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The Lylat system. This small group of planets enjoyed years of prosperity. The inhabitants lived in peace. That is, until Andross came into view.
Andross was born and raised on Corneria, fourth planet of the system, and grew to be a brilliant scientist.
Dr. Andross had been focusing all his time and energy researching bio-technology. But, since Corneria was a peaceful planet, this research went in vain. Over time, his mind became twisted and his morals became demented. Andross went mad.
One day, a a weapon, secretly developed by Andross, was unleashed on the residents of Corneria. Andross had turned his back on his homeward. Corneria's major cities were damaged. Luckily, Andross was captured by General Pepper, charged with treason and exiled to the planet Venom.
Five years later, reports from Corneria's observation station had confirmed disturbing activity from Venom. General Pepper sent three members of the Star Fox team, James McCloud, Pigma Dengar and Peppy Hare, to investigate.
When they arrived at Venom, Pigma betrayed his teammates and turned them over to his new master, Andross. Peppy barely managed to escape and returned home to his homeward to report McCloud's fate to his son, Fox.
Consumed with hatred, Andross declared war on the Lylat system. Slowly, Andross had taken control planet by planet. Now, Andross is advancing on Corneria.
General Pepper knows that Corneria's army alone cannot stop Andross. In his hour of need, he has turned to the new Star Fox team to save Corneria and free Lylat from Andross' evil clutches!
—Star Fox 64 1997 Instruction Booklet

"Star Fox 64", known in Australia and Europe as "Lylat Wars" due to trademark issues, is a scrolling shooting game developed and released by Nintendo in 1997 for the Nintendo 64. It is the second officially released Star Fox game, as the originally planned second game in the series, "Star Fox 2", was canceled for physical release on the SNES due to the upcoming release of the Nintendo 64, but some of its features were reused in "Star Fox 64", such as charged laser shots, All-Range Mode, and even the Star Wolf team. It was the first game to introduce support for the N64 Controller's Rumble Pak, and was packaged with one.

The game received positive ratings from reviewers and critics who praised its smooth animation, detailed visuals, and use of multiple gameplay paths."Star Fox 64" was listed as the forty-fifth-greatest game of all time by Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition in 2009, and has been called one of the greatest games of all time, and is the most popular game in the series, and was also rereleased under the Player's Choice range due to high enough sales.

10 years after the original N64 release, "Star Fox 64" was released for download purchase on the Virtual Console available on the Nintendo Wii, later for the Wii U Virtual Console and now for the Nintendo Switch Online library. This game also received a remake in 2011, "Star Fox 64 3D". It is a reboot of the original "Star Fox" game, and the only game in the series to be released on the Nintendo 64.

Gameplay

Much like the original 1993 game, the objective of the single player Main Game in "Star Fox 64" is to take charge of the Star Fox team as Fox McCloud and uncover the game's fifteen missions that link together in a number of possible paths to the final objective: a show-down on Venom, the home planet of the interplanetary tyrant, Andross. Throughout the variable adventures, players will have to accomplish challenging objectives in order to reach and conquer every mission. There are two different mission modes in the game; the primary 3-D scrolling mode where the vehicle is sent down a fixed route with variable pathways towards the Mission objective, and an all-range introduced in "Star Fox 64" from the originally unreleased "Star Fox 2". 3-D scrolling Missions thrusts players forward into the conflict, and requires intense, split-second reactions while taking down enough targets and keeping all three teammates onboard to try and earn a Mission Medal. Multiple paths are possible through these scrolling missions, depending on the choices taken or gaming performance. All-range mode missions enable the Arwing to maneuver in full 360-degrees within a confined 3D arena, and to put the Arwing through radical combat maneuvers like loop-the-loops and high energy turns.

Not only does the Rumble Pak provide force-feedback in response to the game action, the Controller's analog Control Stick gives the player total, precise control of the specific vehicle dimensions and performances, be it a sleek Arwing starfighter, an armored Landmaster tank, or the deep-diving Blue-Marine submersible.

Main Game aside, up to four players can participate in three different Versus Mode matches:

  • Point Match, where the first player to reach a set total wins.
  • Battle Royal, where the last player standing wins.
  • Time Trial, where the aim is to score as many points as possible in the set time.

The first two options have Corneria and Sector Z as the possible stages, while the time trial has Katina and Sector Z. At first, only the Arwing is available, but the Landmaster is available after winning a medal on Venom in Normal Mode, and an interesting Pilot mode is available after gaining a medal on all missions in Expert Mode.

Controls

  • Arwing - The Arwing space/air fighter is used for thirteen of the sixteen levels in the game, and much of the rest of the series. In 3D Corridor Missions, the Arwing will be automatically start flying down a fixed route where it can be flown in any direction to reach the end of the flight path to face the mission objective. It can fire unlimited laser bullets and charged homing shots to damage and destroy targets, and store and fire up to nine Smart Bombs, and its lasers can be upgraded to twin and hyper. It can also perform special piloting maneuvers such as somersaults, half-loops and the famous barrel roll. The booster and brakes can help the Arwing speed up or slow down when required, however, the Arwing cannot fully stop moving or turn around. The three Star Fox team members will try to help make Missions easier with their respective skills, but they will have to be on the battlefield in order to help or they will be forced to retreat when chased by tailing enemies for too long.

The Arwing is also the primary vehicle in Versus Mode. When the other two vehicle types are unlocked, the Arwing is selected at the player's spawn point with (A).

  • Landmaster - Introduced in "Star Fox 64", Fox uses the Landmaster tank to save Slippy on the Titania Mission, and to take out the enemy supply base on the Macbeth Mission. Being made from the same engineering parts as the Arwing, the Landmaster can shoot single laser blasts or charged shots from the front cannon, fire bombs, but its lasers cannot be upgraded in the Main Game. The tank can speed up or slow down and hover very briefly with the booster/brake meter. Also, it cannot barrel roll, but instead, rolls out of the way of attacks, despite Peppy's advice spoken on Titania.

When Expert Mode is unlocked, the Landmaster can be selected for use in Versus Mode by pressing (B) on the player's spawn screen.

  • Blue Marine - Unique to the Mission on planet Aquas, since the Arwings cannot go underwater, the experimental Blue-Marine is equipped with unlimited lock-on torpedoes in place of Smart Bombs, its lasers can be upgraded to twin and hyper, and it is barrel roll capable, making the Blue Marine the most powerful of the three crafts. However, its controls are slightly sluggish due to being underwater.
  • On Foot (Fox, Peppy, Slippy or Falco) - The Player can use them only in multiplayer ground-based stages, and only after unlocking them by earning a Medal in each Mission of the Main Game and gaining a medal on either side of Venom in Expert Mode. The controls consist of using the Control Stick to look around, holding R to run, pressing Z to jump, A for lasers, and B for bombs. Unlike the other two modes, Pilots cannot charge up shots.

Medals and Expert Mode

In addition to the main goal to complete the stage, every stage also has a secondary goal in the form of a target number of kills. Once the player has gotten enough kills, as long as all his allies are still alive, his score will turn orange and he will be awarded a medal for that planet upon completion of the mission. If the player earns medals on every mission, he will have the option to play the main game in "Expert Mode."

Releases and rereleases

  • SF64 Player's Choice

    "Player's Choice" edition of Star Fox 64.

    Star Fox 64
    was released in a special, larger box with a Rumble Pak included in every copy. The game sold enough copies to make it into the "Player's Choice" range.
  • Star Fox 64 was released on the Wii's Virtual Console on 2nd April 2007 in Japan, 17th April 2007 in North America and 20th April 2007 in Europe.
  • Star Fox 64 3D is a remake of Star Fox 64 that was released for the Nintendo 3DS. This game has been released in Japan in July 14, 2011 and was released on September 9, 2011 in North America and Europe on September 15, 2011. This game is the sixth Star Fox game officially announced, and the second handheld Star Fox game.
Main article: Star Fox 64 3D

Comic Adaptation

Main article: Lylat Wars Comic
Nintendo of Europe released a comic adaptation in 1997, based on the events within the game.

Trivia

  • In the Japanese version, if the player is shot down, one of Fox's teammates will scream Fox's name much like in Star Fox Assault. This was replaced with them shouting "No!" in the English version.
  • Completing the game with routes that included Katina or Zoness will cause Bill Grey's Cornerian Fighter or Katt Monroe's Catspaw to appear in the Staff Credits. As they accompany Star Fox back to Corneria, Bill will fly above Fox and Peppy and Katt will fly above Falco and Slippy.

Names in Other Languages

Language Name
Japanese (スターフォックス 64 Sutā Fokkusu Rokujūyon)

References

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