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Star Fox Wii U: 10 Killer Features
It Must Have
http://www.gamebasin.com/news/star-fox-wii-u-10-killer-features-it-
must-have
There seems to be no denying that as far as franchises go, Star Fox has seen better days. Aside from
the excellent Star Fox 64 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, the last major Star Fox release was the
disappointing Assault for the GameCube in 2006. So at this year’s E3, fans of the series were treated
to a glorious announcement; Star Fox was back, and Wii U‐bound! We were even more overjoyed
to hear Nintendo overlord Shigeru Miyamoto was leading the project, although it was kept behind
closed doors. Star Fox left E3 without showing us much, but Nintendo franchises are a rare breed
among the gaming community; they can go dark for years, yet fans will always be there to welcome
them back with open arms. A Nintendo franchise may be forgotten about by the Big N, but we
never do So with the news of Star Fox’s triumphant return on the Wii U, the speculation now turns
to what internal offerings the game might have. As it stands right now, the Wii U is the perfect
system to host the return of Fox McCloud and the gang, with the gamepad‐to‐screen mechanic
being able to properly function as a cockpit stand‐in. Time will tell if Nintendo takes full advantage
of their system for the grand McCloud reunion, but let’s take a look at ten features that Star Fox
Wii U absolutely must have.
10. Proper Use Of The Wii U Gamepad
To be perfectly honest, the Wii U gamepad is a pretty excellent device for designing games around.
It can make something that doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of player agency feel more interactive,
as well as producing some interesting new titles out of E3 that take advantage of it, like Miyamoto’s
Project Guard. The issue from day one has been that developers don’t seem to grasp exactly how
to use it, which is where Star Fox Wii U needs to excel. With the new game, the gamepad needs to
be involved as much as possible. Using the gyro control to steer will add an extra sense of depth
and control to your handling of the ships, allowing you to feel more direct immersion with the crazy
battles going on inside the game. On the other side, the gamepad could also show a ton of cool
secondary information in the display – anything to help the immersion of you really being in control
is a good thing.
9. Multiplayer
And we’re not talking about a tacked‐on, late‐game multiplayer mode that is barely even worth
putting in the disc. Instead we’re gunning for a full‐featured multiplayer system with a healthy
number of game modes, all of them an ample way for friends to jump online and start blasting
each other. You can throw in the staple modes; capture the flag, deathmatch, team deathmatch,
all those are fine, but this is where Nintendo needs to start really thinking about unique multiplayer
support. Perhaps some story‐driven co‐op missions would be in order, as well. Weave them in and
out of the main narrative of the single player campaign, keeping a direct line of player control from
being offline to the online game play. Whatever the route Nintendo takes, it’s a game that would
benefit from the community spirit that the great online campaigns have created. And with
Nintendo’s desire to carve out a more significant share of the console market, this might be one of
their best options.
8. Amiibo Support
One of the most interesting things to come out of Nintendo’s time at E3 was the reveal of the
Amiibo line of interactive figures. These lovely little figurines are more than just pretty to look at;
they can connect directly to your Wii U gamepad or 3DS system to give you some extra little
features. And considering that Nintendo displayed a Fox McCloud Amiibo figure in the initial line‐
up, it seems obvious that Star Fox Wii U will feature some form of connectivity. While it’s unknown
what exactly that might entail, it’s fun to speculate about what Nintendo is going to offer when you
pick up yours. Perhaps a multiplayer connection, where you can take your upgraded character over
to a friends place and match them up to see just which is the best. Or perhaps it’ll take some form
of aesthetic upgrades, where you can download new suits for Fox and the gang from your figure.
Whatever Nintendo is planning, Star Fox Wii U could benefit greatly from a great selection of
Amiibo features.
7. 3DS Connections
Although Nintendo has its detractors in this current console war, one can’t deny that they are
winning on the handheld plain with ease. The 3DS is an excellent system with a library of games
that would keep any old‐school Nintendo fan busy for hours, including the 3D version of Star Fox
64. So when Star Fox Wii U does release, it seems like smart business to release some kind of
companion game for the 3DS that would be able to enhance the console experience. While it
wouldn’t be mandatory, you could use the 3DS game as a way to add even more deluxe content to
the main game. Perhaps you could take items that you earned from the 3DS version of the game
into your Wii U version to unlock hidden missions, using the two systems in tandem for certain
special missions. With Nintendo, almost anything is possible and it’s exciting to imagine the things
that could come out of them linking these two systems for one of their most anticipated titles.
6. A Solid Ground Game
One of the things that Star Fox Adventures did exceptionally well was the on‐foot missions, which
was a welcome change of pace from the traditional space combat sections. Hardware has come a
long way since the GameCube, so the limitations that Adventures ran into could be outright
eliminated with the Wii U version. A ground game is a must for the new Star Fox, as the variety
that it adds is instant reward for the player. Suddenly, they get to control Fox McCloud on a much
more personal level, getting to know him as a character instead of just the rear‐end of his ship. Not
only that, but you don’t always have to put the player in control of Cloud. Getting to play as Krystal
or Falco might also lend some extra dimension to the game, as well as giving them more time to
fully develop a personality for this new Star Fox. Plus, if Nintendo lets us play as Slippy Toad, we
could have hours of fun getting him killed for our own amusement, right?
5. A Compelling Narrative
Back when the first Star Fox game released on the Super Nintendo in 1993, storytelling in games
was still in its infancy. Although the era had standouts in titles like Flashback and Myst, games
during this time largely focused on gameplay. To its credit however, Star Fox has always had the
narrative chops to back up its stupendous in‐game excitement. With Star Fox on the Wii U,
Nintendo must remember that we’re in a totally different generation for storytelling in games and
proceed cautiously. Nintendo isn’t usually one that caves to industry standards, but their
storytelling has been rather hit and miss in recent years, which is something they need to fix in
time for Fox McCloud’s triumphant return to gaming. This needs to be a focused and tight story,
one that can also rope in new players while appeasing the Star Fox veterans that survived the Lylat
Wars. They could also address that whole ‘James McCloud in F‐Zero’ controversy if they’re feeling
really generous, too.
4. That Old Familiar Feeling
Many a Star Fox veteran will tell you about the hours of sleep they never experienced thanks to
Star Fox 64; the seminal game in the series that has defined so many childhoods. Star Fox on the
Wii U needs to deliver on the same magic and awe of Star Fox 64, combining exciting aerial battles
with loveable characters and the rush of adrenaline that piloting these masterful ships give you.
The new game needs to speak to that inner child that still lives inside all of us to remind them of
why they fell in love with the series in the first place, making all their wildest dreams about the
return of the franchise come true. We need to remember why we adore Fox McCloud as much as
we do, why we spent so much time blasting away bad guys and enjoying the hell out of every
second. As much as Star Fox Wii U needs to be about moving the franchise forward, but a large
part of that is also built purely on nostalgia.
3. A Huge Open World
In many ways, you could describe the ideal vision of Star Fox Wii U in one sentence; it’s Mass Effect
with furry critters. Imagine the enormous open world of Mass Effect, where you could literally go
to any place in the galaxy you desired at any time – within the framework of Star Fox. Just being
able to freely from the Lylat system to the dangerous crevices of the Sargasso Space Zone at a
moment’s notice, it’s tremendously exciting stuff. With Zelda jumping onto the open world
bandwagon for its next main console launch, it makes perfect sense for Star Fox to join the party.
Gamers love the ability to completely explore the fictional worlds that they’ve come to love, so
opening up the entire realm of the Star Fox universe for them to jaunt through at their leisure
would be any fan’s dream come true.
2. A Koji Kondo Musical Score
If Shigeru Miyamoto is the heart of Nintendo, then longtime composer Koji Kondo would
undoubtedly be its soul. Having composed incredible scores for game franchises like The Legend
of Zelda, Mario and even Star Fox, Koji is one of the most respected members of the Nintendo
family. So for Star Fox’s return to the gaming world, it makes perfect sense to bring him back for
another round. Koji’s contributions to the Nintendo legacy have been permanently etched into the
memory of gamers forever, and his unique blend of a traditional orchestral score with playful
whimsy is an absolute must for Star Fox Wii U. There’s a lot of talented game composers out there
who could probably do the job well enough, but to fully maximise the glory of McCLoud’s return
to gaming, you need the master of the craft to return and finish what he started in Star Fox 64.
1. Spectacular Space Battles
More than anything else, Star Fox Wii U needs to live up to its namesake of huge space battles that
fully immerse you in explosive combat. If you watched Sony’s press conference at E3 2014 you
likely saw their reveal of the incredible No Man’s Sky, which is a pretty good idea of how a next‐
gen Star Fox might look. The sense of scale present in No Man’s Sky is exactly what Star Fox Wii U
needs to strive for; a huge canvas that you can paint glorious flights of fanciful chaos on. Star Fox
Wii U needs to take full advantage of the hardware, showing us space battles the likes of which we
haven’t seen before in any game. It’s gotta be huge, with multilayered missions and a large
selection of creative objectives that contribute to the overall completion of the mission itself. Make
it feel enormous, where each mission comprises various stages of shooting, chases and escapes.
You could potentially even open up the space battles to include on‐the‐fly character switching,
moving the player from Fox to Falco, then putting them in control of another team member on the
ground before returning to Fox. You could create a definite sense of team work by having missions
where you have to rely on all of them to get the job done, giving everyone a nice sense of purpose
that you wouldn’t get by having Fox go solo all the time. This is Star Fox; it’s gotta be big.
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