If there is one classic Nintendo franchise that has been mishandled for most of its existence, I’d say it’s Star Fox. People love Star Fox to death, but it seems like Nintendo has absolutely no idea on how to capitalize this popularity. They usually say “there is no way to make something innovative with the IP”, even though they didn’t even bother to make one with motion controls for the Wii, or one with online multiplayer for the Switch. The franchise has been relegated to either being a scapegoat for unnecessary gimmicks, or just an endless cycle of remaking the original with slightly (but underwhelming) visuals. But that doesn’t mean other companies haven’t tried to help the IP out.

Rare made a controversial, but actually extraordinary Zelda clone in Star Fox Adventures back in 2002. Meanwhile, exactly 20 years to the publishing of this article, Namco came up with one of the best ideas for a Star Fox game in, like, ever. Star Fox: Assault was the one time someone was actually able to move the franchise forward with brand new gameplay elements, without removing what made the IP famous and celebrated in the first place. Still, people rarely talk about it nowadays. Why? Let’s try to find out the reason behind its borderline anonimity.

Star Fox: Assault is actually a direct sequel to Star Fox Adventures, which, by itself, is a sequel to Star Fox 64. Thankfully, it is not yet another remake of the original Star Fox, like 64 and Zero. In it, Krystal has joined the team, Peppy has retired, Slippy’s father has become the Star Fox team’s advisor, and Andross is 100% dead and gone. At the beginning of the game, his nephew, Andrew Oikonny, formerly a member of Star Wolf, tries to conquer the Lylat System with the same machines and army left behind by his uncle, but is quickly thwarted not by Star Fox, but by a brand new galactic threat.

Enter the Aparoids, a race of ultra-intelligent (and dangerous) cyber-insects. They have the ability to assimilate any machine or living being in front of them, inserting them into a gigantic hivemind. In essence, they’re the Borg from Star Trek, a much scarier threat than Andross or General Scales. The main objective is pretty simple: destroy the Aparoids by killing their Queen. The plot unfolds throughout a very linear (and short) campaign, filled to the brim with cutscenes and dialogue sections.

This is actually one of Star Fox: Assault‘s most controversial aspects. There are no branching paths. The game is vastly less arcadey than its predecessors, opting for flashy cutscenes, a more thorough plot, and set pieces. As a result, it’s not very replayable. A very one-and-done experience, once you’ve beaten all levels in its campaign, I don’t see any reason for you to come back to it. That might be an issue, but if the campaign is epic, that’s already worth the time investment. Sadly, not all missions are bangers, but Namco did try their best by making them varied enough, with a perfect balance between new and nostalgic.

Whenever you’re inside an Arwing, boy oh boy, it’s magical. It’s some of the best Arwing action in the franchise’s history, with immense enemies, epic clashes, and rearranged (and orchestrated) renditions of Star Fox 64‘s music making everything sound as if John Williams had been hired to score it. Boss battles are much easier than the challenges seen in Star Fox 64, but in terms of providing epic action, this is where Assault shines the brightest. The Gamecube’s impressive hardware is capable of delivering some really impressive visuals and particle effects to top things off.

Whenever you are driving the Landmaster tank, or exploring a level outside of a vehicle, things become a bit more, uh, controversial. Yep, you can freely hop in and out of vehicles, in a feature clearly inspired by the then-novel Battlefield and Star Wars: Battlefront games. The idea is excellent, but the execution was somewhat flawed. Playing as Fox in a third-person shooter environment is actually not that bad, as long as you’re not using the basic blaster, which refuses to obey your commands. When you’re wielding a machine gun, a sniper rifle or a rocket launcher, it’s actually not that bad. The Landmaster is really clunky, however. Its controls are far from intuitive.

So here’s the question… why was Star Fox: Assault completely erased by the mindset of Nintendo fans, and even most retro enthusiasts? It’s not a bad game at all. Sure, it has flaws, but to be forgotten? Especially nowadays, when millennials are now in their thirties, reminiscing over their happy Gamecube-led childhoods? I think the issue stems from the period this game was released.

I think you had to be there, but to be honest, 2005 was an utterly dire time for the Gamecube. This was a period barely anything was coming out for it that was actually making a splash. The PS2 was just dominating everything, the Xbox was still reaping the rewards brought in by Halo 2, and the Xbox 360 was coming out in a few months. The Gamecube was in a bizarre limbo, with Nintendo still putting in an effort to make their purple lunchbox feel like an actual contender against the competition. The period after Resident Evil 4 and before Twilight Princess is one not a lot of people tend to remember fondly.

Even if there were interesting games coming out at the time, the fact the Gamecube didn’t have all the big and flashy third-party games the other two consoles had, most notably Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, made a lot of us 2005 preteens gravitate towards those machines during that period. As a result, we missed out on games like Star Fox: Assault. The game didn’t even sell poorly, but I have never met anyone who had played it back in the day. After Assault, Nintendo wouldn’t make a brand new entry in the franchise, only caring about remaking Star Fox 64 for the 3DS, or giving birth to the abominable Star Fox Zero for the Wii U, itself a reboot of Star Fox 64.

For some reason, I guess Nintendo wasn’t happy with Star Fox: Assault‘s critical and commercial results. It received a lot of 7s and 6s back in the day, something I consider to be unfair. Sure, the game is painfully short and controlling the Landmaster is a hassle, but, at the very least, it actually tried to expand the franchise’s scope to new levels. It legit tried to act like Nintendo’s answer to Battlefield. If only Nintendo had actually bothered to promote online capabilities back in the Gamecube’s era; I legit think Assault would have been a much more lauded title if that had been the case.

Twenty years later, Star Fox: Assault still feels oddly unique in a series whose owners admit to have no idea of what to do with it. Namco did its best to broaden its scope, offering a darker story, new gameplay methods, a super interesting (albeit underdeveloped) multiplayer mode, and an overall epic space opera feel to it. It’s a game worth checking out if you are able to. I don’t think it’s as bad as most reviews from 2005 said it was. There’s a lot to like in this flawed, but bold take on the franchise. It was Nintendo and Namco’s attempt to actually give the Gamecube a worthy (or not) competitor to the then-novel Battlefield franchise. Whilst we still wait for Nintendo to do something with this massively mistreated franchise, I’d absolutely recommend giving it a go.