ithin just seconds of play, one thought came to mind: Zelda. The more I played, the more emphasis was weighed onto this comparison, and I eventually came to the conclusion that this was the closet that I’ve seen a game come to mimicking another. Through and through, Star Fox Adventures is a carbon copy of the Nintendo 64 classic, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The screen morphs into a letterbox format when an enemy is engaged. Your character automatically jumps when he reaches the end of a platform. If you happen to fall off of a ledge, you can perform a roll maneuver and prevent damage. You’ll need to backtrack to previous lands and dungeons with newly acquired items to unlock different areas. You’ll even see Link-inspired animations that will make you rub your eyes and do a double take. With Shigeru Miyamoto on board as producer, I’m not surprised that he tried to recreate his success with Zelda, but I am taken aback by how closely he modeled this project after his beloved franchise.
While the gameplay screams Zelda at the highest of pitches, Rare’s trademark game design is also readily apparent. For instance, repetition is a necessity throughout every inch of this quest. In Zelda, you may find yourself completing the same puzzle two or three times for the entire game. In Star Fox, and thanks in part to Rare, you may find yourself doing the same thing 100 times. Most developers don’t do this, and it seems like a major perk, but this is actually where the game suffers. To make matters worse, some of the tasks and puzzles can be construed as unnecessary busywork. In such, I never thought I’d hear myself complaining about having something to do in a game, but I often found myself saying things like, "Oh great. There’s another wall to bomb. That makes 20 in the last hour and a half." It’s a strange situation, but you really do feel like you have too much work piled onto your shoulders.
On the plus side, another shining Rare quality runs rampant throughout this adventure: variety and tons of it. At any given time, you may find yourself spelunking through a cave Zelda-style, then seconds later racing at breakneck speeds down a mountain slope on a hover bike, interacting with your virtual pet dinosaur companion, or taking to the skies in a traditional Star Fox shooter stage. I have a feeling that you’ll agree that the Test of Fear is one of the coolest gameplay components around. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but it got my blood pumping and my senses going every which way. I’m sure that it’ll leave you speechless, but better yet, wondering, "Why couldn’t this be one of the gameplay elements that was repeated a billion times?"
The content may not be varied enough, but you’ll never find yourself saying, "I wish it had more to offer." Rare has always made quality games, and with Zelda as its muse, Star Fox Adventures is no exception. The only fault that it has is that it tries too hard to win your affection.