Finally someone to champion this game and to hold it in the high esteem it deserves! I loved the Wii U, because coming from playing Starcraft 2, multitasking is something I grew to enjoy a lot. With the asymmetric gameplay the gamepad offered, we got true unique gameplay experiences, and this was definitely one of them. Along with Pikmin 3 if played with the proper control setup ;)

I feel so seen watching this video! I remember loving the game in 2016 despite the negative reviews. Thanks for mentioning it in your podcast roundup!

People don't lend any patience to entertainment. If they didn't enjoy it immediately, it sucks. If they don't understand the movie's plot, they won't make an effort to understand it, opting to complain about how confusing it was. If they aren't doing well with the controls, they refuse to learn how to play. There is literally nothing wrong with the controls, it's just that innovation is dismissed as the wrong way to make a game and being different isn't welcome anymore in an industry that has catered to selling the same experiences for 20 years. Wii U gamepad gyro was excellent because it uses a compass to add to the precision. It's one thing when technology is inaccurate or the game really is designed poorly but Star Fox Zero clearly doesn't fall into this category, especially when you are a person who not only plays the game fine but loves how it feels. Is that not proof enough that it's entirely subjective? But people can't admit that their stance on the controls is an opinion. Of course they don't have to like it, I just wish that's all they said and didn't label it as an Officially Bad Game™. Having said that, it frustrates me that I can't have a conversation about this game's design beyond the controls, because there's a lot more to pick apart. I actually think they should have focused more on rails levels, I'm not personally a huge fan of the gyrowing and the all-range mode levels. And I thought the andross fight was terrible. And I actually think the game's problems have more to do with platinum than nintendo, I really didn't like pretty much every other platinum game ive played. But I won't get into that. Also side note, star fox guard is an underrated gem. Thank you for making this video though, it always makes me so happy to see other people who get it. Pretty much agreed with everything you said. 2nd best star fox game and it's a shame they aren't going to make anything like it again, and because of the sales Nintendo likely won't make another star fox game for a long time. There definitely won't be one on Switch and maybe not even its successor, so we gotta strap in to replay 64 and Zero for a while.

I picked this game up after watching this review. This is my first Starfox game so I may be more receptive to it but the game is awesome imo. Thanks!

This might make pessimistic Star Fox fans feel better, but I know Star Fox is coming back for sure. Miyamoto claimed Star Fox would continue after Zero didn’t do so well. He wanted it to be more popular. And in the same interview he said he would like Pikmin to be more popular. This interview was back in 2016. If he says he would like to put more energy into these projects, I think it’s worth taking his word for it. And recently, he did a great job with Pikmin. Star Fox and Pikmin have shared a similar problem: being too complicated. Pikmin 3 was panned, and Miyamoto claims most gamers play a game once and don’t return. And Pikmin takes 3 play throughs to fully grasp it. Star Fox could benefit a lot if they took the time to teach the player like they did in Pikmin 4. Too many people don’t understand the gameplay. And despite 64 being popular, most people aren’t good at Star fox 64 either. They’re complicated games. I think Zero is the best Star Fox, but I disagree with the video that it can work with one screen. There’s too many high scoring techniques that require both screens. I’m not at all surprised it isn’t on switch. Also, great review. I thought about making my own video, because there’s a lot more to this game. And there’s even more than you mentioned here. But I’m glad to see someone addressing old problems from the beginning. Star Fox should become an action game. Like Zero. At the end of the day, it’s not really a rail shooter. The gameplay is too involved, maybe too involved for its own good, but it needs to be simplified for normies.

Wow Im so glad you defended this game. It really was totally misunderstood.

Don't know what the big deal was. Sure the controls take getting used to, but once you do and it clicks, it's awesome. I like how Nintendo decided to take a chance and do something different. One of the best, if not the best use of the Wii U's gamepad .Also, maybe it's just me, but I loved the look of this game. Sadly, it was a very underappreciated game. It's the kind of game that I can go back to again and again trying to get and do everything.

I really enjoyed this game. Took a few levels on the first run to sort of "get them" in all the different vehicles, but ultimately I enjoyed this game quite a lot--and I'm a Star Fox 64 elitist.

Railing on a rail shooter. What next? Jumping on a platformer? Seriously though, an informative break down that was on point, especially (and sadly) regarding the future of this type of game.

I really like those vids with the live cam, it makes it more interactive I feel like, more lively. Quite nice. May you stay warm and keep doing great vids that interest yourself as much as us!!

the reviews for this game made me realise that a review is just one persons opinion, I thought this was a great game and played before having read any reviews. the only opinion that should matter is your own. People miss out on fantastic games because because they put too much value to another persons opinion.

Looking at the credits, most if not all Gameplay design elements seem to be done by Nintendo with Platinum's support primarily being art and some tech roles. Their involvement with the gameplay seems minimal outside of assuring performance and responsiveness, which is what I assume what they meant meant when they regarded pursuing that 'Platinum feel' when the game was delayed. That or they engage with the Nintendo staff with tweaking, but no credits suggest that.

Thank you for making this video. It is so on point.

people complaining about a WiiU game having those controls are like people complaining that Dark Souls is hard I know it seems dickish to say "skill issue, get good" but it's pretty much whay you're buying into. To complain is absurd.

I will have to agree Star Fox, F-Zero and Metroid don’t feel like Nintendo games. They wouldn’t feel out of place on a Sega console (maybe not Metroid)

Hi Mark, Star Fox Zero big fan here, we’ve talked about on an other topic. An other denigrate game I highly love is Metroid Other M. Did you play it ? There’s a hard mode without collecting upgrades, with its fun combat system (Team Ninja) and its dense rythme (for the in game, there are cinematics too) it could appeal to you.

I had no idea that aiming shots in this game was done with gyro based on where the controller is pointed, as in Wii lightgun style games. Every single review made a huge issue of having to look down at the view on the controller screen to hit anything, and so you were constantly looking between two screens, and I can understand why that could be a problem. But I'm watching and listening to you play it, and you're just literally using to gyro itself to aim like a lightgun game, while controlling the ship with sticks and buttons like any other Starfox game. I am honestly baffled, that if it is possible to play well the way you are playing it, why on earth did not a single reviewer figure that out, and insisted that the player was forced to look between the screens constantly which distracted from smoothly playing the game. I've seen other great games get bashed and piled on for nonsense reasons before though... this makes me really want to try it for myself now.

i was born in 87 and missed out on alot of the 5th and 6th generation console stuff due to being poor and just generally behind on the times. i''m just hearing about this game now through your video and i have to say it looks FREAKING AWESOME.

I've been playing this using a dualshock 4 controller (for gyro) + DS4 Windows + Cemu 2.0. But I do have a laptop connected to an external monitor, so the gamepad view (enable separate gamepad view in Cemu options) screen is on my laptop screen, and the 3rd person view on my monitor. You'll have to use SDL Controller API in Cemu input settings & enable motion controls (they won't actually preview the input like the sticks but they will work in game). You have to use DS4 mode in DS4Windows, Xinput won't let you enable motion controls in Cemu! You can also experiment with the non-experimental version of Cemu, but 2.0 runs without slowdown for me at 1080p (my monitor is intentionally 1080p and I do have a 6800H + RTX 3070 so I'm assuming mileage may vary)

I always wondered what that arcade game with the huge machine gun controller I played as a kid was called (L.A. Machineguns: Rage Of The Machine). Thanks for mentioning it.

i've not been playing since 2016, i had to pause to play a lot of shit that was in my list. but after getting to play it again, i still can't get how someone can have so much difficulty with this game and not with splatoon that got praised. i love both of them because of the precision and star fox a little more because the railshooter style mixed so well with the gyro controlls, and specially the dog-fights with star wolf are both, cinematically cool (every time a friend come here and watch me play those stages, i keep the third person view in tv because they like to watch the cool shit that happens in these frenetic fight) and very fun to play just because of the additions they made to the gameplay. what is even odd is that i'm seeing some people talking about a switch port, something that i can't consive as a good thing, since the game is entirely designed around motion controls and having a second screen for orientation. great analysis though. love to see people getting some praise for such a underrated game (69 in metacritic! what the actual fuck!)

I had this game for a few months but I lost the disk, kept swapping it around with nintendoland. Still have the box and would love to play it again. People seemed to be out to hate this game before it was ever released. The wii u got much hate and the narrative that Miyamoto was shoe horning the game pad into the game to justify the gamepad was all over when the first trailer came out (which was also described as ugly which baffles me). I had someone who never played it preach to me in a forum about how stupid it was to design a control scheme where you are always moving your head between the gamepad and the controller. Sadly the whole thing probably not only taught Nintendo not to make challenging games, but never to make a star fox game. They know full well this was a great star fox game and they now know the public don't really want that. Would add, not all motion controls are equal as I discovered swapping wii motes for the better when playing skyward sword, I personally I did need to recalibrate a lot in this game. It did irritate me.

I JUST GOT RED PILLED

Star Fox Zero is my favorite Star Fox game with Star Fox Assault being a close second!

damn, you're good at this one. I like it too but haven't gotten too far. Hurts my back. I love the gyro aim though haha. People are funny. I wanted to add gyro aim to Resident Evil Revelations on the wii u. where you feel on star fox assault? I found it too slow, but maybe I didn't give it a proper chance. I love that N64 one so much tho. This one wasn't too far off gameplay wise imo, it's quick paced and pretty snappy where assault made me not too happy.

I have my Wii U to my sister. Maybe I’ll hack it for her in the future to just include a bunch of emulators and games but it makes me wonder. What if I owned this game when it came out, would I have gotten into rail shooters/ shmups sooner than later? Makes me wonder because it does look fun

while i plan on doing my own video on the game i am glad to see i am not alone because yeah, when i played the game back when it was new. i thought it was fuckin awesome. i played it for a week and 100% everything. i still boot it up and play it on my wii u.

Does that mean that this game emulates well with a gyro controller like the Steam Controller or Dualsense, or do I need to have a Wii U with gamepad?

The weird thing was Star Fox and Star Fox 64 sold well and was on the up. It was then they handed it to third parties the sales went down. I believe if they had treated it like Mario, Zelda and Mario Kart this predicament would’ve never happened.

People complained about having to look at both screens but the thing is can’t you just swap the screens and put what’s on the game pad onto the TV whenever you need to be looking at the game pad?

I think this game actually looks quite good, I don’t own any Nintendo consoles unfortunately.

Here in 2023 and am still hoping they put out another SF game instead of trying to pump out shitty pokemon games or doing another Mario game for the millionth time. Hell everyone shits on Star Fox but if theres any Nintendo franchise that deserves it, its pokemon. Literal carbon copies of the same boring ass game over and over every single time with the only difference being new fuckin pokemon to catch and a higher game price. At least they went back to a different old series with Pikmin 4 which was awesome so hopefully they do a new SF game soon.

People didn't give the game a chance. Sometimes, i get so immersed that i actually feel like im in the Arwing/Grav Master.

@10:55 I know someone has to have said it, but the lasers in starfox 64 fire in 3s as well. You gotta time it and shoot a rope, and it matters when the n64 chugs, you have to compensate. But yea, thats not new. PS, in SF64, you can hold R and Z at the same time and that will stop your bombs from locking on. So you can shoot precisely for bonus points without having to time it perfectly. Just in case ya never knew. You can also hold that on the pause screen and toggle your crosshair on and off.

Do you like the Panzer Dragoon games? I think they’re awesome. Same with Rez

Agreed on Nintendo’s Pixar look, it’s off-putting

wow i thought i was the only one who genuinely liked this game. i play a lot of splatoon so gyro aiming was already familiar for me. i think that made the learning curve of this game easier. i enjoyed the challenge of changing focus between tv view to see around me and cockpit for zoomed in precicion firing, but i imagine lotta people felt like it was taking simple controls of starfox and making it over complicated. the part i dont like in this game actually is the gyrowing helicopter stages, they became slow and boring to replay for score/optional challenges. also i didnt play on launch, i got the game from a bargain bin not expecting much and was positively supriced.

@29:20 have you ever played vampire night? or Ninja assault? both were lightgun games but a little more obscure. I love vampire night lol, it's so cheesy, but me and my bro played the F out of that game.

I wonder if in retrospect people will actually consider the WiiU the better console over the Switch. Probably not, but one can dream.

"Star Fox 64" was a remake of the first "Star Fox" and this isn't a one-to-one remake, more a reboot. Would people have felt differently if this was a remake of the cancelled "Star Fox 2"? They may have been more accepting of the controls actually since that's not really an arcade-style game

As someone who felt really proud buying Wii U back in 2013 on the precipice that it was probably going to be a niche console I was really into the Wii U Panaroma View and the way the camera item was used in the "Wind Waker" port. It was like practice-run material for the mechanics of "Star Fox Zero" in much the same way "Wii Sports Resort" was a 'practice-run' for "Skyward Sword".

Only issue I actually had is... barrel rolling on the analog sucks. L button + should lean to the side you are steerimg too like in star fox assault. Keep the leaning there too. Its useful for moving but addimg a leaning button. People got into sfzero like. Its gonna be a l8ece of cake cause it will translate my years of 64... but you cant barrel roll nearly as effectove to negate the damage you WILL take as now you don't know the stages layouts and where the enemies are coming from. Also they remlved the little map. Like WTF that map was wqy too important to be removed. Now we have to guess when its time to somersault or wait till the game tells us to which is lame. They messed up hard and gave the media club a wimpy kid to pick on. That beimg the motion controls and the screen who were doimg FINE. Its good people are understanding journalists in general, including, and more specifically in this subject, the "GAMING JOURNOS", are FULL of BS.

Polygon makes me sick!

I just ran through this once thinking the motion controls were annoying. This makes me feel like I need to give it another crack.

I dunno I'm a long time StarFox fan, and Zero made me rethink my hatred toward Command. At least I can use the stylus with some level of uncomfortable precision. I absolutely despised Zero's gamepad and dual screen gizmo and could never do well with it. Much like how the StarWars Sequels had me rethink my hate for the Prequels.

Hard disagree to be honest. I think it's one of the worst games Miyamoto ever directed and the controls or at least the game design around them are genuinely terrible. Most of the places that gave this terrible reviews would probably give (or indeed gave) incredibly high marks to Sin&Punishment 2: Star Successor for the Wii, a very similar game in the exact same genre only with much more intuitive controls. Seriously, sit down any average gamer with both games and there will probably be a night and day difference with how well they engage with them on a first playthrough. Even just the way boosting and somersaulting and u-turning is handled in Starfox Zero is a jumbled mess of weird dual stick macros. Barrel rolling is incredibly inconsistent whether it comes out correctly or not. Let alone the disgusting dual screen nonsense and the fact that the on screen cursor is inaccurate to where your shots actually go (this particular decision should never have made it past testing).

Can Falco be my big brother? Please?

There’s a reason this has so few views. This games controls are a complete failure. If they only work for 5% of players as it seems like they did then the game is a flop