Star Fox Retrospective

As a massive Star Fox fan, the motion controls and dual screen controls made Zero unplayable to me, my brain cant handle it. Made me really sad that i havent had a good starfox game since i was born

Hey, thanks for this.

A NEARLY 2 HOUR DOCUMENTARY ON STAR FOX OH BABY THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT YEEEEEAH 🎊 🎉

Falco is my one and only true big brother

Excellent video. I think Star Fox Assault had everything it needed to be superior to SF64. If it would've had branching paths, SF Assault would've been, for me, the next evolution of SF64's gameplay. That game was seriously underrated, and I seriously had no trouble with the controls.

I think the fundamental problem with SF is less so the series itself and more so the genre it started out in. There's an article about Shigeru Miyamoto discussing the long-term viability of on-rails shooters (aka shoot'em ups, STGs). Even back when SF SNES came out, Miyamoto was concerned about the declining popularity of on-rails shooters like Xevious and Gradius. If on-rails shooters were already on their way out around 1994, then that just demonstrates how late Nintendo was to the game when it came to that genre. As a result, Miyamoto insisted that Star Fox is NOT an on-rails shooter.

Now, if Star Fox isn't an on-rails shooter, then... what is Star Fox? Therein lies the problem. Therein lies the reason why we haven't seen a new game in almost a decade, following another drought which came after several attempts at experimentation with mixed results.

You forgot one:

Srarlink on the Switch.
Best Star Fox Nintendo never made.

I really liked what you said about how seeing the flaws of a game is what can drive you to yourself make games or create in general.
You also however need ideas and the precision of how and when to implement them. The art of video game crafting boils down to this a lot.
A good game is not one made with good ideas but good ideas at the right place in the right frame and executed very well.
Star Fox, after 64, often has brilliant ideas but it won't, for some reasons, go the distance. The framing never changes, the characters never evolve the conflict doesn't escalate or twist or turns, the art doesn't evolve it's very stagnant yet it's also trying to bring forward bold new ideas. Those contradictions are killing the franchise and it needs to center itself and decide what it wants to be because right now it's just not it.

star fox command is perfect I never played it but that description makes it the perfect game.
They should do more of that!

People are sad that SF games after 64 are worse/trash but fail to realize that after perfection, rarely can it live up to its legacy. I honestly dont know many franchises. Zelda comes to mind.

To this day, one of my favorite gaming accomplishments is beating Star Wolf on Venom 1-on-4 with a single shot laser.

I LOVE THESE GOOBERS!

I’m at least glad that fox and falco will always be in smash so star fox will never really die like many other forgoten games

one of my most played n64 titles next to smash and pokemon stadium

I think I would rather have a animated Starfox movie rather than a Minecraft movie

Well done with this video! Great editing and clean voice work.

There are two things that hamstring Star Fox's potential future, Miyamoto's idea of Star Fox being an experimental IP and Star Fox 64 existing.

Once Miyamato stops working that will impact the change and direction of Nintendo as a whole but the fact that Star Fox 64 exists in all of its glory is a massive contributing factor into why so many people are divided.

Even you yourself were comparing the other games pros and cons to Star Fox 64 as the basis of making a good "Star Fox" game whether intentional or not.

The only future I see for official Star Fox media is for Miyamoto to stop working and for Nintendo to give Star Fox (and other long dormant IP) a Resident Evil or Ratchet and Clank style remake/reboot.

I know that remakes are a bit of a buzzword right now but none of us can deny the success, popularity and respect these types of remakes can gain from fans if done properly.

Likes and subs go to you Liam and I'll be keeping my eyes on future content of yours.

I personally thought the aparoid homeworld was a blast and also wasn't that hard. I even died at the very end and was more than excited to do it against because it was so fun

Nintendo fears the sinister and uncanny forces they would unleash if they turned Starfox into a plot-focused, branching, character-driven, action-packed Intergalactic Furry Soap Opera...

Crud!!

I just got to go to Fushini Inari for the first time, and loved the experience of going through gates.

I knew about it being the Fox shrine… I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection to one of my favorite childhood games!

I like your videos

Yeah, I honestly wish I could have played through Star Fox Command, but I could never get over the stylus controls. If there only was an option for just using the standard d-pad.

For someone that enjoy these games so Much, I always find it Odd that the gameplay in the background shows very limited skill in the game. Wouldnt you expect someone to revist favored games to actually play them well?

my friends and I would start our mornings before catching the bus playing starfox assault and smash bros ah memories

I hope Star Fox isn't dead. I'd really love a new one on Switch 2, whether it's a sequel to Assault or Zero.

It seems like Nintendo is still keeping the IP alive. They renewed the trademark in November 2023, and the Switch also has default Star Fox profile pictures baked into the system. Not even Mother/EarthBound got those.

There was also the Arwing easter egg in the first Mario movie, so I choose to remain hopeful. Even if not a new game, a Star Fox movie would be amazing.

This is a legit love letter to the franchise, it shows that Star Fox really can touch deep into people's hearts.

It pains me to see Nintendo use it as a testing ground for gimmicks that don't add anything of value to the game, it pains me to see so much potential wasted.

Starfox Assault multi definitely an overlooked gem missed, having support for it outside of emulation and Gamecube say Switch Online would go mad hard reigniting Starfox interest. Always since 64 I had a soft spot for the series growing up, and learning to git gud as a flier.

I totally love the original STAR FOX and have no issues with the 3D depth feeling. Perhaps because I am older and grew up with it when it came out? Never really liked 64, because it looked so mushy to me, like many other N64 games (and I did not have the N64, so did not get the chance to get to like it). It was also made too keep a stable 25/30fps, which I did not deem that important for the game. I would probably have liked it more if they sacrificed higher fps for more polygons. It also introduced a lot of new stuff that I did not really want, like all-range mode. I just wanted some of the same linear greatness with even better "high-end" graphics and audio. For me it should have just continued to stay as much a "tech demo" as it was to begin with (while being a great game at the same time)...
''Breath of the Wild'' is a newer example of this. Sometimes the fps dips, because the console is pushed to its very limits, in order to produce some of the greatest graphics. And I like that, for some reason... But with STAR FOX it was a little different, because the console was at the time producing the very best graphics for a home console at that point in time... Times have totally changed. When Super Mario Bros. came out, no PC had the ability to do the same smooth scrolling as the NES. Now a well-specked PC can do everything any console can, and even better... I can easily emulate Mario Kart 8 on my laptop at 4K60 with no dips in the framerate, and it is far from the fastest of them.
I got STAR FOX 2 on the SNES Mini, but not playing that either. The simplicity and linearity I liked so much was already gone...

I never understood Miyamoto's reluctance to dive into deeper narratives in his games. It has really hurt the Paper Mario series, and it completely wasted away the incredible potential that Star Fox has as a universe. How many of us were blown away after beating Andross when James showed up to guide us out? It raised so many questions. Is he alive? Was Fox seeing things? What happened there?

Obviously this is an example that I feel is better left unanswered, but it's just one example of many. What is the history of the Star Fox team? Who is James McCloud? Why did Pigma betray him? How did James and Peppy become teammates? Who is Katt? What's up with her fixation on Falco? All questions that could make playing the game significantly more interesting as they get answered. As players, we grow attached to these characters, and we want to learn more about them.

Seriously Miyamoto, you need to let the storytellers in your teams cook! It's blatantly clear that they want to tell deeper stories, and Miyamoto's ridiculous philosophy against deep narratives is the main barrier. I greatly respect Miyamoto, but he has made a lot of very questionable decisions, and this is one of them.

Just imagine what starfox 64 wouldve been if they had the solid state electronics we have now back then.

I thought starlink might get a little of an overview here, is it a starfox game? No. But it's the closest there has been in a bit

Do a Barrel Roll

I remember reading an issue of Nintendo Power where some kid asked "In Star Fox 64 shooting Falco makes him say 'Hey Einstein! I'm on your side!' How do the Star Fox members know about Einstein if they're from a different galaxy?" To which the editor replied "Because the game designers are from this galaxy, Einstein."

Nintendo are the only company that come up with a popular and successful formula for a game and then ditch it for something no one wanted.

The series has so much potential with its characters

I loved Assault! Fair comments but damn so many memories with cousins and friends doing dumb stuff

I want a Star Fox game that plays like a Mass Effect game with better vehicle sections. Would be sick having characters like Wolf be potential party members and could be a good reason to expand the universe.

All i can say after listening to this great retrospective while at work and all i can say is, My Man.

One of my favorite parts about your retrospectives is that you always include how the games felt when playing with your friends and family, and how seeing your little brother enjoy the games with you is core to your upbringing! Games should be designed to bring people together to have fun, it’s good to hear someone share that

I haven't played starfox properly and what I did play I didn't enjoy. What I did enjoy was this video which somehow captured my attention throughout regardless. Great job!

OG starfox is my favorite of the bunch.

I think you're missing a key element about Crystal; she's not human she's a furry. That's what makes it gross and weird to me

I think the most damning thing you can say about the current state of Star Fox is that the gummi ship in Kingdom Hearts 3 is a better Star Fox game than any Star Fox game in the last 20 years (maybe 10, depending on how you feel about Star Fox Command.)