I’ll never forget that fateful day in 1997 when my Grandma came to visit from the States and brought over a copy of StarFox 64, complete with the Rumble Pak. I was ten years old at the time, and my love for this on-rails, mission-based arcade space shooter quickly turned to obsession. I scoured for fanfic and fanart on the early Internet and joined videogame forums in part because of my love for the original StarFox 64 and desire to seek out games like it.

StarFox 64, for the uninitiated, sees you piloting the experimental Arwing starfighter as Fox McCloud, head of the titular mercenary team, in a quest to retake the Lylat System from exiled mad scientist Andross, a Planet of the Apes Dr. Zaius wannabe reject who nevertheless has shown great genius in turning the tables of the Cornerian Army and enslaving the solar system, populating planets with on-rails and all-range levels, unique foes, and troublesome and iconic boss fights.

One of Nintendo’s Most Memorable and Iconic Translations

My younger brother was watching closely and internalized the majesty of StarFox 64 on an even deeper level, going so far as to call Fox McCloud, a confident leader who takes up his late father’s mantle to risk it all in saving the entire Lylat System, the modern epitome of the heroic archetype. But it’s not just the furry and feathered team who are exceptionally well-realized and voice-acted.

The localization of StarFox 64 is as flawless as its over-the-top performances, walking a fine line between campy and theatrical. So how do you follow that up? Turns out, they never did. The subsequent writing, puns, and acting never topped this title. And you can’t fault either Nintendo, Rare, Bandai Namco, or Platinum Games, who all made progressively less successful sequels. They honestly did their best with what they were given (not enough time or money).

And after nearly three decades, one of which is dormant, imagine being a game developer tasked by Nintendo to accomplish the impossible: reboot StarFox 64 for a new generation. One might think that perhaps trying to top StarFox 64 might appear to be a fool’s errand. I am extremely grateful to Velan Studios for taking on this challenge and not just delivering on but blowing away fan expectations with a remake that faithfully captures nearly everything iconic about the original StarFox 64, delivering on its promise in surprising ways.

One of the Greatest Space Dogfight Archetypes

StarFox 64 is not just my favorite videogame. It is one of the greatest works of art mankind has ever produced, top to bottom, succeeding in every element a game can excel at - gameplay, story, design, music, sound design, and as an entertainment package on the whole. I’ll die on that hill, as I have been for almost thirty years now. To wit, Nintendo, seeing the buying power of the Millennial parents in Universal Studios and LEGO sales data, have inevitably decided to trot out Fox McCloud for one more Lylat War tour.

I was over the moon at this sudden announcement in the form of a random mid-week Nintendo Direct, long-rumored but much anticipated. Watching the reveal on my phone in the middle of a work day, it took me all of five seconds to forgive Nintendo for remaking my all-time favorite videogame rather than giving us a new entry. Why shouldn’t we have a modern HD remake of StarFox 64, given the technical state it was in, with it being prone to bouts of slowdown?

But Isn’t the Slowdown Part of the Charm and Challenge?

My main question then became whether this new StarFox could retain 64’s pace and rhythm without certain quirks, like the very specific weight to Arwing movement and the iconic slowdown that was a result of the N64’s limitations but made certain very clutch situations doable. To this end, Velan Studios are acquitted by more clear timing windows thanks to a silky smooth 60fps gameplay and extremely responsive controls that can thankfully be customized, so you can swap the Y and B buttons for quicker button travel time when performing aerial maneuvers. The cut-scenes run at 30fps, but that’s barely noticeable.

Somersaults and U-turns can now also be activated with a single button press on the d-pad, a very welcome addition. I actually think that most tough time-based challenge maneuvers feel easier to pull off reliably here, as I remember the slow framerate really getting in the way of my reliably activating the Meteos and Sector X warps in the original. Not only can you go into cockpit mode again, but you can stop the screen from flipping whenever you turn. Instead, the HUD moves to indicate your position. It’s a brilliant move that makes first-person flying actually feasible for once.

Growing up, my brother and I didn’t know about the whole advanced scoring system where you’re supposed to use unlocked charged shots on surfaces to get an additional bonus hit, but even so, I think we got scores in the 1,600-1,800 range. That is very achievable here even without min-maxing, as I managed near 1,400 on my first go-around, on a suboptimal pathway, and felt that I was just beginning to see the ceiling of what was possible, score-wise, with this new game.

In terms of other changes, you need to actually lose Slippy on Sector X now in order to change course to Titania. Also, restarting a level will not utilize any of your extra lives, which somewhat blunts the challenge. I wish there were a way to turn this off to preserve the original game’s challenge, but that’s a very minor nitpick.

Is This More the Fantastic Mr. Star Fox, or “A Fox In Space”?

The primary new addition to the game are fully-voiced cut-scenes that take place between levels and show off both the decisions Fox and company must make, as well as flesh out the characters themselves. The visuals have been updated to more closely resemble the SNES ads and promotional material, evoking a more animalistic style, and therefore a more grounded presentation, that may be kind of an acquired taste. While I would have been happy to see a more StarFox Assault-like art style, this isn’t badly realized. I feel like future entries might want to tweak certain details, but New York-based developer Velan Studios wisely limits the models’ movements and emphasizes facial expressions, restricting between-mission cinematics mostly to the bridge of the Great Fox mothership. The cinematic intros and exits to each level are rendered faithfully as well, with some new camera angles that really show off the world they’ve recreated and built up, adding fresh new details here and there to really sell it all.

My sole complaint with this game is that some of the most iconic sequences just don’t hit the same. The ending of Katina is perhaps the most egregious. In the original game, once you downed the Saucerer boss, there was a break in the soundtrack, and Bill would yell out “Yee-haw! You did it!” as everyone scrambled to avoid the ship exploding in a screen-blinding blast. The entire fight felt bigger in the original StarFox 64, despite way worse graphics. The ending of Macbeth was also a little dampened, as the track switch happens rather quickly and loses its once-awesome cinematic power.

But most of all, Andross’ voice is very different to the point of being jarring, and he sounds less like a cunning manipulator and more like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. There’s also a crucial moment at the very end of Venom 2 that simply doesn’t hit the same way. Fox also seems more like a heartless mercenary towards General Pepper now, somewhat trivializing the seriousness of their mission. In any case, it’s really not too bad overall, but worth mentioning because it does harsh the vibe a little, especially because otherwise, the Star Fox team is excellently realized.

More Than Just A Fresh Coat of Glossy Paint

While the core gameplay experience is faithfully recreated, some may lament that StarFox doesn’t include any new single-player levels. Count me in with that crowd, as I think that Velan have shown that they’re more than capable of playing in this universe, and I’d love to see some DLC down the line.

In the meantime, what they have included are a few nice easter eggs. There’s a Challenge mode now, where you can replay already beaten levels and take on certain challenges (such as down X amount of a certain type of enemy, make it through a certain section without taking damage, etc.). These add significantly to the replay value, especially the Expert Mode challenges, which are nothing to shake a stick at. I am still working on Expert Mode medals and challenges, and that says something regarding their relative difficulty, which requires mastery.

The game also supports couch co-op play, with one player taking on the role of the pilot and the other functioning as the gunner, each using a different Joy-Con controller. This was a great way to introduce my son to the game, as we would take turns on the different roles. I can see people try-harding this method to achieve high scores, as the ability to move independently of your reticle opens up way more opportunities. I tried playing this mouse mode alone, but the awkward button placement on the Joy-Con and reliance on using the mouse Joy-Con buttons to pull off aerial maneuvers such as boosting and braking made it tough for my hands. Perhaps if Nintendo one day released a proper Joy-Con mouse with programmable buttons a la the Razer Naga, I could see myself seriously attempting a solo mouse mode run.

Additionally, there’s the Holoviewer, which acts as an in-game art gallery and dossier with unlockable content, providing information on the ships, the pilots, and the world in general.

The newly recorded soundtrack provides the game’s score the operatic heft that it was always reaching for, and even adding vocal accents to certain key battles for a final gut punch of dramatic effect.

Split-Screen Multiplayer - Not At Launch, But Coming Soon

September’s Nintendo Direct confirmed three very welcome new maps for the multiplayer mode, as well as the addition of local split-screen multiplayer, which I was hoping would be there right from the start. In any case, it’s great to know that StarFox will continue to be supported via updates, because the multiplayer mode is quite simply excellent. While I did enjoy the original multiplayer on a basic level, in that you could unlock both the Landmaster tank and on-foot fighters, the maps were bland and had the characteristic N64 fog, and an update was sorely needed.

Nintendo and Velan Studios redesigned the multiplayer from the ground-up to be a 4 VS 4 team battle, with gameplay modes unique to each of the three released maps. All of them are worth playing, and all have been a blast to play online or offline, whether with friends or randos. You’ll pick up power-ups, attempt to hold key zones, shoot down your foes, and tactically plan your approaches and exits, keeping track of everyone on the map as best as you can. It’s a fun and frantic time and I recommend it highly to those who love dogfighting games.

The multiplayer also has the ability to utilize the Nintendo Switch 2 camera in a unique way, by tracking your facial movements and mapping them onto your in-game character. It’s a fun addition especially for GameChat, but despite picking a camera up on sale, I haven’t really taken the time to mess with it.

The N64’s Most Timeless Classic Improved In Nearly Every Way

I was skeptical at first, but StarFox won me over in so many ways. I fell in love with my favorite game all over again, and in ways that I never expected. StarFox delivers a fast, fun, frantic, and focused arcade shooting experience, preserving and in many ways enhancing what makes it timeless, unique, and singular in the highly technical on-rails shooter genre. There has been no game from my childhood as worthy or in need of such a loving remaster as this one, and while the jury’s out on the presentation and cinematic scenes, every one of the gameplay tweaks has been for the better.

Literally the only thing that could make this better for me would be slightly tweaked cinematics, and the addition of DLC levels, perhaps even remastered versions of the levels from the original StarFox, or even StarFox 2. And who knows? If this sells well, maybe we’ll even get more of Fox McCloud’s adventures (especially seeing as how the GameCube classic StarFox Adventures was just released on the NSO service). A guy can dream.

Verdict: 5 / 5 (Exceptional)

PROS

Faithfully recreated gameplay and levels now run at 60fps with much better draw distance and consistent performance
Excellently reimagined multiplayer mode with 3 fun levels and 3 more yet to come
Additional challenges for both Normal and Expert Mode playthroughs encourage mastery and extend the playtime
Delightful new recording of the soundtrack enhances the epic vibe

CONS

Some of the game’s key cut-scenes and iconic moments just don’t hit the same
Not everyone will be on board with all of the character redesigns and changed dialogue

What I’ve Played

Played about 10 hours of the Campaign and 7 hours of multiplayer
Got all medals on Normal Mode, 10 on Expert Mode
Beat all Normal Mode challenges, still working on Expert Mode challenges

About the Author - Joseph Choi

Filipino-American gamer, professional shepherd and farmer, author, and filmmaker/videographer living in Central California. First consoles were the Game Boy and Sega Genesis, and I've been gaming since then, with a focus on Nintendo and Sony consoles.

About the Author - Carlos Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.

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