Dino Planet
One upon a time UK developer Rare showed off a very early version of a game called Dinosaur Planet. It was a third-person action-adventure for Nintendo 64 that featured an identical control scheme and similar play mechanics to Shigeru Miyamoto's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The game, an epic adventure centered around a planet inhabited by dinosaurs, sported some of the prettiest graphics to ever grace Nintendo's now-defunct cartridge-based system, and it had system owners very excited about its eventual release.

But it wasn't to be. Dinosaur Planet went into hiding for more than a year, Nintendo continually delayed the game's 64-bit ship date and then one day it dropped off official release lists altogether. This was, of course, around the same time the Big N's next-generation GameCube console was coming into focus, which led many enthusiasts to believe the game had secretly been switched to the platform. It turns out they were right, but they still didn't know the full story.

Not only did Dinosaur Planet relocate to GameCube, it switched main characters and indeed adopted one of Nintendo's most famous mascots as its new hero. The title showed up at E3 2001 on GameCube as Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet starring -- you guessed it, Fox McCloud and featuring his classic teammates Slippy and Peppy. The game retained the play mechanics of its N64 predecessor, but happily displayed a completely overhauled graphic look complete with larger environments, more detailed textures and new, shimmering water effects at every turn.

Features

Gameplay
The play mechanics of Star Fox Adventures haven't changed much since the game was only called Dinosaur Planet. Players control Fox McCloud and his trusty sidekick Prince Tricky, a triceratops who accompanies the Star Fox hero wherever he goes -- even into his Arwing ship. Dinosaur Planet is, as the name suggests, a huge planet filled with the prehistoric beasts. Unfortunately, a ruthless dictator named General Scales has corrupted the world. He looks a little something like this:


Readers, meet the bad guy.

Fox, accompanied by pals Peppy (in charge of directions), Slippy (weapons master) and Rob the Robot (who offers extra supplies), arrives at Dinosaur Planet roughly eight years after the defeat of Andross featured in Star Fox 64. It isn't long before players discover that General Scales, having captured the pterodactyl princess of the land, is up to no good and its left to the Star Fox team, with the help of Tricky and Krystal, to save the planet.

 

Star Fox Adventures plays exactly like Zelda: Ocarina of Time with a few enhancements. The control scheme is almost identical, with an automatic jump system employed. The analog stick is used to manipulate Fox through the giant 3D world, whereas the A button executes actions, be them projectile shooting or hitting en enemy with a staff. Meanwhile, enemies can be targeted as they were in Zelda, whereupon Fox can strafe around them and fight. Of course, there's much more to it than that. Fox can also shape-shift into different beings and use a wide variety of items -- everything from keys to enhancement spells, by selecting them. The camera stick is used for quick item selection, which works quite intuitively.

And then there is the issue of a sidekick -- Tricky, as it were. By pressing down on the C-Stick and picking the Find command, you can actually tell your dinosaur friend to dig and look for items. Other commands for your dinosaur include "Heel" (returns your Tricky to you), "Distract" (divert the enemies' attention from you), "Guard," and "Play." We're not sure what the Play command is all about, but it lets you throw a ball, which Tricky then brings back to you.

Fox can swim through water, fly in the air and space with his Arwing ship, or explore massive land-based locations. There are puzzles, loads of enemies, and regular interactions with roaming dinosaurs that players accompany during their quest. The E3 2001 GameCube demo of the title was very early on, only featured three different levels, and was often buggy and not working correctly. But the foundation was certainly there and it was quite a bit of fun.

For a more detailed hands-on impression of the game in action, click here

Graphics and Technology
Star Fox Adventures is massively improved over its Nintendo 64 predecessor. The game's environments are bigger, feature crisp, detailed textures and are overflowing with dinosaurs, trees, streams, grass, and rock formations, not to mention man-made structures, temples and pyramids. In the E3 2001 demo we played, though, it was clear that the engine was based on groundwork initially laid down for a Nintendo 64 product. Some of the polygon objects and textures were of lower quality while others seemed more fitting of a GameCube title, for example. A comparison of environments between the N64 and GameCube versions showed a marginal difference in some areas, whilst others highlighted magnificent upgrades with higher-poly models, crisper textures and beautiful, transparent, animated water effects. There is no doubt in our minds, however, that the finished product will shine as all Rare games do and if early improvements are any indication, it will be one of the prettier GameCube titles available at launch.

Outlook
Rare has taken its Zelda-like Dinosaur Planet action-adventure and slapped the Star Fox license onto it. And you know what? That's A-okay by us. The game's fabulously huge environments overflow with vivid detail, and the quest promises to be just as gargantuan as the planet itself. With play mechanics similar to that of Miyamoto's action-adventure and the ability to control sidekick characters, we can't wait to get our hands on the finished product at the launch of GameCube in the US on November 5 of this year. We only hope that the title, which seemed buggy and early at E3 2001, releases as planned without delay.