Star Fox 64 & 3D - Every Gamer Review

Dammit Germany, why must you confuse everyone with your bullshit? First you censor Contra to make it a Gundam-like platformer, now the title of Star Fox 64 had to be changed because of a German company who had a similar name called StarVox, at least change it for European countries that never even heard of the company. I tried to research the company and all I could find was a Spanish communications site, so I assume they sold the company to a Spanish business or they just simply moved...who knows.

Second of all, the first game was called StarWing in Europe...SO WHY DIDN'T THEY CALL IT STARWING 64??? OH, apparently to not mistake it for Star Wars...because George Lucas really thought people were that stupid. Anyway, after Shigeru Miyamoto (foolishly) cancelled StarFox 2 (Not like it matters anymore), he decided to make a complete reboot of the series...after one officially released game, because who cares about a continuous plot.

Star Fox 64, (Known in Japan as スターフォックス64 Sutā Fokkusu Rokujūyon)...and in Europe and Australia as...sigh, Lylat Wars, developed and published by Nintendo and was released in 1997.

The scientist Andross, previously banished from Corneria after nearly city, has returned to declare war on Corneria and has turned the planet Venom into a military base. So the original Star Fox team, consisting of James McCloud, Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar go to Venom to defeat Andross. However, upon arriving at Venom, Pigma betrays James and Peppy and get captured by Andross.

Peppy by the skin of his big rabbity teeth escapes, but James...sadly didn't, to which Peppy tells James' son Fox McCloud about his fate. Years later, Andross launches an attack on the Lylat System, so General Pepper once again calls upon the Star Fox team, now consisting of Fox McCloud, Peppy Hare, Falco Lombardi and Slippy Toad. They are set to defeat Andross and his army. And that's it other than Star Wolf.

So it's the first game again but refined...well, in proper 64-bit 3D. It's a rail shooter where you once again shoot enemies along with your team members. Now for the most part, you fly in a fixed perspective, known as Corridor Mode, so you don't always go all over the place. But sometimes, there will be an "All-Range Mode", where you can fly all over the place in an open space, usually in these modes they consist of dogfights. You are simply going to shoot, blow up things with bombs and dodge enemy fire using your ship, the Arwing.

And you can perform some moves with your Arwing like the somersault, flying around in one spot and you can use it to get behind enemies to shoot them down. And of course, to deflect enemy fire, you can perform the most iconic move, which in turn has the most iconic name in video game history, the Barrel Roll. All together now, "DO A BARREL ROLL!"...press Z + R twice, a move I used...once. Yeah, I know it's supposed to be an aileron roll in real life aviation terms, but like many game theories, nobody cares, it's the Barrel Roll.

In terms of shooting you can charge your laser cannon for a deadly blast against one enemy as long as you lock-on said enemy...and maybe more if they're near, and in a game where a screen full of enemies for you to shoot, it's near pointless, I mean a multiple-lock would have been the innovator. But by far the most useful move in All-Range Mode is the U-Turn, where you do a up-and-over maneuver and I always use it to get to nearby enemies.

There are many power-ups, these include rings, and they have different types, including giving you a charge up to your shields. Others include Smart Bombs, Laser Upgrades, Wing Repairs and Extra Lives, though you don't always get the extra lives, they're mostly rare. There are also gold rings for you to collect; collect three and it will increase your shield bar, but collect another three and you earn an extra life.

The most important part of the game is your Wing Men, your team that will help you on your mission, but you also have to protect them or they’ll be shot down by enemies, there’s Falco Lombardi, who can locate alternate paths in some levels, Peppy Hare gives you some advice on gameplay...ALL THE DAMN TIME!

And everyone’s least favourite game character of all time, Slippy Toad, other than the fact that he can scan bosses and display their health bar, he's is pathetic, you always have to save him, but whilst the others may need help, it's Slippy who needs help the most and it's the reason why no one likes him and to this day, he's considered to be a complete joke in the gaming community, and he will probably stay that way.

Did you Know? This game came with a Rumble Pak, so when you bumped into something, the controller would vibrate, making the game more immersive, but by today's standards, it's not that special anymore because vibrations in controls are pretty much mandatory for most games these days, another innovation we take for granted.

But it's not just the Arwing that you will use, you will sometimes use other vehicles. The Landmaster is a tank and doesn't really control like one, in fact, it controls better than that...mostly because it's a rail/fixed shooter. You shoot as normal, still boost and brake, but because you're a tank, you can't somersault. You can still do a barrel roll, though it doesn't block enemy fire, but will let you roll from side to side. And finally...you can hover...how heavy is that tank, considering that it is...a tank.

Another vehicle you can use is the Blue Marine, a submarine made by Slippy Toad. Because of course he would be the one to make a vehicle that lets us travel through a water level, great stuff Slippy, just fantastic, just save yourself next time...oh wait, YOU CAN'T? UUUUHHHHHH! Anyway, it's able to upgrade the vehicle's twin lasers, though you can't use Smart Bombs, but you get an unlimited supply of torpedoes, which is fantastic. The problem is you can only use the Landmaster in two levels and the Blue Marine in one. Well, at least their not the majority of the levels.

The gameplay is very intense, for a retro game but that intensity still holds up, and whilst the controls and maneuvers can be something to get used to, it really works with this game, heck, I usually hate the Nintendo 64 controller, but this worked somehow, I just know it has to be the simplicity of it or the fact that it's near arcadey but in a fun and relaxing way. The graphics may have dated a bit, but are still great for the system, even the cutscenes are very cinematic, increasing the immersion of the experience.

Speaking of being cinematic, the game also has voices, both English and Lylat. Whilst the English is great and gives some personality to the characters, it's the Lylat language that's hilarious but I prefer the Lylat language. However, Lylat language is only in the PAL version due to many different languages for European countries; it's...weird. The game is really short and it's still short if you complete ALL the levels but the length is good enough for those who want short bursts of fun.

And Shigeru Miyamoro once again brings his love of puppets to this game. Remember in the first game where he used puppets on the front cover of the box and US/PAL cart? Well he also uses puppet logic in the game since in the speech marks, character's mouths move like The Muppets, and in turn, the developers barely had to make a lot of character animations, making more budget cuts than a classic Doctor Who episode.

The music is really epic, but some of the music really reminds me of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but by far the most touching piece is the Select Screen...yep, out of all of the music in this soundtrack, it's the select screen that is so beautiful, actually go and listen to this.

Overall, Star Fox 64...I mean Lylat Wars is a great time. To me, it has that arcadey charm without being too hard though thankfully gives you a great challenge overtime and it still feels adventurous enough with the dogfights and going around space battling against hundreds upon thousands of enemies. With fantastically smooth gameplay, great level design and a great replay value even if the game is short, it's another fantastic Star Fox game.

You can get it on the Nintendo 64 and Virtual Console for Wii and Wii U.

Star Fox 64 3D (スターフォックス64 3D Sutā Fokkusu Rokujūyon Surīdī), developed by Nintendo and Q-Games and published by Nintendo, it was released in 2011 worldwide. This is a remake of Star Fox 64 but for the handheld.

The game has updated graphics, and compared to the original, they look fantastic (as it should), giving us the modern Star Fox aesthetic without completely removing everything that made the original what it is. The controls have also been improved thanks to the 3DS analog stick and the maneuvers are now performed with the D-Pad, making it easier to DO A BARREL ROLL! In addition to normal controls, the game also has Gyro Controls, where you move around the 3DS to control the Arwing...but it's not like any normal person woulf use that crap.

The game has everything for everyone, in fact the game has two modes: 64 Mode is basically the original game where nothing much has changed gameplay-wise. 3DS Mode is the proper improved version where the difficulty has been tweaked, especially for the Gyro Controls.

There's also a multiplayer mode called Battle Mode, which is the same as the original mode. You mostly get three other mates to gun each other down. And by the way, the multiplayer is local and not online. Why? Because it would have cost too much money to support it. Nice one Nintendo, I know those billions of dollars would have damaged your company but at the very least, you saved some money.

Star Fox 64 3D is a great remake that surpasses the original...OK apart from the lack of extra content...apart from the fact that the Lylat language setting has been removed...look, it's a fantastic improvement regardless. Apparently, the US physical copies are hard to come by due to being out of print and are now expensive to find. But in Europe, I can go to the shop and pick up a copy for next to nothing. Maybe we got extra copies? Who knows, but I ain't complaining.

UUUUUH, next time is...I don't truly know what to think about this one, but lets just say I have a few words to say about your beloved Nintendo God.