I have played N64 and 3DS Star fox games, in my opinion Star Fox needs to separate starship controls and aiming control. Left stick to control your ship, right stick for aiming. Dodging enemies attack is good ok but as Starfox is now I am only able to dodge, shooting feels completely out of control.
I used to be a ripple user like you, then I took The Arrow in the knee
It just needs to develop its formula somehow. I really enjoyed Zero but it felt almost identical to Star Fox 64 to me. The motion controls were the only thing that felt new.
I think, as others have mentioned, part of the problem is that the genre into which StarFox fits has fallen from grace in the industry. In the 80's every other game (at least) was a space shoot em up and there were still plenty in the 90's. There are still some great things happening in that genre but some of the general mechanics that led it to be so dominant - principally high score chasing in a short game - no longer have the hold they once did. Also where the advance in graphics has helped some genres it has continually made shoot em ups both less accessible and less impressive by comparison.
Like @MarcelRguez said at the start of this thread - StarFox has a different problem on top. The first games on SNES and N64 were designed as visual showcases pushing the very best graphics possible. They also set themselves up with a cinematic presentation. Creating a game like that - even a short one - can become very expensive very quickly. For a company like Nintendo it's vastly more profitable to spend that money on games in genres that have bigger mainstream appeal at this moment in time.
That said I think I can see that there are plenty of ways forwards for StarFox. With its very simple concept and controls a focused attempt to make it a true multiplayer game could easily work.
Deathmatch in a dog fighting environment isn't necessarily satisfying for most people (because when you fly past it can be a pain to turn around quickly and find them again) but cross it with Defender and have two teams fighting to defend/destroy each other's civilian bases for instance. Or turn it into an asymmetric base defence game where one player is controlling waves of the opposing forces RTS style. Or a more general co-op "hoard/zombies" defence mode. Maybe even a "king of the hill" style mode where you have to fly through rings to claim territory.
Combine that with the ability to create and customise your craft and it's easy to see to see something that could be a very successful modern multiplayer game that you could attach a far more traditional campaign mode on to.
Alternatively Nintendo could add true rouge like elements to the on-rails stages of StarFox. Dynamic weather effects that change the enemy attack patterns for instance. Or the ability to actually alter your own teams attack patterns creating unscripted gameplay opportunities.
The one thing I wouldn't want with StarFox is to make the characters or world too important. It's a knowingly cheesy mash up of pop sci-fi and anime. The N64 game was great because it had just the right amount of cheese. It never took itself too seriously but at the same time it was never just for laughs - which is a really hard line to walk.
I think SF:0 proved there's little demand for an on-rails shooter at all. People blame the controls, but ultimately wonky arcade controls is all you can do with an arcade shooter to make it really different. A $60 arcade game doesn't have a lot of sales appeal. @StuTwo's idea of making it basically an in-flight Splatoon could work at some level...but why not then just play Splatoon which is a lot more fleshed out and a lot less generic. To me the only logical direction for Star Fox is to get away from its rails arcade roots and focus on the world and characters more. In an era of No Man's Sky, Starlink, even the old XWing/Tie Fighter series and the old Independence War, there's a genre that's been lagging but is being revived. Star Fox would be a great world to do that with. Why wouldn't want to dock with the carrier, travel to a new world, and swoop down, or ride along in the Landmaster, etc, or fly overhead. It doesn't have to be a procedurally generated world like No Man's Sky that makes a money sink. But just the ability to travel around to bigger worlds than 5:00 timed rails maps. All Range Mode is half baked, it's a cage fight. Make it the whole game, and replace the overworld map with a full world. There's a lot that could lure people to want to fly around the world. There's not a lot to lure people to play a 90's style rails shooter for full price. Admit it, even on the SNES, you wanted to fly off the course and explore, right?
An arcade space shooter that you can beat in a few hours but has a couple branching paths just........won't cut anymore
Says who? Just you? Arcadeish type games are still being made today, even SHMUPs, and people like those. What makes Star Fox any different from all those other games? IMO Star Fox is the best game in the series, and I'd love to see a new game along the same lines. I don't need to see the series branch into other genres. It's fine as is.
Case in point; games don't need to be 48 hour adventures to be considered good, and/or fun. Shorter, score-based games (SHMUPs, pinball, etc) aren't 'extinct' or 'dated.' They're awesome genres.
I just wanted to hit the "like" button but couldn't find one. But heck yes. Just hire the level designer and music composer of SNES Star Fox and make it as pretty and fast as the Switch can handle. That's all you need to do! Let this franchise shine at what it does best-- fast, furious arcade action!
Well, as we know, we had Star Fox Adventure (or as JonTron would say, Stair Fax Temperatures) on the Gamecube, and that wasn't...erm...well..it was interesting. Apparently it sold moderately well, pretty much in the middle of all the Star Fox games.
Here's an interesting idea that I can't believe came to mind: something in the style of Mass Effect, perhaps, but NOT the latter games (3 and Andromeda) or the first one (which is nearly just an RPG); definitely something closer to ME 2. But make it an action title through-and-through, leaning more heavily toward the ship combat side, but also including out-of-ship adventuring and action.
And to stick to the arcade-y style of the franchise, do NOT make it into some kind of RPG-lite game. Keep it fast and fancy free.
I think, as others have mentioned, part of the problem is that the genre into which StarFox fits has fallen from grace in the industry. In the 80's every other game (at least) was a space shoot em up and there were still plenty in the 90's. There are still some great things happening in that genre but some of the general mechanics that led it to be so dominant - principally high score chasing in a short game - no longer have the hold they once did. Also where the advance in graphics has helped some genres it has continually made shoot em ups both less accessible and less impressive by comparison.
Like @MarcelRguez said at the start of this thread - StarFox has a different problem on top. The first games on SNES and N64 were designed as visual showcases pushing the very best graphics possible. They also set themselves up with a cinematic presentation. Creating a game like that - even a short one - can become very expensive very quickly. For a company like Nintendo it's vastly more profitable to spend that money on games in genres that have bigger mainstream appeal at this moment in time.
That said I think I can see that there are plenty of ways forwards for StarFox. With its very simple concept and controls a focused attempt to make it a true multiplayer game could easily work.
Deathmatch in a dog fighting environment isn't necessarily satisfying for most people (because when you fly past it can be a pain to turn around quickly and find them again) but cross it with Defender and have two teams fighting to defend/destroy each other's civilian bases for instance. Or turn it into an asymmetric base defence game where one player is controlling waves of the opposing forces RTS style. Or a more general co-op "hoard/zombies" defence mode. Maybe even a "king of the hill" style mode where you have to fly through rings to claim territory.
Combine that with the ability to create and customise your craft and it's easy to see to see something that could be a very successful modern multiplayer game that you could attach a far more traditional campaign mode on to.
Alternatively Nintendo could add true rouge like elements to the on-rails stages of StarFox. Dynamic weather effects that change the enemy attack patterns for instance. Or the ability to actually alter your own teams attack patterns creating unscripted gameplay opportunities.
The one thing I wouldn't want with StarFox is to make the characters or world too important. It's a knowingly cheesy mash up of pop sci-fi and anime. The N64 game was great because it had just the right amount of cheese. It never took itself too seriously but at the same time it was never just for laughs - which is a really hard line to walk.
THe cheesy mash up element is exactly why turning into a big, story driven game (obviously with the solid game play and mechanics you mentioned as its back bone) would be a good move.
@NEStalgia I think it would be a very distinct game from Splatoon but I suppose the analogy isn't far wrong. I'm not sure it's necessarily the right way forward for Star Fox but it's certainly a proven viable genre for a AAA game in 2017.
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Topic: Starfox needs a new nitch
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