Review by: the Dark Falcon

For the 3DO, the game Star Fighter, involving a free-flight spaceship taking on several difficult missions, was one of a kind, although its pace was slower than a 90-year old at a bingo parlor and its pastel colors left something more, well, dirty to be desired. On the Saturn, the results look more washed out than ever, but there's still a little bit of game here...who da thunk it?

In Star Fighter, you control an awkwardly shaped "wide" spacecraft as it flies across several landscapes and takes on several missions, like taking out land bases or docking in a mother ship successfully. There's fifteen in all, but this is no easy flight on Delta with guest peanuts (?). The difficulty here ranges from "easy like Sunday morning" to "I'm gonna have you for breakfast", offering even the most seasoned space pilot a good challenge.

A lot to like in Star Fighter, most notably the simple control. You can turn, do loops, and select different weapons to your desire, and, considering the Saturn's small library, this is as close to StarFox as Saturn owners will get (unless, of course, Hiroshi Yamauchi goes into a wild fit and starts publishing games for Saturn). The free flight is very cool, as you can go anywhere in a stage and take apart buildings with your lasers or reduce a mountain to sea level. Personally, I feel like taking the "devil's architect" path and taking apart buildings with a few shots. Watch the top half of a skyscraper fly in midair and then watch it explode as it hits the ground...and you thought Blast Corps was fun...heh heh.

The sound fx are very generic, but the music does have a lot to offer, most notably a soft track that makes you feel like you're really flying. It's nice and relaxing, almost stress-relieving.

Again, tho, where Star Fighter fails is in its water-colors look. Explosions look like failed fireworks, mountainsides look like they've been slushed down by rain, and even buildings look unrealistic. It's all very washed out, just like it was on 3DO. Maybe Studio 3DO (the developers) didn't want to change the look, but an upgrade would have been nice.

So, what's the verdict on this Acclaim product? Normally, I'd shoot Acclaim down quicker than Ted Nugent takes down chickens flying in his yard, but Star Fighter is an above-average game that's worth a look, so I'll thank Acclaim for at least taking something good to shelves. It gets a six out of ten, and makes for a decent night's rental (unless, of course, Starfox 64 is already filling your plate on N64- this will seem like Master System material compared to that).