Fox McCloud's Contest History

Who is Fox McCloud?
The Star Fox Adventure never happened. With that out of the way, we speak of Fox McCloud's most notable gaming accomplishment, Star Fox 64.

Fox's unit has no problems jumping in to help save the Lylat System when they hear that Andross the mad scientist is behind the invasion. Fox's major weakness is having the full trust of his wingmen due to his brash nature, but they all overcome this en route to helping Fox earn a meeting with Andross face to face. Fox of course wins, and his father is avenged.

But the story of Star Fox 64 takes a back seat to how damn good the game was. It was the first N64 title to use the rumble pack, and the gameplay and replay value was absolutely off the charts. Compounding Star Fox 64's success is the fact that it is one of the most quotable games of all time; not one thing spoken in the game isn't completely awesome. The level design, enemies, control and boss fights are all top notch, and we may never see another game quite like it.

Hence why Star Fox 64 is the only Star Fox game of any note. The original Star Fox aged horribly, Star Fox Assault was underwhelming and Star Fox Adventure never happened. This leaves Fox with one main accomplishment in the gaming world, and it's rapidly becoming a distant memory in dire need of a good sequel.

That said, it's worth noting that Fox is one of the best characters in both Super Smash Brothers titles. He was almost top tier in the original, with raw power and KO potential being his only weakness. This was fixed up in SSBM, and anyone able to master the fine art of sensitivity control can turn Fox into a near-unbeatable weapon in tournament play.

"Do a barrel roll!" - Peppy Hare

Fox's Contest History
Win-Loss Record: 3-3

Summer 2002 Contest - North Division - 15 Seed
 * Northern Round 1 --- Lost to (2) Cloud, 18599 [25.39%] - 54643 [74.61%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 31st Place [18.99%]

Summer 2003 Contest - North Division - 9 Seed
 * Northern Round 1 --- Defeated (8) Pikachu, 67856 [68.67%] - 30962 [31.33%]
 * Northern Quarterfinal --- Lost to (1) Link, 17261 [17.54%] - 81148 [82.46%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 49th Place [17.54%]

Is there any Nintendo character other than Fox that is in dire need of a return to the field? He was completely screwed by his seeding in 2002, and was stuck facing Link in the second round in 2003. Losing to the two most dominant characters in successive years isn't a reason to fall off the map, plus Fox was behind SFF in 2003 and only saw his Xst value fall 1.5%. With the mass Nintendo boost and the popularity of SSBM tournament play, Fox has a damn good upside and could make a good splash should he get the nomination support necessary to return to the bracket.

On a side note, Fox's match with Cloud in 2002 marked the true beginning of the Nintendo/Square rivalry. The funny thing about that match is that Nintendo fans truly felt that Fox had a chance to win and that his seeding was a complete fluke. It's funny to look back on Fox and see that his one win was against Pikachu of all characters, and that his two losses are against Cloud and Link. Yet for some reason, 2003 marked his final appearance in a bracket. Very strange.

Summer 2007 Contest - Division 3 - Second Group
 * Division 3 Round 1 --- 1st place, 54609 [45.63%] - Wario, 26937 [22.51%] - Captain Falcon, 22482 [18.79%] - Banjo, 15638 [13.07%]
 * Division 3 Round 2 --- 2nd place, 25486 [19.74%] - Sephiroth, 73746 [57.11%] - Meta-Knight, 17028 [13.19%] - Wario, 12877 [9.97%]
 * Division 3 Finals --- 4th place, 11566 [8.06%] - Sephiroth, 65795 [45.85%] - Mario, 50341 [35.08%] - Big Boss, 15787 [11.00%]

People have been waiting for a long time for Fox to make his comeback, and he made it count. He took advantage of a Nintendo fourpack to claim a huge blowout victory. Just about everyone expected him to win, but people were surprised with him scoring over 45% there. Sephiroth brought him back down to earth, but Fox still finished far ahead of Meta-Knight, who had advanced ahead of Princess Peach in the first round. Then Mario humbled him in the third round, SFFing him so hard he finished behind the ugly Metal Gear sprite of Big Boss.

The issue that we had with Fox prior to this contest was how strong he really was. After this contest, we're still left wondering because there was SFF in every match he was involved in. However, you can infer from his performances that he could beat the likes of Peach, which would put him at a solid midcarder level.