StarFox 64

I have not been the biggest StarFox fan in the past. I admit it wholeheartedly, but I recently took it upon myself to have a go and see what StarFox 64 was like. I can now admit that I have been wrong about this series for many years. Starfox sees you, Fox McCloud, fight off the evil Andross in your trusty Arwing, and is an on-rails shooter at its core.  In fact, it is the last StarFox game so far that is a pure air-based combat besides StarFox Command for the DS, which has ackward stylus-based controls.

The game does not follow a linear path, meaning that any mistakes or achievements you make through a level, such as letting one of your wingmen be hit too much, directly affect the order you go through the levels. This means that you have to play through the game multiple times in order to even see all the levels the designers included.

What surprised me most about the game, is how similar the mechanics and gameplay are to some of the best vertical shooters that I have played. You find yourself using the same techniques that you use in games such as Radient Silvergun and 1942. The N64 never had a proper shump released in the west, so for anyone who wants their fix of methodical bullet dodging and mindless shooting, Starfox is a great new twist on a simple genre.    The graphics actually aren’t too bad for the N64 and complement the game quite nicely.  Of course it doesn’t have quite the polish that the Gamecube installments have, but it is a definate step up from the original StarFox on the SNES.  So when it comes down to it, if you want the best pure-on rails shooting in the StarFox universe, StarFox 64 is still your best bet.