Wild Blue Skies had everything to be a successful Star Fox-like game, ready to fill the void that Nintendo had left in the hearts of fans of Fox McCloud. Unfortunately for developer Chuhai Labs, the sudden resurgence of the Star Fox franchise has cast a large shadow over their indie project.
Chuhai Labs has been around for some time, crafting cute little independent games like Cursed to Golf and Grave Dodgers, but to say Wild Blue Skies has been the studio’s most anticipated project to date would be an understatement. One of its founders is none other than Giles Goddard, one of the original developers of the very first Star Fox on the SNES.
Wild Blue Skies is a clear homage to what came before: anthropomorphic animals with a charismatic leader piloting slick spaceships on your way to take down the baddie in turn. It’s simple and doesn’t ever pretend to be something it’s not.
You’ll play as Bowie, leader of the Blue Bombers, who are tasked with defeating the evil Grimclaw, a former chief engineer who once helped the world. Sound familiar? Like I said, Wild Blue Skies wears its influences on its sleeve, and to be fair, there’s a certain charm to it.
Gameplay-wise, I do feel it’s missing that factor. There’s a wide variety of courses you can play on; even if the first path you have to go through is predetermined, more stages will unlock in subsequent runs.
Controlling Bowie feels just okay; the sense of speed isn’t quite there, but it’s super easy to get the hang of the controls, with a decent customization suite. Having the shooting be done by constantly pressing the button felt clunky; luckily, you can change it to an automatic setting, and inverting the axis was also welcome.
The tutorial is pretty good with onboarding players, teaching all the basics, as movement and shooting are decently fleshed out, but they shouldn’t take you more than 15–20 minutes to get the hang of it.
Acting as the real star of Wild Blue Skies are the stages. Each one is packed to the brim with collectibles and side-objectives that will keep completionists coming back. If you want to earn that full completionist run, each one of them hides five gold letters (W-I-L-D-S), side objectives like completing them while not taking damage, and even challenges from your own squad like flying under waterfalls. You’ll also find modifiers for your ship, granting you more powerful weapons. Take enough damage, and you’ll lose these newfound tools, giving you another reason to constantly be active in combat.
The cherry on top, as you might expect, is secret paths you can take if you’re clever enough to find them. Overall, while true to the nature of rail-shooters, the campaign is short; however, there’s a really good sense of replayability ingrained in each stage.
Just like Star Fox, you’ll also have to pay close attention to your squadmates. They can take damage and retreat during a mission, leading you to not have them available for the next one. It’s cool! It rewards being efficient while taking down enemies rather than mindlessly shooting and getting a few past you.
The variety in locales is also refreshing. From vast oceans, navigating through perilous storms and active volcanoes, to even pyramids. There’s quite a lot to see and enjoy thanks to its cartoony aesthetic that makes colors pop. Visually, you really can’t say this is a dull experience.
Unfortunately, being so jam-packed with stuff to do per stage does come with technical caveats. During my playthrough, I ran into instances in particular stages where the framerate absolutely tanks, making gameplay feel horrendously sluggish. I reloaded to see if it was a specific bug, and sadly, had the same instance of frames dipping, disrupting my experience.
Bosses are also hit or miss. More often than not, they’ll act as bullet sponges, rarely ever presenting a proper challenge as attack patterns are incredibly easy to recognize. What should be the climactic moment of a stage or a run ends up falling flat, a disappointing sour note.
Going back to the story, while it’s not particularly inspired, the voice acting is incredibly charming. Chuhai Labs really needed to nail the personalities of each, as the chatting is ever-present in Wild Blue Skies. It never reaches annoying territory thanks to the likes of Jonah Scott (Bowie), Suzie Yeung (Roe), Edward Bosco (Chuck), and Daman Mills (Thorne). If those names sound familiar, they’re just a few of the most decorated voice actors in anime and video games of the last few years.
Ultimately, I don’t think Wild Blue Skies does enough to distance itself from Star Fox, treading the fine line between homage and just outright being a copy of it. That being said, there’s a lot of love put into it, and annoying technical issues aside, it’s a really fun alternative to Nintendo’s franchise.
I don’t usually like to bring price tags into the mix, but I do want to note that Wild Blue Skies is just $15. If I do say so myself, that’s an incredible entry point for a game that could give you dozens of on-rails shooter hours of fun.
Overall, Wild Blue Skies is a charming, budget-friendly tribute to classic Star Fox that delivers plenty of arcade replayability, colorful locales, and stellar voice work for a modest $15 price point. Sadly, uninspired boss fights, frame-rate hitches, and a heavy reliance on its SNES inspirations keep it from carving out a truly unique identity. Chuhai Labs has crafted a fun, nostalgic alternative for rail-shooter fans. If you’re looking to scratch that Fox McCloud itch without breaking the bank, this flight is well worth taking.
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