Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading. In this installment, we’re covering Fur Squadron by developer Raptor Claw Games.
Fur Squadron: (The Explanation)
The Nintendo Switch is coming into its seventh year and as of yet, there is yet to be a new entry or even a port of the StarFox series on the console. Some indie developers have taken it upon themselves to create their very own “spiritual successors”. One such developer is Raptor Claw and their game Fur Squadron aims to capture the essence of the original Super Nintendo game, with a touch of 80’s style wireframe virtual reality.
Fur Squadron follows three anthropomorphic pilots who are training themselves via a virtual reality simulation. The leader of the Fur Squadron is the ferret Blaze Mustela who is joined by cocky ace pilot Kiro Nax, and the cheery and smart Axel Mex. Blaze and his colleagues are on a routine virtual training sim when all of sudden, the simulation gets hacked. Blaze and Kiro are trapped with no means of escaping safely and are forced to fight the evil Skal Empire who have hijacked the simulation.
Much like the gameplay of the original StarFox on SNES, Fur Squadron is an on-rail, arcade shooter that has you pilot a fighter craft and tasks you with shooting your way through enemy squadrons and their ground support. Your craft is armed primarily with laser fire but you can also acquire missiles that can wreak heavy damage on enemy crafts with is large blast radius. The game has six main stages that usually end with a boss. The boss is impervious to your primary weapon, save for its weak points that are normally its own weapon systems that it uses to fire upon you.
Your on-screen crosshair moves along the screen as you move your craft and your shots will fire in the direction your crosshair is facing. It can be a little difficult to line up shots this way but fortunately, you can also charge up shots by holding down the fire button which will also allow you to lock on to enemies and bosses’ weak points.
Fur Squadron is not a long game and its six missions will probably take you about half an hour to beat them all. When you do though, you will be able to unlock a harder difficulty, this time playing as Kiro Nax. There is also another harder difficulty that can be unlocked after beating the game again as Kiro Nax. Being such a short game actually works in its favour in a way because you can easily pick it up and play in short bursts and see if you can better your score on each level.
If you enjoyed the SNES StarFox game and are looking for a similar game that you may also enjoy, Fur Squadron is a pretty decent game. While it may be short, at $6,99 it isn’t going to break the bank and you may find it to be a game you can come back to time and again.
Fur Squadron: (The Gameplay)
Game Specifications:
Developer: Raptor Claw Games
Publisher: Raptor Claw
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Action, Arcade, Adventure
No. of Players: 1 player
Release Date: March 17, 2023 (EU & NA)
Price: $6.99
File Size: 802 MB
Nintendo.com Listing
