“Star Fox Zero” is a half-baked nostalgia trip coupled with terribly awkward controls that make it a revamped “Star Fox 64” that’s built to frustrate rather than challenge the player.
“Star Fox Zero” is a first and third person shooter where the player takes on the titular role of Fox McCloud, a space mercenary tasked with saving the galaxy from the evil Andross.

Fox, Falco, Slippy and Peppy all make up the Star Fox team as they work together as a fighter squadron. Jumping from planet to planet, the Star Fox team encounters many conflicts and challenges during the Lylat Wars, an intergalactic conflict between General Pepper’s Corneria and Andross’ army.

The plot is essentially the same as “Star Fox 64,” but it’s neither a remake nor a prequel to the franchise. Fox is still racing through Lylat to the final destination: fighting the villain Andross on his home planet, Venom. In this sense, “Star Fox Zero” doesn’t innovate with story or attempt to convince us that its world is any different from “Star Fox 64.” “Star Fox Zero” attempts to stay tried-and-true with retro.

In “Star Fox Zero” the player utilizes the Gamepad and television display for multiple points of view in an attempt to add an element of precision to aiming. The controller mechanics feel forcefully gimmicky, utilizing only the Wii U Gamepad’s motion controls as a method of aiming. There’s a short tutorial in the beginning but the first few hours with the game are confusing to say the least.

The player holds the gamepad in a neutral position and calibrates the aiming reticule. From there the player can aim left, right, up or down if they tilt the controller itself in that direction. It’s a clever attempt to diversify game design, however, it ends up often confusing the player rather than helping.

This is heavily exemplified when using the ground-based tank vehicles, the Landmaster or the new Arwing Walker, which feel incredibly bulky and tiresome to use effectively. The Gyrowing vehicle is also slow and cumbersome, which is featured in puzzle-like sequences that just end up being tedious and trivial. The steep learning curve and severe complexity of the controls detracts from the fun, challenging and tense moments in the game, unintentionally making things way more difficult.

The gameplay follows the same scrolling levels and sandbox “All-Range Mode” level design. “Star Fox Zero” definitely doesn’t disappoint graphically, it’s one of the best-looking “Star Fox” games made.

Enemies could be a little more varied in ship design or fighting styles but there’s a healthy mix of unique enemies.

On its own, gameplay is satisfying, fast-paced and the set piece moments are fantastic. Protecting Corneria from Andross’ fleet of ships is still as satisfying as it used to be, with falling buildings, tanks shooting up at you and pilots flanking you from behind create tense moments of battle.

The boss battles are also relatively similar, with varied weak spots that can be exploited in creative ways. The only problem is that there are too few boss battles to truly enjoy. If it weren’t for the clunky controls, these tense moments would be enjoyably pulse-pounding but they mostly just end up being frustrating.

Overall, “Star Fox Zero” wants to capitalize on the spirit of “Star Fox 64” while creating a challenging control scheme to add variety, but in the end, bad controls ruin an otherwise pretty good “Star Fox” game.