Star Fox 64 is one of those titles for the N64 that everyone had, or played at least a few times in their lives. It's out for the Virtual Console, and here's how it feels to me after all those years. Basically the gameplay in Star Fox 64 boils down to moving your Arwing and blasting your way through all the levels as you take down the evil forces of Andross. You'll most of the game be playing in a constant moving pace towards the end, while manuvering your craft around obstacles and enemy fire, but added is All-Range Mode, which during certain levels and boss battles puts the battle in a 360 degree plane, in which you can do loops and u-turns as you evade and destroy the enemy. The series continues with branching paths like in the SNES game, but in a different way. In the original game Star Fox, you'd pick a level and it be a path with varying difficulty. In Star Fox 64, it's dependent on your actions. Let Slippy get killed in Sector X, or if you destroy the boss before he attacks Slippy, and 2 different paths to different levels. You can technically go from the easy levels to medium to hard and back again throughout the game. Some of the levels are obivious in their secondary objective, some are not and usually require some thinking. Your teammates aren't completely useless in this one either. Each has their own skills. Slippy can detect a boss life bar. Peppy can find some weak points, and Falco is good at finding shortcuts. Unlike in the first game, your teamates dont die if their shield is taken down, instead they go in for repairs in Great Fox, the Enterprise-like starship that accompanies you throughout the game, and is even used to destroy ships in certain levels. The game isn't too tough, and most people will go throughout the game without a sweat. There is a bonus expert mode if you get all the medals earned by killing a certain number of enemies in each level, and racking up bonuses by killing multiple at one time or a boss character quick.
Graphically this game is starting to feel the sands of time wash over it. At it's time this was one of the better looking games, but like any N64 game, it's time was a few eras ago graphically. Still, the levels don't look bad at all, and the ships and cutscenes still are good to watch. Sound wise, the characters all have voices to them this time. Slippy can grate on you a bit, but none of the characters are completely unlistenable, and it's nice to get a feel for how the characters personalities are. Falco sounds cocky, Slippy sounds slightly worried all the time, Peppy sounds like a veteran pilot, and Fox sounds like a squad leader should sound. Wii wise, other than no rumble (which this game debuted, it came with the rumble pak), and the gamecube controller feeling somewhat different, especially since all the acrobatic moves now are mapped to a analog c-stick, the game still is excellent. $10 nabs you this on Virtual Console, and it's worth a look.
This is one of those games that are classics but not among the best of classics. Star Fox 64 takes you into the air with Fox, Slippy, Falco and Peppy. You go through each planet of the Lylat system flying and shoot... Read Full Review
Honestly i love this game just as a kid and i still love it when i am older. This is by far the best N64 game you can buy on the market no matter what type of games you like. The story mode is a bit short but you can s... Read Full Review
