Star Fox 64 3D Review

In the 14 years since Star Fox 64 first landed on shelves, millions have answered the desperate call to save the Lylat system from the forces of the vile Andross. Few who have heeded that call have forgotten the brave wingmen who flew alongside them, or the perilous places they passed through on their mission. Now, the call rings out once again. Star Fox 64 is and has always been a well-crafted adventure, and whether you're a seasoned space ace or a novice pilot, you're sure to enjoy rescuing Corneria from Andross' clutches. Underneath the new 3D paint job, this is mostly the same game that has been released not only for the N64, but also on the Wii's Virtual Console, and it's hard not to wish that Nintendo had created a new mission to undertake rather than hauling out this classic again. But although Fox's Arwing has been around the galaxy a few times, she's still got it where it counts.

The diabolical scientist Andross was exiled long ago to the distant world of Venom, and from there, he now mounts an invasion against the peaceful planet Corneria. His forces overwhelmed, the canine General Pepper calls on the services of the Star Fox team, a mercenary band of fighter pilots, to fend off the invasion and take the fight to Andross' harsh homeworld. But team leader Fox McCloud and his fellow fighters aren't in it just for the money. Fox's father, James, led a mission to Venom some years ago from which he never returned, and which team member Peppy Hare narrowly survived. The characters have plenty of personality--particularly Falco, whose arrogance is as sharp as his beak. The frequent chatter between team members Fox, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco creates a sense of camaraderie, though some lines repeat too often. Peppy loves to inform you that "Your father helped me like that, too" when you blast a bogey off his tail, which you might find yourself doing frequently.

Your mission to defeat Andross begins on the lush planet of Corneria. Propelled forward along a narrow path, you shoot enemies both airborne and on land, and do some fancy flying with your Arwing spacecraft to evade enemy fire and snag power-ups. Control is easy and intuitive; holding the left or right shoulder button while turning lets you bank in that direction more quickly, and a double-tap of either shoulder button performs the famous barrel roll, which deflects enemy fire in addition to looking pretty cool. As a result, you feel like a skilled pilot from the moment you start playing, but true mastery of Star Fox 64 takes time.

Don't let the fact that you're underwater keep you from doing a barrel roll.

Each stage plays out the same way each time, with enemies entering from the same directions at the same moments. Familiarizing yourself with these patterns is vital if you want to earn the medal for each stage, which requires you to score a certain number of hits against enemies. Earning these medals isn't easy, and they serve as a good incentive to revisit the stages repeatedly and hone your skills. If you earn all of them, you earn the right to feel like a hotshot, and you unlock the game's expert difficulty level, which has a whole new set of medals to earn. But you don't have to be concerned with acing the mission to have a good experience with Star Fox 64. You can also have fun just fumbling your way through the adventure. It's easy enough to be accessible to just about anyone, but those who want a significant challenge will find that, as well. And this version includes two difficulty levels that are available from the start: one duplicates the difficulty of the N64 version, while the other makes your ship sturdier and your enemies easier.