logan j. fowler takes to the skies with his first in-depth 3DS game review …
Back in 1997, in the heyday of the Nintendo 64, Nintendo released a game called Star Fox 64. This “on rails” airplane shooter was a pretty simple game, making the player shoot enemies, find bosses’ weak spots, and took the limited graphical power of the N64 and ran with it, making everything simple geometric shapes.
Fourteen years later, the game has received a brand new coat of paint but not much else, except for a slew of new voice actors lending their vocal talents to Fox McCloud and crew. The game is simple as it always was, unless you dare try to unlock medals in each level, which is only accomplished by getting a certain score with all of your allies (Falco, Peppy, and Slippy) still fighting along side you when you reach the level’s end. For any type of gamer, the arwing adventure can be a breeze, but it takes a dedicated gamer to see all the levels (with alternative paths available), meet all the characters, and get all the medals.
There is a save feature past completing any level, so if you feel the need to take a break, Star Fox 64 3D allows to do so. The game also constantly reminds you to take a break, as with the 3D feature on, you don’t want to destroy your eyes. On that note, Star Fox 64 3D is the FIRST 3DS game that I played all the way through in 3D. It adds a really nice touch to the graphics and the missions, especially when you switch the camera to first person arwing. Touching upon the graphics briefly, the enemies, ships, and massive structures look good, but the surface textures look absolutely amazing, speaking mostly about land and water specifically. I really was floored (no pun intended) by they way the textures looked in game.
The usage of the 3D doesn’t bug me as much as other games on the system, as the things that pop out at you don’t really mess with your eyesight. However, if you chose to play the game with the gyro movements on (this is moving the 3DS to move your plane), the 3DS feature can go wonky, as you must shift your body to see the visuals in their full effect. For that reason alone, the gyro controls were an unnecessary addition to the game. I tried them once, but went back to regular controls immediately. Those controls may take some getting used to for players stuck in their old ways, but after a while, the changes sink in and owning the skies becomes second nature all over again. The arwing and Blue Marine (a submarine) levels are the best,but I still hate the Landmaster (tank) stages. It just kills the momentum of the game for me.
With the sounds, Star Fox 64 3D retains a stellar soundtrack, and it works well with those who feed off nostalgic stuff, especially when it comes to music. This is Nintendo’s Star Wars, and the music, while not of John Williams’ quality, still is just important to this franchise as it was to the film saga in space. In other words, the soundtrack hits all the right cues and is fantastic.
The new voices, however, are a mixed bag. Fox McCloud sounds almost like his N64 version — I really couldn’t tell the difference. Same goes for General Pepper. Falco was disappointing, as his 64 counterpart seemed more like a jerk in tone (which he needs to be). Slippy is still annoying (so it works), Peppy still hits the same notes most of the time (especially with the quotables “Do a barrel roll!” and “Use bombs wisely!”) while the Star Wolf team is fine, except for their leader, Star Wolf: couldn’t work with it. The supporting cast, including Katt, the bosses, ROB, Andross, etc. were all fine, except I missed ROB 64’s version voice. Oh well. It could’ve been way worse.
There is a multiplayer option for the game, but it’s restricted to local; Nintendo missed a great opportunity to go online with this game, but scrapped the idea. Haven’t tried this mode out yet, but I can’t imagine it’s far different from the N64 version, only with updated graphics.
So is Star Fox 64 3D a worthy purchase? If you loved the original, yes. If you want a strong game for a weak library of games, also yes. If you want to pick up the first 3DS game that (in my opinion) really works to the strengths of the system, then it is a must buy. The game is quick if you do a straight play through for the fun of it, but discovering everything is truly a challenge. However, if you have no familiarity with the franchise or dislike it altogether, then either take caution and use bombs wisely or do a barrel roll away from the game completely.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AdrvpM8L4Q&w=560&h=315]
