Ugh.
Let’s get this over with. This project was so utterly misguided from the start. It leans heavily on motion control gimmicks and a baffling control scheme, without much option for customising your experience. It introduces tons of new vehicles with different modes, which do nothing but add to the control frustration. Worst of all as far as I’m concerned, it steadfastly dropkicks the story back in time by rehashing the Star Fox 1 plot AGAIN, leaving the development of the characters and world still stuck in the limbo they’ve been in for 14 years now (10 at the time of release).
On the surface, Zero seems to be a stubborn attempt to retell Lylat Wars again and indeed the basic plot is exactly the same, most enemy ship designs are copied directly, many voice lines are recreated, and several locations and setpieces are reused wholesale. I was pleased to discover at least some new content: a recurring gorilla mech, for example, although dealing with it necessitates more awkward, forced gimmickry. Other concepts are lifted from Star Fox 1 (Monarch Dodora) or 2 (a carrier infiltration, the walker transformation) and revamped to look and act much spiffier.
The general structure of the game is similar to Lylat Wars, but despite not being built around single-run completions, it has much less content. Not every stage ends with a boss, but all bosses are in All-Range Mode, which is my least favourite of all the modes. I like being able to revisit stages at any time to find alternate routes, but after finding Fortuna I failed too many times on the Corneria side route boss that I just gave up.
I should explain more about the controls. They’re a complete mess. The TV view is a third-person perspective, with an objective lockon button that will 100% guaranteed disorient. The Gamepad displays a first-person view, and you’re expected to look between them or hit Minus to swap views. You move your ship around to aim, but also tilt the Gamepad for even more aim, which can’t be turned off but which mercifully is not often required. When it is, it feels forced and aggravating.
It’s just overstuffed with bad ideas, and the bright spots are few and far between, not worth getting to. The whole thing smacks of a vanity project by one S.M., a scattershot of dreck, overloaded with false innovation and lacking in thoughtfulness or heart. I tried to give Zero a chance… my first impressions from previews were sour indeed, but playing the game on its own terms did nothing to convince me otherwise. It looks pretty for the most part, I’ll say that, but the music is limp and impactless… I have so many more criticisms, niggles, and nitpicks I could list (no multiplayer, the continued misogyny, the “voices from the Gamepad” gimmick), but the very fundamentals of the game are so broken as well, it’s miserable. This game sucks. Sorry for the negativity.