"In Space no one can hear you Rumble."
This game came out a year ago, and it faded pretty fast from the limelight. Probably thanks to Goldeneye. StarFox is a great game, but if you want to play this game properly, it’s one tough customer. Playing this game "proper" means having to earn medals on each level, by fulfilling certain level objectives, like killing a certain amount of enemies on a given stage. This isn’t easy. However, StarFox also allows unskilled gamers to play this game at there own skill level and still be able to complete the game. This is done by offering gamers different routes through the planets that reflect their playing skill. If you haven’t found the secrets of a given level, but yet complete the stage, it doesn’t force you to re-play the level again; it simply sends you to another stage that wouldn’t be quite as tough as the one you would have went to if you could get off your ass and play the game like a man! Them’s fighting words! Starfox has one other thorn in it’s paw; you can’t save this turkey. If you want to play it to the end you’ve got to sit through it or pause it and come back to it later. That is bullshit in the highest degree. Gaming design courtesy of the Marquis de Sade. That little nugget pissed me RIGHT OFF and it should piss you off too!
That being said, StarFox is a lot of fun. It is a shooter that is on "rails". Meaning that in this instance, you cannot fly in complete 3D. You are stuck on a pre-determined course through most of this game, and can only move up, down, left or right. StarFox 64 does offer a few levels labeled "all-range" mode which does award you 360 degree movement, unlike it’s SNES predecessor. You’ll probably love all of the levels, rails or all-range because they offer up some of the finest intense shooter gameplay around!
If you aren’t familiar with this game, you play Fox McCloud, leader of the StarFox squadron, a group of Freelance fighters who believe in truth, justice and hiring a frog with a sexuality problem! Slippy ya Girl! Your team members are Falco (who is a falcon, did you see that comin’? And not the German rockstar who recorded Rock Me Amadeus back in the 80’s!) , Peppy o’Hare (guess) and the aforementioned hermaphrodite amphibian. Each one of these crew members are integral to your success and you must go out of your way to ensure they don’t buy the animal farm! If you lose Slippy, you won’t be able to see the bosses health meters, if you lose Falco you’ll miss out on some great secrets and if you lose Peppy, you won’t find out certain enemy weaknesses (Like Andross has a fetish for frogs that talk like girls!). There are surprisingly a lot of voice samples in this game. It certainly makes the game more interesting when you can hear your wingman when they communicate with you. It also frees up your eyes, so you can concentrate on the task at hand, rather than reading text.
If you’ve played the SNES game, then you’ll know what to expect, except that everything has been greatly improved the second time around. The graphics are crisp and clear, the music is wonderfully theatrical, more variety in gameplay (drive tanks and submarines too, as well as the 3D levels!), great secrets to discover, the 4 player battle mode and of course, this game introduced The Rumble Pack, which fits into your control and shakes and vibrates when things explode or your collide. It immerses you into the game just a little bit more.
As I said, the biggest drawback to Starfox 64 is the level of difficulty and the sad fact that saving is impossible. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal, cause we would expect the programmers would have snuck in a cheat code or level select. But we are talking Nintendo and they don’t do codes. Try a game shark.
If you passed up StarFox for Goldeneye, it’s time to go back and take the challenge. This is a really classy title from beginning to end. You’ll love the Independence Day inspired level. That alone is worth the price of admission. Everything is top notch about this cart. So what are you waiting for, you little froggy girl? Go get it!
Final Analysis: