StarFox Zero: This is not a Review

This is not a review. I am going to talk about my impresions of the game and give it a score, but this is not a review. It is like a review but I refuse to admit it is one-- by stating which I sort of have. oops.

I wanted to like this game a lot. I wanted to like it as much as little me likes StarFox64. I'm not sure I do, but in general I do like it. Some things work for me, some things don't.

Life is a Super Gig

For the both of you who understand the heding read on, those of you who don't look at this and forget you were reading this.

Now, the controls work for me. I don't know if the horribly... let's say coarse... gameboy motion gyros from my younger days have trained me or if playing the 3D Galaga included with PacMan and Galaga on the 3DS have honed my skills, but this works. It takes some getting used to but I can dig it. Eventually you get the hang of when to look at which screen and which controls to use for what. Personally I think this game is everything right about the WiiU's controls. Unless you have some kind of wrist issue that prevents you from using the gyro it isn't any sort of a problem.

Where the controls can become a problem is the amount of control sets. There's multiple vehicles and each vehicle has similar but different controls and you need to learn each. For as short of a game as it is I sort of have mixed feelings on that but my impression of how the game handled is still overall postivie.

Rock-A-Fire Explosion

One thing I don't like is the presentation. Again click here if you don't get the heading. The characters look like animatronics and the voice acting is very cheesy along with a cheesy script. While it would be alright for the game to play it straight it never seems aware of just how much it seems like a pulpy si-fi story with anamatronics. This is probably my biggest issue. It never seems aware of what it is to the point of feeling oversold on a game that wouldn't have needed as much of a story as it has.

I'm not saying it needed to be a parody or play it for humor and while I fully admit the plot is approprate for the property it just feels like the game is trying to sell you something it really hasn't bought into itself. The characters are fun enough, though.

The Conclusion is Where you end it

Overall I like the game-- there's no denying that. The controls are good but the amount of them feels overwhelming until you get the hang of how different they really aren't. Even though I like anamatronics I kinda-sorta question why they went that particular route. The over-the-top seemingly unaware voice acting isn't helping anything.

Solid B. Fun, worth picking up. Constantly changing controls present a learning curve that feels like you're never making progress. Presentation has some questionable choices.