Meeple demands, I deliver. Yep. I aim to please. I'm putting minimal time into this, pretty much just to get it done and out of the way. Also because there's not much to cover anyway (thankfully). This was the only Star Fox game on the DS. Often gets hated on either because of controls (which are a problem) or plot (lolstarfox plot). Anyway, the game is supposed to be strategy like, but it doesn't really matter in the end because all the goals are the same in that you should be blowing shit up.
All range mode returns to this game and is in fact, the only mode where battles are conducted. For those of you that have been out of the loop since Star Fox 64, this means that the Somersault and the U-turn return and is universal for everyone. In fact, it has a lot of similar elements to SF64, the main key difference (aside from finishing levels differently) is that all the characters in the game have different ships. No more "everyone flies the standard Arwing".
Also also, more important than that is it introduced character themes for everyone. YESZ.
Gameplay flow:
Provided just so people can understand how the game is supposed to work (and have the stats make more sense). The game is supposed to be semi-strategical. Every map, your goal is to either: a) destroy all enemies and the boss (simple enough) or b) capture all enemy bases and destroy the boss. Note that bosses are not present in every level, but generally, each area has a boss which you will fight when you progress away from the planet in the story.
At the start of every round, you can plot the flight path of each pilot. When you are done, you execute or carry out the round and your pilots will move out. If they run into an enemy's flight path, the enemy will follow the pilot and a skirmish begins. If you beat the targeted enemy(s) in the skrim, that enemy group is defeated from the map. Flip side, if you lose the skrim by time out or you get shot down, the enemies will advance their original path. The sole exception to this are missiles. If you run into an enemy missile, you will stop dead in your flight path and have to defeat the missile. Losing the encounter lets the missile move forward. If you destroy all the enemies in a given skrim (and not just the target) you'll receive a bonus weapon for the Great Fox.
You lose maps in a few ways. If you run out of remaining ships in stock, if a group of enemies or a missile reaches Great Fox, or you run out of rounds. Any of these conditions causes immediate defeat for the player. Note that bonus weapons attained by the Great Fox can be fired out at enemy groups to instantly destroy them. Very useful especially if no player ships are nearby or if you're significantly damaged or you just need to remove specific annoying enemies. They can't target missiles though. Levels end when all the enemies are defeated/boss defeated or bases captured/boss defeated.
A little more about flight paths; you can't fly through obstacles and if there are obstructions (like asteroids), your given flight path decreases. Every ship has the same amount of movement. However, reaching a captured enemy base and flying over it refuels movement to full for that pilot and they essentially get extended flight range. Note that multiple pilots can use the same captured base for this purpose. FoW is also present every map, so it's important to maximize flight distance to find hidden enemies and bases.
Stats:
Shot - The ship's regular weapon. Progression in strength is Zapper > Plasma > Twin > Single. I'm unsure of how much damage each one deals, but to give you a rough estimate, the Zapper can regularly one-shot most enemies. Even the hardier enemies can only take about 4 shots. The single laser on the hand sometimes require more than 12 shots to bring something down. So the single laser being 12x weaker than the Zapper isn't completely surprising.
Lock - Single or Multi. Single means the ship can only fire charge shots at one target. Multi means it can lock onto more than one. Note that charge shots can be held and get stronger as it locks on to a target. It capable of one-shotting enemies with a single charge shot.
Shield - Durability of the ship, measured in "squares". Minor hits take off a square. Major hits take off two squares. So yes, Falco can get easily 2HKO'd in game whereas Slippy can tank hits like nobody's business.
Booster - Determines the maneuverability of the ship. High booster means the ship can barrel roll longer, boost longer and brake longer. It does not effect Somersaults or U-turns. For those of you that have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, a Barrel Roll is Star Fox games means pretty much perfect projectile immunity (you deflect most shot weapons). You are however still vulnerable to crashing into enemies.
Bombs - Number of bombs a ship starts with. Bombs deal a lot of damage at once. They one shot normal enemies pretty easily, which usually take around 12 single laser shots or more. My guess is that their strength is equivalent to that of the Zapper.
Time gain - When a ship deflects projectiles, it gains time equivalent to this stat. You start every mission with 100 seconds. When time runs out to 0, you lose a "life" (or ship). Game is over if you run out of ships.
On with the show...
Fox McCloud - "Let's Rock and Roll!"
Ship name: Arwing II
Shot - Single
Lock-type - Single
Shield - 6 squares
Booster - 4 squares
Bombs - 2 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
Due to the awesomeness of lolStarFoxplot, Fox's ship gets upgraded several times over the course of the game. Each time he gets upgraded, he gets a new bonus including but not limited to Plasma lasers and a multi-lock. What's listed here is his default set up at the start of every path. As you might expect, Fox gets a lot of screen time and his ship is relatively balanced to take on various tasks. Decent shielding, high maneuverability along with lasers, a standard lock and the capacity to hold two bombs. In-game, Fox can handle most tasks as needed, making him very versatile and useful.
Falco Lombardi - "Ain't your buddy, go away!
Ship name: Sky Claw
Shot - Single
Lock-type - Multi
Shield - 4 squares
Booster - 4 squares
Bombs - 1 Bombs
Time gain - 3 seconds
Comments:
For the first time in a very long while, we finally get to use Falco inside an plane. The game claims that he is supposed to be an ace pilot and his showing in Command is decent enough. Falco's more about evading enemies and making good use of his multi-lock to sweep multiple enemies at once. He can't take a hit worth a damn so like any ace pilot, make sure not to fly him directly into obstacles or enemy fire. As a side note, the Sky Claw's wings are the longest of any player controlled plane. This is actually an advantage for Falco because of his long barrel roll length and the fact that he gains +3 seconds instead of the regular +2 on deflecting projectiles. Falco appears in a lot of levels although depending on what you're up against, he's not always the best person for the job.
Slippy Toad - "Fox, get this guy off me!
Ship name: The Bullfrog
Shot - Plasma
Lock-type - Not available
Shield - 8 squares
Booster - 2 squares
Bombs - 3 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
Yep. The frog that everyone has wanted to kill is also playable. Slippy has no lock and he has little to no evade himself. This makes him very bad against evasive enemies. On the flip side, his regular shot is very powerful. If your aim is good, he's actually very powerful since he can down most enemies quickly. Low maneuverability means he can't outrun or catch enemies; good thing he has lots of health to tank hits.
Krystal
Ship name: Cloud Runner
Shot - Twin
Lock-type - Single
Shield - 6 squares
Booster - 3 squares
Bombs - 1 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
Pretty well balanced altogether. Note that Krystal only uses this ship is she is on mission with the Star Fox squadron. Otherwise, she uses a repainted model of Bill's ship (see below). In essence, it's a stronger Arwing II. Twin lasers beat out Single and the only thing it loses is boosters since bombs aren't very accurate. However, Fox gets his ship upgraded, so by the end of the game, his shot is usually stronger or he has a multi-lock. She should be deployed in a similar fashion as Fox. Her actual character is the worst thing ever though.
Wolf O'Donnel - "CAN'T LET YOU DO THAT STAR FOX!"
Ship name: The Wolfen
Shot - Twin
Lock-type - Multi
Shield - 6 squares
Booster - 4 squares
Bombs - 1 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
Sweet yeti of the Sarengeti! Wolf is ridiculously powerful. His twin laser alone makes him deal more damage than usual, but packing a multi-lock along with high boosters and decent enough shielding makes him the best player controlled ship in the entire cast. Good thing he doesn't appear that often. When Wolf is around levels, I just usually have him manhandle enemy groups since he takes on single targets or multiple targets just as effectively. He has no real weakness, making him a good choice to send out on to any flight path.
Leon Powlaski - "Annoying bird, I am The GREAT LEON"
Ship name: Rainbow Delta
Shot - Not available
Lock-type - Wide (Quick Multi-lock)
Shield - 8 squares
Booster - 2 squares
Bombs - 1 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
All the Star Wolf pilots pack plenty of variety and Leon doesn't disappoint. His ship has no regular shot. Instead, it spews out homing charged shots and only charged shots. This would normally gimp him really hard, but the charge rate and fire rate of his locked shots is about twice as fast as regular locks. The drawback is he can't build up it's strength. However, his steady stream of slowly picking off enemies by repeatedly blasting them regardless of how the try to evade means he's great against multiple enemies and really evasive enemies. It just might take him awhile to down it. Note that this is a nice tie in to his supposed Star Fox character (he likes torturing things before killing them FYI). Never send him against missiles.
Panther Caruso - "Oh no, one of my favourite cafes got totaled"
Ship name: Black Rose
Shot - Zapper
Lock-type - Not available
Shield - 4 squares
Booster - 4 squares
Bombs - 1 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
The newly introduced Panther in Star Fox Assault comes back in Command. Did I mention Wolf was broken? I take that back because Panther is even more ridiculous. While he has no lock and he has the same durability problems as Falco, his regular shot, the Zapper, is like on 20 types of crack and then some. It one shots most regular enemies and can down even bosses in only 4 shots. It's main disadvantage (aside from all the other problems of his ship) is the cooldown. You can't fire it rapidly, so it pays to be sniper like and only fire when something is within your reticule. Once your aim is decent, you'll be surprised at how many things die before they even get to you. It's that strong.
Bill Grey - "Try shooting the bad guys, Fox"
Ship name: Cornerian Fighter Custom
Shot - Twin
Lock-type - Not available
Shield - 6 squares
Booster - 3 squares
Bombs - 2 Bombs
Time gain - 3 seconds
Comments:
First appearing in Star Fox 64 in only the Katina mission, Bill makes a reappearance, although in a very limited number of routes. There's not much to say about his ship. It might be the weakest ship though because it doesn't have any real strong specialties. The 3 second time gain is nice, and having a bit more health than Falco means you can take more than a hit. But having a smaller booster and no lock means you can't really take as great advantage as you would think. Like Leon, never send him against missiles.
Katt Monroe - "Make way for Katt!"
Ship name: Cat's Paw 2
Shot - Curve (single, shots don't fire in a straight line)
Lock-type - Multi
Shield - 4 squares
Booster - 3 squares
Bombs - 2 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
I don't get the curved laser. It's supposed to home, but the shots end up not going in a straight line, which makes aiming really awkward. Good thing she has a multi-lock then. Probably the frailest character due to boosters only being averagish while the shielding is tied for worst in the game. If it wasn't for multi-lock, would clearly be the worst playable character by far.
Lucy Hare
Ship name: Sky Bunny
Shot - Plasma
Lock-type - Single
Shield - 4 squares
Booster - 3 squares
Bombs - 1 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
Deceptively powerful. Has the same benefit as Slippy with Plasma shots. This means that she's a terror with decent aiming. And better boosters means she's actually decently mobile too. Too bad about the low shields; still a lot stronger than Katt though since those regular shots means she'll tear through most regular mobs with ease. Having a lock means she has no trouble against evasive enemies either.
Amanda
Ship name: Tadpole
Shot - Single
Lock-type - Multi
Shield - 6 squares
Booster - 2 squares
Bombs - 1 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
Behold, the only character without a last name. If Lucy is basically a variant on Slippy, then Amanda is a variant on Falco. More shielding, but really bad in terms of boosters. Not a terribly strong ship, but finds its niche when you need a multi-locker who can afford to take a hit.
Dash Bowman
Ship name: Monkey Arrow
Shot - Twin
Lock-type - Single
Shield - 6 squares
Booster - 3 squares
Bombs - 2 Bombs
Time gain - 2 seconds
Comments:
Essentially the same thing as the Cloud Runner. Decent enough for sure. No other comments. See above.
Peppy Hare - "DO A BARREL ROLL (Press Z or R Twice)!"
Ship name: Arwing
Shot - Twin
Lock-type - Multi
Shield - 6 squares
Booster - 4 squares
Bombs - 2 Bombs
Time gain - 3 seconds
Comments:
See Wolf, more or less. The added time gain of course makes him better. Appears only in 2 levels though.
James McCloud - "Never give up. Trust your instincts"
Ship name: Arwing
Shot - Twin
Lock-type - Single
Shield - 6 squares
Booster - 4 squares
Bombs - 2 Bombs
Time gain - 3 seconds
Comments:
Purely fanservice. Exactly the same as Peppy. Not much really to add. They have the exact same ship for crying out loud. I'll like to point out how his constant appearance in games is what Star Fox fans constantly use as a means to prove that James McCloud isn't dead. Although I guess Fox's hallucination defeating a giant angler probably doesn't make much sense either. tl;dr: lolstarfoxplot.
