Nintendo GameCube-exclusive Star Fox Adventures’ lead software engineer, Phil Tossell, says he understands why there was plenty of negative reactions surrounding developer Rare’s action-adventure game among fans of the Star Fox franchise.

Tossell says he knew the game had flaws, and he thinks that it borrowed too many elements from The Legend of Zelda, which supposedly made it less unique. Regardless of the amount of criticism the game received, Tossell says he’s extremely proud of what his team achieved with the final product.

While I don’t think Star Fox Adventures was the best title in the series, I enjoyed it quite a bit… What did you think of the game?

“I totally understand the reaction, because many of us on the team felt the same way. Personally, I knew the game had its flaws, but also it borrowed a little too heavily from Zelda, I think. It also felt a little too much like the Star Fox elements were tacked on – which of course they were! But saying all of that, I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved, especially given the amount of time and resources we had. I think some of the criticisms were unjustified and seemed to revolve around it not being a proper Star Fox game like all the others, rather than judging it on what it was. I’ve had plenty of people come up to me in subsequent years and say that they loved the game and didn’t understand why it received so much criticism.”