Star Fox 64
Initial impressions
The first time I played Star Fox 64 on my SNES, it left me breathless. It
was so intense, the music was nothing short of amazing, and the game never
seemed to get repetitive or boring. I cleared the simple difficulty level,
and went onto medium to realize that it didn't only have more enemies, but
the levels themselves were completely different. The replay value of this
game made me come back again and again, making it one of my favorite SNES
games. I knew Nintendo could do the same thing with Starfox 64, and for
this reason, I bought it the morning it appeared at a local store called
microplay. I already knew about the rumble pak, that you couldn't save, and
in a way, I liked the fact that you couldn't save because this would mean
there would be a huge challenge. I put the game in, and let it sit in idle
because I knew there would be an introduction of some kind. I heard there
would be a lot of voice, but the clarity and sheer number of phrases blew
me away. Everyone now had a personality, and didn't just speak gibberish
like they did in the original. I began my game on Corneria, and I was just
amazed when I thought I was hearing a speech of some kind, the introduction
which explained the story of the lylat system went on for so long, I was
really surprised they got so much voice on the cart. After playing the
game endlessly and getting landmasters, the on foot mode, medals on easy
and expert on every level, I must say I am still not sick of this game.
Graphics
When I found out that full motion video was too space intensive to be held
on a cartridge, I really didn't mind that much. Seeing all the amazing cut
scenes before and after almost every level made realize why people were angry
about the absence of full motion video. In my mind though, I found that the
cut scenes were an improvement because they could be changed depending on the
situation. For example, in one stage there are missiles being fired at
the great fox, which is the mother ship that is in charge of your ship and
your friends. The first time I played, one of the missiles hit the great
fox, and one of its wings got taken off. I did end up finishing the game,
and I was surprised to see that in the ending sequence, the great fox was
missing a wing. This wouldn't be possible with FMV because it is not using
actual game graphics to produce a movie sequence.
The games graphics were also very amazing. The were very, very smooth
and colorful and were nothing short of breathtaking. All the enemies and
especially the bosses were nicely detailed, and animated well. Some special
effects like enemies plummeting into the water, and spherical explosions
were really nice to watch, and were easily distinguishable as Miyamoto
style graphics.
Control
I expected nothing less of the control, and got exactly what I was hoping
for. The arwing responded perfectly to every push of a button, and moved
smoothly in every situation. The control stick is used to move the arwing
up, down, left or right. The R button does a right barrel roll, the Z
trigger does a left barrel roll. Left C brakes, Bottom C boosts, Top C
changes the camera angle, and Right C answers messages from R.O.B 64.
It was really easy to get used to this control, and this only made the game
more fun to master, and more fun to play. The control was perfect in my
opinion.
Sound
If there was one downside to this game, it would have to be the music. I
would say that the music was a little better than good, but did not go with
the gameplay. It was more upbeat than the original. The original Star fox
had music that made you sweat while you were playing. The music in this
game was okay, but that's about it. The sound effects on the other hand
were very good, and went well with the explosions and laser fire. My
favorite being the hyper laser sound. All the voice also made you forget
about the music because someone was always talking and saying something
different that never ceased to amaze me.
Replay Value
Normally, I wouldn't even rate replay value, but I must say that this game
had the highest replay value of almost any game I know. Clearing the game
is not too difficult, but getting all the medals, and doing the same in
expert mode is very difficult indeed. Since everyone already seems to know
about this, there is a way you can use landmasters, and even go on foot
in battle mode! I found that the variety of the battle mode with the
two extra features is great. Everything is well balanced, and all the
modes have their own advantages or disadvantages. The graphics in battle
mode are very smooth, and if you have a large TV, this is not something you
should miss out on. This is one part of the game you may never get sick of
as long as you have a group of friends who keep coming back for more.
All in all, incredible replay value.
Overall 9.8 out of 10
Basically, this game has everything you could ever want. It has multi
player, the one player mode is amazing and everything just seems to fit.
Just more proof that Miyamoto will continue to amaze with his work, and this
is one game that will be cherished by almost anyone who enjoys playing
video games. If you own a Nintendo 64, and you don't play this game, you
are really missing out.