Star Fox Adventures
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Star Fox Adventures is a Nintendo GameCube game in the Star Fox series released on September 23, 2002 in North America, September 27, 2002 in Japan, and September 30, 2002 in Europe. It was developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. It is the third game in the series, succeeding Star Fox 64.
Origins
Star Fox Adventures was originally planned for the Nintendo 64, as Dinosaur Planet, a game unrelated to the Star Fox series. The plot concerned Sabre (who became Fox) and Krystal, along with their sidekicks Tricky and Kyte (who appear briefly at the beginning and near the end), and Randorn, a great wizard who was Sabre's father and Krystal's adoptive father (who was dropped entirely). There was the Switch Stone (who became the Warp Stone) which would let the player switch between Krystal and Sabre.Shigeru Miyamoto mentioned in an interview that after reviewing content of Dinosaur Planet for Nintendo 64 the similarities of Rare's anthropomorphic designs to Nintendo's Fox McCloud design were strikingly similar and the title was decided to be a Star Fox brand launch title for the Nintendo GameCube. It is clear that Dinosaur Planet was far into production by the time it became a Star Fox title. Rare even went so far as to release MP3s from the unreleased game, along with numerous trailers of gameplay, much of which appeared in Star Fox Adventures.
There are rumors that the production team working on Dinosaur Planet requested continuation of the game in accordance with the original artistic conception; additional rumors suggest that Rare executives were divided over whether or not to bow to pressure from Nintendo to convert Dinosaur Planet into a Star Fox game. This debate delayed the completion of Dinosaur Planet until after the GameCube's release, which made further development of the game unnecessary (since the GameCube was intended to replace the N64, meaning that Rare would effectively be creating a game for a dead system). For these reasons, Dinosaur Planet was canceled, and redesigned as Star Fox Adventures. These events (along with Nintendo's low-key advertisement of Rare's Conker's Bad Fur Day, a title that contrasted with the former company's "family-friendly" image) caused friction to develop between Nintendo and Rare, and may have contributed to Nintendo's later decision to sell their stock in Rare to Microsoft.
The original title was Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet, but "Dinosaur Planet" was later removed. The game resulted in being Rare's final console video game released as a second party title under Nintendo before the UK-based studio was purchased as a first party developer for Microsoft. Star Fox Adventures, although released early on in GameCube's life, became known as one of the GameCube's most technically outstanding and graphically superior games, along with Metroid Prime, and Resident Evil 4.
Since its release, Star Fox Adventures has been designated a Player's Choice title by Nintendo, recognizing it as a game that has sold many copies and is available at a reduced retail price.
Star Fox Adventures was rated very differently between the United States and Europe. Therefore, it was rated T by the ESRB and 3+ by PEGI. This is due to cultural and societal differences between the United States and Europe. Nevertheless, PEGI seems to be more lenient than the ESRB.
Gameplay
Star Fox Adventures uses a similar gameplay engine as . Its graphics were very sophisticated for its time, receiving particular attention for its real-time fur rendering. Like Ocarina of Time, Star Fox Adventures has a day-and-night phase, but a more accurate and gradual one. Also, a language called Dino (later known as Saurian) is used in concept similar to that of Square Enix's Final Fantasy X, except that the letter Y is used only in proper nouns. The game also has a widescreen mode, designed for widescreen television monitors.The response to this game was generally positive. Review scores for the game ranged between 7.0 and 9.0 . Groundbreaking visuals and Zelda like gameplay were praised, however some argued that It was too much of a departure from the Star Fox games.
Plot
Star Fox Adventures takes place eight years after Star Fox 64 on an ancient world called Dinosaur Planet (also known as Sauria in ), located on the side of the Lylat System opposite of the planet Corneria. Krystal, a vixen looking for answers to the destruction of her home planet, Cerinia, and the murder of her parents, lands on Krazoa Palace after receiving a distress call from the planet. She discovers that the planet had been attacked by General Scales and his SharpClaw army, and decides to help by collecting all of the Krazoa Spirits and returning them to the palace, which would supposedly tilt the war in the dinosaurs' favor and stop Scales. However, after releasing the first one, she is trapped in a floating crystal by an unknown figure, and consequently becomes Fox McCloud's damsel in distress.
Meanwhile, Fox McCloud, Slippy Toad, and Peppy Hare receive a mission briefing from General Pepper to go to Dinosaur Planet and attempt to reattach pieces of the planet that had broken off. The team, realizing that they are low on cash and that the Great Fox and Arwings are in dire need of repair, decide to accept the mission. Fox flies to Thorntail Hollow and recovers Krystal's staff, which she had dropped earlier due to being attacked by General Scales' floating galleon. Fox learns from the Queen Earthwalker that he must find the gatekeeper for each of the four areas that had broken off from the planet in order to gain access to them, and travel to those areas to retrieve Spellstones, which must be placed in Force Point Temples to keep the planet together, and which had been previously removed by Scales, causing the planet to be torn apart.
Fox meets the Queen Earthwalker's son and his new partner, Prince Tricky, in Snowhorn Wastes. Together, they free the gatekeeper to Darkice Mines and travel there to retrieve the first Spellstone. After defeating Boss Galdon and getting the Spellstone back, Fox travels to the Volcano Force Point Temple, where he places the Spellstone. Upon leaving the temple, a Krazoa spirit informs him that he must also collect the other spirits and release them at Krazoa palace in order to save Krystal's life.
Now finding himself having to not only save the planet but the mysterious blue vixen as well, Fox collects the second Krazoa spirit in Moon Mountain Pass, releases it, and locates the next gatekeeper, the queen of the Cloudrunner tribe, at Cape Claw. He gains access to Cloudrunner Fortress, meets General Scales there for the first time, and loses to him in a brief struggle, allowing the general to escape. He collects the second Spellstone and releases it at the Ocean Force Point Temple back on Dinosaur Planet.
Fox has a brief run-in with the Lightfoot tribe, who accuse him of stealing an artifact from them. They attempt to execute him, but a Cloudrunner fends them off, eventually forcing the tribe to let Fox free. Fox locates and collects the third Krazoa spirit in the Lightfoot Village, and releases it at the palace. He then travels to the third broken piece of Dinosaur Planet, Walled City, after locating the powers of that area's gatekeeper, Tricky's father. Fox defeats the RedEye tribe there, including the King RedEye, in order to claim the third Spellstone. He travels back to the Volcano Force Point Temple once again to place the Spellstone where it belongs. He later ends up traveling to Snowhorn Wastes again, where he finds another Krazoa Shrine and collects the fourth spirit there.
Fox finds the final gatekeeper in Thorntail Hollow, and flies to the last piece of land that had broken off the planet, Dragon Rock. Once there, Fox and Tricky help release some of General Scales' prisoners, and Fox defeats a mutant dinosaur Scales was creating in order to obtain the final Spellstone, which he later places in the Ocean Force Point Temple.
Although all four Spellstones were placed, the planet did not come back together. Fox realizes that he must release all the Krazoa spirits to bring the planet back together. He travels back to the Walled City, where he finds another Krazoa Shrine at the top of the large temple, and obtains the spirit there. He heads back to Krazoa Palace, where he releases the spirit and discovers that there had been another shrine right on the roof of the palace. He collects the final spirit there and releases it, freeing Krystal. She takes her staff back, and the two discover that the real enemy was not General Scales, but Andross, who reveals himself to them in the form of a big head (the same way he was portrayed in Star Fox 64) and flies out into space, supposedly to conquer the Lylat System. Fox chases after him in his Arwing, and defeats him with the help of Falco, who suddenly flies in to assist him, after being absent from the Star Fox team for years. After Andross is finally defeated for good, Falco rejoins the Star Fox Team. Krystal flies over to the Great Fox in order to thank Fox for saving her, and the two assumedly begin to fall in love. Krystal ends up joining the team and appears in Star Fox: Assault.
Characters
Major
- Fox McCloud — The good-willed, brave, and vigilante fox leader of the Star Fox crew. Age: 26
- Krystal — Beautiful and spiritual vixen, frozen in a heroic attempt to stop General Scales. Was to be 16 in the original N64 concept, but her age in the final product is 19 years old according to the Official Japanese website.
- Prince Tricky — Son of the Queen EarthWalker, heir to the throne, and sidekick to Fox on his quest.
- Slippy Toad — The innocent, helpless frog mechanic that's a whiz with machinery. Age: 26
- Peppy Hare — A seasoned and wise war veteran. Age: 49
- General Pepper — Fox's canine (dog) superior who assigns him the mission.
- General Scales — A malicious dictator/tyrant of Dinosaur Planet and king of the SharpClaws.
- Andross — A cruel ape who desires to rule over the Lylat System.
Minor
- Falco Lombardi — A buddy of Fox's that left the team several years ago, only to make a slim appearance towards the end of Star Fox Adventures. Age: 27
- ROB the Robot — A robot aboard the Great Fox who sends equipment and supplies to Fox, though he makes numerous mistakes as he has fallen into disrepair.
- Queen CloudRunner — Snobbish and highly queen of all the air roaming dinosaurs.
- Queen EarthWalker — The queen of all the earth dinosaurs, who is in need of Fox's and Tricky's assistance.
- Warpstone — A giant made out of rock found in ThornTail Hollow capable of warping Fox to different locations.
- Shabunga ShopKeeper — The floating dinosaur who manages a shop at ThornTail Hollow and is known collecting Scarabs (the currency of Dinosaur Planet).
Tribes
Dinosaur Planet has several dinosaur tribes, some of which are friendly to Fox and assist him on his mission, while others are hostile to him and try to impede his progress.
- EarthWalker — The EarthWalker tribe's home is Walled City, which was separated from the main Dinosaur Planet, due to an uncanny force that was too strong. The EarthWalkers are the ruling tribe of Dinosaur Planet, much to the dismay of their rivaling tribe, the CloudRunners. Prince Tricky, Fox McCloud's sidekick in the game, is an EarthWalker. The King is a Styracosaurus, the Queen is a large Protoceratops, and their soldiers are Triceratops.
- CloudRunner — The CloudRunner and EarthWalker tribes are rivals and do not see eye to eye (so much as when Fox is required to go the CloudRunner Fortress, Tricky refuses to go with him). The CloudRunner tribe's home is CloudRunner Fortress, which was also separated from the main Dinosaur Planet in the same way as Walled City and also which was overrun by the SharpClaw tribe. At the beginning of Star Fox Adventures, Krystal was carried by a CloudRunner named Kyte. Kyte and Krystal got separated later at the beginning. Much later in the game, Fox finds Kyte in Dragon Rock. In the original, N64 concept, Kyte was female and the princess of the CloudRunner tribe and was to be Krystal's sidekick. The Cloud Runners resemble Pteranodons.
- BoneHead — BoneHeads are a wingless relation to the CloudRunner tribe and live amongst them in CloudRunner Fortress. GradaBug, the chief technician of CloudRunner Fortress, is the only BoneHead we see in the entitre game.
- ThornTail — The ThornTail tribe's home is called ThornTail Hollow, the place where Fox lands his Arwing when going to Dinosaur Planet. The GateKeeper of Dragon Rock is a ThornTail and the ThornTails are friendly towards all other Dinosaur Tribes, (occasionally when spoken to, the Thorntails will say that their thoughts are with the SnowHorns that were imprisoned in the DarkIce Mines, they refer to the Queen Earthwalker as their queen and the ThornTail Gatekeeper of Dragon Rock and his friends Kyte (a CloudRunner), a HighTop and an EarthWalker soldier). They resemble Nodosaurus.
- SnowHorn — The SnowHorn tribe lives mostly in SnowHorn Wastes. Much of the SnowHorn tribe is incarcerated by the SharpClaw tribe to work in DarkIce Mines, which was separated from the main Dinosaur Planet and overrun by the SharpClaw tribe. They resemble Wooly Mammoths.
- LightFoot — The Lightfoots live in Lightfoot Village. They are like the North American Indians. There is a Krazoa Shrine which Fox must find in the village. By Chief LightFoot's order, Fox must complete the LightFoot tests before he can enter that Krazoa Shrine. The strongest LightFoot in the entire tribe is named MuscleFoot. They look similar to Gallimimus.
- RedEye — The only meat-eating tribe and the most savage, at one time the Earthwalkers were successful in containing the RedEye but General Scales put them in the Walled City. As a result the RedEye overran Walled City. The RedEye King is much larger than the other RedEyes (by at least 5:1 ratio) and is the boss of the Walled City. The RedEyes look very similar to Tyrannosaurus Rex.
- SharpClaw — The SharpClaw tribe is the evil military tribe who wants to govern Dinosaur Planet. They resemble humanoid Tyrannosaurus Rexes. Millions of years before the birth of Fox McCloud, the second moon of Dinosaur Planet crashed into ThornTail Hollow, carrying with it strange mutant creatures from outer space. Subsequent mutation led to the emergence of the SharpClaw tribe. Moon Mountain Pass, where the moon crash is located, is the SharpClaw tribe's home.
- BribeClaw — These creatures resemble larger versions of the SharpClaws, whether or not the BribeClaw are actually part of the SharpClaw Tribe has not been revealed. The BribeClaw are large creatures that speak in the same manner as the lower SharpClaws under General Scales and they wear Roman-gladiator style armor and carry three pronged spears. They are seen guarding paths that are necessary for Fox to get through and they will only allow Fox to pass if he pays them a price of a certain amount of Scarabs. After paying, the BribeClaws reply "You pass, but don't tell boss." The boss they speak of is most likely General Scales, further linking them to the SharpClaws.
- Shadowhunter — According to the official Nintendo website, there was another tribe of dinosaurs shown, known as the Shadowhunters, although they only played a minor role in the game. They resembled Velociraptors and only appeared in Star Fox Adventures during Fox's Test of Fear where Fox is assaulted by these creatures along with luminous versions of Sharpclaws, jets that shoot blue fire and a giant shadow of General Scales himself.
References
External links
| Main games | Star Fox (Starwing) | 64 (Lylat Wars) | Adventures | | Command |
| Cancelled games | 2 | Virtual Boy | Arcade |
| Star Fox team | Fox McCloud | Falco Lombardi | Peppy Hare | Slippy Toad | Krystal | ROB 64 |
| Villains | Andross | Star Wolf team | Wolf O'Donnell | Leon Powalski | Pigma Dengar |
| Other characters | General Pepper | James McCloud |
| Spacecraft & locations | Arwing | Blue Marine | Great Fox | Landmaster | Wolfen | Planets and locations |
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