In February they were fulfilled 30 years since the first Star Fox went on sale of all. An ideal occasion for Nintendo to have taken advantage of the moment to celebrate this event in style as it is one of its main franchises, but in reality absolutely nothing was done, despite the greatness of some of the titles in the series. series, such as Star Fox 64.
This excellent game is one of the most important that the Nintendo 64 catalog received at the time. Exactly 26 years have passed since that moment and we still remember it because of the indelible memory it left us in our memory, because without a doubt of trafficking one of the best works that Nintendo has developed and for many the best installment of the entire saga, with an 88 on Metacritic.
If you didn’t enjoy it at the time, don’t worry, because thanks to Nintendo Switch you have the opportunity to play this gem, although to do so you’ll need to be subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online and its Expansion Pack to have access to the great Nintendo 64 classics, such as the mythical The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask or Pokémon Stadium.
In this game you will put yourself in the shoes of Fox McCloud, the leader of the Star Fox team whose mission is to save the Lylat System after it is under attack by the army of the evil Andross. For this he is accompanied at all times by Peppy Hare, Falco Lombardi y Slippy Toadthe other three characters that will walk by our side each of the different phases.
The gameplay does not put you at the controls of an Arwing, a powerful spaceship that it will automatically scroll through the scenarios, so we will dedicate ourselves to moving it in all directions to attack the enemies that appear or to avoid the obstacles scattered throughout the terrain. In some cases you will have to go around some planets, other times you have to fight battles in full space and even at some point you will have to dive into the water.
And it is that you will not always have to control the Arwing, because on other more props occasions it is possible to put yourself at the controls of the Landmaster, a demolition tank, and Blue Marine, an underwater ship. Even so, the most normal thing is to pilot the main ship and even in levels that offer greater freedom by being able to move where we want, which puts us squarely in a pitched battle against numerous enemies or more impressive final bosses.
What’s more, the encounters against these bosses invite us not to lose detail of all their attacks because the encounters are amazing because of how different they are from each other, as is the case with the phases themselves, which serves to Every time we enter one we have to face a new challenge that has nothing to do with the above. For example, one of them seems totally inspired by the final battle of Independence Day or another takes us to a place where the fire can scorch us in just a few seconds.
But if there is something that also makes the phases very special, it is that many of them hide alternative routes, so there is no single way to complete them. This opens the way to other ways so that in a global group we can play the game with any of the 25 routes that are availableto which we must add that if a certain amount of enemies is eliminated, a medal is obtained.
For all this, among some things and others, the replayability of this title is amazing, because you can practice different routes or compete against yourself to improve your score in subsequent games. Especially since achieving all the medals unlocks the Expert mode, so a greater incentive to try to go for them.
On the other hand, the companions can sometimes be a bit of a nuisance by asking us to help them every now and then when enemies attack them, but also I must admit that they are very helpful.. For example, Peppy will give us advice on what to do or warn us when there are enemies attacking us from behind, Falco gives hints for alternative routes and Slippy provides relevant details related to the final bosses.
All this with a splendid dubbing into English and a simply masterful soundtrack, but without a doubt the best of all is the gameplay because of how entertaining it is and because of the desire with which it leaves you start a new game after finishing the previous one, with a duration of approximately one hour. And if you still want more, let your friends know to find out who is the best in its competitive multiplayer in a free-for-all, although this is far from reaching the quality of the main campaign.
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