Screenshots from VG Museum

Year released: 1993 (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)

Number of Players: 1

Andross, an exiled criminal, has come back to Corneria and started war on the Lylat system. Star Fox and company head out.

Graphics: Washed out. What do you expect for a polygolinal game on an SNES, though?

Play control: The direction on the control pad moves the arwing you pilot in that direction, and you constantly move forward into the screen (think of it this way: you're walking forward, and the control pad decides whether you sidestep left as you walk, sidestep right, float in the air and move forward, or go downward and walk). Press Y to shoot, B to brake, A to fire a bomb, and X to blast forward quickly. Unlike Space Harrier, where Harrier always shoot directly in front of him, as you move around, your aim moves, too. So if you press down and then shoot, you can shoot the ground. This allows for more precision shooting, but sometimes it's hard to tell where your shot will end up. However, if you press Select, you can switch to a cockpit view, which is complete with crosshairs for easier shooting. As a result, though, it's difficult to judge the space between your arwing and objects in space.

Sound: On the cruder side of SNES instruments, though composition is great. Sound effects are cool ("peow peow peow!": shooting), though voices are just mumbling in different tones (think Banjo-Kazooie, if you can).

Challenge: Star Fox doesn't fall short in this section. While the screen never give the fast-paced franticness of Space Harrier, it becomes a challenge to quickly place your aim on an enemy while dodging debris before the enemy can shoot you. Also, enemies take a few hits before going down. Bosses each have various new ways to damage you and various ways to get damaged, and won't hesitate to use both efficiently.

Gameplay: Basically the strategic man's Space Harrier. It's slow, and you need to eye where your aim is going. Oh, yeah, and sometimes your teammates talk to you--it appears at the bottom of the screen in text that's always clearly readable. They say stuff like "Hey, he was mine!" But, more interestingly, sometimes they get into trouble, and they say "Fox, can you help me out?" or something. You have to find their arwing on the screen and shoot down the enemy chasing them. I haven't found any repercussions for not saving an ally, though.

Bottom line: As I said, basically the strategic man's Space Harrier. The slow gameplay of Star Fox always lacked something for me, something I found in Space Harrier. I guess the same could be said in reverse--if someone found Space Harrier shallow or boring, Star Fox might be a place to turn.

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