Box Art
Game: Star Fox Assault
First Released: October 25, 2004, Gamecube
Developers: Nintendo, Namco
Platforms: Gamecube
Rated: T, for Fantasy Violence
First Released: October 25, 2004, Gamecube
Developers: Nintendo, Namco
Platforms: Gamecube
Rated: T, for Fantasy Violence
How I Came To Play This Game
First Level Boss
It all started before I even heard of the Star Fox series. I was at my friend's house where I was introduced to Super Smash Bros Brawl. I had never heard of that series either. I thought that Fox was the best player to play as, but my brother liked him too so I switched to Falco. Ever since, Falco has been my favorite video game character of all time. My friend saw I was interested and showed me Star Fox Assault, which gave me a taste of what a real Star Fox game was like. I soon bought Star Fox Assault for myself along with Pokemon Colosseum. It was my second Gamecube game ever.
Story
Aparoid Queen
Star Fox Assault takes place one year after the events of Star Fox Adventures. Andrew Oikonny, Andross' nephew, assumes leadership over the remnants of his deceased uncle's army and starts the Oikonney rebellion conflict against the forces of Corneria. The Star Fox Team, consisting of Fox McCloud, Slippy Toad, Falco Lombardi, Krystal, and Peppy Hare (who has retired from piloting), quickly fly in to assist the Cornerian Army in battle against Oikonny's armada above the planet Fortuna. After penetrating the fleet's defensive lines, the team pursues Oikonny's flagship to the planet's surface, where he turns to face them by transforming his ship into an imitation of Andross' initial form - that is, a large, floating head and pair of hands - but much weaker (despite his arrogant boasts). Before his battle with the team really lets their guard down, his ship is destroyed by a strange, insect-like creature, which then attacks the team. Fox destroys it, and takes a partial "Core Memory" from it for research. Once back at the Great Fox, Fox and the team learn from Beltino Toad that the hostile creature was an "Aparoid", one of many powerful, machine-like aliens capable of destroying entire fleets with little effort. The team then receives word from General Pepper that a distress signal is being sent from the Katina outpost, and suspect Aparoid involvement. Fox investigates the planet on foot, only to be trapped inside the base with the Aparoids. Fox is able to destroy a giant Aparoid walker and finds a Core Memory. However, before it can be retrieved, the Core Memory is quickly stolen by Pigma Dengar, who as it turns out is the one who broadcasted the distress signal, and believes he can become rich from the Core Memory's sale. The Star Fox Team tracks Pigma to the Sargasso Region, a popular hideout for criminals, which is overseen by the leader of the Star Wolf Team, Wolf O'Donnell, who quickly swoops in, along with Leon Powalski and the team's newest member, Panther Caroso, to defend his territory. Star Fox then learns that Pigma is no longer part of Star Wolf; however, Panther, in an attempt to flirt with Krystal, reveals that Pigma is on the planet Fichina. When Fox and his crew arrive at the planet, they discover that Pigma has deactivated its climate control center, turning it into a snowy wasteland, and what's more, that Pigma has been collaborating with the Aparoids. It is revealed that Aparoids have the ability to take over other machines. After defeating an Aparoid which threatened to destroy the control center reactor, the team then follows Pigma to a base under construction inside the asteroid belt. When they finally catch up to him, they find that Pigma has himself been assimilated by the Aparoids and he becomes fused with a large spacecraft, using its large grabbing arms to hurl meteoroids at them. Fox fights and destroys Pigma, and retrieves the core memory, which contains information needed to launch an attack directly on the Aparoid Homeworld. Just before the team departs to the Aparoid Homeworld to take on the Aparoid Queen, the source of all Aparoid will, Krystal receives a sudden distress call from Sauria, the Dinosaur Planet, which is under attack by the Aparoids. Fox quickly lands on the planet and destroys the Aparoid hatchers before the Aparoids are able to assume total control. After the battle, Fox and Krystal reunite with Prince Tricky, now a teenage EarthWalker. He questions them about returning to Sauria for a honeymoon, upon which Fox nervously stutters and Krystal laughs. Back on the Great Fox, General Pepper informs that while the Star Fox team was on Sauria, Corneria City was hit with a full-scale attack by a large Aparoid armada, leaving it devastated (along with much of the Cornerian Defense Fleet). Fox, with the help of the Star Wolf Team, which arrived to assist in defeating a common enemy, is able to take out most of the attacking Aparoids. They soon find out, though, that General Pepper's flagship, and the General himself, have been infected and taken over by the Aparoids. Consequently, the flagship begins to attack Fox. However, General Pepper, speaking against the Aparoids' influence, insists that Fox destroys the ship and himself. Fox is able to take down the ship with his plasma cannon, but before the General crashes into the ground, Peppy swoops down in an Arwing and softens the fall by flying between Pepper and the ground (He also mentions that Fox should contact the Medical Corps. this along with his groaning implies that he may have injured himself from the action). After the battle, the Star Fox team heads for a large space station above Corneria, the Beltino Orbital Gate, which is used for warping to other planets. Before they are able to travel to the Aparoid homeworld, they are forced to defend it, with the help of Star Wolf again, from a series self-guided Aparoid missiles ranging from small to big. They manage to destroy all of the missiles, just in time for Beltino Toad to finish creating a program which should cause all Aparoids to simultaneously self-destruct once it is uploaded into the Queen. Upon arriving at the Aparoid Homeworld, the Star Fox team realizes that the entry to the core of the planet, where the Aparoids originate and where the Queen is believed to reside, is blocked by a large shield which is powered by generators located throughout a small base directly above it. Though the Star Fox Team is able to infiltrate the base and destroy the shield generators, another shield is erected which is presumably powered from within the planet and is impervious to laser fire. Just then, Peppy and ROB fly down out of the sky towards the planet in the Great Fox, which has been covered with infectious Aparoids. ROB diverts all power to the laser guns on Peppy's orders and obliterates the base which housed the shield generators, giving him room to ram the Great Fox into the shield and open it long enough for the team to get through. Its hull integrity compromised beyond its limits, the Great Fox explodes, leading the team to believe that Peppy and ROB were killed in the explosion. The team enters the core of the planet, with Star Wolf flying close behind to assist them. Right before they reach the Queen, they are attacked by an extremely durable swarm of Aparoids. Wolf, Leon and Panther decide to distract them to allow Fox to proceed onwards to the Queen's lair. The team confronts the Aparoid Queen, who uses the voices of Peppy, ROB, General Pepper, Pigma, and James McCloud, who is Fox's father, in an attempt to deceive them into joining her. The team sees through the Queen's deception and blasts through her tough armor, allowing Fox to fire a parcel containing the self-destruct program into her. However, the Queen is able to suppress it, and attempts to escape. Slippy informs Fox that if he does not destroy her and initiate the program, the Queen will create an antibody. Once the team defeats the Queen, the program is executed, and Aparoids everywhere, as well as the structures on the homeworld which were part of the Aparoid collective, begin to self-destruct. The team escapes from the core of the homeworld, and soon discovers that ROB and Peppy survived the explosion by finding an escape pod just before the Great Fox blew up, giving hope to the team that General Pepper, Wolf, and all the others who made sacrifices in the struggle against the Aparoids may also be alright.
Pros And Cons
Story
Landmaster on Katina
I was relieved that the enemy in this one was not Andross. It was about time that they moved to a new antagonist, and the Aparoids make a good replacement. Similarly to Andross, they want to take over Lylat System, but also the entire universe. I liked the idea of them assimilating other species in with their own.
Characters
The Star Fox Team
A lot has changed since Star Fox 64. Now Krystal is a full fledge member of the team and flies her own Arwing. Pigma and Oikenny were kicked out of Star Wolf, and a new member Panther is in. Peppy no longer flies but stays in the Great Fox with ROB to act as a spotter. I like it that they didn't forget about Sauria and the dinosaur inhabitants.
Gameplay
Arwing on Sauria
They Arwing controls are changed a little, but not so much that it becomes unplayable. Now theres a better control scheme for the Landmaster that is seperate from the Arwing. Not to mention, you can also fight on foot with a Blaster. I think that all these changes are fine and dandy except for the one thing. There are too many missions that include on foot. There should have been more missions in the Arwing.
Graphics
Cornerian Warp Gate
The graphics are switched back from the primitive dinosaur age setting to the advanced techological setting. As Star Fox live in a futuristic world, the graphics had to be made more metallic. This went over very well for the game. The Aparoid infection graphics were very good too.
Music
I absolutely LOVE the music in Star Fox Assault. The music is remixed tracks from Star Fox 64. However, now real musical instruments are used instead of computer generated sounds, giving the game a better feel.
Releases
Box Art
Star Fox Assault was released on October 25 in 2004 for the Nintendo Gamecube. It hasn't been released on another console since.
My Rating
I give this game a 10/10. They completely returned to the original gameplay. There were still missions where you're on foot, but the gameplay was changed from Zelda-like to more like the Arwing controls.