Star Fox: A Remnant Hero of my Childhood

My gaming adventures began in earnest with a Super Nintendo, a Lunchable and one perspective changing cartridge: Star Fox. I was five years old when the game was released in 1993; I didn't play it for another two years at least, but it was a seminal experience in my then-burgeoning appreciation for video games.

 The narrative follows a bizarre amalgam of mercenaries conscripted by General Peppers, the leader of the Cornerian Army, to investigate the condition of Andross - the games main antagonist - on the planet Venom. Alongside Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare and Falco Lombardi, Fox McCloud, a Cornerian Air Force dropout, began the series under Peppy's tutelage, but has since, in newer installments, become an expert pilot. 

But let's stick with the younger, less experienced Fox McCloud, the one I first encountered so many years ago during my first trip to Corneria. This Fox wasn't the shy, quirky or almost belligerently unenthusiastic Fox of later incarnations (Star Fox: Assault, Star Fox: Command and Star Fox: Adventures), but the Arwing Ace determined to find his father who was captured by Andross. He was dash, debonair, cocky and charismatic. He led his team without hesitation, but knew well enough to show caution before bravado.

Star Fox, with its story, relatable characters and endearing personality, was a seminal experience in my video game upbringing. Fox McCloud became the first video game character that I looked up to, the first character I connected with, the first character I felt shared some commonality with me, even if it was only skin deep. When I held that controller in my hands, I felt myself at the helm of an Arwing gripping its controls, I felt the thrusters blare and shoot me down that pixelated, blue-wire tunnel and into the battle for Corneria and the solar system with Fox at my side.

I was invincible. I was the wing-man to the best star pilot in the galaxy...

But over the years and with installments just not up to par with the original (Star Fox 64 not included), there has been a chasm growing between me and my first hero - Fox just hasn't seemed the same or held the same resonance he once did. Maybe its time to visit that old hermit, dust off the wings and show ol' Andross whose boss one last time.