When Ubisoft first revealed this toys-to-life game at E3 2017, it mostly passed me by. It felt like it was coming too late, so while I liked the premise of Starlink: Battle For Atlas, I felt it wouldn’t be a success. Along with that, I hadn’t jumped into any other toys-to-life games owing to real life storage reasons, and this looked like it had a lot of small parts that could easily get lost.

Then E3 2018 arrived, and a lot more was shown off about it. Including Star Fox content playing a role in the Nintendo Switch version of the game. And even better, a digital version of the game would give the ability to not miss out on anything, with everything that the physical toys allowed possible when it came to configuring how everything attached together.

I at first was still hesitant, even knowing all that, but a few days later I was exploring the Atlas system and taking the fight to the Legion. Because, I will admit, I’d forgotten all about it until the reviews started coming out. But I’m glad that I did get on board with it, as Starlink: Battle For Atlas has become one of my favourite games of the Nintendo Switch. So it makes sense to, just like with Go Vacation, celebrate five years since its release on the hybrid console.

To start with, Starlink: Battle For Atlas is a space exploration and combat game. A crew on board the Equinox captained by St. Grand arrive in the Atlas system looking for answers surrounding the alien lifeform he found and named Judge. But as soon as they arrive, the crew gets ambushed and their captain captured. Crashing down on the nearest planet, the crew regroup and assess the situation. They agree to track down who had captured their captain. But things in Atlas are just starting on a downward spiral.

Grax, a being obsessed with the ancient Wardens, has reawakened their technology and adapted it into his own legion of followers who are intent on taking Atlas for themselves. St. Grand is part of that plan. Having studied the Wardens, he knew how to unlock the secrets of Electrum to create a substance known as Nova. This powerful fuel is key to the Warden technology, which is why Grax wanted St. Grand. Forced to become an ally of Grax and unlock the secrets of Nova for him, that invasion plan becomes accelerated.

The first three acts of gameplay slowly introduce the gameplay loop of capturing worlds for the Starlink Initiative. It isn’t that long into the first act until you can get back into space, and the first time I seamlessly transitioned from ground to air was just beautiful. That opening space battle is too hectic to really take in the sights, with the crash to the planet only showing all ships heading to it. So when emerging from the atmosphere for the first time and being greeted with how great space looks… simply beautiful.

The planets themselves are just about right for what the game has you doing on them, with each being different from the others. And while some biomes are shared between two planets, there’s enough differences that you’re aware of which planet you’re on. Exploring these planets will have you using the land skim mode of the ship, with each having differences in its handling based on the stats it has. Some are more agile, able to quickly change direction while strafing. Others are bulky, and will take their time in stopping and getting going again.

Then there’s the weapons, with their elemental powers and stats of their own. All enemies have weaknesses, so swapping weapons to gain that advantage is encouraged. Or… you just overpower them with mods while using an agile ship to keep away from enemy fire. Everything in the loadout – ship, wings, and weapons – can be swapped out at any time. While it is done in a menu, it’s still a lot more convenient than only being able to do it at an outpost.

It also means the toys-to-life aspect has meaning. Being able to change things out whenever you want, and how you want to, keeps things creative and fun. And all of that has been kept for when going digital. The loadout screen will allow you to mix wings and ship from various parts, place them on the wrong way, and even load many wings onto each other for a monstrous creation. The same applies to the weapons and how you can attach them physically in any direction and have that represented in-game. A flip button will have you firing backwards in no time.

This being a toys-to-life game means those going physical would be at a disadvantage unless they bought more parts. Not because they need to physically swap the parts around, but owing to the levels the game uses to determine difficulty. Fortunately, that is recognised with the core game loop. As said, it slowly gets introduced to you across the first three acts, then pits you against worlds yet visited to destabilise Legion control on them. That control is like a chain, where destroying parts at the bottom weakens the next part up.

And as stated, mods are also another way to balance things out, improving both ship and weapon stats in a variety of ways. They are found in numerous ways, from upgrading outposts, defeating Legion, or even from Warden Spires. I would always favour the XP mods on ships while upping damage and firerate for weapons, since ships take longer to fully gain affinity with than they weapons. And I’d always favour the agile ships, striking hard and fast before getting hit myself.

It is a captivating gameplay loop, which takes around 20 hours to complete the main story of. There’s a lot of replayability with that story, but then there’s also a few other campaigns to run through. Part of the original game is the mission to continue the mission the crew had come for. In recovering several data caches that had fallen from the Equinox in its crash landing, they listen to the logs of St. Grand about his crew as they find them. This is what spurs them on to complete that mission.

The first Star Fox campaign part of the Nintendo Switch version of the game sees Fox tracking down Wolf, who had come to Atlas to gain an advantage over Star Fox. The paid for Star Fox expansion released half a year after the base game brings the other three members of Star Fox as playable characters for the entire Starlink adventure, along with adding a second Star Fox campaign that brings in the other three members of Star Wolf for some unique battles.

Across all platforms as part of the free expansion is the Crimson Moon, a place that holds races and battles to test who is the best in this lawless part of the Atlas system. The expansion also added new things to encounter as part of the base game, including new request missions. All the extra campaigns increase the playtime to double of the main one. But, of course, the Star Fox content is only available on the Nintendo Switch, which makes it the definitive edition of the game.

Yes, it’s been said by many, but it’s true. Starlink: Battle For Atlas provides the best Star Fox content that franchise has seen for the last 20 years. It provides a new take on Star Fox that works, with some nice characterisation of both Star Fox and Star Wolf teams. What is here provides a great base for an open world Star Fox game, even if not everything is taken from it. Using the Star Fox team in the base Starlink adventure just feels right with how well they’ve been incorporated into it.

Every run of the game I’ve played, I’ve had a blast with. That’s how much I enjoy the core gameplay loop. Even for the first time starting a hardest difficulty run as part of my fifth anniversary play has been an enjoyable experience. There might be some issues I encounter with the controls at times, but this still a game that can get me invested in seeing it all the way through. And this run I plan on doing all the campaigns of it. On that hardest difficulty.

Starlink: Battle For Atlas has been a favourite of mine since it released five years ago. For those five years, I have wished for a sequel. One that could develop on the ideas presented here without being branded as a toys-to-life game. As I feel that was its major failing. Toys-to-life was already fading from relevancy when it was first revealed, so upon release more than a year later, it barely got a look even with those positive reviews around it. But even if no sequel comes, I will appreciate what had been made and the mechanics that make Starlink: Battle For Atlas special to me.

Images Taken From:
Starlink: Battle For Atlas | Nintendo Switch [Handheld]