Feature: Star Fox RoundTable

Star Fox Command hit Australian shores yesterday and in celebration of its release we here at Vooks have been working around the clock to bringing you Reviews, News and Wallpapers on this exciting new instalment to the Star Fox series. Now it is time for the RoundTable in which four of our community members have taken the time to answer a few questions to give readers a better idea of Command and of the Star Fox series in general.

Roundtable Inside. What was your first Star Fox experience?

Spirit: I was a 64 kid so my first Star Fox game was Star Fox 64, which to this day remains one of the best of the series. The 64 had a lot of these hits and like most fans I have cried for a Star Fox game like Lylat Wars to be reborn. It had a good mix of rail and free-range missions and the multiplayer was a blast.

flamecondor: Hiring out Starwing (the PAL name for Starfox on the SNES) back in 93. Playing it for a day or so, beating it on easy mode, but not even coming close on any of the other modes, ahh those were the days.

Takora: Lylat Wars on the N64.

/\nthony:A Starwing game watch I still own. I got it from some cereal box token send in thing. It had awful sound, which I always had turned off.

What is the most appealing and/or interesting aspect of Star Fox?

Spirit: Personally I just love the concept of it. Talking animals pitted against giant heads in a galactic conflict spread over a series of worlds, each taken straight out of the gaming handbook. By that I refer to there being a lava level, an ice level, a mountain level, all the stuff we expect from a Nintendo game.

flamecondor: There is so much I love about the games, I love the music, I love the game play, I love the storyline, its really hard to nail it down to one thing. I guess at the end of the day its the Gameplay that keeps me coming back for more, so thats what gets my vote.

Takora: I would have to say the challenge that they can put you through. Some areas of the games can get quite hard when you are surrounded by enemies, and it’s incredibly fun to try to out manoeuvre them and blast some fire back.

/\nthony: Starfox is my least favourite of all of Nintendo’s franchises. I hate the characters, the setting, and the story, almost all of it. My favourite thing about Starfox is that despite all that I can still enjoy the games.

What is your Favourite game from the Star Fox Franchise? What did you like most about it?

Spirit: Hands down Star Fox Command. While a little short for the first time it has heaps of replay value with alternate endings. It also tries to be a little different by incorporating Real Time Strategy elements into the already fun flight sim part.

flamecondor: I loved the original, it just did everything right, and for its time the graphics were amazing. However Starfox Command for DS is quickly becoming my new favourite game of the series.

Takora: Lylat Wars, easily. When I first played it, I was only new to gaming. It was a great experience. The thing I most liked about it would be simply the amount of fun you can have while playing it. Hours could just melt by as you shot down everything in your path.

/\nthony: Lylat Wars. Its one of the most atmospheric action games ever created, its still solid against todays scripted first person shooter mega hits. Atmosphere is definitely the most memorable element of the game. That and when I first played it with my friends we would all deliberately drop the controller claiming the rumble pack made us do it. Man, such a simple thing was so revolutionary back then.

Star Fox Adventures and Assault were considered amongst Nintendo fans as below average titles. Do you agree with this? Why?

Spirit: While Im hardly a fan of either games I dont see them in such a negative light as most Nintendo fans. Adventures was never intended to being a Star Fox game into later on in its development. Im just glad I got to play as Fox again. Assault didnt do anything for the series. It was short but during that short time a lot of fun. To me both these games are just average in terms of gameplay.

flamecondor:Ive only played Adventures, and to be honest I liked the game, I really did, it was a graphical achievement, it was fun to play and had a great little story. The flight scenes rocked, the only thing I didnt like was the final boss, which did feel slapped on. Did it feel abit like Zelda with fur, sure but hell it was still a good game & a nice twist in the Starfox franchise, I honestly would like to see more games along this path, just a little more thought out though. Like dont make the on the foot levels a chore and dont make the flight levels just seemed chucked on.

Takora: I dont agree that Star Fox Adventures was below average, but I do agree that Star Fox Assault was. Adventures did what it was trying to do well, but it was attacked by many people because it was not as good as other games in the same genre as it. I dont know about anyone else, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing through Adventures.
Assault, on the other hand, was definitely below average. It lacked the fun factor that the past games seemed to have. The on foot parts of the game were terrible to control, while the flying parts were average at best.

/\nthony: Havent played Assault. As for Adventures, I agree that it wasn’t all it should have been but come on! Below average? I think a lot of people arent aware of what competition is out there; particularly at that time most of the competing games were dribble. Adventures was fun, but not great. A very forgettable game but one most people saw through to the end.

What direction do you hope Nintendo takes Star Fox in the future?

Spirit: I dont want Star Fox 64 to be ported or remade but I would love to see another title similar to that one while incorporating the real time strategy concept as well. More of a focus on the story would be good as well. Not some tacky, second handed thing that Command felt like which is now being referred to as non-canon.

flamecondor:Hard one to answer, storyline wise I can think of a few of the endings of Starfox Command I would love to see happen, but Im not going to spoil them for you. Gameplay its hard to say, I would love to see another game in the style of Llyat Wars, on the rails straight up shooter, but using the Wiimote for control. Having said that I would love to see more games done in the style of Starfox Adventures.

Takora:I hope they bring the series back to its on rails roots, with small parts of free range flying, just like in Lylat Wars. The mix of both would be great to have again.

/\nthony: Co-operative. No half-assed stuff either. Online co-op with voice communication. Something like that would obliterate the competition. Wingmen should be real, not AI. You bring real wingmen into Starfox and you wont need gimmick ‘directions’ or ‘art styles’ to keep things fresh. Just raw gaming. Imagine taking down a Starfox boss co-operatively with mates?

For those lucky few that have played Star Fox Command what are your impressions?

Spirit: As I mentioned earlier it is my favourite of the series by far. You can see my hands on impressions here.

flamecondor:At first I didnt like it, the controls thought odd, I missed the on rails parts, I really didnt like it. However I gave the game a little time and now I cant put it down. The controls are great and work really well, the tactical element is a breath of fresh air; the game is simply a stroke of genius. It breathed fresh life into the series and has set it back on course.

Thanks to everyone that participated. We look forward to seeing you tonight.