“DO A BARREL ROLL!” That’s right
gamers it’s Star Fox 64 time! Fox McCloud is back for the next installment in the
Star Fox series, this time for the Nintendo 64. The story tells of a mad
scientist, Andross, on the fourth planet
of the Lylat system, Corneria. After being exiled to the planet Venom on the
far reaches of the galaxy Andross begins to hatch his evil plan. Years after
the exile of Andross, General Pepper discovers mysterious activity arising from
the planet, Venom. He hires the Star Fox team comprised of James McCloud, Peppy
Hare, and Pigma Dengar to investigate. When the team arrived at Venom they were betrayed by
Pigma and captured by Andross. James gave his life to save Peppy so Peppy could
return to Corneria and warn the General of Andross’ plans, as well as tell
James’ son of his father’s fate. Our story begins as General Pepper hires the
Star Fox team once again. This time however they are a new squad comprised of
Fox McCloud, James’ son, Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad, and Falco Lombardi. They must
travel through the Lylat system to defeat Andross and restore order but they
have an obstacle in their way in the form of Star Wolf. Star wolf is
Andross’ hired mercenaries and they are a thorn in team Star Fox’s side
throughout the whole game.
Story Line (out of 15):
Typically I make the story line out of 20 points, but truthfully how much storyline can we expect from a Star Fox game, no matter how long it is a
Star Fox game is always the right size. This flight-simulator-esque ‘Corridor’ shooter
stole the hearts of many Nintendo gamers when it was released for the N64. It
offered many of the same principles and a very similar storyline to the first Star
Fox game. Despite this, every time I restart I still feel drawn in like I have
never played the game before. The storyline in itself is dynamic; you have a
choice of paths you can take that all eventually lead to toppling Andross. For
this and the general uniqueness of the Star Fox story lines I give Star Fox 64 a
12 out of 15.
Handling(out of 15):
The reason Handling is worth so
many points is because this is a corridor shooter game. How well you do in it
depends on how well you can use the joysticks. While playing Star Fox 64 I found
myself often times over shooting my target by a slight margin because of the
sensitivity of the joysticks. This also made it difficult to control the Arwing
and Landmaster (Plane and Tank) in general. I do tip my hat to the game
designers for their inclusion of the abilities to to a somersault, a U-turn,
and a Barrel Roll in Star Fox for advanced aerial combat sequences. Despite the button combinations for these
commands being somewhat tedious they were ingenious ideas and create a better
gaming environment. For all of these factors I give Star Fox 64 a decent 10 out
of 15 for handling.
Graphics for the time (out of 10):
When compared to the graphics
styles of other Nintendo 64 games of the time such as Banjo-Kazooie, or Donkey
Kong 64, Star Fox 64 barely keeps up with the curve. This game offer many aesthetically
pleasing traits, like the destructible environments, and unique level creations., but the graphics
themselves leave much to be desired. This game was designed and created using block-polygon
graphics meaning instead of smoother images the team opted for the use of
multiple polygons for the creation of their characters and environments. Some
people may not mind this, and others may find that very appealing in a game,
but for the time these graphics were below par and for that Star Fox 64 gets a
6 out of 10 for Graphics.
Game difficulty (out of 5):
Star Fox’s game design is
special. If you run out of lives you do not just start that level over again. You
have to start the game from the beginning, this can make the game very difficult
for any player. Along with this, The boss battles in the beginning are not very
hard but they get progressively harder throughout the game. Some bosses I found
left me with no lives left and going back to square one wishing I had not
chosen that path. For these two reasons I give Star Fox 64 a 5 out of 5 for
game difficulty.
The Nostalgia Factor(out of 10):
This game reminds me of the lost
times I had as a kid and of the many frustrations I had with this game in
particular as a child. I give Star Fox 64 a 7 out of 10 for Nostalgia.
The WOW Factor:
Star Fox’s WOW factor has to be
the inclusion of the All-Range-Mode. This mode allows you to control your
Arwing in a predefined battlefield, which allows for some free roaming and
allows you to take the game out of its corridor perspective.
The Score
12 15
10 15
6 10
5 5
-------------------------
33 out of 45
Star Fox 64 received a
respectable 33 out of 45 on the Retrometer scale, this is a game worth buying,
but be warned, you can be prone to frustration with this game.
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