The classic shooter is still a great time today, nearly 30 years later.
What Is It? Star Fox 64 is a space shooter originally released on the Nintendo 64 in 1997. Players control Fox McLoud as he leads his squadron of pilots working their way through the solar system to ultimately face off against the evil Andross.
The game is primarily played through a third person view behind your small spacecraft. You can swap to a first person view during certain levels. Most levels are structured in a similar manner: blast everything you see on screen until you reach the boss, blast that and move on to the next. There are some curve balls, however, in the way of open-area levels where there is a main target in the center you need to focus on and tank levels which have you controlling a ground vehicle instead of a space ship.
Basically; it’s Star Fox. You use your blaster to take out most enemies, save the bombs for the really sticky parts, and find healing and upgrades to survive.
Being Star Fox, there are also multiple paths through the game. Playing straight through the levels normally, you can get to Andross and defeat him within 60-90 minutes. A slew of alternate levels are available by doing specific things during specific levels. Saving your squadmate and flying through certain rings will allow you to access a different level, for example, as will hitting a certain kill amount during various levels. It’s really kind of a mess of requirements that you might happen upon during normal play, but if you’re aiming to see anything specific, you should do some research of the requirements ahead of time. Chances are you won’t accidentally stumble across a bunch of different exits during your playthroughs.
The gameplay shines due to responsive controls and not overwhelming players with options. Many games in this genre throw loads of different options at players as far as weapons and loadouts, but Star Fox 64 keeps it simple. This is a detriment to the depth of the game, but absolutely works in the context of a Nintendo first-party attempt at the genre. Fox’s Arwing controls smoothly, particularly in the “always moving straight” corridor levels. The open-area levels have some quirks around trying to shake enemies following you, but they are far from bad, just not as smooth as the traditional Star Fox levels.
The game looks good to my retro-trained eyes. Feel free to play the NSO version or the 3DS remake if graphical fidelity is at the top of your list. Or, better yet, wait a few weeks after the time of this review and try the brand new Switch 2 remake. N64 games mostly all have similar visual feels today, you, kind reader, already know where you land on the “how well can I tolerate N64 graphics” scale, and nothing in Star Fox 64 will drastically change your stance.
The voice acting is mostly fun with some highly memorable lines for those of us who played this one many, many years ago. Nothing in this area is likely considered “good”, but it is memorable and fun which suits the game well.
The Best Part: The game provides a great representation of the shooter genre while remaining beginner-friendly. Newcomers will probably need some practice to hit the credits, but it is an achievable goal with a bit of practice. The game provides this relatively easy onboarding while also offering a wide range of stretch goals to unlock alternative paths, new levels, and even a new difficulty setting. All of this is to say, Star Fox 64 has a little something for newcomers and genre veterans alike.
The Worst Part: The notable difference between the controls in the open-area levels compared to the corridor levels. The corridors, the base Star Fox was built on, are nearly flawless. When you get thrown into open-areas and are forced to continually circle around to target something in the middle of the space, you are in for a rougher time. It’s not just that the turning controls aren’t as tight when you need to fully turn around, it’s that the nature of the levels lead to stretches where you need to fly away from the center for a small period of time so you can turn around with enough runway to target the thing in the middle. This ends up making these levels drag on longer than you’d like which only compounds the “this clearly isn’t as good as the corridor levels” feeling.
The Verdict: Star Fox 64 is a really fantastic version of the basic formula of the series. The controls are tight, the visuals are good enough to not get in the way (shots fired at the SNES game), and the level variety is strong, even on the basic path. Above all, the game is simply a joy to drop into and play for any length of time.
I think the game thrives due to its mixture of simplicity, accessibility, and pure fun. You can have a blast playing the standard route, maybe take a few tries before you can finally beat Andross, and walk away thinking this is a wonderful space shooter. Or, you could learn every in-and-out the game has to offer, unlock Expert Mode, and spend many, many hours navigating Fox through the various perils the game throws your way.
If you have any interest in the space shooter genre, Star Fox 64 is a great entry point that has staying power to keep more advanced players around.
How to Play: Nintendo 64*, Nintendo Switch Online, Remake: 3DS
*console played on for this review
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