Starfox 64 (Lylat Wars)

Summary

Genre: Shooter
Number of players: 1-4
Rumble Pak: Yes
Controller Pak: No
Expansion Pak: Not used

Review

The StarFox team made their first appearance back in the days of the SNES. This is their first and to date only trip onto the N64, and the game isn't too bad either. Of course, because it's in the shooter stakes, it has to face off against the near Perfect Dark (gettit?) and Goldeneye. This one, however, involves planes called Arwings as opposed to secret agents and rocket launchers - a very different gaming experience altogether. So how does it do?


Gameplay: Gameplay is very swift indeed, and it never slows down. The ultimate objective of the single-player mode is to battle your way through several different planets on your way to Venom, and Andross, an evil... thing.

Most of the enemies you will come across aren't really too bright - they just move at you firing all the time; and generally the levels mean that you are constantly moving forward, and can't go back. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because then you might easily get lost in the level and start going backwards all the time. But that wasn't the case with Rogue Squadron, and it worked out fine. You can, however, do U-turns and general dogfighting on certain levels and boss fights: what's known as 'All-Range mode', for some reason.

One of the nice touches in the game is that you fly with wingmen, each having different fighting styles and personalities. They also have different uses to you - Slippy the frog will let you know how much health a boss has left, Peppy the hare gives you hints as to how to beat the boss, and Falco the bird occasionally finds new trails, and is a pretty good fighter. If, for some reason, you lose a wingman in the heat of battle, he won't take part in the rest of that mission, or in the next mission, and you won't be able to get his help.

In addition to using the Arwing, you can also use a tank on a couple of levels, which is nice for a change, but certainly isn't nearly as fun to use as the Arwing.

Lylat Wars is quite good fun in one player mode; certainly more fun than I was anticipating, to be completely honest. I think the cheapness of the name put me off slightly - by the way, Lylat is the solar system you fight in. In case you were wondering.


Challenge: Even the most difficult levels are quite easy in the game. The real challenge lies in getting medals on each level, which can be done by racking up a high score by killing enemies left, right, and centre. Once you have enough medals, you can use the tank in multiplayer, and then when you have them all you can run around in multiplayer with no vehicle at all, just a rather meaty bazooka! Also, when you have all the medals, you unlock a harder mode of the single-player, where the damage is far greater, and if you crash into something you will always lose a wing. This obviously adds a great deal to the challenge of the game, which is good, but you certainly will tire of the single player eventually - especially since there's no way to save your game, which means whenever you play you HAVE to start on Corneria, which is a real pain.


Graphics: For such an old game, the graphics are quite good. Certainly there is some fogging here and there, but on the whole you won't be too disappointed. The Arwings look pretty good, and some of the bosses look sensational.


Sounds: The characters all speak to you - both friends and some enemies - very clearly indeed. Very nicely done. The music can grate a bit after a while, but on the whole you won't be too disappointed at all.


Multiplayer: If you're all fighting as Arwings it does turn into a bit of constant circling around and around to try and get on someone's tail. It is an entertaining four player mode, though, but in two player it doesn't hold up. The inclusion of tanks was a good one, since it tends to put an end to the circling if a tank roves into view - and the characters running around is hilarious! But on the whole it does get quite tiring, and is not as good as it should have been.


Summing up: A good game that is showing its age just a touch. You'd be better off getting Rogue Squadron than this - even if you hate Star Wars!


Gamesmark: 78%


Reviewer: Tangycheese





Maverik's opinion: A great-fun game, despite being one of the oldest titles on the N64. Single-player mode is a blast, and even though it's pretty easy to complete, there's still the challenge of visiting all the levels and racking up the highest score. Multiplayer is a bit of a let-down, with scarcely any powerups to use and a serious bias in favour of the Arwings. But still, it's a top game, and does hold its own against Rogue Squadron...