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Play as Fox McCloud, leader of team Star Fox, in this on-rails space shooter to save the Lylat system from the evil forces of Andross.

Overview

Star Fox 64 is an on-rails shooting game that was released on April 27 1997, in Japan; July 1, 1997, for America; and then on October 20, 1997, in Europe and Australia for the Nintendo 64, although due to legal issues, it was named Lylat Wars to match the name of the star system in which they traverse.  It was also later released onto the Wii's Virtual Console.This was the first Nintendo 64 game to support the rumble pack peripheral and came with a free one packed in with each copy.

Plot

Following the events of the original Star Fox for the SNES, the story begins before the plot of the game. Years before, strange activity is spotted on the planet Venom, where the mad scientist Andross had been exiled. The orginal Star Fox, made up of James McCloud, Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar, is sent to investigate. However, once they arrived, Pigma betrays the team and allows James and Peppy to be captured by Andross. Peppy manages to barely escape by himself and returns to Cornelia, the governing planet of the Lylat system, to tell James's son Fox his father's fate. Years later, Andross unleashes an attack across the Lylat system prompting Cornelia to send the new Star Fox team, made up of Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad, to repel and investigate the attacks. 
All the possible routes in Star Fox 64
All the possible routes in Star Fox 64

Along the way to Venom, the team face their nemesis, Star Wolf which is made up of Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Powalski, Pigma Dengar, and Andrew Oikonny, and must defeat them multiply times. After completing all the stages before Venom, Star Fox can now assault Andross. Depending on the route taken to Venom, the battle against Andross will vary. If the blue path (Easy) was taken, a false robotic Andross serves as the final boss. However, after the credits, Andross is heard laughing, implying that he is still alive. If the red path (Hard) was taken, after the battle against Andross's head, his true form is revealed: a floating brain and two eyes. After the defeating the brain, James McCloud (It is debated whether or not it is a ghost) leads his son out the the imploding base. Returning to Cornelia as heroes, Star Fox is offered membership into the Cornelian army but refuse saying that they prefer "doing things their own way. After the credits roll, the Great Fox and Star Fox are shown flying off into the skies. 

After the credits, there is a bill from Star Fox to General Pepper which shows the number of enemies killed in the campaign multiplied by 64 resulting in the money due. If the price is under $70,000 (1093 enemies or fewer) General Pepper remarks, "This is one steep bill....but it's worth it." If the price is over $70,000 (1094 enemies or more) the general yells in shock "Whaaat?"

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 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 recovery item, since it recovers your health much more quickly.

A Smart Bomb
A Smart Bomb
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.




Characters

Heroes


Fox
Fox

Fox McCloud – The leader of the Star Fox team. He is the son of the very-well-know Arwing flier James McCloud. 
 
 
 
 
 


Peppy
Peppy

Peppy Hare - Long-time friend of James McCloud. He is, by far, the most experienced Arwing flier and will continually give advice to the player as the game goes on. 
 
 
 

 

Slippy
Slippy

Slippy Toad - A childhood companion of Fox McCloud and a little inexperienced in flying. He is usually the one to ask questions or "mess up" in flights 
 
 
 
 
 

Falco
Falco

Falco Lombardi - A cocky, space-loving friend. He is very jealous of Fox McCloud as seen many times in the story line, making sarcastic remarks and trying to look very important   

 
 
 
 
 

Villains


Andross - The one who is responsible for James McCloud’s death and the one who is wanting to take over the Lylat system. He lives on the planet Venom and thinks that he is the ruler to rule them all.

Pigma Dengar- He was a former member of the Star Fox team and then joined the Star Wolf Team in the attempt to kill James McCloud by bringing him to Andross, and he succeeded.

Star Wolf (Wolf O’Donnell) - He is the leader of the Star Wolf team and an opponent to the Star Fox team.

Leon Powalski- He is a very sly, cold, and devious pilot that is part of the Star Wolf Team. 

Andew- Andross's nephew and a member of the Star Wolf team


Other Characters


James McCloud (Fox McCloud Sr.) – Starfox’s father, and the original leader of the Starfox team.   Andross captured him and killed him. In this game, his spirit helped Starfox to escape the collapsing ruins around him when Andross was defeated.

Katt Monroe- She likes to flirt with Falco, and she has a crush on him.   You will see her on the planet Zoness, and she will help you sometime later on planet Macbeth or Sector Z depending on what path is taken.

Bill Grey- He is chief officer of the Bulldog and Husky Squadrons on Corneria.   Fox met him in the Cornerian Flight Academy, and they have been friends ever since.   You’ll meet Bill on planet Katina.


Vehicles

 There are multiple vehicles used by fox and his team during the game and these include:

Great Fox
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 MK-1

Arwing

The Arwing is the main ship all character will fly with it's now trademark upgradable laser's, Smart 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 somersault and a full 180 degree corkscrew-turn when fighting in non-rails parts of the game, mainly boss fights   



Landmaster
Landmaster

The Landmaster

The Landmaster is a tank first seen in Star Fox 64  Only used on the planets Macbeth and Titania, the Landmaster is a powerful land vehicle. Like the Arwing, it is able to do a barrel roll, fire smart bombs, and lock on to its targets. In addition, it can hover for a moment and boost.








Blue Marine
Blue Marine
The Blue Marine

The Blue Marine is a submarine that Star Fox uses, thus far, only in Star Fox 64. The Blue Marine is unique among the other vehicles because its B-Bomb equivalent, torpedoes, have unlimited ammunition. This is mainly because the sea floor is extremely dark and the torpedoes provide light for a few seconds after they explode. The blue marine has a slight resemblance to Great Fox, although it is  much smaller. The Blue Marine is only used in one level. 



Level Summary

Corneria

Corneria is the first level of the game and the direction in which you beat the level decides which path you take take through the Galaxy (This is not a permanent path though, and any "Mission Completes" instead of "Mission Accomplished" will bump you down to a lower path). The first path is fighting a humanoid Robot (blue path) and the second option is saving Falco, who then shows you a Giant Alien Ship behind a waterfall which sends you on the red path. 

Blue Path


Meteo

The team flies through an asteroid field, fighting enemies along the way. The blue path can be continued by fighting a giant ship at the end of the level, or jump to the yellow path by flying through a series of boost rings. 

Fichina

A base with a bomb in that Star Fox must defuse. The team must defeat Star Wolf to defuse it. 

Sector X


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. 

Titania


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

Bolse


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.

Venom 1

The player must fight through a temple boss and then destroy Andross's face and hands. Once this is done, it is revealed that you are really fighting a robot and must destroy the robotic under-skeleton as well. Once this is done, the game is over. 

Yellow Path


Katina

You try to save the military base on Katina from the enemy army by killing their forces and then eventually by destroying their mother-ship and preventing it's death laser from incinerating the facility. Fox meets his old friend Bill, now a member of the Cornerian Army, on this planet. 

Solar

Solar is the star of the Lylat System and so it covered with Lava. You slowly lose health throughout the level due to the heat and therefore must continually pick up power ups. If you touch the lava your Arwing is hurt. The boss is a lava monster who is known as the "Enemy Bio Weapon". 

MacBeth


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. 

Red Path


Sector Y

You are asked to help fight a battle. Throughout the level you must fight three Gundam-like robots.

Aquas

Fox heads underwater to destroy an enemy clam monster/bio weapon. This is the only level so far in the franchise where you use the Blue Marine. 

Zoness


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. 

Sector Z


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. 

Area 6


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

Venom 2

The player must destroy a disfigured Star Wolf and their new ships without the aid of lock-on or B-Bombs. After this, you head through a maze in order to get to Andross's true form: his brain. Once destroying his brain, Andross tried to take you down with him by bringing down the entire structure you are fighting in. At this point, Fox's father (it is debated whether he is a ghost or not) shows Fox the way out. If you fail to follow him, you die and must repeat the mission. After this, Fox's father disappears and the game is over. 

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 Landmaster. 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.
There are three different matches available to play: Point Match - Where the first one to five kills wins
     Battle Royal - Last one last one standing wins

     Time Trial - To see how many enemy fighters you can shoot down within a time limit


Other Information

Starfox 64 was the second top selling game in 1997.   In the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition of 2009, Starfox 64 is considered to be the 45th best video game of all time.

Game Name Star Fox 64
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Original US Release July 1, 1997
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Aliases Lylat Wars
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