environments when searching for a satisfactory place to land.
New to gameplay on some of the arena-styled levels is the Might Gauge which measures enemy strength. If it fills up, you're done. To keep the enemy at bay you'll frequently need to jump from one mode of combat to the next by pressing the Z button near the appropriate vehicle. While the ability to move at will from air to ground is great in theory, the Might Gauge can become a nuisance and some all-range environments - with the exception of Corneria City - feel too small to be tearing around in an Arwing. Greater control over idling speed would have been advantageous. Still, there is a great amount of freedom and you can set the Arwing down just about anywhere. Not only can you fly, run, and drive, if you press Z while flying you can shoot your hand weapons from the hull of your Arwing. This looks great, but aiming is tough and you need to be back in the cockpit before reaching the level boundary or you fall. Also new is the attack combo bonus. When you destroy a target your combo meter fills and you have until the meter empties to continue destroying targets to continually refill the meter. The higher the combo the higher the bonus you receive.
Some missions are too frantic to be enjoyable. When defending the gateway orbiting Corneria from huge missiles you must target each missile's single weak point but by the time you find it, it's too late. One such weak point is in the back of a missile forcing you to fly past it, turn around and then attack all the while you are pulverized by oncoming enemies even though you aren't afforded enough time to stop and fight them. Two allies need saving during this mission and the bulk of the space station and the gateway make it difficult to find them. There is also no way to switch the target you currently have locked so if you're trying to lock on to a missile you may lock on to something else. Don't feel too bad if you buddies get shot down; the story is a straight line and Falco won't be finding any hidden bosses for you.
Any mission completed in the single player campaign can be selected individually and played at any time, a much needed improvement over Star Fox 64 where in order to gain a medal on any level a complete playthrough was required. Levels are also unlocked for Vs. mode where up to four players can go head to head in any combination of 1 vs. 1, 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2, etc. Each user can select from the four members of the Star Fox team, each of which have different stats. Falco is your best pilot while Slippy is best with the Landmaster. Handicaps can be set though you are given no choice in the screen orientation. Multiplayer is extremely boring with only two people. Star Fox 64's Point Match and Time Trial would have been quite welcome, as all there is to do here is chase after your one opponent - the levels feel dead. Different levels accommodate different types of combat. Inner Sargasso Hideout is for pilots on foot only, while stages like Outer Sargasso Hideout only support Arwings. It's the stages that allow combat on all fronts such as the huge and beautiful Corneria City that are the most disappointing.
In two-player games with Pilot, Arwing, and Landmaster available, only one of each vehicle is present and they constantly respawn if not used (and yes, frequently as you are running towards them). If entering an arena that allows all three forms of combat and Landmaster is unselected there will be two Arwings. If you unselect Pilot combat and leave Arwing and Landmaster you both start in Arwings and can't land. To get a Landmaster you must get killed. Good luck chasing after an Arwing in a tank. You can't even unlock additional characters to play as such as Wolf, Panther or General Pepper. With no cpu opponents present would it really have been so hard to put a few of each vehicle?
Star Fox Assault feels like one cut corner after another. Even load screens prior to missions aren't displayed long enough to read the mission text. They would have benefited from user input. The only audio option offered is to switch between mono and stereo; you can't adjust the levels at all and in gameplay the machine gun and gatling gun make the same sound. Most if not all of the voice acting is different from Star Fox 64 and some of the characters, Falco especially, just don't seem the same personality-wise. However, constant chatter and support from your team is well implemented.
For the most part Star Fox Assault is graphically impressive. On one hand, ship and character models are mediocre and in the first mission a ship in orbit of Fortuna enters orbit simply by disappearing. On the other, the environments look great and are often huge. Corneria City's free-roaming layout and beautiful design are matched only by the lack of fun and variety Vs. mode allows you to have there.
Despite its flaws, any fan of Star Fox should play through Star Fox Assault, but don't be too quick to pawn off your copy of Star Fox 64 on eBay.
Review by Dave Kaplan on 22 Feb 2005
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