Star Fox 64

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 sometimes three different levels, with the upper branch requiring the player to accomplish a certain task. 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. 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.

Multiplayer

Star Fox 64 features multiplayer support for up to four players simultaneously. At first users can only choose to play using the Arwing spaceship, but by earning the proper amount of medals in Story Mode, players can choose the Landmaster tank, or the ability to play as the pilot on foot. 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. Notably, multiplayer is the only place where players can use a Landmaster with upgraded lasers.

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. As with all of the Star Fox series, barrel rolling is an integral part of gameplay because the ship deflects lasers while performing a barrel roll. 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 loop. In all-range mode, a U-turn option is available.

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. Like the Arwing, the Landmaster can perform a barrel roll and fire Smart Bombs. 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.

The Blue Marine, a submarine designed by Slippy Toad, can only be used on Aquas, which houses a primarily 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.

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, named after the game's European title. Strange activity is spotted on the planet Venom, part of the Lylat system, where the evil scientist Andross has been exiled. 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.

Sometime 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. 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.

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, indicating that he is still alive. 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 they are offered membership into the Cornerian Army, Fox and his team decline, preferring to "do things their 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 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.

Reception

Reviews
Publication	Score
Allgame
Edge	9 of 10
Famitsu	36 of 40
GameSpot	8.3 of 10
IGN	8.7 of 10
Compilations of multiple reviews
Compiler	Score
Metacritic	88 of 100 (based on 16 reviews)
Game Rankings	90% (based on 13 reviews)

Acclaimed by many reviewers, Star Fox 64 was one of the top-selling games of 1997, second only to Mario Kart 64. 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. Sales were considerably less in Japan, where it sold 75,595 copies during the first week of sale. The game also took the #73 spot in Nintendo Power's "Top 200 Nintendo Games Ever" GameSpot noted that Star Fox 64 is "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.

Star Fox 64 toys were included with Taco Bell kids meals alongside four other Nintendo themed toys in 1997. 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 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.

The recent review on VC paints a similar picture on Gamespot. 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 finding hidden paths adds replay value.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• In press art for the game, Fox McCloud is shown holding a pistol that he never uses in the game, not even in the "on-foot" multiplayer scenarios. However, he does use a gun like this in the Super Smash Bros. series.

• The hardcore band Destroy the Runner is named after the line Peppy says on the Zoness mission

• One level of the game, Katina, is seemingly based on the film Independence Day.

References

External links