Nintendo has once again decided to kick back to some of their classics at this year's E3. Many of their characters are finding new environments and methods to entertain themselves with. Fox McCloud is no exception. Last year set him on his genre-bending Adventure, leaving many fans of the series begging for a straight up aerial combat game in full, luscious, brilliant 3D. Nintendo seems to have decided to meet halfway with their new title for the GameCube. The release date for the title has not yet been determined. After cycling through 64 and Adventures, Nintendo has done something odd by coming back to the title for the original game, Star Fox. Actually, it's called Star Fox 2 on Nintendo's fact sheet, but that name fails to appear elsewhere.

Not that it's a bad title to give to such a great looking game. I just would have expected something like Star Fox Melee or Star Fox Journeys or Star Fox Skirmish. The idea behind the title seems pretty standard, but playing through it in the Star Fox universe proves to be a fairly unique experience. The best way to introduce you to this title is to give a complete run-down of the features, following each with an explanation of how well they live up to their promises. All of the following quotes are taken from Nintendo's data sheet on the game.

"Switch between flying an Arwing, driving a Landmaster Tank or engaging the enemy on foot as you battle through areas swarming with enemies."

I recently reviewed Battlefield 1942 and its expansion pack. I tend to think of Star Fox as sort of a cut-down version of Battlefield, as it involves flying, roving vehicles and foot soldiers.

"Participate in co-op missions, which are played using split-screen with each player commanding his own vehicle, or play with a 'wingman,' as one player rides on the wing of the Arwing (or side panel of the Landmaster Tank) and blasts enemies while the pilot drives."

Taking it down to four players is very minimalist, but necessary for any console title. Co-op missions make this a really fun title to mess around with alongside your buddies. The "wingman" aspect is something that people did now and then in Battlefield, but it wasn't really so much a feature as an exploit. Here it's a major part of the game, and clutching on to an Arwing while firing away at enemies can be quite the thrill.

The controls in the air seem familiar enough, and the ground controls are easy to maintain after a few minutes. A wide variety is at your disposal, including sniping, homing and laser weapons for use on foot. A first person perspective can be taken when firing some of the weapons, but the crosshairs that they showed off pretty much took care of any aiming concerns I might have. The only problem I could see is that some of the classic characters look a little weird in 3D. Slippy Toad looks especially odd but I can't really complain…he is a giant toad after all. Massive dogfights and fantastic expansion for multiplayer capabilities make Star Fox a likely winner of my respect when it comes out.