Starfox 64

Playing Starfox 64 is kinda like playing the original SNES version of the game after it's gone through a Star Wars Special Edition make over.

Easily one of the most impressive looking home videogames ever released, Starfox 64 works hard to prove it is much more than just a pretty face. Larger than life bosses, secret alternate routes, loads of power ups and a small collection of space, air, land and sea craft to pilot, combine to make up one of the most promising adventures you can have on the Nintendo 64.

There is one small problem, however. Because of the set paths you follow through the game, there are only so many times you'll probably want to play it. This lack of replay value, although balanced out by an excellent multi-player mode, is a black mark against the cart that just can't be ignored. I'm sorry to say that, unlike previous Nintendo developed N64 smashes, Starfox 64 turns out to be a short lived, yet indisputably fun, flight.

Animal Universe Pageant

Starfox 64's graphics are absolutely magnificent. Vibrant colors, tasteful textures, terrific lighting effects and layers of intricate details make this cart one of the best looking N64 games so far.

Just witness the cloud formations streaming across the reflective surface of Fox McCloud's Arwing cockpit windshield. The massive fireball explosions and the splintering, shattering light show of enemy craft being shot down also leaves a strong impression. As well, I really enjoyed zipping in between the monstrous enemy space ships, laser-plowing through a ubiquitous deadly asteroid field and taking on fleet after fleet of pesky fighter ships.

Last summer I was watching the digital mayhem of an interstellar dogfight in Independence Day. This year, thanks to Starfox 64 (and curiously, not the Independence Day videogame), I'm playing it. Amazing.

The space and inner atmosphere dogfights are only small sequences in the game, however. You also get to fly overtop of an incredible contaminated alien world, bubbling with pestilence and teeming with organic and metallic enemies. If you're good, you'll find your way beneath the waves, to pilot a submersible ship with an unlimited supply of torpedoes (Tom Clancy's dream level?).

At the end of this colorful polygonal fireworks display is an enormous floating head boss (Andross), who sucks you in to his mouth, chews you for a while and then spits you out with the rest of the unwanted bits. Gross!

Throughout the play of the game, I found myself gaping, sitting there awe struck with my jaw on the floor. The larger than life, cinematic drama of a space war has never been so eloquently constructed in the videogame world before.

I was blown away by the visuals of the original Starfox but this cartridge makes the old one seem like a bad memory. You may still be riding the rails in this 64-bit update (although rails with a lot more give in them), but you'll be so busy avoiding collisions and hunting down Andross' mindless minions, you won't stop to bicker. However, I could conceive of you slowing down a little to complain about seeing the same beautiful scenery (and the same beautiful on-the-fly cut scenes) again and again.

Repetitive Stress

Starfox 64 is, for all intents and purposes, an addictive, quarter munching arcade game. This is the kind of flyer you'd sink a months worth of tokens into and still not be finished with. The object of the game is to not merely get to the end of the game and beat your big bad buddy, Andross, but to get to the end in style.

You want to destroy as many of the baddies as you can on your way to the glory stage. There are all kinds of nifty little surprises in store for you if you can manage to sneak through enough archways, destroy enough packs of evil dudes in one go and demolish enough of the larger enemy ships and structures. The name of the game is notches on your laser turret. Kill 'em all and show 'em how to do the fancy loop de loops through the hoops, and you walk away with the door prize; a celebratory medal.

Like stepping inside the mind of a young Luke Skywalker, you have the opportunity to show the galaxy that Fox McCloud is as good a pilot as his father, James McCloud. The only way you're going to be able to do that, unfortunately, is to become intimately familiar with each level in the game. Once you've memorized the patterns of the enemy ships and other assorted threats in each of the 15 (or so) stages, it becomes fairly easy to start nailing those high scores and earning the gold.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of this kind of gameplay, particularly on the home systems. I think Miyamoto and the rest of the Starfox 64 development team had the opportunity to create something quite a bit deeper with this title. I would have preferred there to have been a random order to the missions and to have those missions generated for me on-the-fly, based on my performance on each particular level. I also think the entire game should have been played out in what the developers call All Range Mode.

All Range Mode, while still not fly-anywhere 3D, is quite a bit more rewarding than the carnival attraction-like feeling of being "pushed" through the game, which you find on almost every level. Even though there are edges of the playing field that force you to turn your ship around (a la the still brilliant Warhawk), the freedom of movement in All Range Mode is invigorating.

Chasing the advanced fighters that Fox McCloud's nemesis, Starwolf, and his cronies pilot, is the single most enjoyable activity in the entire game. Slipping in and out between hillsides and structures, while trying to get a bead on your enemies, who are spinning, looping and generally just annoying the hell out of you with their mobility, is an absolute blast. Nothing else in the game is as fun as the competitive dogfighting in the 3D arenas.

This is why the split screen, 4 player, dogfighting "Versus Mode" of Starfox 64 is also such an astounding, redemptive success. When you discover that you've seen the push sequences in the game enough to suit your fancy, the Vs. mode is where you'll turn. Dogfighting is king in Starfox 64 and it couldn't be better than with three of your pals. The graphics in this mode are compromised somewhat but the frame rate is still solid, and the sensation of flying combat is well realized.

As for control of your Arwing, let's just say that the N64 analog stick is a godsend. The little thumb-stick makes your maneuverability a breeze. You'll be banking, spinning, diving and rolling in just a few smooth, easy steps.

After two or three rounds of Starfox 64 you should have what it takes to make it to the final levels. That's the only downside to providing such an intuitive control interface, it makes playing the game that much easier. This will put a vengeful smile on all those fans of the original Starfox, whose thumb blisters from playing with those insufferable SNES controllers still haven't healed.

Slippy Must Die!

The original Starfox was not only a visual marvel, it also was one of the first SNES cartridges that knocked me flat on my butt because of its audio integrity. I had just bought a surround sound set up for my home when the original game came out, and when I plugged the cart through my five speakers, I was blown away by how cool the Starfox experience sounded.

One of the most enjoyable elements of the original, was the game's use of various bleeps and bloops to represent the imaginative alien voices of Starfox and his resourceful cohorts, Slippy, Peppy and Falco

Needless to say, I was expecting big things from the audio effects of Starfox 64.

For the most part, I'm happy with the way this update turned out. Explosions have a tangible subwoofer-friendly rumble, the laser shots sizzle, the bumps and scratches that your Arwing takes sound painfully authentic and the various mechanical ca-chunks of huge doorways and other assorted devices whirring into or out of position have sufficient weight.

The only problem I had with the sound effects of Starfox 64 was with the vocal samples for the various characters in the game. One character in particular, the iniquitous Slippy Toad, has a cutesy voice that is so pernicious, he had me screaming at the top of my lungs - "Shut up! Shut Up! Shut UP!" - alas, to no avail.

Slippy's ridiculous vocal coloring probably wouldn't be so bad if the character himself weren't so utterly hopeless as a fighter pilot. Constantly getting into trouble and constantly yelling for help with that high pitched WASP-y whine of his, it got to the point where I'd just let Andross' drones take him down so I wouldn't have to hear him anymore. Sorry Slippy, but I liked the way you used to sound a lot more.

Plug In The Orchestra

The music for Starfox 64 is disappointingly performed entirely in the symphonic range of MIDI. It's not that the actual space opera tunes are so bad, it's just that you can hear every phony digital tone and effect struggling to break free from its binary constraints.

The music would have been much better served if Nintendo had sprang for a real analog orchestra to play the compositions and then interspersed better sounding samples throughout the game, Shadows of the Empire style. Of course, that would have probably meant sacrificing some of the many (unnecessary) vocal samples in the game.

You'll want to hear the sounds and music of Starfox 64, the clarity is good and the stereo separation is superb, but be aware that, like the gameplay itself, the audio becomes repetitive all too soon.

Great Gadgets!

Starfox 64 comes bundled with a nifty new gameplay gizmo for the N64 - The Rumble Pak. Meant to provide a sense of feedback for the games it's compatible with, The Rumble Pak actually does a pretty good job of adding dimension to the events happening on screen. Whenever bombs blow up or you ignite your Arwing's thrusters, the little pak starts a shakin'.

The neat thing is that the vibrations of The Rumble Pak correspond to the amount of commotion on the screen. If you just tap your booster button, you'll get a wee rumble, if you blow up an enemy HQ installation, like on the "Forever Train" level of the planet, Macbeth, the resulting vibrations are good enough to rattle your teeth clean.

Starfox 64 benefits from the use of The Rumble Pak device but I'd take a wait and see approach before investing in three more paks for your friends to use during the Versus game. It'll be really interesting to see how this shaker will be employed in future Nintendo 64 titles.

A Short Trip

The multiplayer combat aspects of Starfox 64, along with the one-more-time hidden challenges of the solo adventure, save the game from becoming a "played it for a week and then shelved it" affair. Even still, compared to the complexity of Super Mario 64, the subtlety of Wave Race and the longevity of Mario Kart 64, I found Starfox 64 to be the least substantial of Nintendo's big ticket games.

I'd recommend Starfox 64, because it is enjoyable while it lasts, there is a lot of beautiful imagery to see, the control is perfect, and there's no question that Miyamoto has raised the bar on arcade-style 3D space shooters once again. But I would like to go on record saying that if extra levels, or more 3D dogfights were sacrificed in order to save enough room for the lame vocal samples in this title, somebody made a poor decision.

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