Who made it?
blade And NieR:Automatic developer PlatinumGames, who also made zero fox star on the Wii U, with the help of Nintendo. It started out as a ‘Project Guard’ prototype before Nintendo retooled it with the Star Fox team.
What is the premise?
You are playing as Slippy Toad, amphibian flying in space, in Tower Defense game. Instead of shooting spaceships, you’re instead defending bases owned by Slippy’s uncle, Grippy Toad. You need to watch out for attacks from Battle and Chaos robots — which attack towers and distract you, respectively — all from your screen.
It’s one of the smart (and few) games on the Wii U that actually uses the GamePad to really great effect.
Why should I play it?
If you’re a Star Fox fan, this would be a no-brainer. But despite that, Star Fox Guard is completely different from any other Star Fox game before it, so it’s a really interesting piece of history in the franchise.
Changing the rails shooter into a tower defense game is a simple yet inspiring choice, and it also showcases PlatinumGames’ experience with the Wii U GamePad. The campaign itself can be pretty simple, but there are 100 missions to keep you and your amphibian friends busy. It is an underrated gem.
The game was originally packaged with the first print of PlatinumGames’ other Star Fox game, Zero, on a (separate) physical disc, so it can technically still be found later when the eShop is closed. Nintendo also makes a standalone boxed version, though that’s really just a code in the box.
So to be 100% clear, you Maybe still find a used version of the original Zero-included disc. But who wants to sit around waiting for postage all day when you can get instant protection?
how much is this?
$14.99USD / £12.99 / 14.99€ on the Wii U eShop – stealing 100 quests for sure.
We’ll be back soon with another 3DS or Wii U eShop recommendation as part of the this String ‘Countdown’. Let us know below if you already have this in your collection and share your thoughts. Also, feel free to nominate other games — we may also feature those in the coming days.
