Star Fox 64 3D

Star Fox 64 3D is a remake of a very old game, but it is still better than the majority of games currently available for the new Nintendo 3DS. This is because the game has a timeless quality that seems to be lost with most games nowadays, so gorgeous reimagined graphics, an addictively chaotic multiplayer mode, and a few extra layers of polish were all this game needed to become more than relevant again today. Take the epic scale and nature of the space battles in Star Wars, replace the humans with animals, and make the whole thing painfully hilarious and you've got the essence of Star Fox. The gameplay is very cool and stylish, and makes you feel like the galaxy's savior while playing it (the presentation and music go a long way in creating this amazing atmosphere), but for all of the theatrics, the voice acting and dialogue make this alternately one of the cheesiest games of all time. Seriously, every time you blow up something there's a chubby rabbit telling you that you're becoming more like your father, and when you beat a level a cocky jerk bird will tell you exactly how pathetic you are. To top off the increasingly eccentric cast is a slight androgynous toad always getting himself into trouble and overreacting in every situation. It's hard to convey just how silly hearing all this is as you're in the midst of saving the world, but the pitch-perfect delivery does the job. I guarantee that you will be laughing out loud at something of the unintentional humor the original Japanese game designers came up with years ago. In terms the gameplay itself, Star Fox is shoot-em-up game that is "on-rails" (which means in most levels you can't venture off the predetermined past). It is very much and arcade style game and the new Score Attack mode which is exactly what is sounds complements the game's genre perfectly. The only downer is that there are no online leaderboards for it. There are a total of 16 levels in this game, each of which are only a few minutes long, and the variety of shooting different enemies and navigating different paths on different planets keeps things fresh for the game's short duration. While the short length is one of the game's biggest detractors, there are a few things that make it super-replayable such as high-score attacking (mentioned above), finding secret alternate paths through the levels to experience whole new planets, getting the different endings, and just plain seeing all the levels the game has to offer, as it's impossible to play through them all on your first or second run. It might not have a whole lot of content, but that content is compelling enough to keep you coming back again and again and justifying the relatively steep price of $40. The last thing I'll go into in this review is the game's third pillar--its four-player multiplayer component. While this mode offers tons of fun and great customization for awesome fights, it's download-play only which means you can't play your friends online, which is pretty ridiculous in this day and age. The multiplayer itself resembles a dogfight version of Smash Bros., and is a total riot with the CPU and even better with a few friends. And that, my friends, is Star Fox 64 3D. A lovingly crafted testament to how fun video games used to be, and simply the most polished game on the 3DS, Star Fox is absolutely a must own title for any age. I guarantee that this strange and hilarious of world of rabbits and toads blowing each other to bits in space will suck you in like no other and won't let you go for a long time.

I am writing this from the perspective of someone who never played StarFox 64 back in the day (though I did enjoy the original on Super Nintendo). In fact, one reason why I wanted this game was because I've never played 64. So here's the scoop: You play as Star Fox, with 3 other animal dudes on your team (a rabbit, a frog, and a falcon). Each mission is on a different planet, and tasks you with flying through, shooting enemies, and taking out bosses. There are actually two types of missions: one is a straightforward linear level with enemies and obstacles flying into your field of view. The other is a wide-open map that features full 3D movement and is closer to games like Ace Combat than StarFox. The controls are simple but good. You have a basic laser, as well as a limited number of bombs. You can brake or boost. The game is fast-paced and smooth (I am pretty sure it is 60fps), and the controls are responsive. There is optional gyro control, which works well, but I prefer the circle pad. Nintendo has upgraded the graphics nicely here. The textures are sharp and the effects are extremely good. Snow, water, and lava are all shaded and pop with color. There's none of the dull N64 work you might be expecting. It's a more substantial upgrade than Ocarina of Time. The 3D effects also look great. The core of the game is, then, a basic but well-executed arcade-style flying game game. It's the sort of thing we used to get all the time, but rarely do nowadays. What is unique about this game is the structure. You start on the planet Corneria, and need to progress to the planet Venom. Along the way there are 15 planets, but you only need to go through 7 of them. Your path is dependent on actions which happen on the planet. For example, on Corneria, Falco is in trouble. If you help him out, you go one way. If you don't, you go another way. This gives the game a ton of replayability. You can mess around and see the different paths. Each map is very different and offers unique challenges. Though one play through is fairly short, Star Fox 64 is not the sort of game designed for one play through. Also helping the replayability is a score attack mode and the ability to earn medals based on skill. This game plays well enough for a score attack mode to work, and the combination of it and the replayable campaign means that there is plenty here for anyone who gets into it. The combination of sharp mechanics, great level design, and charm (the characters are goofy and have lots to say) make this a keeper in my opinion. In fact, it just might be the 3DS' best game yet. I know the system has received its share of criticism for the game library, and I guess a port of a fourteen year old game doesn't technically address the problem. But for anyone who has not yet played StarFox 64, it is absolutely a gem of a game and worth checking out immediately.

I am a HUGE Star Fox fan so this game excited me a lot when it was announced. Having played through Star Fox 64 for countless hours, this remaster of the game was gorgeous on the 3DS and made very good use of the 3D available to the system. The game is 98% identical to the original one and overall, I would say superior in almost every single way. Positive Changes from 64: - You can now select specific missions after you have gone through them once (GREAT feature especially if you just want to crank out some of the later missions on a commute) - Now there's a specific score attack mode with even more challenging goals for medals - 3DS gyroscope control mode which actually surprisingly works rather well for this game - Local DS Download multiplayer that is pretty fun - Changed Falco's line to "Hey genius" instead of "Hey Einstein." There's less sass but it's consistent with their world at least so I like it. Negative Changes from 64: - Multiplayer lacks the ability to play in the Landmaster or on foot as in the original game - Some of the music score remasterings I did not like at all. One of my main complaints was the Boss C track remastering. The beginning just sounds SO wrong FINAL THOUGHTS Overall, I found the game to be a satisfying experience and if I could remove nostalgia goggles, I would have to say that it is better than the original. It is truly one of the greatest games of all time remastered with modern graphics for a modern system. I think fans of the N64 version would enjoy it, but also anyone who is a fan of space flight combat would also love it as well. There are rich space environments ranging from an asteroid belt to an ocean planet, a lava planet, etc. Go out and buy this game while you still can!

Hard to believe that it has been 15 years since Nintendo unveiled the N64 game system, which revolutionized how we see games, in the richest graphics around. No question about Nintendo and the joy they've made so many gamers all around who've loved Super Mario 64 and The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time, it really is a time for Nintendo gamers to celebrate. But it also has been awhile since Nintendo came out with a driven Star Fox game. It feels like the series with Fox McCloud and company with Slippy, Falco and Peppy had lost a lot of way with gamers. After the lackluster performance of Star Fox Adventures and Star For Assault (which I personally enjoyed on the Nintendo Gamecube,) many wondered why there is no Star Fox game set for the Wii, but there is one now for the Nintendo 3DS. This one though is a nice blast from Andross' past. Star Fox 64 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, brings back all the action from the classic Nintendo 64 game. Yet, nearly 15 years after it debuted, it still feels just like yesterday seeing the madness and mayhem as Fox and company go after the vulgar Andross from invading and destroying the Lylat system. The gameplay feels strong and well, as Fox and company battle through 15 planets and satellites to try and defeat Andross and his foes including the Star Wolf team, villianous bosses like the Sector X robot, and a series of tracking missles set to destroy the Great Fox aircraft in Sector Z. Everything from the original Star Fox game has been brought back to the new Nintendo 3DS well. What is new to the game that can be a bit shaky is the new 3DS control scheme. Like Star Fox Command from the Nintendo DS era, it can be more frustrating at times to maintain for those who've mastered the game before. Thankfully, you can play only the control pad and traditional N64 scheme which works much better for die hard fans from the past, as well as new gamers. But aside from that, the game looks great re-designed for the 3DS. Nintendo did a good job making it look better than before like they did with The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D, taking the N64 legend to a new generation of fans.The music sounds good as well, by keeping a new take on the score and voice acting from the original game to its core and no re-scripting the game. The multiplayer does add a few wrinkles with handheld gaming, but not really anything that makes it feel different against gamers than what the gameplay was before. Overall, Star Fox 64 3D is a good reboot of why the Nintendo 64 had great games, and bringing this game back to the core for those who own the Nintendo 3DS. It is a good game from start to finish, but not anything fresh and new for veterans of the original game. Still, it is nice to see another classic deliver well to a new audience of gamers. If you've played the game before, whether it is from the Wii because of the virtual console download or owned the N64 edition, Star Fox 64 3D is worth a try. If you are new to the Star Fox games, it also is worth the arwing flight. Graphics: B+ Sound: B Control: B+ for N64 control scheme, C for 3DS motion gameplay Fun & Enjoyment: B for solo play; B- for multiplayer Overall: B

This is an awesome game for our six year old who is into flight sim games. I am not saying this is a true flight sim, but it is fun to play even for us. This is a top notch Nintendo game. The game has 16 levels which are all short. Perfect for a handheld. You cannot visit all 16 levels in one play through. The levels that you get to play depend on if you do certain things in the level like save your AI team mates or destroy a certain something. This makes you play the game multiple times to play every level in the game. You could go from start to finish of the story in under an hour if all you care about is the main objective in each level and don't want to spend the time to unlock the multiple branching paths. The game is a very loose on rails shooter in some levels. What I mean is, if you are supposed to head in a direction, the game will not let you turn around, but you can explore the map while flying in that direction and deviate a little bit from the straight path. There are also levels that let you play around the whole map with no constraints. There are some changes/additions to the 3DS version when compared to the original N64 version. It gives you the option to play in the 3DS mode or N64 mode. In the 3DS mode it autosaves after every level.In N64 mode, I believe ( I haven't tried this) it asks you to save in stead of auto saving. You can enable the 3DS Gyro mode to use the 3DS gyroscope sensor to control the Arwing. There is only 1 slot for a save game. But there is a guest mode where you can still play the game without saving and it will not over write the save game on the card. There is a offline multi-player mode called battle mode which allows 4-player LAN multiplayer via download play. I haven't tried this yet to comment on it. I bought this for under $20 and it was definitely worth that price. I did not know the length of the game before buying it and playing through it since I didn't play the original. I personally don't think it is worth full price this long after it has been out. I would recommend it for kids who are into flight sims.

Even after 14 years, Star Fox 64 is a stellar action title. Every level, every boss fight has something new to show the player about the potential of the simple mechanics at the game's core. Throw in great music and very, very tight controls, and you have a package many modern games can't match. And that's all *before* you take into account the awesome refinements on display in the 3DS version -- improved graphics that somehow maintain every bit of their original charm, surprisingly good rerecorded voice acting, a 3D effect that feels totally natural and complements the game well, and even a stage-by-stage Score Attack mode that the N64 release desperately needed. Star Fox 64 3D is so good, so incredibly fun and so strangely fresh after all this time, that it puts the rest of the system's library to shame. If you've got a 3DS, this is the game to get -- its only real peer, so far, is Ocarina of Time. If you don't have a 3DS, this is a damned good reason to think about getting one.

Anyone who loved StarFox64 will love this! Even new comers to StarFox will enjoy this game. The graphics are beautiful! The 3D effects really gives it a great feel. Anyone who has played the old StarFox64 will enjoy the new looks to the old stages we know so well, it gives each stage a bit of a new feel to it. The soundtrack is great, but the voice acting is even worse then it was in the old StarFox64. Anyone who knows every word spoken in the game would be glad to know that there are few new lines add as well. But with such breath-taking graphics and smooth gameplay, the voice acting is easy to get around. The controls are easy to learn and fun. It's an "old" game with a new feel, it's a lot of fun with some new featuers to unlock. I'm disapointed that it doesn't have on-line gameplay, but other then that, it's an awesome game.

In fact I hated the condition that it came in. I immediately returned it because the game was completely water logged and looked as though it had been stored under a puddle for weeks- to the point where the booklet staples had oxidized. The Sticker said “New” but no way in hell was I putting that in to my 3DS. I think I’ll just hop over to Target...

How many hours did i spend on the n64 version? Enough to have finished the 2nd, harder play-thru of the game and unlock every vs mode vehicles. Now this version have much improved textures and higher resolution making this a visually refreshing and a good way to draw the younger generations into loving one of the greatest Nintendo titles!!

Oh yeah, this game is still somewhat challenging even after almost 2 decades. The upgraded graphics for the 3DS are also welcome. Plays great on the 3DS, once I get the new 3DS it'll play even better in 3D.