Star Fox 64
Nintendo 64
Ah, the good old days of Nintendo 64. Back when this system was big, I was at perhaps the highest peak of my video game obsession. If I didn't own them, I had at least rented or played the majority of the games that had come out in the first few years of this system's life.
One of these games was Star Fox 64. I had played the original Star Fox for the SNES, but only when friends were visiting and brought their system over. I liked that game, but I was never truly good at it. Nor did I get to fully explore it to my heart's content.
I made up for that with its sequel, Star Fox 64. I had been super excited for the game. In the previews, it looked amazing. The graphics were far superior to nearly everything I had seen to this point in my life. There was 4-player capability. The game just looked flat out fun and much more fleshed out than its 16 bit counterpart. I know it sounds silly, but one of the things I looked forward to the most was the Rumble Pak. It was a device you inserted into your N64 controller to make the controller vibrate and rumble in your hands whenever you got hit or there was a big explosion on screen. I know that this is something we take for granted nowadays, but back then this was big stuff.
I got this game for my 15th birthday and immediately went to work. Would you believe that my initial thought on the game was disappointment? Sure the graphics were nice, But the thing that immediately stood out to me before I even began playing the game was the sound. Specifically: the voices. Man I hated those voices. They sounded tinny and canned, not anything at all like next gen voices should sound. Not only that but they were annoying too. Who hasn't wanted to slap Slippy upside the head a few dozen times while playing this game?
But I quickly shelved my concerns about the voice acting when I started playing the game. It was awesome. The Rumble Pak was cool, the controls were great. The levels were well designed and different stylistically from one another. There was a new wrinkle added to the game play where you could go into free range mode and not be stuck traveling in one direction anymore. You could even ride in a tank!
My main gripe (beside the voices) was the fact that I almost beat the game on my first attempt. And I probably would have if I hadn't had to share the game with people who were over for my birthday. My secondary gripe was the multiplayer mode. It ended up being a huge let down. The maps are too big and you could have a full game go on for 10 minutes and only wind up with one or two kills. After the awesomeness of Goldeneye and a few other games that I liked to play with friends, this was a disappointment as well.
I can't remember properly, but I think I did end up beating the game later on that first night. No one wants to beat a game right after getting it. Especially a brand new expensive game that you've been looking forward to for a long time. You want it to be an experience that lasts as long as possible. I dug deeper into the game and discovered all the different branches you can take in the game. There is the easy branch that I had completed. Based on certain acts or decisions you make during the game, you can go on different branches. Different branches = different levels. So it was like I still had a whole lot of game left to explore.
And that I did. Many times. Many, many, many times. In fact, over the years I think I have beaten Star Fox 64 more than I have any other game out there. I mastered this game. I got a medal on each and every level out there (medals are handed out based on the amount of kills you get per level). I unlocked every single thing that there is to unlock in this game. This was not an easy task. Not to toot my own horn, but I was amazing at this game.
As expected, I eventually stopped playing the game as newer and better games and systems came out. When I picked this up and played it yesterday, it had literally been ten years since the last time I had played it. Playing it again though, the memories and all the fun I had with this game came crashing back to me. It was like meeting an old friend again after half a lifetime has passed since you have last seen him.
Star Fox 64 is everything you want in a game. It is flat out pure and unadulterated fun. It is not the longest game ever. In fact after beating it on all three branches yesterday, I likely won't pick it up for another ten years. But it is fun. And what else can you ask for?
Gone are the shoddy (although revolutionary for its time) polygonal looking graphics of the SNES world. The world of Star Fox 64 is a big, detailed one. Everything just looks great. The water, the weapon effects, the surfaces (which have that charming N64 "glaze" on them), the detail level of the bosses and the enemies. Even now - no I can't say the graphics are perfect - but there is no denying that this game has withstood the test of time.
I had played this game so many times when I was younger that things I didn't even know I had forgotten about made me smile when I re-encountered them. The conversation and banter between the Star Fox crew and its enemies. The asteroid field special effects when you drive through the booster rings. The lava planet where you can't get too close to its surface. The Independence Day like level where you have to defeat a big ass ship hovering overhead. Katt and Bill. That fucking sub level (hated it when I was younger, aced it on one life now). The Star Wolf team. Shooting down the missiles before they can hit the Star Cruiser. Andross. So much classic shit is packed into this game.
When I finished all three game paths, I began to feel like I had no reason to continue playing. I had mastered the game as a kid. In fact I still have everything unlocked on my game cartridge. On none of my three play throughs did I even come close to getting a high score. The best I was able to get was 900 some kills, which wasn't good enough for even top ten on the leader board. In fact, the lowest score on the board was 1400 something. Jesus! And I thought I had done well in my old age. I don't even know how I got that many kills in one play through when I was younger.
As good as the game is, it will probably be shelved for a long time. Multiplayer is the only thing that might possibly have had me coming back, but that is useless and I don't really have many friends anyway. Sure I could play the game on all its paths again and try to get a high score, but what is the point? I have seen everything this game has to offer, and there really is no more reason to go on. It stinks that a game this epic is so short, and has such little replay value.
And it is an epic game. Make no mistake about it. I am going to give it an A+ no matter what, if only for all the great times I had playing this while younger. I definitely enjoyed myself while playing it again in 2015. It is just that nowadays I have bigger and better things to do than play the same game over and over again. But still, I look back on my teenage years playing this game with fondness. The late nights I spent up playing. The strategies I pushed to get as many kills as possible. The trip up north where my cousin and I must have played and beaten this game 20 times. Just simply discovering a new game path for the first time and being completely blown away.
Star Fox 64 has played a big part in my life. Its ship has likely sailed, but its legacy will live on in me forever.
Overall:
A+
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