If I ever have to fly a plane and turn out even passably good at it, I’ll have StarFox 64 to thank. As one of the first really serious simulation games I played as a young teen back in 1997, this game has stuck with me as a challenging favorite.

This is the StarFox 64 introduction sequence, which opens up part of the story for you, as well as introducing the main characters: Fox McCloud, Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare, and Falco Lombardi.

This video is the (hilarious) Nintendo Power-produced teaser for StarFox 64, which demonstrates all the newness that came with the game, such as the Rumble Pak and the 3-D graphics.

Continuing the introduction, the first mission’s preface lays out more of the story. Basically, Fox McCloud’s father was captured (and most likely killed) by the mad scientist Andross while trying to stop him invading the Lylat system. Now Andross is invading the Lylat system (again!) and must be stopped.

This video includes the first mission, in which you learn the following things:

• “Do a barrel roll!”, also known as the takeaway meme from this game 😛
• The game continually pulls you forward, so there’s little time for investigating much beyond your narrow flight path
• Slippy is technically a dude, but does not sound like a dude at all (LOL)
• Peppy has a remarkably fake, almost laughable Southern accent…but only in some scenes
• Falco’s commentary defines “snarky” before it was a common word.
• The Backflip will quickly become your favorite evasion technique, as well as a maneuvering trick.
• Charging your laser and allowing the targeting system to lock on is a great technique for accuracy, especially flying as fast as you generally have to.
• Collect all the glimmering rings you can; silver rings heal you up, and 3 golden rings give you a permanent health increase and occasionally an extra life.
• Shoot everything. Who knows, that random 3-D blob might have a bonus hidden in it!

Aside from playing missions, you can also get better at flying by going into Training Mode (seen here in this video). I spent so much time here as a kid, just playing around. LOL

This video shows that it’s possible to kamikaze into bosses and destroy them, apparently. LOL! (Watch for Peppy’s ill-timed comment at the end for extra LOL)

The stark beauty of flying through the meteor belt…kinda reminds me of Star Wars. Wait, that’s the whole point of the game, never mind. 😛

Apart from using the Arwing (the flying ship), you can also use a tank during land missions that require it. The tank is a little harder and slower to maneuver than the ship, so take that into account!

Also, on the planet Aquas, you get to use a submarine; I was terrible at it, but that’s mainly because the levels are generally dark and harder to navigate. If you time your torpedoes right, you can light the way ahead much better.

This video collects together all the boss fights in the game…

…but here’s a little trivia: there are two final-boss endings to this game. This one is the “Easy” battle against Andross (to which I say: “Easy? Are you kidding?”). Many gamers say this ending allows Andross to live instead of being completely wiped out.

And this is the “Hard” ending, which involves Fox’s long-lost father leading him from the battlefield and out of Andross’ realm before it all explodes. (I admit, I never saw this ending. I don’t remember fighting Andross’ brain, nor the flight sequence at the end. Fail! I r not hardcore gamer… xD Guess I get to replay and see if I can find this ending for myself! 🙂 )

To Play StarFox 64

Aside from being released on the N64 back in 1997, this game was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console as well. However, there is also a newer version called StarFox 64 3D, released for the Nintendo 3DS handheld system.

StarFox 64 @ Wikipedia; see more information about the remake for the 3DS here.