|
Thursday 6 March, 2008
Gameplay
I thought the controls to the game provided interesting game play. I was able to use the lasers, and if I held the laser button down I could charge up the laser to a homing type missile to lock on enemies for a guaranteed shot. I also liked the use of bombs, and the Arwing’s maneuvering capabilities. For example, in one of the stages I was engaging in a dogfight between Fox and some of his enemies in which I had to utilize the loop action to get behind enemy planes for a clear shot. There was also this barrel role action which put the plane into a spin role that acted as a protective barrier against enemy fire. The different types of actions available brought a lot of control freedom to the game.
There was this multiplayer mode in which I played against 3 of my friends. The multiplayer setting allowed for dog fighting scenarios in which 4 players engage in combat against each other. My friend beat the game so he unlocked the secret character modes in which players on top of the Arwing, have the option of choosing a tank or playing as Fox without any vehicle. I think these elements made the multiplayer pretty fun because it added a lot of variance and competition between the players.
Design
I thought the level design to Starfox was good. Each planet or world had its own unique design, and despite the constant scrolling, it felt like each level provided a sufficient amount of freedom for the player to explore around corners and different paths to discover new enemies or new rewards. I thought the rewards implemented in each level were done well too. I had the ability to pick up coins and even these coins provided challenge because with some I had to use the loop function to grab 2 or 3 coins stacked on top of each other. The bosses in each game were unique from a clam in one of the levels to a lava monster in another which provided a lot of diversity to the game. The unique levels, and the unique bosses, along with the different templates for world to the different rewards kept Starfox entertaining throughout game play.
The sounds in the game were very high quality and unique. The voices used in the game brought an authentic feel to the game because each player provided its own voice to match his own character. The soundtrack to the game however wasn’t all too great or dramatic.
What was frustrating about the game though was the limited view that was brought on by the scrolling view of the level and the view from the back of the plane. I felt like I was constricted to a certain area on the screen, for example I could only got so far in a diagnol direction until my plane ultimately gets squished to the top side of the screen while im stuck on a focused view of the oncoming landscape and enemies. Also when making a loop I was just viewing what was in front of me so, I couldn’t really tell whether or not an enemy was behind me unless I saw lasers pass by, or my wingmen told me, or I crashed into enemy vehicles, so the limited camera angles restricted me a bit, but in the general sense each level and the scrolling format still had enough freedom to spark interesting game play.
|
