Game Rant’s Riley Little reviews Star Fox 64 3D
Nintendo is obviously very keen on re-releasing mega-hits from the N64 era on their portable systems, and the latest remake is none other than Star Fox 64 3D. As it currently stands, the Nintendo 3DS is in need of a few Triple-A titles to keep the system appealing to current owners, as well as spark interest in potential buyers.
The question now becomes: Is Star Fox 64 3D one of the few must-own 3DS games currently on the market? Absolutely.
The 3DS revision plays almost identical to its N64 counterpart. The game is still essentially an on-rails shooter that allows players to maneuver around to avoid enemy fire and other hazards. Every once in a while a boss will appear that Fox McCloud and the rest of the talking animals in team Star Fox will have to dismantle. On-rail shooters are often pretty lame, but Star Fox 64 3D (and the original) were done in such a way that you never really feel like you’re stuck on a linear path.
There are also combat sections where the game will take you off those metaphorical rails, and Fox will enter a dogfight mode. In these portions of the game, gamers can maneuver their vehicle wherever they want within a certain radius. The objective is usually to destroy large groups of enemies, several mini-bosses, or one large boss. There is a lot more strategy required to be successful in a dogfight, and these portions are easily some of the most challenging found in the Star Fox 64 3D.
Anyone who played the original game will find that Star Fox 64‘s story has remained wholly intact. There are a total of 15 different areas that Team Star Fox can go through, but it is impossible to visit each area within a single play through. This is because completing certain tasks on each planet, such as hitting all eight switches in a level, will unlock different routes. These paths don’t only change which planet the individual heads towards, but also alter the game’s story. Certain characters that you may have helped out earlier may come to aid you in certain levels, and the ending can also change depending on which paths were taken.
After each play-through the game will then post the points collected throughout the story, and will add them to a local leader board. It would have been better if these scores were uploaded to a global leader board, but it still acts as a great catalyst that will ensure that the game is continued to be played long after all planets have been cleared.
This layout is cool, and it adds a lot of replay value to the game’s story mode. However, I was able to tear through one version of the game’s story in under an hour, and regardless of how many paths I could go back and take, a play-through that is beatable inside of an hour just isn’t long enough. There is plenty of content inside of Star Fox to keep people playing it for hours, but not all of it will hold interest for very long.
No, it's okay Slippy. You can stay here.
Case in point: Star Fox 64 3D‘s multiplayer. The multiplayer modes are a fun, but there is so much that Nintendo could have added to make it truly exceptional. There are only four levels to choose from in multiplayer, and those can only be played with people who are in the same room as the person with the game. That’s right, there’s is absolutely no online multiplayer in any form for Star Fox 64 3D. The one cool thing about the title’s multiplayer ‘Battle’ mode is that up to four people can play it, as long as one of them has the game card – so three other people that own a 3DS, and are in the same room, can easily battle it out.
There are a total of three different types of modes that can be played in the game’s multiplayer. ‘Survival’ is a standard “last man standing affair” where players will fight until there is only one left standing. ‘Point Battle’ gives participators points for destroying their enemies, and the first person to reach the set number of points will walk (fly?) away with a victory. The final mode is ‘Time Battle,’ and it throws competitors into battle with a set amount of time. The individual who has scored the most points before time expires will secure the victory. All three of these modes make for a nice change of pace, and help to mix things up when you’re starting to get sick of the same mode over and over again.
While the multiplayer overall is less-than-ideal, the graphics and 3D are some of the best I’ve seen on the Nintendo 3DS to date. Everything in Star Fox 64 3D has been been given a glorious coat of paint, and the graphics are even comparable to that of the Nintendo Wii at its finest. The ships appear sleek and sexy, the ground and water look stunning, and the particle effects look great. This is without a doubt the best looking game currently available on the Nintendo 3DS.
Despite a few minor flaws with the game’s length and multiplayer, Star Fox 64 3D is one of the best games on the Nintendo 3DS. Those who loved the original on the Nintendo 64 are sure to enjoy this nostalgic trip down memory lane, and the fact that Nintendo actually hired all of the original voice actors to come in and re-do all of the original dialogue is nice fan service. Star Fox 64 3D deserves to be put up on the shelf next to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D as one of only a handful of must-have games on the 3DS.
Now… DO A BARREL ROLL!!!
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Star Fox 64 3D is available now for the Nintendo 3DS
