Nintendo just Other M'd Star Fox

[Yan007]

OP is right. This game is extremely disappointing in all the places it shouldn't. Some minor spoilers ahead so be warned.

Controls:

Using the gyros was the biggest mistake of all. Not only is it not working properly (having to reset the position all the time), the game was designed around this broken idea. Even if a patch does come out to remove motion controls entirely, the game would be even more unplayable because the levels, enemies and bosses were designed around this flaw.

Having a game designed around the gyros also means they had to make things run slower and have less enemies than they should have.

The only places where motion controls would have made sense would have been stages where you don't control the vehicle, but are manning the turret, a bit like when you are on Wolf's wing in Assault. Actually, playing the game in coop removed most of my issues with the game for exactly this reason.

As it is right now, playing this game is like playing with 3 sticks at the same time. If aiming is so important, why not put the aiming reticle to the right stick, the boost/brake and so on to the 4 buttons, and call it a day?

Audio:

Audio is ok. Some tracks remixes were good. The voices coming from the pad only was very meh, but I guess they wanted to make sure you thought using the pad was "the only way to play".

Story (spoilers):

It's mostly a rehash of 64, with some differences. I'm a huge SF64 fan, unlocked everything and so on. I don't mind the SF64 "reboot". My main issue is that they did not use their setting in a very smart way. Look guys: you got portals, a reboot of SF64/snes and hints from the final boss that the General may not be the nice guy he says he is.

WHY NOT USE THIS SETTING TO INTRODUCE PARALLEL UNIVERSES?!? Let's say this game is in the "Universe Zero", then you beat the final boss and are taken to the "Super(Nes) Universe", then go to "Universe 64" for a while and so on, so that all the previous games did happen, but they are now part of a larger multiverse Andross and the Cornerian army are fighting over to control. Maybe introduce some time travel elements where you could try to save James as Fox in the past, only to fail so that James would tell you that the past cannot be changed and to learn that true power comes from your ability to change the now to shape the future.

Also, there is no hard mode, no alternate/true end boss and so on. This is extremely disappointing.

Multiplayer:

Coop mode is great actually. Too bad you can't do this online, battle online(or local), or play online AT ALL. WTF?


Edit: Also, this game made me not want to buy any more Nintendo game anymore. I'll get Zelda when it comes out and if it shit like this one then I'm done with Nintendo.

 

[direkiller]

Did it portray the characters in the game in a way they had never been portrayed as and in fact made them worse in a narrative sense? No? Then they didn't Other M it, because on a technical level, Other M had decent game play. It's the story and characterization that people hated.

Fine fine fine,
they Steel "Get your fucking hand off that!!!" Battalioned it.

 

[Paragon Fury]

Maybe I'm eating my own words, as I've neither played Other M nor Zero, but are they really being framed as the worst of their respective series? Surely, SURELY they can't be as bad as Command or Hunters?

Please tell me they're not.

Zero is arguably the worst 'Proper' Star Fox game, but since all the the other ones are great, there's a lot of room for it to live comfortably.

Other M is a travesty. It's not bad because it fumbles some things - It's terrible because it fumbles all the things. The game play is bizarre, atrocious, and out of place. The graphics aren't bad, but what they decide you show you is. Everything not related to the story or story telling is, at best, bad.

And then there's the story and story telling, which is beyond the terrors of mortal man. You'd have to go back to 1944 propaganda films to find something more upsetting. The story is poorly told, the characters are poorly constructed, and worst of all, Samus is reduced from 'The Ripley of Video Games' to the 'Anastasia Steele of Video Games.'

If that name is unfamiliar to you, I'll give you a hint.

Spoiler

The saddest part about Other M is that the game that Team Ninja actually wanted to make sounded pretty damn good. I think a little Samus TnA (and lets not pretend otherwise; Samus is pretty easy on the eyes, even in the Prime series) would've been acceptable to see the story and game the people behind Ninja Gaiden would've wanted to make (which is to say, Prime, but on cocaine with a fetish for suffering).

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Did it portray the characters in the game in a way they had never been portrayed as and in fact made them worse in a narrative sense? No? Then they didn't Other M it, because on a technical level, Other M had decent game play. It's the story and characterization that people hated.

Fine fine fine,
they Steel "Get your fucking hand off that!!!" Battalioned it.

No, they didn't. That game just didn't function and was practically impossible to control. This game works, some just don't like the control scheme, but it is indeed playable.

Video is long, but he does talk about the controls and such in enough depth to give you an idea.

All this video said to me is "never trust Girard's opinion again."

Wow, guy has a differing opinion and actually explains why, and from that one instance you won't ever trust him again. Harsh.

 

[Hawki]

Disclaimer: Haven't played Other M, only watched a playthrough. So when I speak up in its defence, bear in mind that this probably isn't the be all and end all of my opinion:

It's kind of hard to do, since you aren't a Nintendo guy, and thus not all that familiar with the Metroid series (presumably).

The best I can do is a comparison. I'll assume you've played the Resident Evil series, or at least the early ones. You would therefore be familiar with Ada Wong, badass journalist extraordinaire. Highly capable, can stand on her own two feet, and doesn't need help from others to be awesome.

Now, imagine a game came out where it was revealed that everything that made Ada Wong badass was a result of a boss that she used to work for, who spent all of his time condescending to her AT BEST. Rather than take any offense to this, she looks up to said boss, seeing him as the only person who ever believed in her, and sees him as a surrogate father, and will do anything to protect him.

Does that sound ridiculous, and demeaning to Ada's character? Well, that's almost EXACTLY what happened with Samus.

Few problems with this:

1) Ada isn't a journalist, she's an agent (minor correction, but might as well settle this)

2) Unlike Samus, Ada was voiced and characterized from the outset. Confining Ada to RE2, I'd characterize her as manipulative, but with the potential for a softer side (relationship with Leon). Come to RE3 with the ending slides, we see Ada has survived, and cries, however briefly. It's only by RE4 that Ada does anything that could be considered "badass." Even then, while she saves Leon, Leon saves her as well, and while I wouldn't call the relationship between them "love," it's a relationship that still exists.

Ada has appeared in other games, but the above examples can convey her character well enough. We know nothing of her backstory, so if it was revealed that a male made her badass...how is that demeaning? Even if I agreed that "badass" was the be all and end all of Ada's character (which I don't), even if she can stand on her own two feet all the time (which she hasn't, see Leon), I don't find it demeaning to the character to entertain the notion that she was helped along the way to reach that state. Especially since Ada has shown emotion when even IN her "badass" state.

3) Samus is immediately different from Ada. In the scope of RE2-RE4, I compared Ada in three games. Samus, in the scope of three games (Metroid, Return of Samus, Super Metroid), doesn't do anything like that. Metroid? Blank slate. Return of Samus? Blank slate. Maybe you can infer a softer side in that she spares the infant metroid, but I think that's about it (haven't played those games, so correct me if I'm wrong). Super Metroid, she finally stops being a silent protagonist to deliver a monologue, but while I'm playing that right now (up to Ridley), I don't think the game tells us anything about Samus's character. Nothing concrete anyway. In fact, in a sense, it paints Samus in an unflattering light - she goes to Ceres, pursues Ridley, and...what's her plan, exactly? At least in Zero Mission she had a clearly defined goal (eliminate the metroids) with the Federation being aware of her actions. Super Metroid, she runs after Ridley without a second thought. Not a bad course of action, but I think she might have wanted to let the Federation know beforehand. It isn't until Fusion that she starts receiving actual characterization in the games bar inference.

4) Which brings us to Other M itself. Again, haven't played, but a few more points:

4a) Did the manga ruin Samus's character by showing how Old Bird and Grey Voice were surrogate fathers to Samus? Was her character ruined by Old Bird standing up for her?

4b) Samus has followed the Federation's orders in Metroid/Zero Mission, Return of Samus, Prime 2, Prime 3, and Fusion. In Prime 3 and Fusion, those orders have been issued directly. Integrating herself into the Federation's chain of command isn't new. The only times she's operated completely on her own have been Prime 1 and Super Metroid, and at least in the latter, whether that is favorable to her character is debatable. The actual orders aside (e.g. the varia suit), Samus following Adam's orders in themselves is perfectly reasonable. Mercenaries follow the orders of the people who hire them. It's how chain of command works.

4c) Drifting over into another franchise with a power-armored super-soldier, let's take a look at Halo. John-117. I'll spare you his entire biography (which is extensive - certainly more than Ada's, likely more than Samus's), but let's highlight his relationship with Cortana. Pre-Halo 1, leader of Blue Team, gets the job done. Halo 1 to Halo 3, he follows her orders, opens up (the amount of dialogue from John increases with each game), to the point by Halo 4, he goes against UNSC orders in a bid to save her, and in Halo 5, against orders in a bid to find her. Funnily enough, I don't recall anyone claiming character assassination there. Speaking personally, as someone who generally dislikes Halo 4's story, the John-Cortana friendship on display was one of the few things I DID like about the game. I'd joke "it's only sexist when men do it" but...well, probably in enough hot water already.

I'm not saying this excuses Other M. But I find the parallels interesting. Samus opened her mouth as early as Super Metroid, became a defined character in Fusion (which also establishes her relationship with Adam), yet Other M goes too far? Well, maybe it does, but Samus stopped talking long before Other M, and had her backstory given long before Other M as well.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Spoiled to save on space

Disclaimer: Haven't played Other M, only watched a playthrough. So when I speak up in its defence, bear in mind that this probably isn't the be all and end all of my opinion:

It's kind of hard to do, since you aren't a Nintendo guy, and thus not all that familiar with the Metroid series (presumably).

The best I can do is a comparison. I'll assume you've played the Resident Evil series, or at least the early ones. You would therefore be familiar with Ada Wong, badass journalist extraordinaire. Highly capable, can stand on her own two feet, and doesn't need help from others to be awesome.

Now, imagine a game came out where it was revealed that everything that made Ada Wong badass was a result of a boss that she used to work for, who spent all of his time condescending to her AT BEST. Rather than take any offense to this, she looks up to said boss, seeing him as the only person who ever believed in her, and sees him as a surrogate father, and will do anything to protect him.

Does that sound ridiculous, and demeaning to Ada's character? Well, that's almost EXACTLY what happened with Samus.

Few problems with this:

1) Ada isn't a journalist, she's an agent (minor correction, but might as well settle this)

2) Unlike Samus, Ada was voiced and characterized from the outset. Confining Ada to RE2, I'd characterize her as manipulative, but with the potential for a softer side (relationship with Leon). Come to RE3 with the ending slides, we see Ada has survived, and cries, however briefly. It's only by RE4 that Ada does anything that could be considered "badass." Even then, while she saves Leon, Leon saves her as well, and while I wouldn't call the relationship between them "love," it's a relationship that still exists.

Ada has appeared in other games, but the above examples can convey her character well enough. We know nothing of her backstory, so if it was revealed that a male made her badass...how is that demeaning? Even if I agreed that "badass" was the be all and end all of Ada's character (which I don't), even if she can stand on her own two feet all the time (which she hasn't, see Leon), I don't find it demeaning to the character to entertain the notion that she was helped along the way to reach that state. Especially since Ada has shown emotion when even IN her "badass" state.

3) Samus is immediately different from Ada. In the scope of RE2-RE4, I compared Ada in three games. Samus, in the scope of three games (Metroid, Return of Samus, Super Metroid), doesn't do anything like that. Metroid? Blank slate. Return of Samus? Blank slate. Maybe you can infer a softer side in that she spares the infant metroid, but I think that's about it (haven't played those games, so correct me if I'm wrong). Super Metroid, she finally stops being a silent protagonist to deliver a monologue, but while I'm playing that right now (up to Ridley), I don't think the game tells us anything about Samus's character. Nothing concrete anyway. In fact, in a sense, it paints Samus in an unflattering light - she goes to Ceres, pursues Ridley, and...what's her plan, exactly? At least in Zero Mission she had a clearly defined goal (eliminate the metroids) with the Federation being aware of her actions. Super Metroid, she runs after Ridley without a second thought. Not a bad course of action, but I think she might have wanted to let the Federation know beforehand. It isn't until Fusion that she starts receiving actual characterization in the games bar inference.

4) Which brings us to Other M itself. Again, haven't played, but a few more points:

4a) Did the manga ruin Samus's character by showing how Old Bird and Grey Voice were surrogate fathers to Samus? Was her character ruined by Old Bird standing up for her?

4b) Samus has followed the Federation's orders in Metroid/Zero Mission, Return of Samus, Prime 2, Prime 3, and Fusion. In Prime 3 and Fusion, those orders have been issued directly. Integrating herself into the Federation's chain of command isn't new. The only times she's operated completely on her own have been Prime 1 and Super Metroid, and at least in the latter, whether that is favorable to her character is debatable. The actual orders aside (e.g. the varia suit), Samus following Adam's orders in themselves is perfectly reasonable. Mercenaries follow the orders of the people who hire them. It's how chain of command works.

4c) Drifting over into another franchise with a power-armored super-soldier, let's take a look at Halo. John-117. I'll spare you his entire biography (which is extensive - certainly more than Ada's, likely more than Samus's), but let's highlight his relationship with Cortana. Pre-Halo 1, leader of Blue Team, gets the job done. Halo 1 to Halo 3, he follows her orders, opens up (the amount of dialogue from John increases with each game), to the point by Halo 4, he goes against UNSC orders in a bid to save her, and in Halo 5, against orders in a bid to find her. Funnily enough, I don't recall anyone claiming character assassination there. Speaking personally, as someone who generally dislikes Halo 4's story, the John-Cortana friendship on display was one of the few things I DID like about the game. I'd joke "it's only sexist when men do it" but...well, probably in enough hot water already.

I'm not saying this excuses Other M. But I find the parallels interesting. Samus opened her mouth as early as Super Metroid, became a defined character in Fusion (which also establishes her relationship with Adam), yet Other M goes too far? Well, maybe it does, but Samus stopped talking long before Other M, and had her backstory given long before Other M as well.

I had a feeling the Ada Wong comparison was screwed up, but I just couldn't think of a good counterpart, so I'll just try to explain better.

The problem wasn't so much giving her a backstory, and giving her a voice. Hell, I can tell you that quite a few Nintendo fans were looking forward to finally getting some insight into Samus. You are familiar with the manga, at least to the point where you know that she was raised by the Chozo. The problem is, Other M has Samus basically say that Adam was her father figure, while every single thing Adam does shows him looking down on Samus. Hell, one of his catchphrases (for want of a better word) is "Any objections, lady?" after he gives her orders. Her reaction? Basically whine about it for a bit in her head, and then just go along with his orders.

Keep in mind that, while she has respect for the Federation, and will work for the Federation, Samus is also not averse to crossing the Federation if the greater good becomes more important. Contrast with Other M. Adam tells her that she is not to use any of her suit's abilities without his authorization, and she agrees to that. If it was just weapons, that would make sense. However, at one point, she enters a super-heated room, and promptly starts overheating (duh). Rather than activate her Varia Suit, however, she leaves the room, because ADAM DIDN'T AUTHORIZE HER TO USE THE VARIA SUIT.

There comes a point where Samus crosses the line from mercenary working with the Federation, but towards her own goals, to doormat of the Federation who will put her own life at risk needlessly just because someone with no authority over her didn't tell her she could use a suit function.


To make it somewhat shorter and more concise, the problem isn't that Samus was voiced, or that they gave her a personality. The problem is that that personality clashed with what little personality she had throughout the other games, and she spends the entire game acting subservient towards a "father" figure that constantly talked down to her, despite him having no authority over her.

Actually, this article does a good job of explaining my problems with her characterization in Other M. Suffice to say, it's not just her having a characterization. The problems with Samus in Other M [http://moonbase.rydia.net/mental/blog/gaming/metroid-other-m-the-elephant/article.html]

 

[Yoshi178]

Other M is far worse than Hunters.

lolno

Other M at least had more than 2 different bosses unlike hunters which regurgitated the same 2 bosses like 10 times. on top of that Other M didn't hype up 6 new characters to be a major part o the story plot only for them to actually in reality just become generic standard enemies instead like Hunters did.

 

[Hawki]

Saved for space

Bear in mind I don't necessarily disagree. Point is that I feel a lot of the groundwork in Other M was set up for in previous games (unlike Critical Amyss, who says that Other M gave voice to a 30 year silent protagonist - I'd argue that Samus stopped being silent as early as Super Metroid). There's also the question of intent - is Other M meant to be a definitive take on Samus, or are its problems due to poor writing? It's what puzzled me about the varia suit thing. Of course Adam's (lack of) orders are moronic, but in a series that handwaves Samus losing her items between games bar some exceptions (e.g. Fusion), it feels like lack of thought rather than intentional sexism (and the article points that out).

Hunters also requires Samus to hold the idiot ball for the plot to work (e.g. she presumably knows about Gorea if you've been scanning), yet opens up the device anyway. That seems to go by without comment.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Just finished the game proper, unlocked all the secret levels, and am now doing an Arcade Mode playthrough. The control scheme definitely takes some getting used to what with the action split between the Gamepad and the TV. It was when I came back to the game after taking a break (battery running low) and taking on Titania again that something suddenly clicked and I wondered if I hadn't in fact been thinking too much this entire time and sabotaging myself in the process. I came to realize that my attention is never split evenly with the game on purpose. It's either mostly the gamepad or mostly the tv with the other acting as a supplement in order to make decisions better. Once I finally realized that and got into the mindset things became a lot smoother and I found myself downing bogies with pinpoint precision (as is the norm with gyro controls as they're a lot more accurate than sticks). It's definitely a method with a learning curve and I can see some getting frustrated with it despite the fact that they aren't that complicated.

If I had to bring out some criticism for the game it's that, like most entries in the franchise, it's definitely anemic when it comes to content. 20 well-designed levels, but there's not much to do besides hunt down medals and beat your high score. I would also say that once again alternate vehicles are underutilized as there are only a couple Landmaster missions and ONE Gyrowing mission (which is more of a stealth mission than anything).

As for the idea that the game's controls are broken, not only do I not buy into that, it's provably false. You can't speed run like this with bad controls:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ6FxdrehTY

He gets hit all of TWICE. I'd love to see people put up high score/flawless runs. In short, if this game gets "Other M'd" it's not due to the developers, it's once again due to the fans being toxic in their criticisms of it. This is one of those cases where I hoped Nintendo just ignores the vitriol and soldiers on with a sequel utilizing the same scheme because this game needs a followup.

 

[Las7]

Personally I'm not interested in SFZ at full price but gyro is the best control method for any shooter I've tried outside of K+M

 

[Politrukk]

I've always found the starfox controls clunky, can't fault them if they've increased in being clunky when adding complexity, that's just trying to be better at something despite the fact that you're bad at it.

Seeing the amount of money that is pumped into a game like this I can't imagine they did it with a "har-har screw you gamer" mentality.

 

[Maximum Bert]

But the issues were with the story. The gameplay was solid to good all around and I would be thrilled to play another game built like that just perhaps not designed by Team Ninja. I mean seriously the guys behind DOA: Beach Volleyball gave you a game. The fact that Samus isn't a super model fending of clothing eating slime monsters qualifies as them showing restraint.

Er you do know that Team Ninja just handled the gameplay part right? The story was written by Yoshio Sakamoto one of the co creators of the series. Im not going to say he was totally to blame for the direction it took but being the writer as well as one of the producers and directors of the game and considering his legacy I would say he had a great deal of sway in its development. Apparently he approached Team ninja to handle the action parts because his own team lacked knowledge on 3d action games. The Cutscenes were handled by another company as well.

I do agree that this game does not seem to be getting the same complaints. Here the complaints seem to be on gameplay with other M it was with the portrayal of Samus`s character.

 

[Mahorfeus]

I am pretty sure that Command was the game that "Other M'd" the franchise. And hell, that one came out before Other M.

I want this one, it's just the whole reboot aspect which puts me off. Star Fox actually had some sense of continuity that wasn't completely terrible, and I wouldn't have minded seeing a direct continuation. I'm just wondering if the gameplay will make it worthwhile - I think I can handle motion controls. Just as long as they're better than Star Fox 64 3D's gyro controls.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

I barely used my Wii, and I have never wanted a Wii U. I hate motion controls, but they worked pretty well in Resident Evil 4 and Skyward Sword. I hated Other M, and I think it was the last Wii game I ever bought.

My chief issue with Other M from a mechanical perspective is that switching quickly to and from missiles AND bring able to accurately acquire your target is harder than it needed to be. I would have preferred 1st person for all of it and swap out to 3rd person when I do a melee finisher. Instead its a 3rd person game that offers little of interest, little exploration, and little action, but suddenly forces 1st person on you to do something that should be a simple part of regular gameplay. It goes from an action platformer, to a sit still and try to get the pointer to register you are trying to aim at the thing trying to kill you, oh it thought you were holding your arm up to reload, splat.

The level design was practically nonexistent and aside from 3 key plot points I couldn't tell you what happened. One character kills themselves for literally NO REASON in order to kill the Metroids...in one area. There are still more including the damn queen in the next area and its not like you had someone right there who specializes in killing Metroids without blowing themselves up jackass.

From a narrative perspective, the portrayal of Samus was different but acceptable. What was NOT acceptable to me was one thing very specific that turned the game from being "different, but we'll see how it turns out" to being absolute garbage.

Samus shows up to the investigation, and rather than scamper off to do something useful she agrees to put herself under Adam's command and not run around blowing crap up and melting things with lasers unless given permission.

This in itself I was fine with. It was a somewhat novel and hugely forced reason to withhold powerups and not require the ship to happen to have Chozo relics or similar lying around for her. I actually forget if you get ANY new powerups in the game though.

What killed any ability to take the game seriously however was the part where she walks through a superheated environment, taking constant damage, until Adam gives her permission to use her Varia suit.

How is not burning to death by turning on the Varia suit going to compromise the investigation? Its a good thing she had the initiative to shoot all those creatures that attacked her with her nonexplosive weaponry, as well as open doors, or it would be a pretty short game.

It was STILL a really short game and its best moment was sadly the optional final boss fight, which was largely ruined by the reason she was even back there in the first place.

So if Starfox Zero is worse than that, GG Nintendo.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

First of all, Metroid Other M was perfectly playable. It's awkward to use 2D controls in a 3D game and aiming at the screen was a pain in the ass. Second, the characters and scenarios in Star Fox Zero haven't been distorted or misrepresented. I'll give you this though: Nintendo did to Star Fox 64 and Star Fox 2 what they did to the Metroid Prime Trilogy. It looks good, I like the presentation, I like the worlds...well, the spaces but the controls are just absolutely god awful. It is really satisfying when you finally DO manage to get it right and ace a level but to date I've only got gold in one stage. The problem with that sense of satisfaction though is that it's the same satisfaction I got from beating Skyward Sword: I didn't beat that game, I beat the awful controls.

I don't understand why Nintendo insists on taking options away from players. I bought the Pro Controller and I think that it's better than the Xbox 360 controller (thanks to its stick placement and the fact that it has the best D-pad I've used in a while) but Nintendo seems content to ignore the thing. Splatoon let me turn off motion controls so why can't I play Star Fox Zero normally? I didn't have to use gyro controls to fire arrows in the Zelda remakes so why make me use them here? It's like Dolores Umbridge said and Jim Sterling implied (Gods help me)

Spoiler: text wall from Order of the Phoenix

...There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited.

I really wanted Star Fox Zero to be great and while I am having some fun with it, I never thought I'd have more actual
fun with a freaking Tower Defense game. At least when I get frustrated at that game it's because I don't have 12 sets of eyes as opposed to my being unable to remain stationary without developing cramps and pains in my shoulders, elbows and, wrists...

 

[xaszatm]

Zero is arguably the worst 'Proper' Star Fox game, but since all the the other ones are great, there's a lot of room for it to live comfortably.

I'm really confused that we say "proper" Star Fox because by this point there are as many "non-proper" Star Fox games as "proper" ones. Also, yeah, Command is probably the lowest point in the series but then again I liked that game.

I'll wait for a patch to get rid of the crappy controls then.

You'll be waiting forever then. The game is designed around the controls, which is why the game doesn't have normal options. There are multiple boss fights that's completely dependent on the ability for the camera to be not behind the player (Aquarosa and the Star Wolf fights in particular)

Oh no. Starfox Zero is very much not an Other M. Other M fucked up A LOT of things with the franchise. Including how Samus was portrayed that fucked with her long built up independent character.

Starfox Zero just sucked. And it sucked because Miyamoto is trying to bring it back to it's highly simplistic roots which just isn't going to work for it anymore. Plot wise the entire franchise is a fucking mess.

Quite frankly Nintendo needs to just let go on the damn thing. It can no longer BE a simple space shooter. It just can't. They need to just let that game become the Space Opera plot heavy tragedy with hella gay furries (Fox McCloud and Wolf anyone?) that everyone else seems to take it as anyway.
For fucks sakes even the animated short for it. (Nintendo that was really good, please make that a series.) seems to wanted to make it a plot heavy semi tragedy.

Quite frankly they should of just continued with the direction they went with in the Assault game. A pretty nasty antagonist, heavy aerial dog fighting, other flying unit companions that got beef or competition with Starfox, etc.

There is a lot going for this franchise, but it's simple roots just isn't going to work anymore. And that's why Zero fell on it's ass hard.

I'm surprised the game didn't click for you. Though honestly the game was going to be much different before the extreme negative feedback on the reveal caused Miyamoto to revamp the game. The original idea for the game was that it was going to be played out in episodic format with a price range to match (you'd be buying episodes over a whole game). But because the feedback for the graphics was so negative (and because of the rapid restructuring of the company during said period) the game was expanded and quite honestly never fit into its new slot. You definitely see this in the bonus missions and some of the alternate paths. This is the other reason why co-op and multiplayer seems so lacking.

Also, there's like 4 Star Wolf fights in the game, I'm not really sure where any more dogfights would help this game.

OP is right. This game is extremely disappointing in all the places it shouldn't. Some minor spoilers ahead so be warned.

Controls:

Using the gyros was the biggest mistake of all. Not only is it not working properly (having to reset the position all the time), the game was designed around this broken idea. Even if a patch does come out to remove motion controls entirely, the game would be even more unplayable because the levels, enemies and bosses were designed around this flaw.

Having a game designed around the gyros also means they had to make things run slower and have less enemies than they should have.

The only places where motion controls would have made sense would have been stages where you don't control the vehicle, but are manning the turret, a bit like when you are on Wolf's wing in Assault. Actually, playing the game in coop removed most of my issues with the game for exactly this reason.

As it is right now, playing this game is like playing with 3 sticks at the same time. If aiming is so important, why not put the aiming reticle to the right stick, the boost/brake and so on to the 4 buttons, and call it a day?

Audio:

Audio is ok. Some tracks remixes were good. The voices coming from the pad only was very meh, but I guess they wanted to make sure you thought using the pad was "the only way to play".

Story (spoilers):

It's mostly a rehash of 64, with some differences. I'm a huge SF64 fan, unlocked everything and so on. I don't mind the SF64 "reboot". My main issue is that they did not use their setting in a very smart way. Look guys: you got portals, a reboot of SF64/snes and hints from the final boss that the General may not be the nice guy he says he is.

WHY NOT USE THIS SETTING TO INTRODUCE PARALLEL UNIVERSES?!? Let's say this game is in the "Universe Zero", then you beat the final boss and are taken to the "Super(Nes) Universe", then go to "Universe 64" for a while and so on, so that all the previous games did happen, but they are now part of a larger multiverse Andross and the Cornerian army are fighting over to control. Maybe introduce some time travel elements where you could try to save James as Fox in the past, only to fail so that James would tell you that the past cannot be changed and to learn that true power comes from your ability to change the now to shape the future.

Also, there is no hard mode, no alternate/true end boss and so on. This is extremely disappointing.

Multiplayer:

Coop mode is great actually. Too bad you can't do this online, battle online(or local), or play online AT ALL. WTF?


Edit: Also, this game made me not want to buy any more Nintendo game anymore. I'll get Zelda when it comes out and if it shit like this one then I'm done with Nintendo.

...You do know there's a control scheme that turns off the gyro controls until you fire right? If you're still bothering with the game, try switching to that. It takes care of most of the resetting issues. Also, no offense, but that story you put sounds worse than Command's, and Command involves an undead mechanical pig. Most of your other issues for this game comes from this game being forced into a bigger role than it already is so I can't really say you're wrong.

Just finished the game proper, unlocked all the secret levels, and am now doing an Arcade Mode playthrough. The control scheme definitely takes some getting used to what with the action split between the Gamepad and the TV. It was when I came back to the game after taking a break (battery running low) and taking on Titania again that something suddenly clicked and I wondered if I hadn't in fact been thinking too much this entire time and sabotaging myself in the process. I came to realize that my attention is never split evenly with the game on purpose. It's either mostly the gamepad or mostly the tv with the other acting as a supplement in order to make decisions better. Once I finally realized that and got into the mindset things became a lot smoother and I found myself downing bogies with pinpoint precision (as is the norm with gyro controls as they're a lot more accurate than sticks). It's definitely a method with a learning curve and I can see some getting frustrated with it despite the fact that they aren't that complicated.

If I had to bring out some criticism for the game it's that, like most entries in the franchise, it's definitely anemic when it comes to content. 20 well-designed levels, but there's not much to do besides hunt down medals and beat your high score. I would also say that once again alternate vehicles are underutilized as there are only a couple Landmaster missions and ONE Gyrowing mission (which is more of a stealth mission than anything).

As for the idea that the game's controls are broken, not only do I not buy into that, it's provably false. You can't speed run like this with bad controls:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ6FxdrehTY

He gets hit all of TWICE. I'd love to see people put up high score/flawless runs. In short, if this game gets "Other M'd" it's not due to the developers, it's once again due to the fans being toxic in their criticisms of it. This is one of those cases where I hoped Nintendo just ignores the vitriol and soldiers on with a sequel utilizing the same scheme because this game needs a followup.

Well, here's Aquarosa being destroyed in nearly half the time

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And here's a pretty awesome score attack one.

eKd0qhZKWIE[/youtube]

It appears the tricks in Star Fox 64 apply here as well. Also I love the fact that you can guide the missiles back to the boss like the anime short does it. Also many enemies will only appear if you do certain things like fly between certain pillars so it's going to be interesting to see how high the score can be.

But your comment also highlights the biggest barrier of this game. Every person I talk to (and myself) says the game 'clicked' for them. If the game 'clicked' for you then you probably loved the new controls (some people even say they find the old 64 controls horrible in comparison). But if it doesn't click for you, then you're probably not going to like this game. This is definitely a game that needs to have the training missions available for free download. Those training missions are a pretty good indicator of how you'll find the game.

OT: Yeah, Other M is definitely not a good comparison because this re-telling is perhaps my favorite version. Your team mates are no longer worthless (if you allow them all three pilots are more than capable of taking on their respective Star Wolf rivals on their own and only really struggle against Wolf), the banter between the four is just as good if not better than 64, and it combined the elements of the SNES and 64 games pretty well.

And as stated before, this game really needs to 'click' before people like it. Honestly, it's kind of like Wonderful 101. The game is rather complex and is rather poor at explaining everything to you (though Star Fox Zero at least has decent training missions) but if you 'get' the controls it's easily one of the best games on the system as well.

 

[Dragonbums]

-snip-

Hate to be shallow on this Xas but the graphics were pretty underwhelming. Especially for a new Starfox game. It's fair that a lot of people had zero confidence when even Nintendo themselves didn't even seem to pull out their best guns on first revealing the game. (the puppets were cute though.) Not only that there just didn't seem to be a lot of energy into it.
Although I have to ask where did you get the info that it was intended to be episodic? Because this is the first time I'm hearing of this model.

 

[Hawki]

Although I have to ask where did you get the info that it was intended to be episodic? Because this is the first time I'm hearing of this model.

http://www.gamnesia.com/news/everything-we-know-about-star-fox-u#.U65IjY1H6Sp

It may have been episodic at one point, but it's iffy as to whether the episodic comment referred to story or release structure.

 

[xaszatm]

-snip-

Hate to be shallow on this Xas but the graphics were pretty underwhelming. Especially for a new Starfox game. It's fair that a lot of people had zero confidence when even Nintendo themselves didn't even seem to pull out their best guns on first revealing the game. (the puppets were cute though.) Not only that there just didn't seem to be a lot of energy into it.
Although I have to ask where did you get the info that it was intended to be episodic? Because this is the first time I'm hearing of this model.

Yeah, Hawki has the article. I believe there was one more article but I currently can't find it. But that article was a big reason why personally I wasn't disappointing by the low graphics. That and the first instances of Project Giant Robot and Project Guard which weren't great graphically either. It seemed more of a side project rather than a AAA experience from the get go and was forced into a AAA spot later on. I think if this was 3 $14.99 episodes rather than one $50 game, the graphics would have been much more accepted.