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The planet Sauria has long been peaceful, populated by a number of dinosaur tribes untouched by the rest of the Lylat System. The peace is shattered when the small Sharpclaw tribe suddenly grows in size and power, and their leader General Scales begins stealing the Spellstones that keep the energy of the planet contained.

A distress signal from the planet brings a distant traveller named Krystal to the Krazoa Palace. She is tasked with reclaiming the Krazoa spirits to help the dinosaurs fight back against the Sharpclaw tribe, but after only returning one, she is pushed into an energy beam and trapped in suspended animation.

As Sauria begins to crumble, General Pepper contacts the Star Fox team to investigate. Fox arrives on the planet, but is forbidden to use his blaster. He soon finds Krystal's staff to use as a weapon. Fox meets with the Queen of the Earthwalker tribe who tells him that the Spellstones must be returned to the Force Point temples to return the planet to its original state. Her son, Prince Tricky, joins Fox on the adventure.

Unlike other games in the series, Star Fox Adventures is not a shooting game, but an Action/Adventure similar to The Legend of Zelda. The aim is to collect items, solve puzzles and defeat enemies in your search for the Krazoa Spirits and Spellstones.

Krystal's staff can be used to attack enemies and activate switches. You can acquire items that power up your staff, allowing it to shoot, freeze or reach new areas. When you face enemies, you can lock on to them, attack and dodge.

Each time you recover a Krazoa Spirit, you head to different areas of the Krazoa Palace where you must release it to free Krystal from her prison. When you retrieve a Spellstone from one of the boss characters, you have to head into the Force Point temples and solve their puzzles to replace the Spellstones. Each Force Point temple has two Spellstones, and you can access new areas with the new skills and power-ups you have acquired.

You are accompanied through most of the game by Prince Tricky. The smart-talking Earthwalker learns various skills that can be used to solve puzzles or find items. You can even take a break from your adventure and play ball with him.

The currency on Sauria is Scarabs, which can be used to buy new items or maps from the store.

When travelling between Sauria and the parts of the planet that have broken away, you have to take to your Arwing in traditional shooting sections. While short, these areas save your scores and encourage you to replay them. You have all of the moves from Star Fox 64. The final battle also takes place in a traditional Star Fox aerial battle, against a very familiar foe.

Dinosaur Planet

Star Fox Adventures began life on the Nintendo 64 under the title "Dinosaur Planet". The game starred Sabre and Krystal and their animal friends Tricky and Kyte. You could switch between the characters and use their animal companions in different situations.

The game was very far along in development, with Rare releasing promotional artwork, gameplay videos and even MP3s of the soundtrack on their website.

Shigeru Miyamoto reviewed the content of the game and believed it would benefit from being moved to the upcoming GameCube hardware (sales of Nintendo 64 games were very low) and for the Star Fox license to be used. Rare reworked the game, changing some elements but keeping the majority of the gameplay intact, and the game was released as Star Fox Adventures.

Cameos

Prince Tricky

Screenshot Required

Prince Tricky of the Earthwalker tribe appears to have been based on the Triceratops boss, also named Tricky, in Diddy Kong Racing. Both games were developed by Rare.

Star Fox Series

• Star Fox
• Star Fox 64
• Star Fox Adventures
• Star Fox Assault
• Star Fox Command