Star Fox 64

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Star Fox 64 Lylat Wars
North American box art
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Takao Shimizu
Producer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto
Artist(s)	Takaya Imamura
Composer(s)	Koji Kondo Hajime Wakai
Series	Star Fox
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64, iQue Player, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	Nintendo 64 JP April 27, 1997 NA July 1, 1997 EU October 20, 1997 AUS October 20, 1997 iQue Player CN November 21, 2003 Virtual Console NA April 2, 2007 JP April 17, 2007 EU April 20, 2007 AUS April 20, 2007
Genre(s)	Rail shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	Nintendo 64 ESRB: K-A OFLC: G8+ Virtual Console CERO: A ESRB: E OFLC: PG PEGI: 7+
Media	96-Mb cartridge
Input methods	Gamepad

Star Fox 64​ (スターフォックス64^?), known in Australia and Europe as Lylat Wars, is a scrolling shooter video game for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released on April 27, 1997 in Japan, on July 1, 1997 in North America and on October 20, 1997 in Europe and Australia. It was later ported to the China-only iQue Player on November 21, 2003. It is a remake of the original Star Fox,^[1] and the first game in the Star Fox series to be released on the Nintendo 64. It was made available for download on the Wii's Virtual Console on April 2, 2007 in North America, April 17, 2007 in Japan and on April 20, 2007 in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

The planned second game in the series for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Star Fox 2, was canceled because of the upcoming release of the Nintendo 64, but some of its features were used in Star Fox 64, such as all range mode. It was the first game to introduce support for the Rumble Pak, with which it initially came bundled.^[2] The game received positive ratings from reviewers and critics who praised its smooth animation, detailed visuals, voice acting, and use of multiple gameplay paths.^[3] It is the most acclaimed game of the Star Fox series.

The music in Star Fox 64 was composed by Koji Kondo and Hajime Wakai. Some music, most notably Star Fox Theme, was used in the later games of the series.

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Multiplayer 1.2 Vehicles 2 Story 3 Development 4 Promotion 5 Reception 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Gameplay

In Star Fox 64, the player controls one of the vehicles piloted by Fox McCloud, usually an Arwing, as it travels on a fixed-rail that generally moves straight forward. The player's vehicle can be maneuvered around the screen to dodge obstacles and shoot incoming enemies with laser cannons, and can also perform a somersault to get behind enemies or dodge projectiles.^[4] All vehicles, except the Blue Marine, can also charge up their laser cannons to unleash a powerful lock-on laser.

As well as the forced progression of the main game, some levels and bosses take place in "all-range mode" (available also in multiplayer battles), where the player can move freely around a rectangular arena and engage in combat with various enemies.^[4] The Arwing can also perform one new maneuver in all-range mode: an Immelmann up-and-over to change direction. In-game, this is called a U-turn. The player can also perform an aileron roll, simply referred to throughout the game as a barrel roll, to deflect enemy projectiles.

Returning from the original Star Fox game are wingmen that fly beside the player in Arwings and are sometimes pursued into the player's field of view by enemies. The longer it takes the player to save the wingmen the more damage they will take, eventually leading to that wingman retreating to the Great Fox for repairs.^[4] If one of the wingmen has returned to the Great Fox, that wingman cannot help the player in the next mission, but returns after that. If kept in the game, each character can provide support for Fox. For example, Slippy can show the life bar of a boss character, Peppy can provide useful in-game tips at points and Falco Lombardi can help open up routes to harder levels. Throughout the game, other minor characters, such as Fox's old friend Bill or Falco's friend Katt, appear to help the team in different situations.^[4]

Among Star Fox 64's features is the in-game sampled voice speech that replaced the gibberish-like chatter from the original game. However, the original chatter, referred to as "Lylat" in the language option-screen, can be enabled in the PAL version, though the feature is not in the Japanese and American NTSC versions. The game relies much more heavily on dialogue than the original, and together with the cinematic sequences, they drive the story forward.

Instead of the fixed series of levels of the original (determined by the difficulty level chosen), many of the levels branch out to two and on one occasion three different levels, with the upper branch requiring the player to accomplish a certain task.^[4] If the task is completed, the end of the level will read Mission Accomplished. However, if this task is not achieved, the ending will read Mission Complete, and the player must take the "downward" route. The levels correspond loosely to the difficulty levels of the original Star Fox, with routes color coded blue, yellow, and red to represent the easy, normal, and hard levels of difficulty respectively. There are a total of 25 different routes the player can take through the game. Each path brings the Star Fox team into contact with Star Wolf, a nemesis squadron originally slated to appear in the unreleased Star Fox 2.

Finally, to add replay challenge, the game features awardable medals, which are earned by accomplishing a mission with all wingmen intact and having achieved a certain hit total.^[4] These totals are often a high percentage of the total enemies on the stage, leaving little room for error. Obtaining medals results in unlocking bonus features, such as a sound test and the ability to use the Landmaster tank and fight on foot in multiplayer mode. Acquiring all medals unlocks a new Expert mode in which there are more enemies per level, the player's Arwing takes more damage (a single direct collision with solid obstacles will destroy either one of the Arwing's wings and rid the player of any laser upgrades), and Fox wears sunglasses similar to his father's. Acquiring all medals on Expert mode unlocks a new title screen for the game; a medal on Venom in Expert mode allows players to use the Star Fox team as foot soldiers in multiplayer mode.

[edit] Multiplayer

Star Fox 64 features multiplayer support for up to four players simultaneously.^[4] At first users can only play using the Arwing spaceship, but by earning certain medals in Story Mode, players can unlock the Landmaster tank, as well as the option to fight on foot as one of the four members of Star Fox equipped with a bazooka. Unlike the main game, only one laser upgrade and one smart bomb is provided, given to the first player to pick it up (players start with single lasers and no smart bombs); thus, players cannot upgrade to hyper lasers, although players can upgrade to twin lasers, and can only carry a maximum of one smart bomb at a time. Multiplayer is the only place where players can use a Landmaster with upgraded lasers.

There are three modes of multiplayer play: a "point match" in which the player must shoot down an opponent a certain number of times, a "battle royal" in which the last player not shot down wins, and a time trial to destroy enemy fighters.

[edit] Vehicles

The Arwing is the primary craft used by the Star Fox team. It is a spacecraft armed with one standard laser (which can be upgraded to twin or hyper lasers) and is capable of firing Smart Bombs which help clear the area of enemy craft.^[4] The Arwing's laser can also lock on to enemies and fire a charged-up blast that damages nearby enemies as well. The Arwing can now perform somersaults and U-turns (U-turns are only available in all-range mode); and still retains its laser-reflecting barrel rolls. The Arwing can also use its boost meter to perform three special moves to avoid collisions and get the drop on pursuers: boost, brake, and the aforementioned somersault.

A tank-like vehicle called the Landmaster is only used on two levels in the entire game, MacBeth and Titania. The Landmaster has one standard laser, which can only be upgraded to twin lasers in Multiplayer mode. Like the Arwing, the Landmaster can do a barrel roll, fire Smart Bombs, and lock on to enemies with its lasers. The barrel roll performed by the Landmaster, however, is used only as an evasionary tactic because it does not deflect lasers. The Landmaster can hover a short while in addition to being able to perform a boost.^[4]

The Blue Marine, a submarine designed by Slippy Toad, can only be used on Aquas, which houses a completely aquatic environment. The Blue Marine has one standard laser which can be upgraded to twin or hyper lasers, and also has an unlimited supply of torpedoes which not only damage enemies but also allow the player to see when there is limited light. The torpedoes can also lock on to enemies just as the charged up lasers can in the other vehicles.

[edit] Story

While the plot of Star Fox 64 is largely the same as the plot of the original Star Fox, Star Fox 64 goes into more detail about the storyline. The events of this game are known as the Lylat Wars, where the European title gets its name. Strange activity is spotted on the planet Venom, part of the Lylat system, where the evil scientist Andross has been exiled.^[5] The governing planet, Corneria, sends the Star Fox team to investigate. They consist of pilots James McCloud, Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar. After arriving at Venom, Pigma betrays the team, causing James and Peppy to be captured by Andross. Peppy barely escapes Venom, but James does not return. Peppy returned home to tell James' son Fox about his father's fate.

A few years later, Andross launches an attack across the Lylat system and a new Star Fox team, consisting of Fox McCloud (the player), Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad, is sent to investigate.^[6] After battling their way through several stages, including planets and asteroid fields, and defeating their rivals Star Wolf (Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Powalski, Pigma Dengar, and Andrew Oikonny), Star Fox reaches Venom and defeats Andross. Afterwards, General Pepper asks the members of the team to become members of the Cornerian army, but they decline the offer.^[7]

If Venom is approached from Bolse, a false, robotic Andross serves as the final boss, and at the end of the credits Andross' laugh is heard and his head is seen, indicating that he is still alive, hence a bad ending. If Venom is approached from Area 6, when Andross' face is destroyed, he reveals his true self: a floating brain with two floating eyes. After defeating the brain, James McCloud, Fox's father, appears and shows Fox the way out. When he narrowly escapes, they return to Corneria for a victory celebration. When offered membership into the Cornerian Army, Fox declines on behalf of his team, stating, "We prefer doing things our own way." Upon leaving, a credit sequence featuring the team running across a sunset background, with the Great Fox rising up from over the horizon is shown. The credits end with the Great Fox and the Star Fox team flying off in their Arwings into the skies.

After the credits, there is a bill from Star Fox which presents the number of enemies killed and multiplies it by 64, resulting in the amount of money due. General Pepper receives a statement based on the price (which varies from the number of enemies killed). If the price is below $70,000 (1093 or fewer enemies killed) he will say, "This is one steep bill....but it's worth it." The second thing he says, if the price is over $70,000, is, in a rather shocked tone, "Whaat?!" Then the player presses a button to stamp the bill, thus bringing the player back to the Main Menu.

[edit] Development

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Promotion

Star Fox 64 toys were included with Taco Bell kids meals alongside four other Nintendo themed toys in 1997.^{[citation needed]} Nintendo Power subscribers received a promotional video prior to Star Fox 64's release (the same tactic was used to promote Donkey Kong Country for the SNES as well as Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo-Kazooie, and Hey You, Pikachu! for the N64) that advertised the game's cinematic presentation, as well as new features like the Rumble Pak and voice acting. It revolves around two agents of Sega and Sony (who, at the time, were Nintendo's biggest competitors) kidnapping Nintendo employees and forcing them to reveal information about the upcoming Star Fox title by "torturing" a Mario doll, however failed to do it.

[edit] Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	90% (based on 13 reviews)[8]
Metacritic	88 of 100 (based on 16 reviews)[9]
Review scores
Publication	Score
Allgame	[10]
Edge	9 of 10[11]
Famitsu	36 of 40[citation needed]
GameSpot	8.3 of 10[3]
IGN	8.7 of 10[12]

Star Fox 64 received critical acclaim and was one of the top-selling games of 1997, second only to Mario Kart 64.^[13] In the first five days of the game's U.S. launch, over 300,000 copies were sold, surpassing the record previously held by Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario 64.^[14] Sales were considerably less in Japan, where it sold 75,595 copies during the first week of sale.^[15] The game also took the #73 spot in Nintendo Power's "Top 200 Nintendo Games Ever"^[16] GameSpot declared Star Fox 64 "an instant classic" and was impressed by the voice acting. Glenn Rubenstein, the reviewer, noted that the game is "a pleasure to look at" and liked the cinematic quality of the storyline. Although other reviewers such as IGN said that the game is "extremely repetitive" and that the music quality was not as good as the original Star Fox, they still praised the branching system and "intelligently designed levels" which compensate for those points.^[12]

The Gamespot review of the Wii Virtual Console version of the game paints a similar picture. It earns a (7.6/10), praising for simple, enjoyable shooting gameplay, lots of voice-acting, nice to look at despite its graphic age and the added replay value in finding hidden paths, but found the lack of rumble support "alarming", especially since it was the first game to support the 64's Rumble Pak. ^[17]

Star Fox 64 is listed as the 45th greatest game of all time by Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition in 2009.^[18]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Nintendo Japan Star Fox 64 site
• Official website (archive)
• IMDb page

v • d • e Star Fox series Games Star Fox · Star Fox 2 (unreleased) · Star Fox 64 · Adventures · Assault · Command Characters Fox McCloud · Falco Lombardi Other Cast members