5/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Star Fox 64.

System: Nintendo 64 Started: June 1, 2025 Ended: June 7, 2025 Redemption Playthrough First Attempt: 2001 Star Fox 64 is another big childhood game of mine, and I still own a copy that includes the Rumble Pak and still works perfectly after all these years. As a kid, I couldn’t beat the original Star Fox for the Super Nintendo, but Star Fox 64, however, I actually got much farther than its predecessor. I was up to the final battle with Andross on the easy path, but I couldn’t beat him because I had very limited lives by that point. I also wanted to explore other planets like Sector Z and Area 6, but I never got the chance. In the end, I gave up and moved on to other games. On the bright side, Star Fox 64 still left a huge impression on me, and I prefer it over the original. The story, presentation, and levels are significant improvements. Recently, I decided I want to revisit this game and aim for the Medal achievement. Star Fox 64 remains one of my favorite Nintendo 64 games, and I can always go back to it just for the epic storyline. In comparison to the original Star Fox, Argonaut Games did not work on 64. Nintendo was now the developer, making it an official reboot. The story has changed; planets from the Super Nintendo version are different, such as Titania and Macbeth. You still have route choices of easy, medium, and hard, similar to the original Star Fox. However, your route depends on how well you perform in each level, and you must complete key objectives to progress to other planets based on the selected difficulty. What makes this game so much better is the presentation. It features a more in-depth story with cutscenes and voice acting. After playing it for so many years, I still quote from it from time to time. “Do A Barrel Roll!” remains one of the most popular memes on the Internet. Your Star Fox team is still as helpless as ever, like Slippy, and you get to meet new characters along the way, such as the rival StarWolf gang, Bill Grey, and Katt Monroe. The level designs are much more diverse: you have an underwater planet called Aquas, a scorching planet called Solar where your health depletes due to extreme heat temperature, and even a level inspired by the movie Independence Day. You can now drive a tank and a submarine, adding more variety. Lastly, Star Fox 64 introduced the All-Range Mode, which allows you to fly freely around the battlefield instead of on-rails. Despite the engaging new storyline, I still prefer the Super Nintendo version and the mini Nintendo Power comic series by Benimaru Itoi. Sure, N64's voice acting, the debut of StarWolf, and the narrative introduction are great, but I believe the original story and the world-building of the Lylat System were better in the original. The comic series provides a deeper background for each character, and I highly recommend checking it out. As Andross says, “Now you feel true pain.” That quote reminds me of the extreme difficulty involved in achieving 100% completion in this game. Unlocking the Landmaster and On-Foot Multiplayer modes requires completing all the medals on every one of the 15 planets by shooting enemies and earning points. You might think it’s easy, but the points needed for medals are so high that you must be extremely quick to take down enemies flying toward you; otherwise, they run away. Charge shots and brakes are vital for earning extra points, especially when taking down multiple enemies at once. I think Nintendo developers are a bit sadistic for locking these multiplayer options behind the highest difficulty, forcing players to beat the game on Expert Mode. A guide is highly recommended if you plan to achieve 100%. The Nintendo Switch Online version does make it a bit easier since you get save states. Still, earning these medals is rewarding and feels awesome. Plus, in Expert Mode, Fox wears his dad’s shades, which is pretty cool. Despite the challenging way to unlock multiplayer content, Star Fox 64 remains my favorite Star Fox game. I highly recommend it to Nintendo and flight sim fans alike. The game is surprisingly short; you can beat it in almost an hour. It’s even easier than the original Star Fox, so beating the Easy Path shouldn’t be a problem. Its popularity led to a 3D remake for the Nintendo 3DS, although it couldn’t quite match the original’s janky, awkward polygon character graphics from the N64.