Guest
Login or Sign Up
Guest
Login or Sign Up
Every Star Fox game, ranked by you
Like any long-running group, the Star Fox team has been through some ups and downs over the years, with some incredible gaming highs serving to make any titles less that life-changingly awesome feel, well, a bit disappointing by comparison.
The sentiment that the Star Fox franchise never got better than its first sequel is relatively common — and understandable — yet the series has played host to some wonderful non-64-bit games. From the tactical nuance of Q-Games’ Star Fox Command, to Rare and Namco’s dalliances on GameCube, and Nintendo’s own experiments during the Wii U era, the series has been a test bed for interesting game design ideas and has produced some fascinating, if flawed, results. They may not be all-round, cohesive classics like Star Fox 64 — which celebrates its 25th anniversary today — but each of them offers something intriguing, often many things. There’s a reason the fandom flame still burns bright for this foxy franchise.
So, we asked Nintendo Life readers to rate every Star Fox game they’ve played in order to assemble the ultimate reader-ranked list of the best Star Fox games (and conversely, the worst ones, too), and the result can be found below.
Thanks to everyone who rated the games they’ve played. If you missed out, good news — you haven’t! You can still rate every game you’ve played in the list below — the ranking is updated in real time according the each game’s corresponding User Rating in the Nintendo Life game database. Even as you read this, it’s entirely possible to influence the order after publication. If you haven’t rated your favourites yet, simply click the ‘star’ of the game you wish to rate below and assign a score out of ten right now.
So, let’s take a look at every Star Fox game ranked from worst to best by you, dear readers.
Note. We’ve included both the 3DS remake and the original Star Fox 64, plus Starlink: Battle For Atlas in the list below thanks to its copious amount of Star Fox content.
Nintendo set out to build an experience centered around the Wii U GamePad with Star Fox Guard, and the result was a great little experiment — if a wee bit overwhelming. How much you get out of Star Fox Guard will ultimately depend on your tolerance for its particular brand of attention-splitting gameplay. Some may take to the tense onslaught of robots like an Italian plumber to a mushroom, whereas others might play a few rounds and get completely exhausted with its mix of tower defending, twitch shooting, and puzzling. Beyond that blend, there isn’t a whole lot of diversity in gameplay here, and in many ways what you see is what you get. What we see is a terrifying but satisfying game wrapped in charming Star Fox attire.
It also broadened our knowledge of Slippy Toad’s extended family. Mileage may vary and all that, then.
In terms of pure mechanics, content and structure, Star Fox Zero is a pretty close match for the 1997 64-bit release that remains the series’ high watermark; it follows the same non-linear branching pathways and packs each level with bonuses to collect and secrets to discover. The Walker, enhanced Landmaster and Gyrowing vehicles each bringing with them different tactics, strengths and gameplay possibilities, although these alternative modes of transport are only fun to use in short bursts — the Arwing is much more entertaining to pilot.
Some players found the controls troublesome, but perseverance is key — once you’ve mastered them, you’re faced with an outing on-par with the excellent N64 entry from which it draws so much inspiration. A solid instalment in one of Nintendo’s most underused franchises, then, and one of the last good-great Wii U exclusives.
Star Fox Command is a fun, challenging entry in the series featuring controls that take time to get used to. Developed by Q-Games, those hoping for a more traditional Star Fox experience will likely be left disappointed. What Command instead offers is an experimental evolution that takes the base experience and tinkers with it in very interesting ways. If you have can get past the hurdle that this isn’t your papa’s Star Fox, you’ll find an involving, robust adventure featuring charming characters that Nintendo doesn’t feature nearly enough.
Star Fox 2 is a fascinating curio — an unreleased but completed Super NES sequel and ‘museum piece’ until it being officially released on the Super Nintendo Classic Mini console, and later on Nintendo Switch Online. This game was fully developed for the SNES but shelved at the last minute when Nintendo saw the writing on the wall for 16-bit 3D graphics and wanted to avoid direct comparison with the impressive polygonal games incoming on more powerful hardware.
Many of this abandoned sequel’s ideas found their way into Star Fox 64 instead, and fans of the series will enjoy seeing the ideas that began here and eventually saw the light of day in other games. Despite being seriously impressive considering the hardware, it’s perhaps a little tough to go back to — especially if your Star Fox journey didn’t start in the 16-bit days. We’re still very grateful to have the option, though, and seeing the genesis of ideas that would come to fruition later is thrilling for any fan.
With its exclusive use of some substantial Star Fox content that gets you in the cockpit of an Arwing on Switch, Nintendo’s console got the best version of Starlink: Battle for Atlas — and with a more accessible and ultimately enjoyable version of No Man’s Sky‘s gameplay mechanics (certainly compared to that game’s launch versions) and Mass Effect’s original vision, you’re getting one of the best dogfighting/space exploration games you can buy outside of Elite: Dangerous. Its gameplay loop does run out of steam after a while thanks to the required grind, but with a surprisingly ungreedy approach to content access and toys-to-life integration, Starlink makes you think there might be some life in the genre yet. What’s more, you can pick it up for a pittance now — it’s certainly worth investigation if you’re a Star Fox aficionado.
«Flawed but fun» is how we described Star Fox: Assault in our review, and that still stands looking back on it. After Star Fox Adventures strayed from the series’ roots, this collaboration between Nintendo and Namco aimed to mix the on-foot mission style from Adventures with the on-rails missions from the earlier entries. The results were mixed, with the game’s controls hampering the ground mission levels (tricky inputs seem to be a running theme with polarising Star Fox games) and a disappointingly small number of on-rails missions. Those who give the game a chance, though, will find plenty to enjoy, though.
Star Fox Adventures was Rare’s only GameCube release and the developer’s swansong on Nintendo hardware before becoming a Microsoft Game Studio. This game — which began life as Dinosaur Planet on N64 — is a solid adventure with lush visuals and fun characters, but dull controls put a dampener on things and despite so much promise, Star Fox Adventure is lacking when it comes execution. There’s a sense that it could and should have been so much more, especially considering the pure gold Rare produced the previous generation. Still, taken on its own merits, this is still an engaging action-adventure that gives you a chance to explore the world from outside Fox’s cockpit.
Star Fox is obviously a classic, and its use of the Super FX chip resulted in an experience that felt awe-inspiring to anybody who witnessed it on their Super NES back in 1993. It’s a little more jarring for players these days, especially anyone who got into the Star Fox series later on. Players who are violently ill when viewing anything less than a silky 60fps will want to sit this one out, but the underlying game design still shines even if you can’t muster enthusiasm for the game’s achievements with some 16-bit historical context.
Those who were there at the beginning and are pining for the return of Fox, Peppy, Falco, and maybe even the ever-rubbish Slippy will thoroughly enjoy jumping back in the cockpit of an Arwing and saving Corneria again, though. The fact that it’s now available on Switch makes accepting that mission all the easier, too.
Post-Star Fox 64, subsequent entries in the series have had interesting elements and plenty of great moments, but none have quite captured — certainly not consistently — the formula we fell in love with back in 1997. Fortunately, this 3DS remaster reminded everyone just how good it can be, with sumptuous stereoscopic 3D added for good measure. Of course, we miss the chunky Rumble Pak and the N64’s peculiar pad, but Star Fox 64 3D is arguably the best way to find out why we still get a tiny buzz every time someone cracks out a tired ‘barrel roll’ reference.
Known as Lylat Wars in Europe, Star Fox 64 originally came in a whopping great box containing a Rumble Pak and was many a gamer’s introduction to force feedback on console. It paired beautifully with the cinematic battles and derring-do of Fox McCloud and his team’s cinematic dogfighting in this on-rails shooter. It’s still an excellent game all these years later, with thrilling action, delicate and precise controls, stirring music, humour, spectacle, and edge-of-your-seat excitement. Sure, it’s got a surplus of Slippy Toad, but you can’t have everything.
Whether you’re enjoying it on original hardware or playing via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pak, a quick blast through this and it’s clear to see why so many people think the Star Fox series peaked with its first sequel. It’s not just the nostalgia talking — it really holds up beautifully two-and-a-half decades on.
Totally and utterly unsurprised by the result? Let us know your personal takes in the comments below, and remember that this is a live list — the order is governed by the User Ratings of each game on our database, so feel free to rate the games above if you haven’t already and influence the ranking.
Also, unleash your favourite Star Fox 64 quotes below. Try a somersault!
Best Pokémon Games Of All Time
Best Kirby Games Of All Time
Best Zelda Games Of All Time
Best Star Wars Games – Every Star Wars Game On Nintendo Systems Ranked
Best Sonic Games Of All Time
Best Super Mario Games Of All Time
Every Mega Man Game Ranked
Best Fire Emblem Games Of All Time
Best Star Fox Games Of All Time
Best Monster Hunter Games Of All Time
Best Spider-Man Games On Nintendo Consoles
Best Final Fantasy Games Of All Time
Every Dragon Quest Game Ranked
Best Metroid Games Of All Time
Best Mario Kart Games Of All Time
Best Tony Hawk Games Of All Time
Best Donkey Kong Games Of All Time
Best Ace Attorney Games Of All Time
Every 2D Super Mario Game Ranked
Every 3D Super Mario Game Ranked
Best Paper Mario Games Of All Time
Best Batman Games On Nintendo Systems
Best Professor Layton Games Of All Time
Best Animal Crossing Games Of All Time
Best Resident Evil Games Of All Time
Best Castlevania Games On Nintendo Consoles
Best Super Smash Bros. Games Of All Time
Best 3D Sonic Games Of All Time
About Gavin Lane
Gavin loves a bit of couch co-op, especially when he gets to delegate roles, bark instructions and give much-appreciated performance feedback at the end. He lives in Spain (the plain-y bit where the rain mainly falls) and his love for Banjo-Kazooie borders on the unhealthy.
Comments (93)
How is Star Fox Guard at 10 and below Zero?!?!?!?
Amazing how even the worse star Fox games where given 8/10 by Nintendo life.
Rose tinted spectacles.
@Lord I mean, there’s only 10. And we like Star Fox! 
Adventures is so high, Guard is so low…goodness. You guys are brutal ?
Last week people were trying to convince others that star fox zero was a good game and that people were just lazy to not get over the controls.
I’m glad there are polls to shut up vocal minorities.
Star Fox Zero should be 1st or 2nd
Star Fox Guard is a legitimately fun and frantic game. I liked the online support for it.
I’m very curious how many people played and beat Star Fox 2. I couldn’t really find much entertainment by it.
In my opinion some of these numbers are too low for the impact some of these games had. Especially star fox (SNES).
64 and 64 3D being two different entries is weird… even weirder is that 3D is better.
Star Fox Guard is so low 
1. Star Fox 64 3D
2. Star Fox 64
3. Star Fox SNES
4. Starlink
5. Star Fox Zero
1. Star Fox 64
2. Star Fox Zero
3. Star Fox (SNES)
Maybe a daft question, but… does the SNES original run better on an actual SNES than on Switch online? Because I found it almost unplayable…
It seems like the moral of the story is they should stop farming out development for it. Nintendo’s semi-recent announcement that they will be hiring more in house developers is promising. Hopefully before too long this list will have a "Star Fox Zero Deluxe" with a more normal control scheme.
@Nintendo4Sonic it is first or second. First or second LAST
Well, I’m going to choose Star Fox 64 that was my all-time favorite Star Fox game.
1* Star Fox 64
@sixrings yeah sadly, the world was truly too stupid to play this game. It was brilliant.
Lylat Wars was obviously going to win this, it doesn’t really have much in the way of competition. Although I did get some enjoyment out of Adventures and Assault when I was younger, and I am moderately curious about Starlink.
@gaga64 No, it was always that low. You may want to check if you are in PAL 50hz or NTSC 60hz mode to speed it up 17% if you are on the former, but either way, it was always like 15fps max, and variable going down to much lower.
Back then it was nowhere near as noticable as it is today, frankly for the time it was really impressive for a sub $150 console, and we were used to simple polygonal games on older hardware having much lower framerates, if you can believe that.
Of course, things were moving very quickly as far as 3d tech goes. In just under 2 years the Playstation launched! But each step along the way felt like a huge leap – things like the 32x, 3do, Jaguar etc all being these incredible huge state of the art leaps… but then completely obsolete 6 months later.
Star Fox Adventures and Assault were just wonderful. Zero I enjoyed too even if I did find the Controls problematic at first and it was nice to see Star Wolf again. Oh and as good as Battle for Atlas was I just wish there was a proper Star Fox game for Switch. Lylat Wars used to be my favourite but admittedly my interest in it now just isn’t there, the 3DS Remaster is nice though.
@sixrings yeah… because it’s a game nobody played and people like ***** on. Nobody owned a WiiU. Wait until it comes to Switch and see it go up high in the rankings.
It will prove two things…. That it was a good game and that people were indeed lazy to get in on the controls. ?
Absolute rubbish list.
half the games on here are soft remakes of 64 while others like Star Link aren’t even Star Fox games and also Star Fox Guard is on here for some reason.
Why put Adventures over Assault, where is even any content in that game?
There’s no multiplayer or actually anything of interest that game that you could find better in a Zelda game.
Oh, of course. Criticisms are not welcome here only positivity.
Now let’s do a best Kid Icarus games of all time list… oh wait.
Lists like this make me realise how consistantly the Star Fox franchise has missed the mark after Lylat Wars (SF64.) I don’t regard any game after those to be amazing, I’m afraid. Sorry.
This ranking shows that the person who made it doesn’t understand what’s the core concept of a Star Fox game—an Arcade shooter! Whoever ranked Starlink above Zero must be out of their minds because the only good thing about Starlink is the graphics, nothing else. Unless a great Starfox game by new standards meant brainless boring fetch quests and boring combat got trendy! Zero in its core is Starfox 64 with some wonky missions that’s could be cut out, but it’s a solid game. Starlink is a THRASH Starfox game! It’s mediocre space shooter at best.
Interesting results for sure! There are some definite weird results.
Starfox (SNES) seems way too high (nostalgia?), and Starfox Adventures seems very odd above Starlink Battle for Atlas. I get that neither is a «mainline» game, but Starlink seems like it pushed Starfox’s space and planetary combat into the modern age of open world games much better, whereas Adventures was mostly an adventure game spin off.
I’m going to assume the only reason Adventures ranked higher is a combination of nostalgia and Krystal lmao.
Outside of that, everything about this list makes sense.
Man, Star Fox just has a rough go of it. I’ll enjoy the first game and 64 occasionally for the nostalgia, but they’re heavily aged. The rest of the series barely rises above mediocre at its best. Love the characters, settings, & music though. At least we have Smash Bros.
Some people in this thread seem to think that this is Gavin’s personal list, when this is a ranking of Average User Score.
@GrailUK It’s sentiments like these that Nintendo only listen too while they keep trying to remake 64 over a dozen times because people won’t shut up about 64 all these years later and it creates this positive feedback loop where no one criticizes that game nor mentions the other Star Fox games that could have better potential for the basis of a new Star Fox game like Assault that could’ve built on the ground work that it already set up. But no, nostalgia is the loud majority in this case.
So yeah, thanks for that.
And if you want to play a better game than Star Fox 64, go play Kid Icarus Uprising. There’s no crappy submarine section in it.
@sixrings Minority or not, it doesn’t change the fact the majority of people are in fact lazy and will find anything to complain about rather than try to enjoy what life offers so they can discredit an entire product. Zero and Adventures should be swapped.
@Kage_M You might want to reread the article entirely (before the actual list) before making judgement because no single "person" made this list, lol.
I’d have put Zero above some of these others because it nailed «STAR FOX» even if the controls were a bit…. demanding.
My personal favorite is 64 but realize that 64 3D is also a remastered and better version of it. Though I do understand that they are technically 2 different games, I don’t understand how 64 got higher than the better 64 3D.
ANYWAY, this would be my top:
4. Zero
3. Command
2. 64
1. 64 3D
DISCLAIMER: I never played Assault, never put in the disc for Guard even though I had it, and find the frame rate for Starfox and Starfox 2 (SNES) unenjoyable, almost unplayable, despite firing them up from time to time to retry it again (my life-curse).
My main problem with Zero was switching the views to fire the first person guns. Every time I had to do that, it took me completely out of the moment. It felt like I was switching from an awesome action movie to some channel with an argument between 2 men about types of paper.
I loved the environments and graphics on the game and then periodically being forced to look at it all through that little screen really worked against it for me. I tried avoiding the mechanic altogether, and I beat the game, but let’s face it: Star Fox has always been about getting as high a score as possible and there was no way to do that without the first person mode.
In an alternate reality, Star Fox Zero would’ve released without those controls and Wii U would’ve sold millions… Maybe someday they’ll take another crack at it all and i’ll be first in line for that.
For me, the list goes:
10. Guard (never got around to playing)
9. Starlink (never got around to playing)
8. Adventures
7. Command
6. 2
5. Assault
4. OG
3. 64
2. Zero
1. 64 3D
Top 3 are more or less tied, 64 isn’t next to 64 3D because of stereoscopic 3D, graphics and no more N64 controller.
@ChromaticDracula Out of curiosity, did you grow up with the SNES games or only get to them recently?
Lol at the position of Adventures. Absolute clownshow of a game.
Also Guard at 10? Hahahhababha lol waht
Star Fox 64 3D improves on the controls and visuals of the original. Yeah, some of the replaced dialogue isn’t as good as the N64 version, but I think it’s the best way to play the best Star Fox.
@Kilroy I was born in ’86 so I grew up on Atari, Gameboy (Color), NES, Genesis, and then 64. My first Star Fox game was 64…
I’m not one to complain about frame rates or graphics, especially when it’s a hardware limitation, believe me, but I think starting with Starfox 64 and then going back to SNES StarFox was a bit jarring. I got to about level 3 or 4 before I felt like I was getting hit and dying because of the frame rate.
Starfox 64 (or how they called it here in Europe, LYLAT WARS lol) was arguably the only really good entry in the whole series.
Starfox on the SNES was amazing for the time and definitely not a bad game. But SF54 was the one where they really pulled it off and everything worked quite fine.
Pretty much all other entries were just mediocre attempts to use that quite strong brand to create something that would ride on the SF64 train. SF Adventures felt very odd back on the cube, like a weird SF skin on that Dinosaur Planet game (which it basically was), SF Assault was said to be pretty good….for one mission. SF Zero looked very promising but of some reason they had to just risk too much. By now, SF64 didn’t necessarily age so well that its impossible to just create a SF game that just is SF again. Like SF64 didn’t add some weird mechanic just to stand out next to SF but just improved on visuals, controls, possibilities, storytelling and so on. Nintendo doesn’t usually like to "just" do a sequel. But thats exactly what they should do here. Just a sequel where you fly around, do barell rolls and shoot stuff. No wicked camera-mechanics, no weird action adventure and all the other attempts to force something fresh into the recipe. That dish smelled fine enough 25 yrs ago.
I’ve only played the original and 64 so I can’t really comment too much on this other than a small query: is there a specific reason you chose the original 64 over 64 3D? I thought the latter was just that game but better.
@russell-marlow It’s not nostalgia speaking. More appreciation for the different genres (I mean, come on, Assault’s foot slogging sections were awful!) I enjoyed Adventures to be fair but it was a little uninspired. Star Foz Zero was clunky, maybe over thought. But yeah, no, it’s not nostalgia, it’s just personal preference. But you’re welcome (Man, imagine if Nintendo actually listened to what I said lol. The fools!)
Star Fox 64 isn’t just the best game in the series, it’s the best game on N64 in my opinion.
So many great quotable double entendres.
“Andross won’t have his way with me.”
“The enemy is coming up from behind.”
“It’s too hot, I can’t take it anymore!”
In all seriousness, it’s just a great game in general. Plus fantastic multiplayer.
I could live without being told to do a barrel roll immediately after doing one, though.
Eh, don’t know about this list. Starlink should’ve probably ranked #1 but I guess it didn’t because Star Fox isn’t in the title. This is actually the direction Star Fox should go in the future. There’s no beating Star Fox 64 3D if the series remains exclusively on rails. We need RPG elements, ship/weapon/pilot customization, a little strategy and open ended gameplay to expand the series
The original Star Fox is a product of its time and doesn’t hold up anymore so it should be toward the back of the list along with Adventures.
@YoshiF2 @Kilroy @Nintendo4Sonic yes the majority of Nintendo players who played it are either stupid or lazy.
You three are real gamers who can look past and dedicate yourselves to cumbersome controls for the sake of being different. The rest of us are idiots.
@Kilroy I think that’s not the point at all. General indirect speech…
Nintendo Life in Push Square blue was not something I expected to see today
@sixrings let a Switch port do the talking and eventually put your money where your mouth is
Wario Ware Smooth Moves had an endgame Star Fox level where you use the wiimote to control and it is absolute perfection
Okay, you will make me boot 64 3D again on my 11 years old 3DS. Thanks, guys, it was time for some Star Fox.
@MJF
I remember that stage – it was actually pretty fun
Did a bunch of furries come out of the woodwork to vote Star Fox Adventure above Star Fox Assault? Adventure kind of sucks, honestly. Assault is a fantastic hidden gem. I played this game to death as a teenager. I think there are some things Assault does that’s even better than Star Fox 64. And that soundtrack. Ooooooo, that soundtrack. Effing best music in the entire series. I was playing Assault through Dolphin a couple of weeks ago and it still holds up insanely well.
@ChromaticDracula Dude, you NEED to play Assault. Boot it up on Dolphin and prepare to have your mind blown. It’s not as charming as SF 64, but it a lot of ways it’s an even better game.
@Turbo857 Yeah, Starlink is how I envisioned the series should/could proceed especially with Starfox Adventures being the first SF game to leave the Lylat system. If they married open world (open solar system?) to story driven on rails sections… I feel it would be the Starfox we never knew we needed.
@GrailUK «Assault’s foot slogging sections were awful!»
What, no evidence to support if they were truly as awful as you said, just another unoriginal bad take in a sea of opinions of confirmation bias on the game that are about as dated as Star Fox Zero’s controls.
I sometimes wonder how anybody can legitimately say the ground sections are awful if they have vehicles along with diverse weapons and a more customizable control scheme? Yet everyone thinks the shallow arwing gameplay is what the entire game should’ve been?
If anything, the on-foot sections are almost like all range mode but with more terrain to traverse. And maybe, I don’t know, you having too put more effort into doing anything besides being on-rails half of the game.
I, and I imagine everyone else, would rather prefer Assault’s ground/landmaster combat compared too Zero’s awkward walker gameplay. Because we can at least fine tune the controls for modern 3rd person gameplay.
@russell-marlow I dunno man, it’s just my opinion. I wouldn’t take it to heart If you like it then fine. I’m not gonna be all dramtical and wonder how you can like it lol. People like different stuff. It’s not rocket science. If you want an Assault 2, I’ll be happy for you if you get one. It’s no biggy I’ll tell ya what though, seems there is demand for a Rogue Squadron game, and Star Fox would be a good ip to do it with. No need for the SW licence either!
I just bought a really good quality copy of Star Fox Assault for 48 pounds on eBay and as soon as i get a gamecube, I’ll be playing it right away.
@GrailUK I’m just annoyed about the general opinion of some of the Star Fox games. Thankfully, opinions have started to sort of shift in recent years. Though, there’s no telling what Nintendo thinks of those other entries compared to the popular ones, the ones that saw the most profit, mainly just 64 released twice and the other 64 game that failed (Zero).
All I can say is, when it comes to taking in fan feedback, Nintendo is very tone-deaf when it comes to taking in criticism and they more than likely just look at sales and popularity to determine what game series gets a new game. It’s how Star Fox Zero was made, and it’s how the Star Fox series went on permanent hiatus. Because Nintendo doesn’t know how to actually "innovate" outside of controller gimmicks.
I swear, if Nintendo were any other company, then they would build upon from prior entries and provide more meaningful gameplay content. Hence, building upward as opposed to remaining stagnant.
I’ll never understand why, after Star Fox 64, they didn’t stick to the spirit of the franchise that obviously worked. It’s an on rails, auto strolling shooter… Not a Zelda, or a strategy game, etc. It’s like Zelda 2…not necessarily an awful game… But not really Zelda.
@russell-marlow Well, it’s easy to focus too much one one franchise. Hollistically they are anything but stagnant.
@YoshiF2 any port will be significantly changed to support more traditional controls. I bought the game. I liked the music. I liked the art. I hated the controls. If you out it and change the controls and people like it that DOES NOT mean the Wii U game was a good game. At best it means it had good ideas terribly implemented. I say that as someone who wishes for a port and will buy it instantly if the reports are that it includes more traditional controls.
@sixrings then it means it was a good game with terrible controls. If you port it exactly the same to another platform with another control scheme, it still remains the very same good game.
Now… the “terrible controls” is an opinion.
I did like the controls when I mastered them. I like the challenge just like W101 and Bayonetta.
When it clicks, it clicks.
It goes without saying, but Star Fox Zero got done dirty.
@sixrings I don’t give a crap about StarFox Zero, but this is one of the most ignorant and backward things I’ve every seen on here. If someone likes a game you hate, it doesn’t mean they’re wrong, they just have different tastes. Grow up, you self-centered immature troll.
@Maulbert the problem is that the ones defending the game are going around telling everyone else they are wrong and that they are too lazy to put the energy in to appreciate it.
I have no problem people liking different games. These things are subjective. But collectively the people have spoken and they hate the forced control scheme. The fact that most nintendo gamers give nintendo a pass on so many things but at the same time dislike this control scheme shows that it isnt as trivial as some are making it out to be.
Thanks for inserting yourself in here though. Hope that clarified my self-centered perspective
@YoshiF2 I think were talking semantics. I think controls are part of a game being good. Yet I can see how one can seperate that and just judge the graphics, audio, story sort of thing. But if I hate the controls nothing is going to make up that for me.
i have no problem with challenging games. zelda 2 is my favourite zelda of all time. However I do not appreciate different control schemes just for the sake of being different. I mean I bought it. I tried to like it. But it was painful so just moved onto other things. great that it clicked for you but it needs to click for the majority.
If the majority is «lazy» as some put it then it is still Nintendos job to incorporate them. They dont need to do anything they dont want to of course. At the same time they shouldnt expect the same people to say much nice about the game., yet alone buy it or future iterations.
@GrailUK You think that a series mainly known for remaking the first game, the SNES one, over and over with the same plot isn’t stagnant?
Don’t forget the SNES games, 64/3DS, and Zero were for the most part internally developed at Nintendo.
Adventures and Assault were both developed by two separate developers, one of which, didn’t intend for the game too be a Star Fox game in the first place but was chosen at the last moment because it caught Miyamoto’s attention and it was settled that it would be changed into a Star Fox game in order for it to be a launch game for the then upcoming Gamecube.
Assault was originally planned as an arcade game but then focused on being a multiplayer-focused Star Fox game that also happened to expand upon the gameplay of 64 and it’s multiplayer components. And surprisingly, it also had a fresh new narrative that continued after Adventures while building upon established lore it set up in that game. For a Star Fox game at that time, that was a unique change of pace compared to what Star Fox games usually do. So it did sort of break new ground. Yet a shame since Zero went back to that same all-too-familiar structure that has plagued the series up until this point already, tell me how that isn’t in essence stagnation?
Adventures and the original being over Assault is kind of insane to me. Honestly I might put Assault over 64.
Sorry, there’s no way Star Fox 64 3D on 3DS is lower than Star Fox 64 on N64. The 3DS version took the N64 game, made it look much nicer, added the 3D (which works really well), and added the Score Attack modes that allowed you to repeat any level any time. Personally, the game even plays a bit better.
For me, most of the Star Fox games are average once you’re past the top echelon. That top echelon would be:
Star Fox 64 (3DS or N64)
Star Fox (SNES)
Star Fox Command (DS)
It’s worth noting Command has an excellent online and local multiplayer option
Then I would rate:
Star Fox 2 (SNES)
Starlink (Switch)
Of course, both of those are spurious editions since one was never officially released as an individual game and the other is a separate game uses Star Fox characters. Mind you, whenever you hear that Star Fox music in Starlink, the adrenaline really rises!
The only other game I’ll talk about is Star Fox Assault. I call it Star Fox Insult because those foot levels were so bad that it stopped me continuing the game. They were a total insult to everything that Star Fox is about.
Never played Guard. That said, my personal rankings which is probably WAY different than everyone’s ranking:
9) Zero
8) Adventures
7) 64
6) 64 3D
5) Assault
4) 2
3) Starlink
2) Command
1) Star Fox
Thanks for the look back. As a kid, I remember loving the SNES original and the N64 entry, which I still play to death. I dug the music in the original StarFox and would love to see some of those themes make a return. Really, at this point, if they just took the Starfox 64 3DS title as a template and created a new batch of stages every few years, I’d pick it up. Use bombs wisely!
Heathens all of you.
1.2
2.64
3.Assault
4.Zero
5. Command
6. 1
7. Adventures
64 3D unranked because it is a remake.
Starlink unranked because it isn’t Star Fox.
Guard unranked because it is completely unlike everything else, (and a great Tower Defense game certainly worth your time).
Star Fox Zero controls superbly, the only major annoyances I have with it are the final boss, and the lack of alternate objectives on one’s first playthrough. Had it been structured more like 64, it would have been the top of my list.
Star Fox 2 does something rarely attempted, the three difficulty modes are entirely different games, with unique settings and bosses.
Command borrows neat ideas from 2, but I find the execution lacking, and it certainly gets the ‘worst controls’ award for the series.
Assault is ranked above Zero, because it commits to the linear path, and save for the on-foot missions, is quite solid throughout. It never teases you with alternate routes like Zero.
I recently spun up Adventures again, and it was a rought time. I applaud Rare for the visuals and the lack of load screens, but every action is tedious. I feel no sense of accomplishment for doing things.
The original game, like 2, has fully separate games as it’s three difficulties, and is certainly a quality experience, but has aged very poorly contrasted with 2.
@Kage_M Ooof, brutal, I kinda liked starlink, not just for the graphics tho, it was pretty good in my opinion, your right about its downsides tho, it was kinda trash in some parts
@russell-marlow You seem to be argumentative. I didn’t read after your first sentence because you obviously didn’t grasp my last comment. So. Let’s not and both have a lovely day 
Best Star Fox game? Galaxy Force 2
@sixrings what are you talking. Zero was brilliant! It was just a new way of playing it, it took a little time to learn how to play and after adepting that, it was so awesome
@Murkyelm I was trying to be really open with Starlink but I feel removing the on rail shooting completely takes away the precision we need and challenge along with time pressure and limited time for noticing details where to find hidden paths. Open world games become often just a playground to waste time and I felt it didn’t suit SF. Ubisoft was probably the worst company that could do it. Platinum is actually the best company( in terms of gameplay focus) to do the next Star Fox game. Even though Star Fox 64 3D is probably the best one, I would still love to see Zero- they should just add more planets and more shortcuts-it also missed the underwater level from SF64 which I really liked.
Here’s my personal top 5 with ratings:
1) Lylat Wars (9/10)
2) Starwing (8.5/10)
3) Star Fox Adventures (8/10)
4) Star Fox 2 (7.5/10)
5) Star Fox Zero (7/10)
Zero isn’t as bad as people made out but the controls are strange no doubt. Also I count the 3DS and N64 games as the same – but it does play better on the N64 with a proper analog stick!
Hey Nintendo, see how well Kirby & Metroid are doing now in this here Switch thingy you got going on? How about giving Star Fox another chance hé?
While you’re at, might look into F-Zero as well.
@Nintendo4Sonic I grew up on 2 button games. Then we went to six buttons. Then eight buttons and an analogue stick. Then two sticks and eight buttons. Star fox then included two screens on top of that. Surely there has to be a limit for some people how much they can manage to do at one time.
I think Starlink looks initially fun, Zero was fun to control at times, but there were a couple missions where the objective felt impossible (Wolfen space battle, Drone sneaking), and others where the multitasking gave me motion sickness. Pilots need training to actually fly, how do you expect me not to get sick with the gamepad. Guard I haven’t really seen beyond the occult gamexplain vid. Assualt, Adventure, and 3D 64 just aren’t my cup of tea, for reasons like (Performing perfectly in missions is ultra difficult, [Zero gets a pass because I liked the gamepad better for the on rails segments than the free range chicken segments], or Krystal’s outfit makes me uncomfortable, she doesn’t seem like the type to OWN that outfit, why the heck would she buy it or make it, and put it in her closet.)
@sixrings All Range, Free Range Flying Chicken, Drone, and Wolfen battles were all headaches to deal with, The on rails segments though… It’s a shame they’re locked behind the other ways to play.
@Nintendo4Sonic Came to the comments to say just that. Zero is imo the best in the franchise (yes, I’ve played through all of them). Possibly a tie with SF643D. Great game once the controls start to stick, although, to be critical, that takes quite a while.
@TheSaneInsanity I’m not a big all range mode guy to begin with. I like the simplicity of the kn rails and I am confused why people say that you can’t make a modern game all on rails when there are so many 2d shootemups released each year. My game of 2021 was a rerelease of raiden though so that may explain how I tend to like my games. The simpler the better. I stopped playing sports games when it felt that you needed to memorize a book as thick as a dictionary to be good. Maybe that’s lazy. I think that’s sanity. Anyways yes the all range mode combined with the dual screen set up was where this game fully lost me. Far too much going on for what I always thought was a simple arcade like franchise.
@Turbo857 star fox in 60fps with motion controls
what more do you need?
I picked up Zero for $5. I haven’t played it yet, because I already had a switch at that point. I will get around to it one day.
@NicolausCamp that’s right. It took me a few a few hours back then to understand it. And than I had a blast. The whole game was so impressive and the graphics, atmosphere and soundtrack are fantastic.
@gord352 Starwing on 2nd place? ?
It was impressive for SNES technical, but I think this is far from enjoyable today
@Nintendo4Sonic I think you’re asking a lot from people to spend a few hours to figure out controls. That sounds far from intuitive and much more cumbersome then it ought to be.
@sixrings no, the game was just innovative. People were to lazy for that
Star fox zero time to beat five hours. https://howlongtobeat.com/game?id=26780&s=reviews&sb=score
Star fox zero according to you to learn how to use the controls. “A few hours”.
Sounds like a a good return on investment
@GrailUK Well I can’t take you or your comments seriously if you’re being so passive aggressive about it. I’m arguing from a point of objectivity while being critical because I’m upset this series has pretty much dug it’s own grave.
Meanwhile, I don’t think your even trying to have a legit discussion. You genuinely don’t seem very passionate about the subject.
@russell-marlow And I agreed with you lol hence being surprised at your retort.
@MJF
Lol, I love my 60fps. And truth be told Star Fox Zero is ranked like #2 for me after Starlink.
Tap here to load 93 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment…
Feature: The Best (And Worst) Selling Games Of Nintendo’s Biggest Franchises
It was the best of games, it was the blurst of games
Best Nintendo Switch Single Player Games
Player 2 has left the game
Kirby And The Forgotten Land Codes: Full List Of Kirby Present Codes
All the current Kirby and the Forgotten Land codes
30 Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games To Look Forward To In 2022
Our most anticipated games of 2022
Best Game Boy Games
Black and white brilliance
Featured Games
Popular Right Now
30 Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games To Look Forward To In 2022
These Adorable Animal Crossing Plushies Are Now Available…
Pokémon GO Spotlight Hour Times: This Week’s Featured Po…
Best Kirby Games Of All Time
85 Must-Have Games You Should Pick Up In The Switch eShop…
Every Mega Man Game Ranked
Best Game Boy Games
Yuji Naka Was Removed As Balan Wonderworld Director, File…
Nintendo Switch Online – Every NES, SNES, N64 And Sega Ge…
Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Nintendo Switch Sports
Nintendo Showcases Quality Of Life Changes For Xenoblade …
Where To Pre-Order Min Min Super Smash Bros. amiibo
Show More
Join 1,301,275 people following Nintendo Life:
© 2022 Hookshot Media, partner of ReedPop. Hosted by 44 Bytes.
