This is the first Star Fox game I'm covering here? Huh, all right.

As a unique consequence of buying from video store clearance sales, I own a physical disc of this, but not Star Fox Zero. I've heard folks say that, of these two erstwhile companion pieces, Guard is the less-stinky counterpart to Zero. Admittedly I dunno that I share the sentiment, but Star Fox Guard is a pretty decent time all the same, even if it leaves me with a lot of questions.

Star Fox Guard was announced as "Project Guard", a neutral, nondescript tower defense tech demo. It seems as though Star Fox branding existed even back when the game was first announced, so I'm not sure why Nintendo was coy about the license for two years. At the same time, the game feels like it has very little to do with the series proper. Sure, you're ostensibly working with Slippy's Uncle Grippy (why invent a new character? Was Beltino Toad exorcised from this continuity?), and you get cameos from some of the cast, but otherwise, it's just sort of a generic sci-fi setting.

But it is pretty good. I've never gotten into Five Nights at Freddy's, but I've always respected the micromanagement aspect of it, of having to juggle between different cameras to monitor different entities. I think Guard is a great implementation of that type of design. Switching between cameras is a snap with the GamePad, and it's neat that you're still able to monitor other cameras not in focus, even if if's at a lower frame-rate and you're not able to target enemies with it. There's a nice cadence to gameplay, keeping the player constantly on their toes.

I will say that I don't think it's especially sophisticated as a tower defense game. Past the high concept, difficulty scales through enemies, not increased player abilities. You could make the argument that there's more purity of form to Guard by consequence, but I dunno - it was fun enough to play to credits, but I felt no real incentive to grind out beyond that. Still, within the specific design space Guard is exploring, it's quite good. One of those titles that's emblematic of what the Wii U was going for as a console.

Aside from Nintendo Land and possibly Super Mario Maker, Star Fox Guard is the first Wii U game I’ve played that actually feels designed for the gamepad. I'm not usually a fan of the 'Tower Defense' genre but the second screen creates a level of engagement and tension to it here beyond just setting up turrets. With how quick and bulky the enemies can be, both strategy and reflexes come in to play with placing and switching the cameras. The unusual control scheme makes it nearly impossible to port to other systems but hopefully it gets recognition some day as a unique take on the RTS format.