Star Fox: Assault
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[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Plot
Star Fox: Assault takes place 1 year after the events of Star Fox Adventures. Andrew Oikonny, Andross's nephew, assumes leadership over his dead uncle's army and starts a rebellion against the Cornerian Army. 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 them. Once they fight their way through his forces, they follow Andrew to Fortuna, where he attacks them by transforming his ship into an imitation of Andross's final form, albeit much weaker (despite his arrogant boasts). Before his battle with the team is through, however, 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 attacking creature was an Aparoid, one of a powerful species capable of destroying entire Cornerian fleets with little effort. The team also learns that a distress signal is being sent from Katina and they suspect Aparoid involvement. Fox investigates the planet on foot, only to be trapped inside the base with the Aparoids. With the help of a Landmaster, he is able to fight them off. After defeating a large Aparoid boss, resembling a giant UFO with four legs, he recovers another Core Memory, which is quickly stolen by Pigma Dengar, who sent out the distress signal himself and believed he can become rich from the Core Memory's sale.
The Star Fox team tracks Pigma to the Sargasso Space Zone, a popular hideout for bandits, which is overseen by the Star Wolf leader, Wolf O'Donnell. After infiltrating the base, they discover Pigma is not there and the Star Wolf team shows up (with Panther Caroso as their newest member), soon after their discovery. They engage the Star Fox team in a dogfight, which they subsequently lose. Panther, attempting to flirt with Krystal, tells her that Pigma is on the planet Fichina. When Fox and crew quickly rush over to the planet, they discover that Pigma had deactivated its climate control center, turning it into a snowy wasteland. After defeating an Aparoid that threatened to destroy the control center reactor, the team then follows Pigma through an asteroid belt. Once they catch up to him, they find that Pigma had been taken over by the Aparoids and had no control over his actions. He lets himself be assimilated(to avoid capture) into a large spacecraft with large tentacle-like metal arms as weapons. Fox fights and destroys Pigma, and retrieves the core memory, which has the information that will lead the team to the Aparoid Homeworld.
Just before the team is about to go after the Aparoid Queen at their homeworld, Krystal receives a sudden distress call from Sauria (formerly known as Dinosaur Planet), which is under attack by the Aparoids. Fox quickly lands on the planet and destroys the Aparoid hatchers before the dinosaurs there are wiped out. After the battle, Fox and Krystal reunite with Prince Tricky, now a teenaged 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 the Aparoids, leaving it devastated (Along with much of the Cornerian Defense Fleet). Fox, with the help of Star Wolf, who 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 ship(with the General inside being taken over as well) had been taken over by the Aparoids, and has started to attack Fox. However, General Pepper 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, he is saved by Peppy, who suddenly arrives in an Arwing and softens the General's ship's fall. After the battle, the Star Fox team heads for a large space station above Corneria, the 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 of various 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 that will destroy the Aparoids.
Once the Star Fox team reaches the Aparoid Homeworld, they realize that the entry to the core of the planet is blocked by a base and a large shield. Though the Star Fox Team is able to infiltrate the base and destroy a large amount of Aparoids, the shield won't break. According to Slippy, laser power is useless against it. He suddenly sees Peppy and ROB in the Great Fox, which is covered and damaged by the Aparoids. ROB diverts all power to the laser guns on Peppy's orders and destroys the base, proceeding to ram the Great Fox into the shield and open it long enough for the team to get through. The Great Fox then 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 showing up again to help 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 Fox's father in an attempt to deceive them into joining her. The team ignores her (with the help of Wolf's advice), and blasts her armor away until Fox is able to shoot the program inside of her. However, the queen is able to repress it, and attempts to escape. Slippy informs Fox that if he does not destroy her and launch the program, the queen will create an antibody. Once the team defeats the queen, the program launches, and the Aparoids are permanently destroyed. The team escapes from the core of the homeworld, and soon discover that ROB and Peppy survived the explosion by finding an escape pod just before the Great Fox blew up. It is unclear at this point as to whether the Star Wolf team made it out or not, but Fox believes they also survived. (it is revealed in Star Fox: Command that they did escape).
[edit] Gameplay
The gameplay of Star Fox: Assault is divided into three distinctive types. The player can either fly an Arwing (an aircraft), Landmaster (a tank), or perform certain tasks on foot. All three play types are available for multiplayer mode. The game follows a completely linear track as opposed to one the player chooses, unlike its predecessors Star Fox and Star Fox 64.
Arwing missions in Assault are similar to those of the first two games in the series. The player flies in space or close to the ground and shoots down enemies. Some levels are on rails, while others allow full freedom of movement in a relatively small area. As in previous games, the wing mates of Fox, the main character, occasionally call for help when chased by enemies. Additionally, in some levels, the player has the ability to hop in and out of the Arwing at will.
While in the Landmaster, the player has complete freedom to move about the level. They are free to shoot or running over enemies as well as assist their wingmates when necessary. Playing on foot essentially turns the game into a third-person shooter — the player starts armed with the blaster, a type of gun, and can acquire a variety of other weapons, including but not limited to a machine gun and a homing launcher. In two shooting gallery levels, the player rides on the wing of an Arwing or a Wolfen fighter, shooting enemies on the ground and in the air with a plasma cannon.
As an added bonus, by collecting all silver medals throughout the game, the player can unlock a playable version of Xevious, a scrolling shooter arcade
[edit] Reception
Star Fox: Assault was critically the most accepted addition to the series, however had it an average score of 71% on Game Rankings. Some complaints were aimed at the control scheme during on-foot portions; IGN worded the complaint as "ground missions suffering from sloppy control". GameSpot noted that the multiplayer portion of the game has little lasting value, an annoyance that IGN felt as well. IGN went on to say the design was too simplistic. However, IGN noted that being able to switch between the Arwing and Landmaster at will was a "welcome addition". In Electronic Gaming Monthly, two of the reviewers gave it a 8.0 out of 10. Kevin Gifford said that "the game is aimed less at the Mario club and more toward the hardcore crowd". EGM also noted that Assault had an epic feel, helped by a great soundtrack.
The game has sold well enough for it to be included in Nintendo's Player's Choice line in North America, which also includes Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Adventures.
[edit] References
[edit] Voice Cast
| Role | Japanese voice | English voice |
|---|---|---|
| Fox McCloud | Kenji Nojima | Jim Walker |
| Falco Lombardi | Hisao Egawa | Mike Madeoy |
| Krystal | Aya Hara | Alesia Glidewell |
| Slippy Toad | Kyoko Tonguu | Mike McAuliffe |
| Peppy Hare | Tomohisa Asō | Henry Dardenne |
| NUS 64/ROB 64 | Yusuke Numata | Dex Manley |
| Wolf O'Donnell | Mahito Ōba | Grant Goodeve |
| Leon Powalski | Shinobu Satouchi | David Scully |
| Panther Caruso | Tetsu Inada | David Scully |
| Pigma Dengar | Daisuke Gori | Lev Liberman |
| Andrew Oikonny | Yusuke Numata | John Hugill |
| General Pepper | Michihiro Ikemizu | Greg Eubank |
| Beltino Toad | Hirohiko Kakegawa | Scott Burns |
| Prince Tricky | Currently unknown | Chet Morgan |
| Aparoid Queen | Currently unknown | Alesia Glidwell |
| James McCloud | Hirohiko Kakegawa | Jim Walker |
Other: Star Fox 2 | Star Fox Wii | Star Fox Arcade | Cameos
