Star Fox Adventures

Star Fox Adventures
Developer	Rare Ltd.
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo Gamecube
Release Date	US September 23, 2002 JP September 27, 2002 EU September 30, 2002
Gallery	GH Gallery
Rating	ESRB: T

Star Fox Adventures (originally titled Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet and, before it was a Star Fox game, Dinosaur Planet) is the third game of the Star Fox series and the first to be released for the Nintendo Gamecube. Additionally, it is the last Nintendo game to be developed by Rare Ltd. prior to their leaving Nintendo.

Story

Eight years after Star Fox 64, the Star Fox team is experiencing a decline. Without any real threats to face, the team does not receive much income, Falco has left the team, and Fox has become the only active agent. However, Fox is called in to investigate a disturbance on the Planet Sauria, as pieces of the planet were drifting away into space. In order to promote peace, Fox cannot use his blaster on the planet but is able to wield a special staff he finds, which actually belongs to Krystal, whom had been captured by the nefarious General Scales.

Fox sets off to find special Spellstones in hopes of using them to fuse the planet together by placing them in the Force Point Temples. In the meantime he also searches for all of the Krazoa Spirits to use them to rescue Krystal, after learning of her existence. He is accompanied in this adventure by the Earthwalker prince, Tricky.

Gameplay

Unlike other Star Fox games, Star Fox Adventures is an Adventure game in the vein of the 3-D Zelda titles rather than a space shooter. For most of the game, the player controls Fox on the ground. He uses the staff to attack most enemies and interact with his environment, and he can also obtain various power-ups which give special functions to the staff such as firing fire or ice. The only traces of classic Star Fox gaming comes in the form of several moments where Fox must pilot an Arwing in space shooter segments.

Development

Originally announced in 2000, Rare planned the game for release on the Nintendo 64 as Dinosaur Planet, and the game was originally unconnected to Star Fox. The main character, with a resemblance to Fox, was named Sabre. Shigeru Miyamoto noted the resemblance and convinced Rare to convert Dinosaur Planet into a Star Fox game. Its development was moved to the Gamecube, at which point it was renamed Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet and then Star Fox Adventures.

Legacy

Sequels

The next game in the series was Star Fox Assault, which was also for the Gamecube. Characters and places from Adventures made return appearances, and the game also features on-ground battles, although with different gameplay than that of Adventures.