Star Fox Dinosaur Planet

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04300640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>                                                                                </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>    |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Star Fox Dinosaur Planet</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="16bb88a0.gif" border=0 width="184" height="138" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="15bb97f0.gif" border=0 width="185" height="127" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Star Fox Dinosaur Planet</I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="158f0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="15ef0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>It's been eight years since Andross was defeated, but now General Scales, a truly nasty man, has landed on an ancient, previously unspoilt, primeval planet - the titular Dinosaur Planet. So Fox has been called in to jump out of his Arwing and save the day, hand-to-hand combat style.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="164f0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="166e0b40.gif" border=0 width="224" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Fox still has the help of his pals - Slippy supplies Fox with new weapons, Peppy is in mission control to guide you through the game and Rob The Robot is available with extra supplies. There are also a couple of new characters - firstly Krystal, a mysterious female who has been captured by ancient force the Krazoa, and then there's Prince Tricky, a cheeky young triceratops who is always willing to help you, whether you like it or not.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="159f0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="15ff0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>It seems that the game is a neat combination of Zelda, Jet Force Gemini and Mario 64. The lock-on fighting system has been lifted from Zelda, and there are also RPG elements in the form of the friendly pre-historic inhabitants of Dinosaur Planet who are more than happy to give you whatever assistance they can. There's the wanton destruction of Jet Force Gemini, and athleticism of Mario 64.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Fox's main weapon is his 'magical staff', which thankfully isn't what it sounds like. The staff is extremely versatile though - it's primary use is obviously to smack people with, but it can also be used to fire projectiles, give Fox a vertical boost, and also in the solution of puzzles. Rare and Nintendo insist that the staff makes excellent use of the GameCube's controller, so with any luck this will be the NGC's Mario 64 in terms of excellence of control.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="15cf0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="160f0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Though most of the action takes place on terra firma, Fox has the chance to take to the air in his Arwing for a selection of space based missions. Other sections see Fox mounting a dinosaur to aid his quest, but the demos also show Fox actually morphing into a dinosaur, proceeding to continue his quest on his hind legs. Whether this is a one off, or a more frequent occurrence, is so far unclear. </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="167f0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="168f0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>The locations are hugely varied, as we see Fox traversing huge caverns, large expanses of lush pasture, icy wastelands and ancient settlements. It all looks quite gorgeous, especially one scene which sees Fox running through a grassy plain, interspersed with trees and dinosaurs grazing.</B></div> <div> <B>All the characters are beautifully realised, the enemy dinosaurs looking particularly spectacular, and are brought to life with impressively fluid animation. There are also screen sized bosses, of mechanical and organic varieties, who loom menacingly over Fox.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="15df0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="163f0b40.gif" border=0 width="240" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>This is probably the most interesting prospect that we've seen from GameCube so far, offering what appears to be an actioned-up Zelda, starring the team from Star Fox. Coming to the US in November, we should have this as a UK launch title. Can't wait.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="16c90390.gif" border=0 width="400" height="313" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>