Starlink... Star Fox Returns!

The only Star Fox game that ever graced my eyes and hands was Star Fox: Assault. There, I said it! I loved it as a child, but what kid is a good video game critic? If I played it now, I might have a small burst of nostalgia, but I would see through that blast from the past eventually and come to realize it wasn’t a very good Star Fox game. Besides Star Fox Assault, I’ve never played another Star Fox game, most notably the two most admired games in the series: Star Fox (SNES) and, the title considered to be the peak of the series, Star Fox 64. I’ve heard about and seen the games here and there throughout my life. I find the concept of Star Fox to be silly, but fun. The main character, Fox McCloud, is a charming fellow even now, in a world where anthropomorphic animals are associated with a certain group of people…

So paint me intrigued and PEPPY when, with some confusion, I found out Starlink was going to feature Fox McCloud. At this point, I did not know the game was going to be released on PS4 and Xbox as well. Knowing Ubisoft’s work on Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and the fantastic reception that game received, I was optimistic that Ubisoft would do Star Fox justice and revitalize the Nintendo black sheep (fox?) series. The Star Fox series has had a rough couple of decades after all. It wasn’t until a couple of months before Starlink’s launch that I discovered the game was a multi-platform release as well as a new and original game rather than a Star Fox reboot title. I wondered how Star Fox’s place in the game would work. How would Fox and the crew be implemented into the story of Starlink? Considering the game would not feature the Star Fox crew at all on other game consoles, some may assume they would be featured in side-missions or as an extra blip of content somewhere on the Switch version of Starlink.

Fortunately, that is the farthest from the truth! Fox McCloud and friends are back baby and they have their sights set on all the action! It was to my most pleasant surprise that Fox McCloud is selectable from the very start of the game and is playable throughout the entire adventure. The tail and snout bound captain is one of many characters in the pilot select screen alongside the Starlink crew! His iconic ship, the Arwing, is also a selectable ride with its own stats! Each character has their own active-ability they can utilize when not on cool-down. Fox has the ability to summon one of his three crew members to assist him in battle. With the press of a bumper, some B-movie action music starts playing and the crew member shouts a line at Fox. He will stay there as long as the ability is active and fire upon enemies, while barrel rolling away from any incoming fire! Speaking of Fox’s three crew members, Falco, Slippy, and Peppy are all featured alongside Fox throughout many of the game’s cutscenes. The Star Fox crew is not tacked on to Starlink: Battle for Atlas, but rather interwoven into Starlink’s story. The iconic anthropomorphic space heroes are added into cutscenes in a believable way, having interactions with Starlink’s characters. Fox, in particular, has a vast amount of lines (as much as any other playable character) during conversations between him and Starlink’s original cast. Besides that, Star Fox have their own mission to worry about: Hunting down Wolf O’Donnell, Fox’s longtime nemesis.

I’m happy I waited to pick up Starlink: Battle for Atlas because I was able to get the digital deluxe edition for 50% off a few days ago. This 80 dollar version comes packed with extra content, like extra characters and weapons, that's quite helpful and adds a bit more variety to the selection. Starlink: Battle for Atlas features optional “Toys-to-Life” figures and paid DLC, but I won’t dig into that today. To keep it short, the base game of Starlink is chock full of content and, from what I gather, there is nothing extra needed to fully enjoy or complete the game! I’m not too far into Starlink: Battle for Atlas as of yet, so I’m not sure what will become of team Star Fox’s mission or the Starlink crew’s grand adventure. What I do know is that Ubisoft has done a wonderful job bringing Star Fox back into the gaming SPACE through a fun-tastic bombastic cross-over with their new (and equally well done) IP: Starlink: Battle for Atlas. Right now I’m enjoying the curious lore, flashy combat, and No Mans Sky-ish exploration of Starlink, but at the same time, I’m enjoying my new favorite Star Fox game. Slippy would be proud.

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Have you tried Starlink: Battle for Atlas? What do you think of the game or this Star Fox crossover? Are you a longtime Star Fox fan? Let me know down below!