On a Sunday in late April, I was walking around New York city when I stumbled across Nintendo World. As I peaked in something caught my eye, Star Fox Zero came out three days prior and I just had to snag a copy for myself.

Nintendo World offered a promotional bonus which came with a poster and a strategy guide which had art from the game development. Being someone who has played and owned almost all the prior starfox games, I was a little nervous playing this one because Star Dox is known for failing to uphold its franchise’s prime game, Star Fox 64. Star Fox 64 was the biggest selling and most appraised game in the full series of 7 games. It came out for the Nintendo 64 on June 30th, 1997.

This new game features a first person cockpit setting, with a gyro turning and aiming system; and also a third person view on the TV. This added a great spin on the way the game is played compared to any other game in the series. Something that was very shocking to me was they brought back the original voice actors from 64 to voice act for this game which was a great authentic choice.

The graphics for the game are stylized and polished to perfection. Because Star Fox is a space shooter, the graphics don’t need to be incredibly detailed or intricate, but with the Wii U’s graphics card, the game could run 60 frames per second and have a high resolution.

The gameplay was really great, it was everything I could expect from the game. The story mode added new vehicles to the franchise as well as new designs for each planet level. Although the map layout is almost virtually the same as Starfox 64, each level is different and constantly engaging. The game’s hidden paths and content allows of an arcade style replayability.

I beat the story mode in about two hours, but only discovered a fraction of the content. Because of the linear level system, I only played a third of the maps which hold extended stories and almost definitely different ending outcomes.

As I progressed through the game however a few things bothered me. The first thing I had a lot of issues adjusting to was the counter intuitive controls. In most flight based games, if you hit the joystick back, your ship goes up, vica versa; however, in this game, if you move the stick forward, your ship goes up. This leaves an awkward situation when the game forces you to adjust, and there are no control options to change this.

A second thing is the aiming system; it is very hard to resync the game pad aimer, sometimes the reticle wanders off the screen and it can be annoying to readjust when you’re in the midst of action. To pitch and yaw the R – Wing fighter jet, your have to use the left joystick which is very unconventional. In every other game you would use the L and R buttons which is much more natural. The game forces you to adapt to the unnessarily complicated controls with no other option.

Lastly I personally enjoyed the game a lot, but many fans could be upset of the game’s cookie cutter plot and gameplay. For me, this game is just a better version of 64, which expanded on the lore, worlds in the story, and capitalized on the utilizations of the gamepad. But, the game is just a remastering of 64, it’s just better than its predecessors, nothing more. No new plot, no new characters, and no new planets. This game definitely is a great tribute to the series.

Overall, Star Fox games will remain in a special place in my heart. This game is great to have and is definitely a great step in the right direction. Hopefully this won’t be the last installment, and as the Wii U technology improves, maybe more Star Fox games will come out after this wonderful reboot.