Star Fox: Assault

It has a truly epic feel, buoyed by fantastic graphics and a rousing, orchestral soundtrack. Star Fox Assault succeeds where most games fail: It's simply exhilarating to play, despite its flaws. [March 2005, p.132]

And for the love of all that's holy, get some decent voice actors next time.

Undone by the clunky and unpolished on-foot missions. Star Fox: Assault is a missed opportunity for the developers to resurrect the series, which means you probably should give this a miss too.

Having a repetitive structure and a linear style of gameplay brings this title down a few notches.

Through the game's opening sequence will rekindle your love for the franchise, only to have it betrayed by the shoddy control and repetitive play of successive levels. And the multiplayer, while dishing out mild entertainment, wears thin excessively fast.

Don't expect lots of depth, but it is a decent shooter with lots of eye candy. Whereas "Dinosaur Planet" offered a long gaming haul, Star Fox: Assault keeps it short and sweet and simple.

It has some good stages and good production values. Unfortunately, when for half the game the player is surly thinking, "Oh no! I'm on the ground again.", it does not speak well for the overall package.

It's easily one of the most unique and entertaining multiplayer choices for the GameCube. [Apr 2005, p.131]

A great example of a "good" game. The not-so-good parts (the foot missions) aren't bad enough to weigh the entire package down, but the excellent bits (the flying chunks) just aren't enough to counter the rest.

The most damaging change in the series is the overwhelming focus on ground exploration.

The Arwing levels improved from Dinosaur Planet, while the on-foot ones worsened.

Probably the worst Star Fox game released to date – but that doesn't necessarily make it an irredeemably bad game. It is still a shame, however, to see that Star Fox: Assault has been in development for about three years and this is the result.

Some aspects of gameplay are a little rough around the edges. A good choice for beginners, though. [May 05]

This entire concept is ridiculous. Why, oh why is your team so rubbish? Falco is supposed to be an 'Ace Pilot' for crying out loud. Your team is supposed to be the galaxy's last, best hope, yet they can't even shoot more than two enemies on any given level. They may as well not even be there and save us the worry.

Everything that is good about the game (the flight missions, the refurbished musical score) stems from the original Star Fox. What Namco tried to do with the on-foot missions makes me wonder why purists are arguing that the series hasn't evolved enough.

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.

Recommend for split screen multiplayer, otherwise wait for a price drop.

Perhaps the saddest misunderstanding in Assault, though, is its pedestrian, linear structure. There's nothing wrong with it, but the multiple routes and secret branches of the earlier titles bound levels into a taut, short, player-directed adventure that was always seamless and could never be fully experienced in one sitting... Without it, Assault is a jumbled, disposable thrill. [Apr 2005, p.92]

Without the burden of the name, it would be looked upon as an above-average mix of air and land combat; however Namco had a lot to live up to and haven't quite delivered the quality expected.

On the one hand the Arwing missons are pure StarFox with plenty of frantic button bashing. Sadly, the ground based sections are dull and really makes the game a disappointing one to play.

There's no variety in the missions themselves. It becomes very tedious shooting at swarms of enemies. Aside from learning some defensive moves with your arwing, there is a decided lack of depth to the gameplay.

Far from being the next generation of Star Fox game.

Despite its replay value, this is little more than a restructured stroll down memory lane. Next time, let's hope Nintendo enters the 21st century and puts this puppy online.

Sure, there's more variety in Star Fox: Assault than in past games in the series, but why give us half-baked concepts when all we want is another traditional Star Fox game?

It's a good thing that Star Fox series has returned to its space shoot 'em up roots, but why did they have to include mediocre land-action sequences in the game? Also, some other small details, like a lack of radar or a map, only ten levels and uninspiring multiplayer elements stop this from being the truly next-gen Star Fox game since "Lylat Wars." [June 2005, p.70]

A major disappointment.

As fertile a ground as the flight combat genre is for quality gameplay, this falls short of the target. Even more depressing is that this was a franchise that in the previous generation was considered an A-List series, but now is a strictly average game.

Everything about Star Fox: Assault comes across as competent, yet, frustratingly bland.

If it was ten solid levels of proper Star Fox space combat delivered with the same degree of glorious detail and a challenge that rose from the promising double boss-fight climax of the second section to the kind of crescendo Star Fox reached at its peak then they would fit like silk gloves.

At medium difficulty, it takes five hours or less to blow through, and considering its other missteps, that's just not enough to recommend Starfox: Assault for purchase.

It's lazy, it's textbook and less than half of it is worth playing.

While hotfooting it around seems like a decent concept, nightmarish controls damper the action no matter which setting you select. They're far too wild and loose, and his Landmaster, a futuristic tank, feels like it's stuck in molasses, slow and clumsy.

A disappointment. The controls are more sticky than they need to be, and the general presentation feels like a step back rather than a step forward.