Fur Squadron Phoenix

A solid sequel that improves upon the foundation of its prequel

"The best "Star Fox" game in almost 30 years."

Fur Squadron Phoenix proved to be a very welcome evolution over its predecessor, improving basically all its aspects and delivering an experience as close to the best game in the Star Fox franchise as it also charts a path to becoming the definitive spiritual successor to the Nintendo 64 title. Despite its short length and some perhaps less successful gameplay and design choices, the game has far more hits than misses and certainly helps to fill the eternal void that the Nintendo title seems to have left in the hearts of fans of the space fox franchise.

FUR Squadron Phoenix is a Star Fox-style on-rails shooter with eight stages that mix virtual training and real combat, giving you tight tunnels, busy enemy waves, and an upgrade loop built around XP, special weapons, and Overdrive. Stiff fine aiming, repeating routes, and a last boss that drags hold it back a bit, but if you want a focused single-player rail shooter, it’s a strong pick that scratches that Star Fox 64 itch.

While it may not be as polished as the legendary franchise it’s looking to emulate, this manages to be far better than a mere “Star Fox ripoff”

With that said, FUR Squadron Phoenix is a fun and addicting game. It’s mindless shooting with fast-paced movement, a nice visual style, and some visual novel storytelling here and there. Even after beating all the stages, I was constantly going back to try to get high scores on some of the stages. $20 is a bit steep for a game you might beat in two or three hours but it’s quite the experience that has a lot of replay value.