Gameplay

In Star Fox 64 you play as Fox McCloud, leader of a group of mercenaries for hire named Star Fox. In most cases you pilot a ship called an Arwing (although sometimes you pilot a Submarine called the Blue Marine or a tank called the Land Master). You move Fox McCloud's vehicle using the analog stick to maneuver around the screen and using the A button to shoot incoming enemies with lasers.

Throughout the game, various power ups are available to help you accomplish each level. Silver rings would increase your health by a small increment. Gold rings, on the other hand, boosted your max heal th by a significant portion if you managed to collect 3 of them on one stage, and if you collected an additional 3 after that, you would gain 1 extra life. Silver stars are the most valuable recover y item, since it recovers your health much more quickly.

The Smart Bomb is another power up that is used to blow up numerous amounts of enemies in a single shot. These are used with the B button. Laser upgrades are also available that increase the power of your laser. However, once you've upgraded your laser twice, it is fully powered up and cannot be further upgraded.

The game features a variety of alternate paths and endings depending on your choices made during the course of the game. Depending on if you accomplished a certain task on a mission, you will be give n an option to take an alternate route to Venom. The game has 2 distinct endings, one where you enter Venom via the satellite Boise, and the other where you enter Venom by attacking Area 9 directly.

Great Fox

Great Fox

The team's mother ship and staging area. The player never controls Great Fox, but each mission ends with the team returning to the ship.

Arwing MK-1

Arwing

The Arwing returns again in Star Fox 64 with it's now trademark upgradable laser's, B-Bombs and Barrel Rolls. In Star Fox 64 it also has the ability to fire a homing shot by centering the trigger on a target and holding down A until the targeting reticule flashes red of the target. The plane also gains the ability to do a summersault and a full 180 corkscrew-turn when fighting in non-rails parts of the game. Another new addition in 64 to the Arwing is that the player can play the game from a cockpit perspective, although this is not frequently done because it is both dizzying and difficult.

Landmaster

The Landmaster

The Landmaster is a tank first seen in Star Fox 64  It has the ability to speed boost, and can perform the same sort of Barrell Roll maneuver as the Arwing is capable of.

You fight "Andross's Secret Weapon". If Slippy is killed by the boss, the player must deviate back to the blue path to save her. 

Fox uses the Landmaster to take out enemies on his way to saving Slippy from a plant monster. 

You need to destroy this station in order to get to Venom. Destroy it by shooting the yellow outcroppings on the generator. If you haven't fought Star Wolf already, you will fight them here.

Macbeth is a machinery planet and your goal is to destroy a train full of Andross's weapons. You can either due this by shooting 8 switches (and then one final activation switch) that will set the train on a collision course with a building. Doing this will move you to the red path's Area 6. If you miss the switches, you must fight the conductor's flying robot that is tethered to the train. Defeating the robot will jump you to the blue path's Bolse. 

You must fight through the planet, which is covered with toxic liquid, in order to destroy a pirate-like boss (who shoots cannon balls) at the end of the level. Katt, an old friend of Falco's, helps the team on this mission. Touching the polluted sea will damage your Arwing. 

The team must defend Great Fox from Six Andronian missiles while flying through Sector Z. If you stop all the missiles, you stay on the red path to Area 6. If one hits Great Fox, the wing explodes and you head to Bolse on the blue path. 

You fight through three fleets, all of which are preparing for more Lylat attacks,  in order to get to Venom.

Unlockable Content

On each stage, there is a certain high score that must be beaten in order to earn a medal for that specific course. If all of the medals were obtained, it would unlock a new expert difficulty mode to the main storyline. This mode is identical to the original game, except the difficulty has been increased significantly. If all of the medals were obtained in the expert mode of the game, a new title screen would be unlocked.

In addition, you can unlock different multiplayer options by obtaining medals. If you obtain the Venom medal in normal mode, you can unlock the ability to play as a Land Master. Likewise, if you obtain the Venom medal in expert mode, you unlock the ability to play on foot in the multiplayer mode.

Multiplayer

Star Fox 64 contains a 4-player multiplayer mode that feature all-range mode. Players have to eliminate other players in order to win. Unlike the main game, there is only one Smart Bomb and one Laser Upgrade available for each course. Players use an arwing to fight, but later can get the option of choosing to go in a Land Master or on foot once they unlock medals in the main game.