Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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DotMatrixMoe
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Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

Post by DotMatrixMoe »

In my roughly 3 weeks of shmups.org, I've never used off-topic.

Just as the topic says, I think Star Fox 64 is one of (or is) the best game(s) of all times.
I know, it's probably my nostalgia talking, or my emotional attachment, but I think this game has aged the best compared to other Nintendo 64 titles.

It has an awesome soundtrack, with lots of brass and fast paced beats. As a brass player myself, it's flattering how much brass can make a boss battle sound so good! The bosses themselves are fun, personal favorite being the Zoness battle. And have the perfect amount of difficulty, a bit hard on newer players admittedly. You gotta get GAME OVER more than once to learn.

The characters are cute, and so is their dialogue! Spoilers:
Spoiler
When you defeat Hard-Mode Andross with Peppy still alive, my heart just melts when he says, "You okay, Fox?" after noticing him looking around for his father.
Falco, though annoying, really shows the dynamic between him and Fox. Especially on Hard-Mode. Even outside of Hard-Mode, he shows concern for you and the mission, with a pinch of smart-assery.

I would love to show screenshots, but right now I'm packing to move my consoles. So maybe a month from now on. What do you think?
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

(Be prepared for "Sin & Punishment is the better N64 on-rails shooter" comments, obligatory on here.)
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

Post by Koa Zo »

It's been a decade since I've played it serious, but it was indeed one of the best games of it's type.
One big gripe with the game, besides the annoying voice chatter - is that your wingmen, particularly Kat on one level could take out targets before you - thus ruining your score run.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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Koa Zo wrote:It's been a decade since I've played it serious, but it was indeed one of the best games of it's type.
One big gripe with the game, besides the annoying voice chatter - is that your wingmen, particularly Kat on one level could take out targets before you - thus ruining your score run.
Hehe, a bit dark but I usually kill my team mates on those levels... except Slippy. Too useful for bosses... and he's kind of charming in a weird way.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

Post by KennyMan666 »

Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars (I find the EU title cooler, okay) is great, and while I've since reconsidered, it's one of the games that I have at one point actually considered the best game ever.

Been forever since I played it, though. I probably would have given it a playthrough on the Switch N64 application, but since the expansion pack price turned out to be utterly unreasonable, I won't be getting that.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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KennyMan666 wrote:Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars (I find the EU title cooler, okay) is great, and while I've since reconsidered, it's one of the games that I have at one point actually considered the best game ever.

Been forever since I played it, though. I probably would have given it a playthrough on the Switch N64 application, but since the expansion pack price turned out to be utterly unreasonable, I won't be getting that.
Oh man, if the "expansion pak" wasn't so expensive, I'd love to play Star Fox 64 online. Oh well, sticking to my original cartridge. Maybe I should set up a NetPlay server.

(Oh, and Lylat Wars does sound admittedly awesome.)
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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BrainΦΠΦTemple wrote:star fAt 640 lbs
Simply, why.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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DotMatrixMoe wrote:
BrainΦΠΦTemple wrote:star fAt 640 lbs
Simply, why.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

Post by mycophobia »

star fox 64 is epic. unfortunatley recently i was playing thru it and my n64 randomly reset in the middle of sector z so im waiting on a new power supply to come in. anyways its a masterpiece and neither sequel was even 1/4 as good
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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An all-time classic rail shooter. Nonstop pace, tons of variety, and a perfect balance of brute carnage to finessed piloting and shooting. The only thing I'd change is the slightly overlong inter-stage transition; wish I could just smash-cut to the next scene. Easily forgiven on account of its charming style, and more importantly, its sheer intensity.
Obiwanshinobi wrote:(Be prepared for "Sin & Punishment is the better N64 on-rails shooter" comments, obligatory on here.)
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BrainΦΠΦTemple wrote:star fAt 640 lbs
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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BIL wrote:An all-time classic rail shooter. Nonstop pace, tons of variety, and a perfect balance of brute carnage to finessed piloting and shooting. Much of the voice acting is iconic. The only thing I'd change is the slightly overlong inter-stage transition; wish I could just smash-cut to the next scene. Easily forgiven on account of its charming style, and more importantly, its sheer intensity.
Obiwanshinobi wrote:(Be prepared for "Sin & Punishment is the better N64 on-rails shooter" comments, obligatory on here.)
Would never be without either, those are two of the most arcade-perfect console games ever made. Image
BrainΦΠΦTemple wrote:star fAt 640 lbs
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Absolutely agree. The game is a bit "casual" but its so damn perfect and charming. Played through it many, many times on the N64 and got all routes and endings, and I've always mentally tied the rumble feature to this game so it has a huge legacy. That N64 rumble pack, which was powered by a battery, could shake super hard, way more than our modern controllers do.

I also insta bought the 3DS remake, which has really great use of shaders. Visually, that game is better than it has any right to be, especially any time water is involved.

The only other rail shooter I'd put within sniffing distance is After Burner Climax (which is a fantastic game in its own right), but those games are on the opposite ends of the rail shooter genre, and I still think Starfox 64 comes out on top.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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I have to agree with you guys. I've played this game so many times, it just can't get old! Hard mode makes you feel awesome, medium makes you really want to stray to hard, and easy is just a shortcut around the harder levels (for me :lol: ).
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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When I was a child, I bought Star Fox 64 because I expected to get an N64 for Christmas. Then I decided I wanted a Playstation for Final Fantasy VII instead.

If I hadn't bought SF64 I would never have played it. I always brought it when visiting cousins or friends because it turned out I loved it, and it was one of the first games I ever tried playing for score. I never regretted the buy, even if I could only afford two games per year and didn't even own the console.

It's been probably 15 years since I played it last, and I'm sure it doesn't entirely hold up - I understand it runs at 20 FPS which makes me wince, and I expect those free roaming sections would get on my nerves a lot more now. But it's nice to remember the days where the N64 still looked exciting.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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CStarFlare wrote:When I was a child, I bought Star Fox 64 because I expected to get an N64 for Christmas. Then I decided I wanted a Playstation for Final Fantasy VII instead.

If I hadn't bought SF64 I would never have played it. I always brought it when visiting cousins or friends because it turned out I loved it, and it was one of the first games I ever tried playing for score. I never regretted the buy, even if I could only afford two games per year and didn't even own the console.

It's been probably 15 years since I played it last, and I'm sure it doesn't entirely hold up - I understand it runs at 20 FPS which makes me wince, and I expect those free roaming sections would get on my nerves a lot more now. But it's nice to remember the days where the N64 still looked exciting.
Trust me, you wouldn't even notice the framerate! It looks fairly smooth (and you're probably already immersed to not notice), of course except the explosions; which slow down the game. When I played, I thought it was a cool slow-motion shot. So yeah, never noticed.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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I played the crap out of Star Fox on SNES, so when I finally got my hands on Star Fox 64, I actually found it a little too easy. Then again, most of the difficulty of the SNES original is it's 10-15 FPS framerate, lol.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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Udderdude wrote:I played the crap out of Star Fox on SNES, so when I finally got my hands on Star Fox 64, I actually found it a little too easy. Then again, most of the difficulty of the SNES original is it's 10-15 FPS framerate, lol.
True, took me a bit longer to get the hang of SNES. But, my aiming skills eventually got better.
No one talks about the unreleased Star Fox 2, it's awesome.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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The original is kinda underrated, imo. Obviously not as finessed as SF64, but it makes up for it with stripped-down immediacy. Feels almost StarBlade-esque at points. (I guess they couldn't afford to splash out, with the framerate perpetually on the brink of collapsing spacetime Image) Surprisingly menacing, filmic tone, too. SHMUP Master's 100% no-damage run is first-rate viewing.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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BIL wrote:The original is kinda underrated, imo. Obviously not as finessed as SF64, but it makes up for it with stripped-down immediacy. Feels almost StarBlade-esque at points. (I guess they couldn't afford to splash out, with the framerate perpetually on the brink of collapsing spacetime Image) Surprisingly menacing, filmic tone, too. SHMUP Master's 100% no-damage run is first-rate viewing.
Honestly the framerate of SF SNES has lots of people overlook the game, and that makes me kind of sad. They should check out some of the awesome Sega Saturn racing games, that'll change their mind.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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When I got a new RetroFighters Brawler64 controller for my N64 (fucking *excellent* controller), StarFox was one of the first games I pulled out after 10 years. It isn't my favorite Nintendo game but it's for sure a masterpiece. I love it to death. I prefer the original over the remake. I don't know why people hate N64 graphics, but I adore them and wish there was an option to keep them in the 3DS version. The original VA and audio are better to me as well. There's a quick witted sharp delivery to the dialogue that gives a hot blooded tone I find was lost in every later games including the remake.

It really does hit later in life how amazing the level design is and Nintendo could seemingly nail atmosphere in even their most arcade titles back then when they tried. StarFox 64 can ramp up an almost ominous tension despite being a game about some fucking furries fighting an angry monkey man.
But I think that's what makes it great. It does take itself seriously without being ridiculous or TOO serious. It plays itself very straight with just enough drama while having extremely fine tuned, compelling gameplay that didn't age. Which is impressive because it's the slowest onrails shooter known to man. It's just so varied and masterfully paced that it doesn't matter. And I just adore all of the bosses. Some of the most detailed, in your face fights on the console. Great introductions, amazingly inventive designs, wonderful gimmicks, funny pilots, and epic death scenes.

I really can't find an angle of the game that I can't praise at length. Really really one of Nintendo's many master class diamonds.

If I could have a remaster *my* way, I'd go the NightDive Turok route. Basically don't touch the original fucking style and content. Just offer needed performance tweaks that do not interfere with the original design. Bump up the FOV a little to make the Arwing a little smaller on screen. and optionally allow to up the draw distance with some other modern embellishment. Don't actually change the graphics. Keep the original VA job. Keep the look of every UI element. Just clean it up.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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Yeah, Starfox 64's presentation is just incredible. Iconic voice acting, memorable set pieces, immaculate pacing, excellent variety and tons of secrets, great OST, charming as fuck, the game does it all.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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The framerate is also vastly improved over the original SNES game. It's basically what they wanted the original to be. I should try getting into Star Fox, I mean I love the N64 version but was very unimpressed by the original because the framerate was simply too choppy for me to enjoy properly at the time.

Also, in case anyone's missed it, Ex-Zodiac is basically a modern Star Fox style game with SNES aesthetic with buttery smooth framerate: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1249480/ExZodiac/
Feels almost StarBlade-esque at points.
What's the best way to play this? My only experience is the infuriating tease at the start of Tekken 5's PS2 port which only lets you play a brief demo.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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BareKnuckleRoo wrote:The framerate is also vastly improved over the original SNES game. It's basically what they wanted the original to be. I should try getting into Star Fox, I mean I love the N64 version but was very unimpressed by the original because the framerate was simply too choppy for me to enjoy properly at the time.

Also, in case anyone's missed it, Ex-Zodiac is basically a modern Star Fox style game with SNES aesthetic with buttery smooth framerate: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1249480/ExZodiac/
Feels almost StarBlade-esque at points.
What's the best way to play this? My only experience is the infuriating tease at the start of Tekken 5's PS2 port which only lets you play a brief demo.
Ex-Zodiac sounds awesome, might pick it up.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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..........................
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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BareKnuckleRoo wrote:
Feels almost StarBlade-esque at points.
What's the best way to play this? My only experience is the infuriating tease at the start of Tekken 5's PS2 port which only lets you play a brief demo.
I bought Tekken 5's PS2 port specifically for StarBlade. :mrgreen: You can unlock it by beating Arcade Mode with all characters, or (my preferred route) getting the GeoSword's ship model in stage 4-2 of the Devil Within minigame. Once you do either, it'll be available in the Arcade History menu alongside Tekken 1, 2 and 3. Surprisingly excellent home version - from comparisons to AC superplays it seems pretty much 1:1, and it even has USB mouse support (by far my preferred input method).

I'm kinda partial to the Mega CD version, a classic no-hoper port that actually plays pretty well via Sega Mouse - though it definitely struggles in the game's brutal third act, the raid on RED EYE proper. Despite the loss of precision, it still throws a helluva lot at you - I don't think I've ever quite 1CCd it. Cute curio. Killer JP cover art. ^__^

In direct comparison, the later PS1 version (Starblade Alpha) disappointed me slightly. It has optional texture-mapping, but regardless of whether that's enabled, it loses the AC's silky-smooth framerate. Feels a bit chintzy in comparison to those titanic flat-shaded AC polys. Still, plays very decently with the PS Mouse.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

I've never played through arcade mode with EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER and I kinda brushed off the Devil Within minigame. No wonder. :? Thank you BIL for your wisdom as usual.
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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With Tekken 5 on PS2, I was super lazy and just copied an all-clear save I got from GameFAQs to unlock all the cool extras.
Used to love unlockables, but now that I'm older, I've just ended up doing this for any system I can. :lol:
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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Definitely the way to do it. :mrgreen: Makes me think of Instant Brain's DDP emulation... any "game within a game" should have a secret code unlock. Shitbirds should just be grateful for the sale. :evil: Image
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

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Since my game didn't come with a manual, (got it 2nd hand) I didn't know "Hard Route" was also "Secret Route". It was quite annoying to figure out. But what I didn't know, is what I used to ALWAYS do (fly under the rings in Corneria perfectly) was the entrance. I finally did it perfectly in one route, and found myself going to hard route. Took a couple tries, but now Hard Route is eeeasyy!

Lol, I see why everyone would just hack in the secrets. It's tedious!
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Re: Best Game Ever: Star Fox 64

Post by MOSQUITO FIGHTER »

Definitely one of the best. Different enough from Sin and Punishment to be worth playing. The original is underrated these days. Probably my favorite one. It’s not too hard to adjust to the frame rate.
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