The best way I can describe Starfox 64 3D is that it is essentially an arcade game. The gameplay, the options, and the way the game is presented all give off an arcade vibe. That sort of feeling is a rarity in a video game nowadays.
For those who are confused as to what Starfox is, these games are a series of space shooters where you fly along a set path each level in order to defeat an evil space-monkey-head thing. (That is the greatest villain I have ever heard of.) You play as Fox McCloud, a space fox pilot determined to avenge the death of his space fox father.
Starfox 64 3D is a remake of the Nintendo 64 game, Starfox 64. (Nintendo isn’t known for their creative titles.) The game was regarded as a classic, and thus we are playing the remake 14 years later, instead of just getting a new Starfox game. Thanks, Nintendo.
The game play is of course the key feature. The game has 4 modes: 3DS mode, N64 mode, Expert mode, and Battle. 3DS mode is the main game, just tweaked for the motion controls (you can steer your ship by moving the 3DS around) to be used comfortably. Doesn’t matter though, since I stopped using the motion controls after the training level. These controls were extremely sensitive, and would move your ship at the slightest twitch. This is a deal-breaker in a game that requires precise aiming and maneuvering. N64 mode has nothing changed from the original game besides updated graphics and voices, and Expert mode is an extremely hard N64 mode. In Battle mode, you can battle against a friend in one of 4 maps, locally. Nintendo doesn’t like making things online. (We are 0 for 3 so far, Nintendo.) The main gimmick of this particular space shooter is that it has multiple paths. Depending on which objectives you complete on a level, you will go to one of two other levels. If your results screen says “Mission Complete”, it means you did the basic task, but if it says “Mission Accomplished”, you have done a trickier objective. In the three main game modes, the amount of enemies you destroyed is counted and you are shown where you placed on the top 10 high scores of that mode.
The enemies and bosses in this game aren’t terribly challenging. They typically just get blown up if one of your lasers hits them, and the bosses have obvious weak points. The main challenge thrown into the game is, ironically, your allies. These three don’t do anything in terms of the enemies on-screen, but they have other uses. Peppy gives you advice and information on bosses, Slippy lets you see the boss’s health bar, and Falco will help you find most alternate routes. The problem is keeping them alive. They demand help far too often. I’m not kidding. In one level, you are required to fight off a boss as well as your arch-nemesis Star Wolf and his three cronies, who are all equally as skilled as you. Needless to say, I was extremely occupied with all of these enemies. But that didn’t stop Slippy from yelling at me for help FIVE TIMES. By the end of the game, I was shooting Slippy rather than the guys chasing him.
The graphics are so-so. This is still based off a N64 game, so the graphics aren’t too detailed. They do look nice, but they’re definitely not a showstopper. The 3D, on the other hand, is quite amazing. Given the fact that you are racing forward, the 3D is used with great success on the enemies and objects coming toward you. The voice acting is the most enjoyable kind of cheesy, almost exactly like the original game. Overall, the audio and the visuals are certainly pleasing to hear and see.
Starfox 64 3D is an arcade game. With its simple controls and game play, multiple paths, a ranking system for your scores each game and an easy-to-access battle mode, Starfox 64 3D is the type of game you will just sit down and play every now and then, just because.
It isn’t an insanely difficult game, and you don’t need to scrounge the levels to get secret items for 100% completion. It is simply a fun game that you and your friends can compete on and enjoy together. It does nothing else besides offer an incredibly enjoyable experience, just like an arcade machine. And, for that, I cannot recommend it enough. Enjoy.
