Of all Nintendo's first party franchises, F-Zero probably gets the least love. I think I made it pretty clear when I reviewed F-Zero GX last year that I think it's BS that Nintendo hasn't released a new title in the franchise in going on 20 years. But while it has gotten a handful of sequels and its certainly seen more releases than its futuristic racing brethren, I've always felt Star Fox is a close second on the big N's "let's not make any more games in this franchise" list.
Honestly, they made a great decision. Star Fox 64 is an absolutely outstanding game, one of my all time favorites and certainly one of the best on the Nintendo 64. I talked in the Altered Beast review about comfort food games and this is something of a comfort food game for me. It's one of my favorite titles to pop in for an hour or two and just blast through. I've beaten the game many times over, but trying to shoot down as many enemies as possible across the variety of the game's paths is one of my go-to gaming experiences when I'm not in the mood to get sucked into an RPG or run a long gaming session. A lot of that has to do with Nintendo's hallmark quality and consistency, there was clearly a ton of love and care put into this title. But I also feel that for all it's consistency, no two playthroughs are ever the same.
It all starts with that aforementioned commitment to quality. Star Fox 64 has great graphics, it's one of the smoothest, cleanest games on the N64. To be fair, that's a low bar to clear, but this looks as good as you could hope from a 5th gen console. There are such a great variety of areas, each with their own unique style. Even the space-based stages do enough different that they feel unique. There are planets with thriving civilizations, worlds completely covered in water and barren deserts filled with gruesome monsters, each of which are created using every ounce of the N64's power. The sound is also awesome, quality-wise its one of the best sounding cartrige based games out there. There are some really standout tracks here, Zoness and Aquas are probably my favorite, and each of them perfectly fit the atmosphere of their respective stages.
Star Fox sees you take control of Fox McCloud, ace pilot and leader of the Star Fox mercenary squadron. They are called on by the Cornerian army to once again stop Andross, the super villain hellbent on taking over the Lylat System. Fox, along with his squadron mates Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad and Falco Lombardi, set out to once and for all defeat Andross and save the galaxy. But Fox also has his own personal quest, to find out what happened to his father James, who went missing while fighting Andross' armies years ago. Not the most involved story, but that's not really why you are playing this game. The squad based structure does play into the game a little bit, your compatriots all join you in battle, for better or worse. None of them are particularly good pilots and you will spend a lot of time rescuing them from enemies. But they do have their uses. Peppy will tell you how to perform various moves in-game (with iconic lines like "do a barrel roll" and "use bombs wisely") and help you identify boss weaknesses. Slippy, annoying as he is, will help you analyze enemies and display boss lifebars. It can get a little annoying having to bail them out all the time, but I think they at least add something to the game.
The majority of the game is an on-rails space shooter, which is normally not my style, but the levels all throw out so many unique and interesting challenges that it works. There's a good variety of set pieces and more freeforming sections and there's always plenty to shoot. There are also plenty of obstacles to fly around, over and through, some of which open alternate paths. Some of these paths are just for variety, but many will dictate which level you will advance to next. I can only think of one or two that don't have more than one option for where to go next. Some of the levels and boss fights take place in what the game calls "all range mode," where you can fly around freely in full 3D. These sections help add even more variety and offer something unique, some are more interesting than others but they all go a long way in evening the pace of the game. I will say I wish there were more variety in vehicles, I know its a flying game but the few levels that do allow you to take the wheel of the other vehicles are a blast. The Aquas stage takes place entirely underwater, with Fox piloting the Blue Marine Submarine, and both the Titania and Mcbeth stage see you control the Landmaster tank. I really wish there were more of these levels, especially since you can't pass through both of the tank stages in the same playthrough.
Controls are spot on, they are somewhat complicated but very fluent and responsive. A fires your lasers and B shoots bombs, Down C puts on the brakes and Left C activates a booster, R and Z tilt your craft and allow you to move more quickly left or right, and you can press either of them twice to barrel roll. You can perform a variety of moves by pressing one of the C buttons in conjunction with a direction on the control stick. That's a lot, but a game like this almost needs a complex control scheme to keep it interesting. It also helps that its mapped perfectly to the controller, incredibly responsive, and always work as intended. Things do feel a little bit less responsive in all range mode, but it's not overly problematic or noticeable. You are still always well equipped for any situation you might have to deal with and very rarely do cheap hits or deaths occur because of control problems.
The biggest thing SF64 has going for it though is personality. Everything about it is just so unique and memorable, from the opening mission to stop Andross' siege of Corneria to the flight into the sun Solar to the creepy wrecked base of Sector X, there are so many moments that stick out in my mind. The branching paths allow you to experience different levels on each playthrough, but you might not necessarily get to visit each level each time. Each planet is so distinct, from Frigid Fortuna to Toxic Waste Covered Zoness to Industrial Mcbeth. Even if you can complete the levels, you still want to go back and try to earn medals, which you are awarded for a high enough kill count. I've always found this game to have a unique and interesting color scheme, don't ask me why but I feel like it just does. So many games try to go all bright and colorful or dark and dingy, Star Fox does both and does both well. The enemies all look interesting and the game throws them at you in fresh and unique ways with each level. The same is true of the bosses, some of these guys are pretty impressive graphically and all of them offer a unique challenge. That's really the best word to describe this game, unique. It offers a different take on a tired and true genre and does it well.
If I had one complaint, it's that there really just isn't as much depth as there could be. Sure it's deeper than most of its on rails brethren, but it still feels like they could have gone bigger or added more. I would like to say it would be cool to switch vehicles mid-game, but other iterations of the series have experimented with on-foot sections and they haven't been successful. Maybe a few more levels and vehicles would have been nice? The multiplayer is also very lacking, there aren't many arenas and the alternate vehicles have to be unlocked to be used in this mode, which is disappointing. It really feels like it was tacked on as an afterthought, which is shocking considering the Nintendo 64 was known as a multiplayer gaming machine. Oddly, I think it's this flaw that helps StarFox 64 hold up a little better today than a lot of games of the era. Many of the heavily multiplayer focused games of the time are difficult to go back to today, while a lot of single player experiences are as easy to pick up and play as they were 25 years ago.
At the end of the day, Star Fox 64 is just plain fun. It my not have the depth or complexity of an RPG or adventure game, but it's a great gaming experience that's still enjoyable to this day. As with F-Zero, it's a shame Nintendo doesn't give the series the love and care it gives to some of its other titles. In some ways its worse than the treatment they give to F-Zero, I'd almost rather have no games at all than some of the mediocre-to-bad stuff that's come out under the Star Fox banner over the years. Perhaps the series is due for a reboot. I know I complain about them all the time, but maybe something open world? Just hop in the vehicle of your choosing and explore one of the many planets that Lylat has to offer. Regardless of what Nintendo does with the franchise in the future, Star Fox 64 is an absolute gem and worth going out of your way to play today.
9.5/10
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