Star Fox 64
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"Do A Barrel Roll!"
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Star Fox 64 (also known as Lylat Wars) is a space shooter game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. The game originally released on April 27, 1997, in Japan and subsequently released worldwide. A Nintendo 3DS remaster was first released in Japan on July 14, 2011, titled Star Fox 64 3D. The original version got Virtual Console releases for the Wii and Wii U. The game itself is a remake of Star Fox on the Super Nintendo.
Plot
In the Lylat System, a mad scientist named Andross was driven to madness. He nearly destroys the fourth planet of Lylat, Corneria, using bioweapons. After the assault, General Pepper exiles Andross to the planet of Venom. Five years later, the Cornerian forces notice strange readings coming from Venom. They send the Star Fox team, consisting of James McCloud, Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar, to investigate. During the investigation, Pigma betrays the team and kills James. Peppy barely makes it out alive and comes back to Corneria to inform James' son, Fox, about his death.
Another five years later, Andross launches an assault on the entire Lylat System. Pepper summons a new Star Fox team, consisting of Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad to defend Corneria and stop Andross once and for all.
Why It Do A Barrel Roll
- Very fun gameplay that improves over all elements of Star Fox and Star Fox 2. Some things are improved, like being able to aim easier and charge shots tracking better. However, some new features are added, such as being able to do advanced combat maneuvers such as somersaults.
- New mechanics have been added to the formula, such as the gold ring mechanic. If you collect three gold rings, your health will increase for the level, and every other three rings will add an extra life.
- Large variety of levels, each with their own unique environments, from the futuristic city of Corneria, the underwater ecosystem of Aquas, and the desert of Katina. The Area 6 level in particular is awesome to play, as it's a level where you combat tons of enemies, leaving destruction in your wake as you avoid tons of laser fire.
- Not only do the levels look nice, but they also have their own rules. For example, in the Solar level, you are always taking minor damage due to the fact you are flying on a star. However, in the Zoness level, you have to destroy or avoid the searchlights to prevent being triggering the arrival of more enemy forces.
- Great graphics for it's time, especially for a 1997 N64 game because the graphics are very detailled and colorful, and also fit the universe of the Star Fox franchise, the characters models are also amazing for it's time (the characters are seen in the intro).
- Many different types of enemies that have their own attack patterns and designs.
- Each level has their own boss fights that each have their own patterns and design. As an example, the Spyborg from the Sector X level swats at your ship with a combination to throwing metal planks.
- Easy to learn controls with basic playing of the game only uses a few buttons. You have basic options like shooting your lasers and turning, but you also do maneuvers like somersaults and U-turns. You can even beat the game by only using the control stick, the laser and bomb buttons, and the brake.
- The story is very interesting.
- The soundtrack is once again very good, as it is catchy to listen to.
- Three different types of vehicles to use, each controlling a little differently.
- The Arwing is the vehicle that is used the most. It is used in the space and air levels. It has quick maneuverability, has laser upgrades, can carry bombs, and can barrel-roll to block incoming laser fire. However, it can lose its wings and lower maneuverability so be careful.
- The Landmaster is a tank that is used in ground levels. It has the same lock-on and bomb abilities as the Arwing, but it can also roll across the ground and hover for a short time.
- While it's used in only one mission, the Blue Marine is the most interesting of the vehicles. It is used in the only underwater mission. It is slow, but it has an infinite number of powerful missiles to blow away multiple foes.
- All of the wingmen have their own unique personalities. For example, Falco is brash and assertive and Peppy is very observative and kind of a back seat driver.
- Each teammate has their own unique role all of which are very pivotal and are worth keeping around to retain the benefits of their presence:
- Peppy Hare often gives advice that is helpful to the player and points out the weaknesses of various bosses. From an in-story perspective, Fox has recently become the new leader after his father is presumed dead, and he is learning the ropes of being a great leader, so it makes sense for Peppy to do that.
- Falco Lombardi, at various points, can either give you hints about or lead you to a different direction that takes you to a harder route if certain conditions are met.
- Despite all the flaws Slippy Toad has, he still deserves some credit for his inventive genius. He is actually very useful as he can display the boss’s shield gauge the moment, they appear to help the player know how much more the boss has left before they go down for the count. Additionally, Slippy was responsible for the construction of the Landmaster and the Blue Marine for certain missions.
- The voice acting is great, both in Japanese and English, and the english dub include a lot of memorable lines such as "Do a Barrel Roll", some of those lines even became an internet meme.
- Multiple and branching level paths. Based on your performance or completion of a secret objective, you will go to one of two different levels, each ranging in difficulty of Easy (blue), Medium (yellow), or Hard (red).
- Very fun multiplayer modes. You can play split-screen with up to four people in five different levels. There is even a mechanic where you start out in the Arwing, but you can also play with the Landmaster and even fight on foot. The 3DS version even allows you to play the multiplayer modes wirelessly.
- The 3DS version adds new features to the game, such as improving the graphics, adding a score attack mode (where you replay a level to get the highest score), and the fact that you can save in between the missions instead of doing all seven missions in a single playthrough.
Bad Qualities
- Slippy is a very annoying wingman who won't shut up about anything. In addition, he is almost always in some sort of trouble that you have to get him out of. True, everyone needs the player's help every now and then, but Slippy is the one that needs rescuing the most.
- Some plot points aren't exactly explained and are usually left unnoticed, such as how Falco knows Katt.
- To get to some of the hard levels, you are going to have to do some pretty strange things, such as only being able to reach Sector Y by flying through rock formations in the Corneria level.
- While the 3DS version is a step up from the original, it doesn’t feature an online multiplayer mode at all, which is a letdown since the Nintendo 3DS has access to internet connection. Star Fox Command, for all of its (major) faults, had this feature up until the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was shut down in 2014; not to mention that other remakes of older games had online play as well, so there should not be an excuse to not have it here.
Reception
Upon release, Star Fox 64 released to critical acclaim. The game currently has a score of 88/100 on Metacritic. The game sold 4 million copies and is one of the Nintendo 64's top-selling titles. The remaster for 3DS received similar acclaim, holding an 81/100 on Metacritic and selling over 1 million copies.
Trivia
- When the game originally released on Nintendo 64, it included the Rumble Pak for free with the game.
- The game spawned the "Do a barrel roll" meme.
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