Things start out promising. The opening moments of the game put you in the cockpit of the iconic Arwing fighter, a nimble spaceship that blew everyone’s mind when it appeared as a 3D model in the original Super Nintendo game. You’re speeding across a beautiful ocean scene, like an X-Wing in The Force Awakens, heading toward a battle raging in a futuristic city. It’s impressive to look at — the game’s retro-futuristic sense of style definitely translates well on a modern console — and moving the ship around feels fast and fluid. But the problems start almost immediately after you reach that exciting battle.

Zero’s controls are unique in a few ways. For one, there’s the way you view the world around you. The TV in front of you displays a typical third-person perspective, letting you watch the Arwing as it glides around. But if you look down at the screen on the Gamepad you’ll see something different, with a view that puts you directly in the ship’s cockpit. Each view serves a purpose. I found myself primarily looking at the TV when I was focused on navigation, as it gave me a better view of my surroundings. The in-cockpit view is much more claustrophobic, but it’s also better for aiming, since you can see your targets up-close.

It’s a clever idea, but in practice it can be a bit jarring to switch back-and-forth constantly. I never quite got used to it during the eight hours it took me to finish the game. The multiple viewpoints aren’t the real problem with Star Fox Zero’s controls, though. While the game has you moving around with the left control stick, aiming is controlled entirely through motion. In order to pinpoint an enemy, you need to hold the Gamepad up and point it in that direction. It’s awkward and imprecise, and it makes playing the game for prolonged sessions physically painful. After I defeated the final boss my hands felt like claws.

There’s a chance that this control scheme would be passable if you only flew the Arwing in the game, and thus had lots of time to adapt to the suboptimal aiming. But Star Fox Zero isn’t content to just have you fly a starfighter. Instead, nearly each stage drops you in a new kind of vehicle, including a tank, a sort of mini-Helicarrier, and a mech suit that looks a bit like a giant mechanical chicken. Each one controls slightly differently and has its own distinct feel. While the Arwing is somewhat tolerable in the way it handles, it felt to me like the vehicles became increasingly more cumbersome as the game progressed. The tank, in particular, is an absolute chore since it’s essentially unplayable if you’re not using the cockpit view. This, in turn, means you have a very limited view of your surroundings, which is not ideal when you’re in a large-scale battle and being attacked from every direction.