The GameCube controller wins again, because it’s pretty simple to use. You simply press L to lock onto an enemy (no need to hold it), then whack away with your staff by hitting A and moving the control stick to do different move combinations. It looks really good in action, especially with all the blurring in the background. It really looks like a real camera is taking pictures of this stuff. (Cut-scenes are the same way.)
The Arwing levels are just to get you from place to place, and (so far) there doesn’t appear to be a dedicated level to just flying. The Arwing level available in the demo was really short, as Fox’s only objective was to fly through seven out of 10 gold rings. This is a big let down, and what’s worse about it is that the Arwing level isn’t any better than the N64 game’s gameplay. Still, there’s a lot of stuff going on in the level, and it does look quite pretty.
The biggest thing I noticed about the game is the thing I didn’t notice about it: Loading times. In the first area you come to, there’s a giant open area (the one where Fox get the staff for the first time), and off to the side, there’s a cavern and a corridor that goes around a corner to a store. In this corridor there was a split-second pause. At first I thought it was just a hiccup, but after further investigation, it turned out to be a quick load. It took literally a blink of the eye to load the entire first area. When you see this for yourself, you’ll be stunned.
And with that, you know that this game was going to be an epic beast anyhow, conisidering who’s developing the thing. Star Fox looks and plays amazingly, as you’d expect it should.
