Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

#13: Star Fox: Assault

Rating: T

Players: 1-4

Price Range: ~$50 USD

A game in the Star Fox series.

This one is interesting.

First of all, this series is dead. It is like F-Zero in that Nintendo doesn't really know what to do with it, instead relying on their other franchises to make them billions, because why would they do anything but that?

Granted, to be fair, Zero was a bit of a waste, especially since it is on the dead horse that is the Wii U.

And so, as the last console game before that, Assault is really good.

However, some history behind this one is actually fascinating, as this game upon its first reveal to the public was meant with nothing but boos and was developed by Namco, which can be seen in many parts of the game.

As a late era GameCube title, the production values really show.

The graphics and music are amazing. The entire soundtrack was orchestrated, giving some of the best tunes of the series thus far. Graphically, it is quite great as well, aging very finely. Sure, the visuals and buttery smooth framerate isn't present like it is in Adventures, but it is still good.

Now, let's talk about the campaign.

First of all, this is a very niche series given that it is down in the dumps right now, but the single player content is actually really good.

Now, 64 is considered by many to be the best game in the series, with many praising its open-ended approach with its branching paths and secret routes to get to the end.

Now, a thing that will turn off fans of that game is that this is wholly a linear experience. And, as a person who's never played 64, I don't get why people don't like this structure. Just because it is railroaded to a specific sequence of events isn't bad, it's just different.

Besides, it allows the story to be much more concise. While I do see how the structure of 64 may benefit gameplay and player discovery, you can't really say that there is much of a coherent plot that pulls everything together in a cinematic fashion in that game. Assault also has secrets of its own, which I'll get into later on.

So, what do you do in this game?

Well, the on-rails Arwing sections, the series' bread and butter is here in full force, with these parts running at 60 FPS, which is nice. Having to shoot down ships, keeping your teammates alive, using your charge and smart bombs, and dodge with, say it with me now, barrel rolls, is just great fun. Some of these sections are hard in their own way, requiring some genuine skill. Some bosses in this style are actually genuinely hard, but in a good way, testing the player not in creativity like in the older games, but instead with precision. Great stuff.

Then we get into what everybody talks about, the on-foot missions. I have no idea what everybody is talking about, because I actually really like these sections. For starters, it is a natural evolution of the railroaded shooter gameplay from 64, and being able to move around and gun down enemies, dodging and even using the Landmaster to blast the bigger ones wide open. You could either opt for a tank control style like the Metroid Prime games or a more familiar dual-stick one, and it is really good. I don't really understand why people hate these so much when it is just some good ol' running and gunning where positioning and rolling out of the way is just as important as using your ammo for your weapons effectively. It is just so satisfying to just fight hordes of enemies on your own as Fox McCloud, which, again, I don't see why it is so derided.