Starfox 64 is a game to be remembered by many. It's certainly earned the title of one of Nintendo's best games to date.
First of all, the most noticeable aspect: the graphics. Sure, they're not the best graphics that ever walked the Nintendo 64 route, but they'r epretty spiffy in some of the levels, and the effects are very well done. The 3D adds a nice charm to it, and in some cases, you really feel like the pilot. The effects of a train car being blown up, or the effects of a barrel roll, or heck, even the effects of an enemy flying around you are very real and very detailed. The effects also help to play a part in making the game really seem futuristic, which it is. Flying around as a fox in a mini-plane is quite enticing, and the added effects reminded me of star wars they were so well done. I don't care if Zelda had better graphics than this, or if Mario ever had graphics better than this. The effects and the 3D look and feel of things was good enough to get me in the cockpit and fly like never before. This is by far one of my top favourite games for that reason alone. Of course, there are others....
Like this: the music. The scores were diverse, they were original, they were catchy, and they sounded pretty real as well. Sometimes I wondered if they got an orchestra or something to record the scores of the music because it didn't sound like Midis being played. I really liked how they did the whole background music in the levels. Rising when the moment was tense, falling when there was calm, and all sorts of other things that really fit in with virtually every moment you played. If there was total chaos, the music was fast and battle-like. If you were in a boss battle the music was tense and quiet, yet it had it's moments of loud and conflict. It not only added to the gameplay experience, but it made it all seem perfect in a sense. It really fit well into the levels, and it made you feel like you were there. Most of this game made me feel that way. Almost all aspects of this game gave me the sense that what was happening in the game was happening in reality. It put me deeper into the experience, and it made me want to play it even more. If Andross was invading our solar system, wouldn't you want to jump in and dogfight with his drones? Yes, I thought so.
This game also delved deeply into aerial combat, which continued the Starfox journey from it's original game. The controls were easy to use, easy to handle, and all movements executed were fast in reaction time, and oh so smooth. It made flying a breeze, and shooter even easier. Locking on was simple and easy to maneuver, button mashing did what it was supposed to do in boss battles, and everything happened just when you needed it to, which was always. If you pressed a button, something would happen. No reaction time, no faults, no wrong commands, no, it was all good. This game was one of the smoothest I've ever played. I looked like a flying ballerina out there as I swerved around buildings and did the infamous barrel rolls. I've never played a game since that was so smooth and graceful in it's actions. The control scheme was absolutely brilliant, and I'll always play it for that feeling of grace.
Now, I'm sure most people remember the dogfights the most, so lets go to those. They were intense, they were fast, they were hard, sometimes they were easy. The dogfights always tested your ability as a pilot and tested your hand-eye coordination with shooting. It certainly kept me on my toes the whole way through, and I enjoyed every level for all the enemies they would throw at me. Especially the harder areas like Area 6 and Venom, they kept me challenging myself and my enemies to see how far we could go and who would dare to be the victor. Sometimes they could be frustrating and hard to win, but it kept it in moderation. It only fueled my desire to overcome those hurdles even more, rather than throw the controller to the ground with utter anger. This game incorporated just the right factors such as enemy numbers, enemy strength, and enemy resistance to give you one heck of a ride and one heck of a fight, without leaving you listless form boredom or red in the face from sheer frustration. Never before was such a combination so thrilling and had such a feeling of ecstasy from playing through each level, and I doubt it will ever happen again. Just watching videos or friends play the game gets my blood pumping. This was a great creation that will always have a place on my game shelf.
Overall, this game was amazing, fun, had excellent replay value for sheer entertainment and to visit new places, it had great musical qualities, and it had great effects and sequences. If the graphics weren't so old, I'd say this game could give any game today a run for it's money. It was truly a worthwhile experience to buy this game and just sit down and play it for hours upon hours on end. The only bad thing I could ever see with this game is that you couldn't save your progress because it was so short, and like I just said, it was a short game. But hey, still fun right? An instant classic and a part of gaming history. It has been a pure pleasure to play this time and time again, and it's probably what made the Starfox series so popular. It advanced well on it's predecessor, and it has won a permanent place in Nintendo's best. I recommend this game to anyone who is a Nintendo fan, a Starfox fan, or even just a s hooter fan. Anyone can play, and everyone should.