Revisiting a Classic: Star Fox Assault, a Franchise in Desperate Need of a Revive
Do a barrel roll!
By Yoyo
Step into the guise of furry flyboy Fox McCloud as he returns to take on his deadliest enemy; wingmen Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare and Falco Lombardi are covering your back, as you take on hordes of intergalactic hostiles on land and in air. Hop into Arwings for aerial skirmishes and Landmaster Tanks for ground-based confrontations, or simply run around on foot dispensing laser justice; the searing single player adventure is a total blast, while the glorious four-way split-screen mode is sure to keep you and your friends coming back for more. With sniper rifles and rocket launchers, this is one Fox you don't want to mess with!
Star Fox is probably one of Nintendo's biggest misses behind Mother and that is a hill that I will gladly die on.
Star Fox first released on Feb, 21, 1993 in Japan and on March 23, 1993 in North America. The game was an instant hit, selling over 325,000 units by December 1993. Their groundbreaking 3D polygon graphics were amazing at the time and Star Fox was rightfully credited to be an innovator during its early years according to Famitsu, a famous Japanese gaming magazine in the early 90s. Thanks to the original Star Fox games, 3D graphics for home consoles became popularized and shortly became the standard for video games. Fox McCloud, the main protagonist in the Star Fox franchise, could've been on the same level as Sonic and Mario in terms of popularity, but one commercial failure after another quickly put Fox and his team in the dungeon with no real escape in sight.
Back in the early 2000s, notably 2002-2006 with the Gamecube's release, we were given three decent Star Fox games. Star Fox Adventures (2002), Star Fox Assault (2005) and Star Fox Command for the Nintendo DS in 2006. I, personally, grew up playing a lot of Star Fox Assault. It was my go-to game to play and having replayed it recently I realize that it's actually fantastic. The voice acting isn't horrible, the music is amazing, the cutscenes are actually really good, the gameplay and gunplay is super fun and overall the story is easy to follow and told well.
Getting into the music real quick. The OST for this game is a masterpiece. Thanks to the amazing work of Koji Kondo, we were given a fresh rendition of almost every single original track from Star Fox (1993) and I fear not too many people bring it up or are even aware of this fact. Each piece was able to perfectly capture the mood that surround the games atmosphere. Wolf's boss music, with the inclusion of Panther, gave it such a badass and romantic feeling (also not to mention how Wolf and Fox have a Naruto/Sasuke relationship and I eat it up). I consider this version of Wolf's theme to be the best iteration and I know Nintendo would agree with me considering it's the only one that's been used for Wolf in the Smash Bros. games.
Assault should've been the blueprint for the rest of the franchise, with the game's unique gameplay, being able to walk outside of the ship and fight on foot as Fox was so much fun. Assault specifically did receive a lot of backlash during its time, lots of talk about Star Fox having an identity crisis, but I don't think that was the case at all. I think Nintendo wanted to try something different and it didn't work out (I blame the majority of consumers who fear change). The praise that is given to Star Fox 64 should be given to Star Fox Assault. If Star Fox was released today the furries would eat it up, Nintendo needs to tap into this market.
Star Fox Assault is an underrated gem and we're currently in its 20th anniversary yet it's paid dust. If Sonic Adventure 2 can get a 9/10 on Steam then I don't see why Star Fox Assault can't get an HD remake on the Switch 2*.
Anyways, I love the Star Fox franchise so much and I wish Nintendo did too. If you ever want to check it out, I would recommend playing both Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox Assault.