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| Preview and History - Starfox Adventures Developer: Rare Publisher: Nintendo Genre: Adventure After a switch from Nintendo 64 to Gamecube, SFA is one of the most anticipated games on Gamecube. Read down to find out more about this adventure from Rare. The History of Starfox Adventures Starfox Adventures was originally a N64 game but has not so recently been switched over to Nintendo's new system the Gamecube. The transition to Gamecube is an interesting one as you?ll find out below. Rare's Epic Adventure game Dinosaur planet (not Starfox Adventures yet) debuted at E3 2000 to somewhat mixed reactions from people who played the game and the press. A lot of the people who played Dinosaur Planet thought that it had a very Zelda feel to it. While it also had an interesting Story and interactive environments it also had clunky controls, loss of framerate and horrible motion. Rare was criticised for pushing the N64 a mile past its limits and all of those negative things about the game were due to hardware limitations. Dinosaur Planet was delayed, disappeared entirely at one point and it was also rumoured to be under a massive reconstruction as its early 2001 release was ticking away. When the release date came and went people began to think something was a bit awry. Cancellation rumors were running amuck, while other people began to guess it had switched to the new console on the block the Nintendo Gamecube, where it would benefit from the powerful Gamecube hardware. Then another rumour came pointing to Nintendo's much beloved franchise Starfox (Lylat Wars for PAL gamers) and its cast of lovable characters had replaced the earlier cat like characters. The rumors that Dinosaur Planet had moved to Gamecube were confirmed, as were the new Starfox cast Pre-E3 2001. Starfox Adventures: Preview Beautiful, Lush environments, and epic adventure and the greatest fur ever created. This is what we have seen of Starfox Adventures recently. With 4 years of development time under its wing (Fur?) this looks to be THE game of 2001. Join me and Fox McCloud as we explore Dinosaur Planet. Story and Cast SFA is set in a place called Dinosaur Planet. Dinosaur Planet had been taken over by the Evil General Scales, the main baddie in the game. The SFA story is set 8 years after the destruction of Andross in Starfox 64 (Lylat Wars 64 for PAL gamers). Fox arrives and finds that General Scales is sending this beautiful, lush, and unspoilt paradise, filled with prehistoric Animals into Chaos. General Scales has captured the Pterodactyl princess of Dinosaur Planet. Starfox teams up with old team members such as Slippy, Peppy and Rob the Robot and new team members like Prince Tricky, Fox?s trusty Triceratops pal. And Krystal a basically unknown character that was captured by the Krozoa. Falco Lombardi has apparently set off on a solo career. It's anyone?s guess to whether he will show up in SFA or not. It's Fox's job to rid the Planet of General Scales, rescue the princess and uplift the terror and fear from Dinosaur Planet. Not a particularly original or interesting story but since it?s Rare I can almost guarantee a large and engrossing story. What?s different about this game is that Fox is on foot, unlike all his other adventures which have been flying combat. Fox does use his Arwing spacecraft throughout the game to move to different areas. With his Staff and sidekick Tricky you will be trekking all over Dinosaur Planet in this new Adventure starring Fox McCloud. Graphics Starfox Adventures graphics is simply put Stunning and breathtaking. Dinosaur Planet is decked out in every colour under the rainbow and looks just great. This game is absolutely filled to the brim, no overflowing with charm and visual splendour. From the reflections in the little pond to the enemies to the realistic fur on Fox this game shows it's development time. If you like to see the environment moving around you, trees swaying, grass parting and water moving ever so slightly in the wind then this is the game for you. During gameplay you will be lucky enough to immerse yourself in a game that's all that and a huge bit more graphically. Jungles, ancient civilisation, beautiful meadows and volcanic caves all look almost exactly the same as they would in real life. It is almost certain that there will be a large array of tropical worlds to visit and rid of the enemies, all the while taking in the world around you. The environments in Starfox Adventures will all react to your actions and act accordingly. And the facial expressions are just brilliant. I would not be surprised at all to see Starfox Adventures being the best graphical game of 2002 and that is a huge accomplishment. Sound Rare have, once again, outdone themselves in the music and sound department. The music is somewhat like the Starfox music from SNES and N64 but with a lot of differentiations that they used in Dinosaur Planet. And I can outright guarantee that this games music is AAA stuff. The demo videos show that the music is tops and if they are in the least bit like the final game then there is no doubt that the music will rock. Then the sound effects come in. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. If the ground underneath Fox is muddy then you will hear realistic squelching noises. If it's long grass you will hear swaying noises. Great. If you hit an enemy you will hear and appropriate sound and all your weapons will sound like they should. The sound should be crisp and clear just like other Rare games. The music and sound are just plain awesome in SFA. Control The control style of Starfox Adventures is in a Zelda N64-esque style. That means auto jumping, auto climbing and a focus system during battle. Don't worry. This control system is good stuff. On Zelda N64 you had to press the Z button to equip this enemy focus, now it is done automatically. This will definitely make Starfox Adventures better as the Zelda system is simply excellent. But that is where the Zelda similarities stop. This game will have all the charm, originality and wit of the other Rare games. Our furry hero makes commands to Tricky, does spells, uses inventory and transforms into Dinosaurs all with his magical staff. This is all done with great ease thanks to the great Gamecube controller. The controls on SFA are as below. A: All actions B: Cancel all, doors, buttons C Stick: Weapons scroll, sidekick menu, rotate map Control Stick: Move character, aim, select level D-pad: Zoom in/out surroundings, Planet map zoom in/out X: Camera control Y: Lock Camera Z: Head camera������������ L: N/A R: N/A This control scheme will no doubt work wonders thanks to the Rare touch. With the automatic jumping there will be no over or under jumping which will be a refreshing change to 3rd person games around now. We all want to be able to feel like we are actually there and with Rare at the cockpit we should barely be able to notice the lightweight Gamecube controller in out hands. Gameplay Fox's new adventure will be mostly all on foot but with a few arwing missions in the game as well. Presumably to move to different parts of the game. There is a large variety of levels such as the T-rex attack playable at this years E3. Dinosaur planets currency is the Scarab and Fox will find many of these on his Adventure. The objectives in Starfox are many. Solve difficult and engaging puzzle, interact with NPC's (Non Playable characters), Arwing missions, boss battles and just plain kicking Enemy butt and you have one Epic Adventure. The animals of Dinosaur Planet aren't just pretty pictures. They are also incredibly interesting and realistic as well. They fall asleep at night due to the Gamecubes internal clock, graze in the daylight and just plain go about their Dino lives. As I've said before fox can also transform into one of these beast and join their herd. You can bet this will act heavily upon the Gameplay. Another small, but nevertheless interesting feature, is the background blur when you lock onto and enemy. To show that Fox is focusing all his brainpower onto the attacking enemy. This should make the enemy easier to see and it should also make a really nice atmospheric look in order to kick enemy butt. Starfox Adventures is 3rd person when he is on the ground. This definitely suits the game. With the camera problems in other N64 Rare titles, Rare have tried extra hard to to make sure these problems are non-existent in SFA. Outlook The outlook for Starfox Adventures for Nintendo Gamecube looks bright. With great gameplay, graphics, control and sound it is looking to be one of the most original titles this year. And it certainly has the cast. Fox McCloud is a much loved character and will certainly help sell the game. This will be the killer app we all wanted at the Nintendo Gamecubes launch. Prepare for the best Rare game yet. |
| - 20/07/02 - Preview - Luke Mortimer |
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