Falco is a character who has definitely evolved over time.  Compare Falco’s appearance in Star Fox 64 to Smash Brothers and to Star Fox Zero and you’ll see what I mean.  While his design has not changed radically, details have been added over time to make him look more high tech and like he is an ace pilot.  In this review, we’ll take a look at a figure that shows Falco’s progression and as I mentioned in the World of Nintendo Falco Review, we’ll also briefly compare the two Falco figures to see what the pros and cons of each one are.

Rarity – Falco is a common Amiibo and if you haven’t picked him up yet, you should have no problem finding him in retail or online.  While he was initially a Best Buy Exclusive, Best Buy had him well-stocked and the exclusivity has gone away so Falco has appeared in more and more stores.

Pose – Perhaps the only double edged sword with this Amiibo is his pose.  Falco is a mirror character (or at least I think that is the proper term, I don’t play fighting games much) where he has a moveset based off another, usually similar character, but has enough variation or differences to stand on his own.  I suspect that Falco’s moveset in Smash Brothers led Nintendo to design the Amiibo to compliment (or mirror) Fox’s pose.  So with both of these Amiibo they look like they’re springing into action.  The pose overall is good and dynamic, but it is kind of a bummer that it is so close to the Fox Amiibo (which is arguably one of the coolest early Amiibo Nintendo released).

Details – While the pose is perhaps a bit more hit or miss depending on your taste, the details on this Amiibo are truly outstanding.  I remember being really being excited to buy Falco but for whatever reason, I kind of forgot about owning him or lost my excitement after putting him on my shelf.  As I opened him up to write this review, I was struck by all of the cool details Nintendo put in the design of this figure.  The sculpting is generally awesome.  For example, the feathers in his tail have really nice detail and look realistic.  Falco’s jacket also has some really cool textures to make the cloth look realistic (and not unlike Han Solo on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back!).  Even the Star Fox decals look excellent and make this one of the better Amiibo I’ve seen.  The only area that might have been stronger is the feathers on the back of Falco’s head which do not stand out as much as they should because the sculpting is not deep enough.

Functionality – Despite being a relatively new Amiibo, Falco offers pretty good functionality including a few special functions that help make him more useful and interesting than the average Amiibo.  The best use is that he unlocks a black Arwing in Star Fox Zero which deals twice as much damage to enemies, but you will take twice as much damage in return.  Falco also works in a lot of games you would expect including Super Mario Maker, Super Smash Brothers, Hyrule Warriors, Captain Toad, Mario Party 10, and a few others.  For these reasons, Falco is certainly a handy Amiibo and you will have quite a few opportunities to scan him into your Wii U and 3DS games.

Comparison to World of Nintendo – Now that we’ve taken a look at the Amiibo, let’s compare the two Falco figures by listing their main pros and cons.

Falco Amiibo

+ Impressive design/style (even if exclusive to Smash Brothers and not an actual Star Fox game)

+ Excellent sculpted details

+ Pairs nicely with the Fox Amiibo

– Pose may not be for everyone and it looks too much like Fox’s

World of Nintendo Falco

+ Offers posability

+ Based on classic Star Fox 64 design (which is many people’s favorite Star Fox game)

+ Will eventually be able to assemble more of the Star Fox team than with Amiibo (Slippy is on the way!)

– Limited detail in design

– Not a ton of exciting poses to put the figure in

Closing Thoughts – So based on the figures alone, the Falco Amiibo probably is the most appealing figure for most Nintendo fans.  It is the higher quality figure (and costs more of course too), but there quite a few reasons to get the World of Nintendo Falco which is why I am glad to own both of them.  Falco is a great character and I’ve had a lot of fun reviewing both of these figures.  As Nintendo fans, sometimes we have to pinch ourselves because we’re lucky to not only get great games from Nintendo, but pretty cool figures as well.