Back in the 90’s Star fox and Star Fox 64 were incredibly
innovative. They featured advanced graphics, branching story lines, and the
type of pure fun that few besides Shigeru Miyamoto can pull off. Future entries
in the series have poisoned it as a franchise but Star fox and Star Fox 64 were
history makers.
Star Fox 64 is a reimagining of the original Star Fox for
the Super Nes. Star Fox was a groundbreaking game. It featured cutting edge
graphics and amazing game play. Despite that it still only had a bare bones
story, flat characters and somewhat stylized art. Star Fox 64 featured much
improved graphics, 3-D environments and much improved story elements. It also
included an amazing multiplayer mode. In the minds of most it surpassed the original.
The plot is simple and serves as an excellent framing
device. Years ago the mad scientist Andross was exiled to the planet Venom at
the edge of the Lylat system. When strange activity is noticed there the mercenary
team Star Fox was sent to investigate. This was a trap. The team was betrayed
and the leader James Mccloud lost his life. Years later Andross as begun his
invasion of the Lylat system and a new star fox team under James son Fox Mccloud
has been hired to help stop them. The story of Star Fox 64 is nothing amazing
but it has its moments. The characters are somewhat interesting and the game
constantly hints at backstory. This makes the story feel bigger than it
actually is. That would be terrible for a book but it’s great for a video game.
The short cut scenes before and after each level help to tie everything
together
The best thing about Star Fox 64 is its replay value. The
stages branch from each other. This
gives the player several different routes to the final boss. The last level has
two different versions depending on what route you take. There are several
different ways to complete the game. Each level also has a metal you can get
for destroying a certain number of enemies. Once you do this you can unlock
expert mode, a harder version of the game. More importantly, the game is fun. The
enemies come in all sorts of varieties and colors, making it a joy to rack up
your point count. It’s one of the few games I’ve ever played just to beat my own
high score.
When it was released Star Fox 64 had amazing graphics. It
doesn’t look bad now, but it does not look right on a modern TV screen. The
character designs are memorable but it’s the enemy and ship designs which stand
out. They are weird, brightly colored and fit the stages they appear in. The
boss designs are clever, but obvious glowing targets can feel lame and take
away from difficulty and replay. Don’t remember where to shoot? Don’t worry! Just
shoot the glowing thing! It might be a game for children, but even children can
enjoy being challenged.
Star Fox 64 has sharp controls, even on the somewhat dated
Nintendo 64 controller. The game also used an accessory called a “rumble pack”
which made the controller vibrate. Star Fox 64’s vibration feature is among the
best I have seen. Many games throw vibration in without a good reason. Star Fox
64 is the first game that used it and got it right. The game is pretty
forgiving of mistakes in normal mode. In expert mode simple mistakes can cause
damage to your ship. This gives more experienced players a challenge. However to
an experienced player even expert mode is relatively easy
Despite its strengths, Star Fox 64 is not perfect. Its AI was
bad back in the 90’s. Today it is hilariously bad. With the exception of the
star wolf team there are few enemies that pose a real challenge. Your teammates
are incapable of taking care of themselves. They will constantly need saving. In
normal gameplay these are preset events, but in all range mode the flaws of the
AI become obvious. Compared the original
game challenges and difficulty are often substituted with a screen full of easy
to kill enemies, which with few exceptions only creates the illusion of
difficulty.
The four person multiplayer was a big selling point in its
time. It is fun, though the limited maneuvering
options can make things dull. Me and my friends used to just summersault and U-turn
around each other. This could get pretty deep: we competed with timing,
trickery and a degree of luck but it was pretty boring visually, the inclusion
of the tank and the hidden bazooka fighter provided much needed variety, even
if they lost to the arwing more often than not.
Star Fox 64 is not perfect but it is amazing. Many N64
titles were super impressive in their day but seem amateurish compared to
modern games. Back then they were still figuring 3D out, and even though games
were 3D memory was rather limited. Yet Star Fox 64 remains one of the best
games I have ever played twenty years on.
Maybe someday Nintendo will make a fitting successor.
9.5 Out of 10
-Gedaemon
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