What I think this game lacks is depth. Depth of combat is the most obvious. But also depth of gameplay: somehow, the beautiful vast settings and dungeons feel rather empty, as if there's not enough things to be done or places to be explored. Few memorable events seem to happen! Let's look at this in more detail.
Fighting. Right, combat first. It's basically a case of wait-for-your-cue-then-mash-the-attack-button-until-the-magic-moment-happens repeated for all enemies in turn until there's none left. Only the enemy you're locked on to can be interacted with, the others are just standing there almost as if waiting in line. They don't even attack! Also, given this system, the combos that are present are not really needed - it's just fancy stuff. So, what can we do about it? Well, let's first assume we dump the lock-on system. None of the bad guys are now being favored, so they should all be trying to hit the player at the same time, instead of allowing the player to defeat them one by one. Simultaneous attacks add an extra level of difficulty to fights: players now have to choose who to deal with first. This makes combats more interesting and prevents mindless button-mashing. And since the danger can now come from any direction, players should also be able to strike in any direction, which means the joystick could now be made more useful in combat: in the middle of a combo, the stick controls the direction of the attack, otherwise it just moves and turns the character. In this context, a combo is simply a sequence of chained directional attacks, and not any longer a decorative coup-de-grace. A nice touch would be to allow players to perform all these moves and combos even if no enemies are present, in order to allow them to practice their fighting skills and simulate, in fact, a martial arts expert training staff techniques with 'invisible' enemies.
The other important thing in combat is enemy behaviour. And there are in this game two patterns of movement displayed by enemies that are easily memorable: SharpClaws and their stronger versions that block with their weapons and then strike, and SnapLaks and similar that come out of the ground and shoot projectiles at the player. This is simply not enough! Some more variety is quite clearly needed. Where are the bad guys that jump or roll to dodge attacks? Or dinos that strike with their tails? How about a group of LightFeet running in circles at speed around Starfox, distant enough not to be hit by the staff, and occasionally leaving the circle to 'peck' him? Or panicky HighTops that try to stomp the player? And what of a few mischievious CloudRunners that drop explosive eggs from above? Obviously, care must be taken to prevent enemies from concentrating too heavily around Starfox and overwhelming him - when hit they should step back or slow down or try to find a better spot to continue the fight, or any combination of these! This ensures fights are kept somewhat believable and more or less manageable, without becoming a huge mess of arms, heads, fur, and wossname.
Multiplayer. Now, to make things even more interesting, imagine we have a two player cooperative mode. Player 2 just needs to press the Start button to join or leave the game. This is no split screen mode, though - both players are in the same viewport (the whole screen) at the same time. Imagine also, that Krystal and her flying friend are also playable characters. We could arrange the storyline in such a way as to have this party of four (Starfox, Tricky, Krystal, and her CloudRunner) divided at all times in two teams of two characters each. Sometimes Starfox and Tricky could be together, some other times it could be Starfox and Krystal that were on the same team - the story dictates which characters are on which team. And the teams don't change until the next event in the story that says they do happens. This is a great chance for puzzles: stuff that one team does affects the choices the other team has! Now, it is important that any player can control any character, and that players can change to the other team any time they wish to (except during boss battles, and possibly a few other key events). It is also important, for the sake of exploration and freedom, to give players the ability to revisit the same locations with different characters to do some new stuff there that wasn't possible before. For instance, ladders can only be climbed by Starfox and Krystal, thus making players only able to climb them when these two are together. If one character refuses to go somewhere, the other sticks with that decision - "We'll find some other way." One more thing: I'd make sure Tricky and the CloudRunner can be mounted by Starfox and Krystal. Tricky would have to be just a little bit larger for this to be credible, of course. And then I'd get rid of those bike racing sections and add some new challenges where the mounts and their riders are put to good use. I think that racing with Tricky or with the CloudRunner, with all the thumping footstep sounds and dust, or speed and manoeuvrability, is so much more in harmony with the spirit of this game than racing with bikes. Especially if the riders are able to use the staff or some of its upgrades to attack enemies or destroy parts of the scenery at the same time. It allows for more tightly knit teams, the sharing of experiences, and a true sense of companionship. Even more so if all characters can participate in combats...
And how do Tricky and the CloudRunner fight? Which attacks and defenses do they have? Well, Tricky (baby-)charges at enemies and he could also bite (hold the attack button to release a super powerful charge or bite). And we've all seen his fiery breath. For defense, he could step back or roll sideways in a quick manner. The CloudRunner, on the other hand, looks more clearly suited to deal with airborne enemies. For instance, in order to take down those flaming bats, who might not be in range of a staff or of a (baby-)charge, the CloudRunner approaches them and then flaps her wings forward wildly to create a rush of wind and send them crashing against walls. (This is a good defensive ground move, too.) Or she could, at the expense of scorching her beak, peck them to death! Another solution would be to have Starfox or Krystal ride her up to the enemy and then have them use the staff or one of its powers. Some awesome action moments could also be created by making her drop explosive eggs towards enemies on the ground.
On the items front, I think that gadgets in use shouldn't hog the screen by going into first person view, as this would make gameplay disruptive for the other player. So, no aiming devices for anyone! Ways to accomplish this would be to place all targets at player level, my favourite, or to choose this height automatically. Also, the game becomes more interesting if some sidekick commands are different for Tricky and the CloudRunner, and if Starfox and Krystal have gadgets and staff powers exclusive to each other (though some may be the same). More or less like this:
(In order to make gameplay more interesting for the player controlling Tricky or the CloudRunner, a few more sidekick commands need to be included.)
And finally but not less importantly, how do all four main characters interact with each other? (This is best seen in their 'idle' animations and during cutscenes.) Tricky and the CloudRunner, grumbling and fighting with one another all the time, seem to be less easy going as a team than Starfox and Krystal, who themselves appear more timid and uncomfortable with their feelings for each other. On the other hand, I see Krystal and Tricky as more playful and mischievous, and much more so than Starfox and Tricky together. It would be interesting to see how these relationships would evolve throughout the game, as the characters started doing things and living experiences together.
Focus on Characters. Besides the bike racing bits, I'd also get rid of the Arwing sections. Oh, yes! This is not Starfox Armada, it is Starfox Adventures. Leaving the space shooting sections (and the racing ones too) inside the design drawer would make for a far more pure gameplay experience. For this game, I'd have the complete focus on the character of Starfox and on his friends, not on bikes and ships. Well, actually, Tricky could display some athletic talent, as could Krystal's CloudRunner, and the Arwing could work as a sort of instant teleport between areas of the planet (add more landing sites on the planet itself!), in a way similar to the ships in Jet Force Gemini. Speaking of which, how much more interesting would this game be if it was not about foxes, rabbits, toads, and whatnot, but more about Humankind Meets Dinosaurs? Jurassic Park and Dinotopia spring to mind, and this would be the perfect game to evoke the feelings portrayed in those works. Imagine (truly) immense creatures roaming vast landscapes, usually aggressive towards strangers, who have to earn their trust and friendship. Some protecting their eggs and offspring, some others defending their females from the other males - a wonderful moment for Krystal and her (female) CloudRunner to act! Several dozen bipedal dinosaurs running around a huge plain, hunting little furry foxes...
Map and Structure. OK, locations next. Since this is a world inhabited by dinosaurs, the paths and other accesses such as doors should be more dinosaur-friendly, at least to those living nearby. I'm thinking of the entrance to ThornTail Store (climb down a vertical wall to enter a shop?!), for example... Next, and more importantly, I'd have four Force Point Temples (two additional ones for the Earth and Air elements). This means a desert for the Desert Force Point Temple is needed. And a setting for the 'Wind' Force Point Temple is also needed. A peak high above the clouds, perhaps? Or some other high place, where the presence of the wind can really be felt. Finally, Krazoa Palace would in fact be five dungeons in one big place: one small dungeon per element/SpellStone/Krazoa Spirit/Test/cardinal point, and a central big dungeon where the game starts (the girl is kidnapped) and ends (the final boss is defeated), and the girl is rescued (I'd make rescuing the girl the goal of the First Chapter, not of the entire game). With these settings, the structure of the game would be roughly like this:
In each of the six main chapters, comes the stuff with the Krazoa Spirits and Krazoa Palace, which I think should always be Krystal's task. And players should be rewarded with items (and/or sidekick commands) in each of the 12 dungeons, and also in Central Krazoa Palace. Finally, after the epilogue, as a neat end-of-game bonus, players should be allowed to form their own teams and visit the whole (rebuilt) planet at will. This, I think, would be great.
Crates and Fuel Barrels. Have you ever seen exploding barrels regularly dotted about in a palace? They seem to be almost everywhere in the game, in fact! As a player, the repetitive nature of puzzle themes and the forced (unnatural) presence of items to solve them makes me begin to realize that this game is just a linear sequence of puzzles/challenges. Even though that may be true of almost all games, it's just not much fun to perceive it! It diminishes the desire of exploration I so very much like to be present in an adventure game. (For some reason it's called just that!) I feel like I'm being led by the hand into the next hazard or trap, and I find that a bad feeling. I want to discover things out by myself and put myself into trouble as a consequence of my own behaviour, not be presented with a new challenge at every step of the way! I want to try to find ways to avoid the nasty bits and feel clever about it, not run through what is essentially a pre-determined set of actions that solves the puzzle! In most cases what I've just done might very well be what the puzzle designer intended me to do, but I don't want to end up realizing that, and to me that's what really matters here. The only effective way to accomplish this is through disguise: instead of, for example, showing rooms with crates as an obstacle that needs to be overcome or a puzzle that needs to be solved, I'd let boxes to climb upon or to drag around be seen by players more like tools that, when properly used, can help them achieve their goal, or whatever it is they think their goal is. This is a subtle but important difference. Because, you see, puzzles involving decorations work best if the decorations that are used to solve them feel like they belong in the environment. Exploding barrels clearly don't belong in a palace, and I'd restrict their appearance to, say, DarkIce Mines. This emphasizes the Fire theme of this dungeon. Outside of the mines they don't exist! Other dungeons, with their own themes (CloudRunner Fortress/Air, Walled City/Water, Dragon Rock/Earth), would have to have their own exclusive decorations (such as, for example, re-directable fans and wind tunnels, water pipes and taps, and boulders - not crates! - to push and pull) and puzzles involving those decorations. This adds variety to the gameplay and the locations start to feel less empty, or rather, less identical and less devoid of soul. They start to gain their own character and become memorable. And especially, it makes pushing crates around or carrying barrels about or whatever else much more fun. Even more so if some of the puzzles have multiple solutions, or, through the use of some intelligent thinking and insight, are altogether avoidable.
The Start Button. And what can I say about the menus? Well, for one I'd make sure those annoying voices were played much less often and in a much less annoying tone. And since the interface is based around a holographic projector, I'd forget about those revolving cubes in the submenus completely and I'd have only projected items similar to the ones in the main in-game menu (the Great Fox crew's faces, the Gamecube memory card, ...). For example, the map is simply projected above the device, without the surrounding cube. If the player then selects an area, then that area's detailed map, previously bought from the store, is displayed, again without using a semi-transparent cube as a frame. These choices make all the menus feel more alike and the interface more cohesive.
The Screen. With the hypothesis of a two player cooperative mode, the screen layout needs to be reworked. The sketch nearby shows a possible solution (sorry about the mickey!). Player 1 gets the left of the screen, and the right side goes to Player 2, if present. This never changes, even when players swap characters or teams. In the top middle lies the map, displayed using the same holographic style from the menus, and slightly zoomed in to show only a part of the surroundings - the full map can be accessed from the main in-game menu. The top corners display the characters faces along with their health and staff energy. In the case of Tricky and the CloudRunner, who obviously don't carry a staff, the energy bar is either not shown or is some other form of meter - perhaps related to combat. From the bottom, players can see the A button action, above which are the items that have been assigned to the X and Y buttons, and finally, if open, their own inventory. These elements on the bottom right corner are not present if Player 2 has not joined the game - they're not needed, of course! You'll notice that the collectibles are nowhere in sight and this is so because some are items usable only by some characters. The amounts are thus shown in the inventory, near the respective item.
Input. The following table shows which controller elements do what.
| Control Stick | Move Character |
|---|---|
| Control Pad | Up/Down: Inventory Left/Right: Swap Character and Team (if in Inventory mode, Left/Right change between item group) |
| A Button | Action/Attack/Use Item |
| B Button | Cancel |
| C Stick (Player 1 Only) | Move Camera (Up and Down also zoom camera) |
| X Button | Use Assigned Item |
| Y Button | Use Assigned Item |
| Z Button (Player 1 Only) | Center Camera Behind Character 1st Person View Toggle (if camera is already centered) |
| Left Trigger | Roll/Avoid/Charge/Flap Wings |
| Right Trigger | Defend |
| Start Button | Player 1: Communicator Menus Player 2: Join/Leave Game |
If in 2 Player mode, both players must hold the Swap Character/Team buttons at the same time, for about half a second or so. There is no Sidestep (how many times did you use it?), but if it must really be that imperative then one of the Trigger Clicks could do it. And there are those all-important camera control button and stick - essential in a third person adventure - but only Player 1 is able to use them, and the moments in the game where this is actually compulsory should be non-existent, so that Player 2 doesn't feel left out too often. Also, I'd remove the screen shade from the Goggles, or at least I'd try to make it look a lot less conspicuous: it's a visual feature that's way too distracting to be present in a first person view mode.
Summary. And this is basically it. This rough overview hopefully gives an idea of the things I would change in this game, and with these changes I believe Starfox Adventures would be far more interesting to play. Especially in terms of combat and of the two player option - these two would make all the difference. I'd also rework some of the puzzles in dungeons, and this is where the two teams feature comes in. And finally, I really have to say this: wonderful graphics, girls. Truly wonderful graphics. I think they're the best on the system, even today, and I could almost kiss you for that. Nice one.
Copyright © 2004 Rui Cuco. All rights reserved.
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