Star Fox 64 3DS

You can never run away from Slippy fast enough

It Takes A Team

Players take control of ace fighter Fox McCloud, who is, as you might have guessed, .a fox. That's okay though, because in the Star Fox universe everyone is an anthropomorphic man-beast – Dr. Moreau would be proud. Fox McCloud and his Star Fox team make up the most ace, bestest, most rootin' tootin' squadron of fighter pilots in the entire galaxy.

Each member of Fox's team has their own special uses and personality. Falco Lombardi is a well known cocky jerk and expert secret finder; players will want to keep him around in order to get to secret areas and open up level paths. Next up is Peppy Hare, strategy expert and barrel roll enthusiast. Peppy gives Fox general advice throughout his missions, and he also likes to remind Fox of how much he is like his father James McCloud (the lack of an animal pun is his name always makes me sad.) Rounding out the team is Slippy Toad of incompetent pilot and unsure gender fame; on the bright side, if Slippy stays alive he(she?) will help you figure out how much life bosses have left, which is cool, I guess.

In general it is in the player’s best interest to keep their squadron mates alive. If they lose all the shields on their ship they have to withdraw, and won't be around for the next mission. Fox unfortunately isn't a fan of the 'retreat' tactic, so be sure to not lose all the shields on his ship, or he will just… you know... die.

Save The Lylat System!

Star Fox 64 3DS takes place in the Lylat System. Like most futuristic space systems, the Lylat System is plagued by an evil mad scientist who wants to take over. In this world that evil mad scientist is Andross, and he happens to have enough goons at his disposal to either hold or attack fifteen different planets, space stations, asteroid belts… basically if it is in space, Andross already has an army ready to go there.

What’s the best thing to stop an evil space empire? Did you say a raggedy band of highly talented space mercenaries? Well you're right! Han S-, I mean Fox and friends are quickly enlisted by General Pepper (who is a dog, and not a talking jalapeno) to save the Lylat System.

The Lylat System is broken up into fifteen separate areas you can and will need to fight through in order to finally face up with Andross. In reality you will only fly through seven of those areas in any one playthrough, so don't expect to see every planet the first time you step into your Arwing; your actions and accomplishments in missions will determine which areas you can get to next. The one thing to keep in mind is that Star Fox 64 was a short game, and by design Star Fox 64 3D is no different. It is very easy to sit down and beat Star Fox in one short sitting. Star Fox is meant to be played as an arcade shooter; the idea is to constantly try new paths, find secrets and try out new tactics in order to rack up the most 'hits' – hits are Star Fox's way of awarding you points for shooting some poor spacedog down.

It may be easy to 'beat' Star Fox, but try getting gold medals on all the stages and you will have a serious challenge in front of you. In short, Star Fox 64 had a miniscule campaign compared to many games out there, but that never stopped it from being extremely fun and full of replay value – Star Fox 64 3D is no different.

Fly Like An Eagle

Most of the time piloting in Star Fox is spent inside of an Arwing, Fox's space fighter of choice. The Arwing comes lightly armed right out of the gate, but placed throughout missions are various power-ups to increase shields, restore shields, increase weapon capabilities and, everyone's favorite, add bombs. For weapons the Arwing primarily uses its laser system, in which it can shoot rapid fire lasers or charge up to send a homing blast towards enemies. Upgrades to weapons found throughout levels will significantly increase the strength of weapons, but be warned: if your wings get damaged those hyper twin-linked lasers will go bye bye. For a more powerful secondary attack the Arwing can hold a stockpile of bombs, which are basically rockets that can trace locked-on targets and have predictably massive explosions.

In terms of maneuverability the Arwing is no slouch. The Arwing is equipped with boosters for a burst of extra speed; you might wonder when you would need to use the boosts to get through anything, but don't worry, Peppy will let you know. Using the boost while ascending lets the Arwing do a rather impressive somersault; this will come in handy in quite a few spots, especially when you are being chased in a dogfight. When the Arwing enters 'all range mode' it is also capable of doing quick u-turns by braking while ascending, which is another handy trick for certain boss battles. Last, but certainly not least, is the fan favorite, the barrel roll; by double tapping either of the shoulder buttons the Arwing will quickly perform a barrel roll, deflecting lasers and making Peppy feel tingly inside all at once.

Not many Ace pilots can also drive tanks

Besides the Arwing, Fox may or may not find himself inside of the Landmaster tank and the Blue-Marine submarine. The controls are basically the same for each of these vehicles as they are for the Arwing with a few minor differences. The Landmaster can hover over obstacles, but sadly, the barrel roll doesn't deflect enemy attacks. The Blue-Marine cannot fire charged laser shots or bombs, but it makes up for this fact by having unlimited torpedoes, which act similarly to less-powerful bombs.

Complete Vs. Accomplished

Surviving a level in Star Fox doesn't mean you actually truly beat it. Many stages have branching paths that you can only get to if you complete certain objectives. These mission objectives vary wildly and some may not be very obvious on an initial playthrough - once apparent, many of those objectives aren't exactly easy either. On one mission you may need to fly through 7 gates, or maybe you have to shoot a ton of spotlights out in order to avoid being spotted. Since the stages are on rails you have to be on your game or you may find yourself having to restart the level to beat the challenge, losing a life in the process.

One of the reasons Star Fox 64 had so much replayability was because all the branching paths led to a lot of different possibilities. It may not take a long time to play every level in Star Fox, but to accomplish all the levels have to offer is another story.

For those really up to a challenge they can try to get medals on every level. Each particular mission has a requirement on how many hits the player is required to rack up in order to get that medal. That may sound easy at first, but getting all the medals is no small feat. For the intrepid fighter ace that does get all 15 medals, they are rewarded with expert mode.

Like A Boss

For most of the game players will shoot down a slew of different enemies, from enemy fighters to lava monsters. The majority of the enemies are small, one hit to kill type enemies who are hardly memorable. Luckily most is not all, and Star Fox 64 3D does bring some memorable boss fights to the end of almost every level. These fights vary in difficulty immensely, but don't expect any of them to be the same as the one before. Many bosses may have a weak-point you need to shoot, but the moves and attacks they throw at you are always different.

The lava is also a monster, good luck with that.

In addition to big boss battles against giant ships and massive bio-weapons, Star Fox occasionally runs into his nemesis, Star Wolf. Star Wolf, under commission of Uncle Andross, brings his gang of four space hoodlums to fight Fox's ragtag group of four. Wolf, much like Fox, pilots a fighter, and unlike the many disposable fighters that the normal Andross minion has, Wolf's fighter can actually take some punishment. In a nutshell, Wolf and his gang can pull off all the same maneuvers and attacks that Fox can, so the battle presents a real piloting skill match.

Battle Buddies

Star Fox brings back the classic four player battle mode with some good things and some bad things. The bad is that the game is sorely lacking wireless play, which is pretty much inexcusable considering the 3DS has built-in Wi-Fi. The game is reliant on download play, which is great if you can get four friends who all own a 3DS together in the same room, but that may prove a challenge to many.

The good news is that the multiplayer has seen some updating. The new and improved Battle Mode can be played single player versus AI or against friends. The multiplayer has plenty of match options and a few new items, maps and features. There is even an option to turn items into 'power-up' boxes, in which a pilot must fly through an oddly colored cube with a question mark in it, and in turn that player gets a random item. Anyone who has played Mario Kart should know the formula there, and it works well for Battle Mode to keep things interesting.

Welcome To The 21^st Century

Graphically Star Fox 64 3D is a much improved game. The entire game has had a complete graphic overhaul from the original, which looks great while still keeping the original art style. The graphics aren't going to blow any minds - remember, it is still a 3DS game - but they do look nice. The 3D mode works well, especially when projectiles are flying fast at you. Visually, Star Fox 64 3D does well.

Hey look, wouldn't this be cool in 3D?

Gyroscopic controls have been added to the Star Fox arsenal. As a Star Fox 64 veteran, it was very difficult for me to get used to the new gyroscopic controls; that isn't to say they don't work, the controls actually work fantastically. Simply put, for those who have spent hours and hours playing with the Nintendo 64 version, trying to use the gyroscopic controls to control the Arwing might feel a bit awkward at first, but they are in fact very responsive and work perfectly well – I personally am just an old purist who likes the thumbstick. Luckily, the gyroscopic controls can be switched on or off, so no one is forced to use them if they aren't comfortable with them.

Final Verdict – Do Some Barrel Rolls

If you have ever played Star Fox 64 on the Nintendo 64, you should basically know what to expect from the new 3DS version. There really aren't that many huge changes, especially to the single player mode. That may be bad news to some, but remember, Star Fox 64 came out over fourteen years ago, so there is an entire generation who may not have experienced Star Fox at all, and for those who haven't – it is a fun game.

The graphical improvements and multiplayer upgrades are all nice, but there is not a whole lot of extra content to chew on. For players looking for a long campaign with a lot of new twists and turns, you will want to look elsewhere; if players want a game they can pick up for an hour that has heaps of replayability, Star Fox 64 3DS is a great choice.

Written by Ryan Moore