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I'm really happy i gave sf assault a try because as imperfect as it is, it might have become one of my favorite games of this year. I decided to make a thread to analyze it critically because it's got some really interesting concepts that nintendo should expand upon
Before we start i want to make it clear that i'll be very critical towards the game itself, but I still have a very positive opinion on it.
So, assault came out in 2005, as a direct sequel to Adventures, taking place in SF64's timeline. Considering Adventure's setting and Zelda-esque gameplay, and the fact that Star Fox 2 for the SNES was never released until the SNES mini launched in 2017, this was the (...)
first ever direct sequel that expanded upon a timeline's plot while keeping the base shooting gameplay intact. in that regard, the developers' goal was obviously to expand on the formula that 64 had enstablished, and i really enjoyed the way they accomplished it.
To sum things up: SF64 was an arcade shooter on rails, meant to be replayed time and time again in order to improve your score and clear time. Additionally, most of the levels had a secondary mission that, when completed successfully, got you closer to the true ending.
when failed however, it'd bring you closer to the bad ending. Nonetheless, as long as you didn't fail the missions in the last few levels, you still had a chance at seeing the real finale, so the player has a lot of freedom in terms of what levels to play in a single run.
The game had many lovable characters, even outside of the main protagonists, with the likes of Katt, Bill and the Star Wolf members appearing a couple of times. Even though they were likeable, not much is told about them through the story apart from their basic role in each level
How does assault build on this? Well, for starters the real continuity throughout the timeline allows every character to play a different role than SF64: a lot has changed in the game's world so that only makes sense.
It keeps things fresh and allows the player to see new aspects of each character, making them way more memorable and important than before. Secondly, the game now follows a stricter plot and brings in plenty of cutscenes in-between levels.
This obviously comes at the cost of a much less flexible structure, and as much as it hurts to see the alternate paths and endings go, I can accept it as a natural evolution of the previous game, especially when the payback is so huge. Kinda reminds me of pkmn black and white lol
You can expect lots of suspense and turns of events which will keep your attention until the end without feeling overwhelmed. The story is simple but effective.
Making the player go through every single level of the game instead of only a third also means that the game is much longer. An experienced player could easily beat SF64 in a single session of 30-35 minutes, while it should take at least twice as much for assault
Whether you like it or not is personal preference. Again, I prefer the original game in this regard, but I can see why they'd do this for a sequel and I don't mind it.
The arcade elements are still there and the big emphasis on score and combos are welcome in both games.
The arcade elements are still there and the big emphasis on score and combos are welcome in both games.
So how did the gameplay change in between games? This is where Assault doesn't shine as much as I'd like it to, and there's a couple of reasons for this, but I'll come back to it later.
The flying sections are pretty solid, but they have some issues: for once, the animations(...)
The flying sections are pretty solid, but they have some issues: for once, the animations(...)
are much slower, and this affects gameplay way more than it should. The arwing's laser have a lower velocity than in 64, so they are much less reliable when targeting distant foes. Tilting your ship is also much slower because it requires you to barrel roll first.
The camera also moves a lot when you're flying so depht perception against some bosses can be an issue, especially when trying to avoid physical attacks like punches or slaps. This also happened in 64 but it wasn't fixed here.
What didn't exist in 64, are lecels where you control fox on the ground in traditional TPS fashion. For some reason it feels really cool to just be able to do that lol. on a serious note though, depending on the level these range from very fun to infuriating.
Getting a grasp on the shooting mechanics was a pain for me because 1) I can't aim with sticks to save my life, 2) The stick sensitivity is so low and turning around takes ages, 3) There are no tutorials where to learn the controls, the game just drops you in an enemy ridden area
The controls are also really weird... the A button let's you switch weapons, even though that's usually how you shoot in your arwing, while the Y button makes you jump, even though that makes you accelerate when you're flying. It was just confusing the first time.
The level design sometimes is also confusing. The on foot missions take place on the game's multi-player maps, and these things are HUGE. Some of them are color coded and easy to navigate. Others, not so much! They require heavy exploration since some underground or indoors (...)
areas can also be accessed via specific doors that are usually hidden from plain sight. But here's where things get really confusing: the game has a minimap on the bottom right corner of the screen, which could potentially mitigate this problem. However for whatever reason, (...)
that map only shows the position of every single enemy (it tends to be cluttered af btw). No, no, to see where you actually are, you need to pause the game and look at a separate map.
...WHY?? who thought of this?
Another thing that gets in the way of exploration is the (...)
...WHY?? who thought of this?
Another thing that gets in the way of exploration is the (...)
