PN Review: Strike Force Foxx (3DS Eshop)

Strike Force Foxx is a new eshop title from the people at ‘Big John Games’. It’s a fun side scrolling, arcade style shooter where you take control of Captain Raymond Foxx. Your mission is to exterminate the terrorist group Grid, who is of course bent on world domination! You also need to rescue all of the hostages that Grid has taken prisoner using your trusty helicopter.

In the beginning of this game your are given a helpful tutorial showing you the ins and outs of hostage rescue. General Hammond is your superior and before almost every mission he will give you a quick summary of your next assignment. The only form of transportation is your Razor-1 Helicopter and fittingly enough your mechanics name is Wrench. He can upgrade your helicopter in a few different ways and eventually sell you an even better chopper down the road. There are 3 or 4 other characters throughout the game like Gunner, He’s your best friend. There’s of course an evil mastermind and a nurse who plays the maiden in distress.

The dialogue for the duration of the game reminds me a bit of a soap opera. It’s meant to be dramatic and cheesy but I found it a bit unimportant which made me skip through quite a bit. Mostly because I was more excited to get to the actual game. Everything was fairly simple to figure out and I found myself having a lot more fun than I expected while playing. Throughout each level you must dodge enemy fire, helicopters, tanks, rockets and the occasional submarine while also trying to save your hostages without accidentally killing them or yourself.

During each level you will either have to take out a number of enemies, or save a certain number of hostages. You can earn up to 3 stars on each level, 3 stars is the best score. Its fun to try to go through and get the best possible score each time, which gives it some replay value. Also every time you complete a mission you get a pretty good amount of money which helps when you need some missiles or a new helicopter upgrade. I will admit it gets a bit repetitive, each level is basically the same layout with a different background. A lot of the buildings look the same. The graphics are not amazing or anything but I don’t hate them. It reminds me of the older arcade shooter games which are super addicting and fun!

As you get further in the game the number of enemies and vehicles increases, making it harder to get through your mission without being damaged.  I thought the controls were awesomely easy to figure out and the helicopter moves smoothly with the joystick. You have to be careful when landing, you could hit and kill one of your would be passengers and if you land to quickly it will damage your helicopter. But it’s kind of fun to land on enemies and flatten them, or when you use a missile to take out a tank or rocket launcher. Regardless of the repetitiveness in each level the game overall is entertaining and keeps your attention.

Strike Force Foxx isn’t what I expected. It looks like a low-budget game that you might play a few times and forget about, but don’t judge a book by its cover (or game in this case). Packed with plenty of action, some over the top cut scenes, fast paced gameplay and over 35 levels, Strike Force Foxx is worth your time and money. I definitely recommend picking it up for the low price of $4.99 in the Nintendo 3DS eshop!