Nintendo Game of the Week - Animal Crossing: Wild World

[Dan Quixote]

If there's one thing the Metroid series has never missed on, it's the escape and ending themes, and that started all the way back in the first Metroid game. Those are bangers, so tense and triumphant, respectively.

 

[jamesster445]

I've never played the NES Metroid, I can't imagine it's aged well or at the very least its missing some QoL improvements like an in game map. But I adored Zero Mission. And it easily ranks as a favorite of the 2D games only challenged by Dread. And I think it combines the best elements of Fusion, its game feel, and Super, the map and exploration. All the while having great pacing.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Alright everyone. We only have one game to talk about this time. I hope you're ready for...

Yoshi's Story

Spoiler: Box Art

Game Summary: Yoshi's Story is a 2D Platformer made for the Nintendo 64. Baby Bowser has stolen the Super Happy Tree causing all of the Yoshis to become depressed and unmotivated. Thankfully, six baby Yoshis hatch and are unaffected by the tree's absence. They decide to go on a quest to become super happy and get the Super Happy Tree back.

The game's structure is unique in that levels don't have strict beginnings and endings. Instead, the goal is to eat thirty fruit scattered around the level to make the Yoshis super happy. Each level acts as a scavenger hunt and players are allowed to move forward and backward at their leisure. Yoshi has all of the abilities you'd expect including flutter jumps, ground pounds and eating things with his long tongue. The game is structured for multiple runs. The game has twenty four levels in total but each run only plays through six of them. The game is also considered very easy, often being regarded as a good platforming game for children.

The game is often lauded for its visuals and is cited to be the game that shaped the aesthetics of the Yoshi franchise. The game has an arts and craft style look to its background and characters. The game even takes place in a pop up book (the titutlar Yoshi's Story).

Initial Release:
December 21, 1997

Playable on...

• N64
• Wii
• Wii U
• Switch

Notable Character Debuts:

• Randall the Cloud

Spoiler: Music Samples

Current Metacritic Scores:
Critics: 65
Players: 7.4

Confirmed Players:

• Swamp Sensei
• Zinith
• LiveStudioAudiance
• Ninjahmos
• Grim "Anubis" Reaper
• Champion of Hyrule
• Megadoomer
• nirvanafan
• KingofPhantoms

Recommended by:

• Swamp Sensei
• Zinith
• LiveStudioAudiance
• Ninjahmos
• Grim "Anubis" Reaper
• Champion of Hyrule
• Megadoomer
• KingofPhantoms

I played Yoshi's Story when I was a little kid. Like most kids my age, I was enthralled with Yoshi and he was my favorite Mario character. Thus having a game all about Yoshi seemed like a fantastic idea. I managed to get Yoshi's Story and... found it to be really hard. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this but Kid Me thought the game was really difficult. Granted, Kid Me also thought the Bone Dragons were scary, so I guess I was just young. I was able to beat it and I felt great pride and accomplishment in doing so. Nowadays I can beat it in an afternoon.

Yoshi's Story is an odd duck. Mechanically its sound and interesting. It's got some great visuals and is full of creativity. Playing it is fun. I have a good time when I do so. That said, its very short, very easy and almost mind numbingly childish. This may seem hypocritical coming from a lifelong Nintendo fan, but Yoshi's Story, as artistic as it is, still feels like a game designed for young children, as opposed to being designed to be enjoyed by anyone. That makes some of the random difficulty spikes even stranger. The game can be unforgiving to mistakes, even if the main game is very easy to accomplish.

I'd still recommend trying the game as its solidly made, but if you're not one to tolerate childish things, it may not be for you. That aside, its short length and easy nature makes it a perfect game to try out this week. It's on the NSO and can be beaten in about two hours. Give it a shot if you're interested. Remember, I'll celebrate your accomplish in the thread.


ALSO GIVE IT UP FOR RANDALL, SAVIOR OF 1,000 STOCKS!

 

[Zinith]

I'll be honest, I didn't grow up with this game. I wasn't even aware of this game until much later, like around when Brawl came out. Yeah I know, sacrilegious but blame the Bandicoot for that. Anyways, this is one of the weirdest games I've ever played, it's kind of like they didn't just want the aesthetic to feel like a storybook, they wanted the gameplay feel like that too

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Anyways, this is one of the weirdest games I've ever played, it's kind of like they didn't just want the aesthetic to feel like a storybook, they wanted the gameplay feel like that too

I'm a bit intrigued by this statement. Could you elaborate?

 

[Zinith]

I'm a bit intrigued by this statement. Could you elaborate?

Well, when you look at Yoshi's Island it had the colorbook aesthetic that didn't seem easy to emulate on the SNES, but at the end of the day it was still a traditional 2D platformer. But with YS there is nothing traditional about it, like the way lives are recontextualized to each individual Yoshi character and the way you can get them back, or how the levels don't have an "end" per say (there's a goal to reach that doesn't just involve going from one place to another), or how one playthrough only gets you through one level each page (actual non-video game stories don't tend to drone on about multiple levels per scene, so the game is paced like a real storybook). Basically I get the feeling that Nintendo didn't want this to be "just any old 2D platformer" as that's not the direction they wanted to take with the N64

 

[Megadoomer]

I rented Yoshi's Story when I was a kid, but I can't recall if I ever beat it. I got it on the Wii U during my panic buying after the Wii Shop Channel closed (I figured we wouldn't get nearly as much notice for the Wii U given its relative unpopularity), so I'll play it this weekend to refresh my memory.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Yoshi's Story is an interesting beast. Visually it stand out very well, and the 2D storybook aesthetic has actually allowed it to age much better than many of its 5th generation contemporaries. It did kick off the gradual babyfication of the Yoshi titles in some respects which is unfortunate, but in a vacuum its harmless. Gameplay wise... its tricky.

In many ways, it is an accomplishment as a very child friendly title with a somewhat non-linear structure to its gameplay loop. The problem is that to various 2D platformer fans its not terribly interesting above a certain age and there's not much of an actual follow-up to Yoshi's Island with its mechanics. I almost have to view it as a novel one off spin-off to the series in that sense, because a few design quirks and new colored Yoshi's aside, little of Story's central concepts were continued to any real degree. It reminds of a bit of DK Jungle Beat actually; both being contrasting types of games with the mainline titles that came before, but either due to the fan response or lack of interest the series essentially went back to more accepted gameplay in the next entry.

Comparison wise, I'd actually say Crafted World is a deeper realization of some of Story's ideas. The former is also very kid friendly and goes all in on the arts and crafts setting, however its core level exploration and reasonably clever egg shooting mechanics with the foreground/background give it more interesting level design and things to do, even if much of it amounts to padding at times.

In hindsight Story marked the last release when the Yoshi series was the third pillar of (Western) Nintendo. The character was in all sorts of spin-offs after his SMW debut, which kicked into high gear following SMW2. He, Mario, & the Kongs could all be argued as being the central figures of mid-90s Nintendo, with Yoshi specifically being chosen as the setting for the US/European localization of Panel de Pon with Tetris Attack. Zelda coming back with Ocarina of Time and Pokemon releasing in the West in 1998 changed everything and Yoshi as a series never reached the height of marketing focus again, with even the Kongs getting their last hurrah with DK64 the year after.

Story is a game I'd recommend playing at least once (and if you have the N64 online on Switch there's no excuse), with the caveat that its not necessarily one that I believe lends itself to replays as much as Yoshi's Island, Woolly World, or even Crafted World.

 

[Dan Quixote]

THE LEGEND OF RANDAL LET'S GOOOO

In all seriousness, despite how much of a Yoshi fan I am, I've never had the opportunity for this one really. However, something I noticed even as a kid was just the sheer ration of Yoshi's Story references when it came to Smash. It felt like half the Yoshi series content at that time was pulled directly from this game, including two different stages in different games. That alone made me interested in one day checking it out. Somehow, Nintendo just seemed very proud of it if they put that much of it into Smash.

 

[ninjahmos]

Yoshi's Story is definitely a weird one. It's kinda like Yoshi's Island, but no Baby Mario and you have to eat a bunch of fruit.

The entire game does feel like that of a pop-up book, and it honestly fits pretty well, considering Yoshi's Island had a bit of a storybook feel to it.

I do recommend it if you like Yoshi (or 2D Platformers in general), but its childish aesthetic may be off-putting for some, so if you can't tolerate childish things, this may not be the game for you.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

I haven't played this so I'll probably play it some time this weekend

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Very fun game. I remember buying it pretty quickly after release.

I wasn't good at it, but still. Though I do appreciate not having a crying voice in it(I have very sensitive ears).

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

Alright, this thread inspired me to play Yoshi's Story!

I actually really enjoyed it, a lot more than I would have thought. You can definitely tell it's for kids, it's mellow and simple and while each individual level is easy on it's own, the game as a whole still has tension and fun. The extra points challenge and fact that the game restarts if all yoshi's are kidnapped make it that way. Plus from what I've seen here people found the game hard when they were kids. This does mean some of the levels have to be really simple and easy and the game isn't that long, which is something I don't mind too much even if it means the game is extremely simple compared to the OG yoshi's island which I definitely enjoyed more than this. It could absolutely stand to be less basic though, yoshi's island had so many fancy cool elements in it (falling chain chomps, transformations, the bosses, etc.) and it would have been cool if this game had that too.

It's pretty cool how when 3D collectathons were on a rise nintendo put a spin on it by making a 2D collectathon and that's a good evolution of the collectible elements set up by yoshi's island (and I guess mario world as well).

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Alright, this thread inspired me to play Yoshi's Story!

I actually really enjoyed it, a lot more than I would have thought. You can definitely tell it's for kids, it's mellow and simple and while each individual level is easy on it's own, the game as a whole still has tension and fun. The extra points challenge and fact that the game restarts if all yoshi's are kidnapped make it that way. Plus from what I've seen here people found the game hard when they were kids. This does mean some of the levels have to be really simple and easy and the game isn't that long, which is something I don't mind too much even if it means the game is extremely simple compared to the OG yoshi's island which I definitely enjoyed more than this. It could absolutely stand to be less basic though, yoshi's island had so many fancy cool elements in it (falling chain chomps, transformations, the bosses, etc.) and it would have been cool if this game had that too.

It's pretty cool how when 3D collectathons were on a rise nintendo put a spin on it by making a 2D collectathon and that's a good evolution of the collectible elements set up by yoshi's island (and I guess mario world as well).

I'm glad you liked it. And hey, we got someone to try a new game. That means this thread is a success! Warms my heat.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

So, what do you think could be done to improve Yoshi's Story? I think allowing easier access to the levels would make for a much smoother experience.

so I'll play it this weekend to refresh my memory.

How did it go?

 

[Megadoomer]

This week's been busier than usual, though I did play through the first few levels. Controls are a bit clunky on the Wii U, particularly when it comes to aiming eggs, but it's a fun platformer for beginners with some nice optional challenges. (I think there's a bonus for eating nothing but melons in a level, though I'm not sure what that would be)

Shame that you can't seem to go back to earlier levels after beating them (I want to know what getting all of the giant hearts does), but I take it that I'll be able to do that at some point.

 

[nirvanafan]

Should probably give Yoshis Story another shot someday buts its admittedly not very high on my backlog. Played it a few years ago but think i missed some collectables i think you need to advance in the 1st level in the Cavern Section & didnt feel like backtracking or starting the level over so just stopped playing. It was a decent platformer although nothing too special for me which is probably why i wasnt particularly motivated to keep going. Guess thinking about it a bit more it doesnt sit well in my mind the best the fact that i quit this game known for being pretty easy after getting stuck pretty early on.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

This week's been busier than usual, though I did play through the first few levels. Controls are a bit clunky on the Wii U, particularly when it comes to aiming eggs, but it's a fun platformer for beginners with some nice optional challenges. (I think there's a bonus for eating nothing but melons in a level, though I'm not sure what that would be)

Shame that you can't seem to go back to earlier levels after beating them (I want to know what getting all of the giant hearts does), but I take it that I'll be able to do that at some point.

Getting giant hearts is how you unlock more levels, so getting all the hearts means you unlock all the levels on the next page.

 

[KingofPhantoms]

Yoshi's Story is an interesting one. In terms of gameplay-mechanics, it's honestly quite fun, and a worthy successor to Yoshi's Island on that front. The mechanics from Yoshi's Island are more or less the same with a few small changes and additions, as well as Baby Mario not being around this time. But in terms of level progression and difficulty? It really isn't that challenging of a game outside of a select few levels and getting higher scores in Trial Mode.

Unlocking every level is something of a challenge, but playing the main storymode is far less so since you only need (and in fact, are only allowed) to play one out of four possible levels per world/chapter. One can argue this allows for a lot of replayability, along with the fruits being scattered across different sections of each level, but IMO, the game's replayability could've been handled better, and without the former mechanic, as it generally makes each playthrough of storymode extremely short. You only get a real idea of level progression by playing through most levels in order in Trial Mode, and even then, boss levels are exempt from this due to all but one of them being located in the same world, and the only exception (the final boss) is fought in each of the four levels of the final world due to the way the game is structured.

Ultimately, the game's story mode is short, and the game as a whole is fairly easy overall...But it's far from without it's merits. The actual gameplay is great otherwise. The abilities and mechanics of the Baby Yoshis still make for some incredibly fun platforming and combat, many enemies can be tricky to fight or avoid, and the level design is fantastic, making for fun and respectably challenging levels on their own. And while the fruit collecting mechanic isn't the best, it still allowed for even more brilliant level design as the way fruits are scattered necessitated each level having multiple different pathways and secret areas, and the developers did not disappoint on that front. You can explore and take a great number of different paths in almost every level and have different results each time you replay it. Fruit collecting may be what tends to make the levels short, but it's a good concept that does give the game a unique flavor, and makes it worthwhile to go through each level more than once. I just wish it had some fine-tuning to make the game overall more challenging and enjoyable.

Because of all this, I think Trial Mode is where the game really shines. You can play levels in any order, including in their numerical order for each world if you so wish, allowing for both more freedom in level selection and better and more natural level progression. Then there's also the added challenges of getting higher scores and collecting every melon per level to achieve an ideally high score.

The game's aesthetics are also incredibly creative, with many levels not only looking like something out of a storybook, but many also having several unique ideas and designs. My favorite levels in the game are probably the Jelly Pipe and Torrential Maze based almost entirely on aesthetics and theme alone. You're running through a jelly-filled sewer system that looks like it's made out of paper mache, complete with actual newspapers as the background. How more creative can you get for an underground level? Oh, and the music certainly helps: Did I mention the game's OST also has a decent number of good tracks as well?

All in all, while Yoshi's Story isn't quite as good as the original game, and could've definitely used some reworks and a little more difficulty, it's still a solid game, and one I would recommend picking up if you have time to spare.

 

[Megadoomer]

I beat Yoshi's Story - I only encountered two bosses (Cloud N. Candy and Baby Bowser), though it looks like there were more that I missed. (I'm guessing I should have picked the other levels instead, but I assumed they were just having you pick which warp guy to start from)

There was definitely a difficulty spike in the final level/chapter, but the only times that I died were due to bottomless pits in earlier levels, and I found a white Shy Guy to bring back one of the Yoshis that I lost after figuring out what to do with it. (I encountered two, but I wasn't aware that you were supposed to eat them, so the first one wandered off of a cliff)

The storybook aesthetic is charming, especially when you beat the game and it replays all of the level clear messages that you saw. I can't remember if I beat the game when I was a kid (I remember the timing for tossing bombs in the Baby Bowser fight being tough, and I kept hitting the ghosts instead), but I enjoyed it this time around.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I want to give a shout out to Champion of Hyrule and Megadoomer for trying out the last game of the week. Congratulations and thank you for being willing to try something new.

This week we have another game you can try on NSO

Kirby's Dream Land

Spoiler: Box Art

Game Summary: Kirby's Dream Land is Kirby's debut game. In it, the greedy King Dedede steals all of the food in Dream Land. Kirby sets out on a quest to save the food and give it back to its residents. He'll have to jump, fly, inhale and spit out his enemies to defeat the four bosses and stop King Dedede.

The game is a 2D platform that was designed to be beginner friendly and relaxing to play. Kirby didn't have his famous copy ability yet, so the gameplay focuses on sucking up enemies and spitting them back out as projectiles. There are a variety of other powerups such as the superspicy curry and mint leaf that will give Kirby even more offensive capability. The game also had a hard mode unlocked after completing the game. The game is widely regarded as a very easy game that is beatable in only an hour of playtime.

The game was also remade into the Spring Breeze mode in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra. We won't be covering those games today, as they are very different games, but it is telling that a game's entire remake was included as the tutorial mode of another game.

Initial Release:
April 27th, 1992

Playable on...

• Game Boy
• 3DS
• Switch

Notable Character Debuts:

• Kirby
• King Dedede
• Waddle Dees
• Whispy Woods
• Kracko
• Kabula

Spoiler: Music Samples

Current Metacritic Scores:
Kirby's Dream Land is pretty darn old. It actually predates Metacritic.

On Game Rankings it has a aggregate score of 62.

Confirmed Players:

• Swamp Sensei
• PLATINUM7
• Megadoomer
• Champion of Hyrule
• LiveStudioAudience
• Noipoi
• Dan Quixote

Recommended by:

• Swamp Sensei
• PLATINUM7
• Megadoomer
• Champion of Hyrule
• LiveStudioAudience
• Noipoi
• Dan Quixote

I didn't try Kirby's Dream Land until I was already an avid Kirby fan in my adult life. I got it for free as a My Nintendo reward. It certainly was a game. It's not a bad game. It's actually pretty fun. But the whole thing is done in an hour. It's well made and definitely succeeded in what it was trying to do, but I think that the game could have been longer. The Game Boy had a lot of short games, but it also had a lot of longer games. Oftentimes, a game's longevity was due to its difficulty. Kirby's Dream Land has very little, so time flies.

I'm still going to recommend it, due to being well made and fun, but I want to specify that you should play it mostly to sate your curiosity. It's a fun game to play and finish in an afternoon. And with it being on the lowest NSO tier, its more accessible than ever before.

That said, since its only an hour long...

YOU HAVE NO REASON NOT TO TRY IT.

 

[PLATINUM7]

This was my first Kirby game. Got it from a bookstore while holidaying that just happened to have some GB games.

Honestly, I think it's short length is one of the reasons I can go back to it so often. It's a fun 20-30 minutes to playthrough with some cool tunes. Plus if I really want to I can do the hard mode.

It certainly falls into early installment weirdness due to the lack of copy abilities but that doesn't diminish the game's significance.

 

[Megadoomer]

I didn't play Kirby's Dream Land until I had already played other Kirby games like Kirby Super Star and Kirby 64, so my perspective might be a bit off. It's a good start for the series, though copy abilities weren't a thing yet and, as it's already been said, you can beat the game in an hour. (You can input a code on the title screen to enter hard mode where you have half the amount of health, but that's about it as far as replayability goes)

It's a great platformer for beginners because precision is no longer an issue thanks to Kirby's flight. You never need to worry about misjudging your jump and ending up in a bottomless pit. Still, if you've played Spring Breeze in Kirby Super Star, you've more or less played this. (Though there are some differences; a level is missing from Spring Breeze, and Dedede's castle is longer in the original from what I recall)

It's a good first attempt, though I'd likely recommend Kirby's Adventure or Kirby's Dream Land 2 over it if you're looking to play older Kirby games.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

Hoo boy OG Kirby’s Dream Land.

I think this is probably my favourite Kirby game. It’s small compared to other games but feels compact and has a perfect level of difficulty that gets basically broken as copy abilities were introduced later on in the series. A lack of copy abilities is actually one of my favorite parts about this in relation to other Kirby games and I wish they had implemented a system more like the power ups of this game because I just feel it fits the format better and doesn’t remove basically all the difficulty in certain spots. I get that that’s a really controversial thing to say but I don’t wanna go over all the details on my complicated takes on this mechanic since it’s more of a grievance with Kirby’s Adventure but I could elaborate if someone really cares.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Its an odd comparison, but Dream Land always struck me as the Mario Bros of Kirby. Its not quite to what it became via its really major NES game (SMB1 for Mario, Adventure for Kirby), but its a very strong title to start out with, and it nails the exact charm of the series already. The fact that the prototype for the franchise was already on the level of NES era cult classics tells you just how good Kirby's pedigree is and why the series endured because the building blocks for it were already present in Dream Land 1.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Gonna be honest. People are a lot more positive towards Kirby's Dream Land than I expected.

 

[Noipoi]

It'll always be funny how Kirby's most defining and iconic trait wasn't even present in his first game.

With that said, for a cute little game you can blast through in a half hour, it's fun! A fine start to what would become an epic series.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Gonna be honest. People are a lot more positive towards Kirby's Dream Land than I expected.

I think its because its generally understood of the context of its release (a breezy platformer for young people on a game console meant to played in short bursts) that the art design/aesthetics were nailed immediately, and that it was the first game in a series that would evolve. Put out a Dream Land after Adventure, and especially a Super Star and it would stick out, but as the franchise's opening act? Its exactly what it needed to be. Heck in comparison to other initial titles in famous Nintendo series (LoZ, Metroid, Fire Emblem) its arguably a much easier game to go back to then the likes of Zelda 1 or the NES Metroid.

 

[nirvanafan]

Never directly played the game but played the Spring Breeze version in Kirby Superstar. Dont remember if that version was missing any content but remember it being very short, although feel the same about some other gameboy games like mario land 1. Aside from that it was fine for what it was, a solid 2d platformer. Not much else to really say, played other Kirby games before so nothing really blew me away but like i said it did its job and was worth checking out.

 

[Dan Quixote]

I actually have this game physically in my house because my brother owns an original Game Boy and a few games for it. I can confirm I was shocked by the length when I first tried it out... because it felt much more interesting than any other hour-long game I've played! Each stage does something different, or at least feels like it does. The bosses are very creative for original Game Boy faire. Plus, it's just very replayable. More than an hour of content for sure considering there's value in playing it twice in a row.

The only negative is my own fault for playing Kirby games out of release order: I was disappointed every sixty seconds or so when I tried to inhale and copy but just shot out a star. Kinda weird to come back to in hindsight for that reason, but still a slick and charming platformer.

Also idk if this is a hot take or not but the soundtrack is still high tier in the whole franchise. Sure, there are literally only seven or eight songs, but they all hit.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Never directly played the game but played the Spring Breeze version in Kirby Superstar. Dont remember if that version was missing any content but remember it being very short, although feel the same about some other gameboy games like mario land 1. Aside from that it was fine for what it was, a solid 2d platformer. Not much else to really say, played other Kirby games before so nothing really blew me away but like i said it did its job and was worth checking out.

There is some content that didn't make it to Spring Breeze. For example, Kabula is absent.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

In case you haven't noticed, I've been following a pattern for these first few games. Can you figure it out?

Also, we seem to be having less engagement lately, is there something we can do to entice more discussion?

Anyways, on to the next one! It's...

Star Fox 64

Spoiler: Box Art

Game Summary: Star Fox 64 is an on rails shooter. You pilot the Arwing as mercenary leader Fox McCloud. Fox is the leader of team Star Fox which means you'll be flying around with wing mates, Falco, Peppy and Slippy. The game focuses on aerial combat, giving the player a variety of aerial maneuvers and combat strategies including twin lasers, bombs and the ever famous barrel rolls. Together. Team Star Fox fights across the entire Lylat System defeating the evil emperor Andross and his hired mercenary team, Star Wolf at Venom.

The game has a level based system where players unlock the next level based on whether certain criteria was met while playing. This can range anywhere from score attacks to flying the Arwing underneath rock formations. While there are multiple ways to reach Venom (the final level), there are two separate versions of Venom. The "easy" path leads to a false ending, while the "hard" path leads to the true ending. Levels are also split into two main types. There are on rail mission where the Arwing flies in a linear path, and there are "all range mode" missions where players can freely fly in a 3D space. The game also offers a multiplayer mode where multiple players can participate in dogfights.

The game received a 3DS remake aptly titled Star Fox 64 3D. It updated the game's presentation, remixed the soundtrack and added online multiplayer.

Initial Release:
April 27th, 1997

Playable on...

• N64
• Wii
• 3DS (Remake)
• Wii U
• Switch

Notable Character Debuts:

• Wolf O'Donnell
• Leon Powalski
• Andrew Oikonny
• Pigma Dengar
• R.O.B. 64
• Bill Grey
• Kat Monroe
• James McCloud

Spoiler: Music Samples

Current Metacritic Scores:
Critics: 88
Players: 8.8

Confirmed Players:

• Swamp Sensei
• LiveStudioAudiance
• Megadoomer
• Grim "Anubis" Reaper
• nirvanafan
• Champion of Hyrule

Recommended by:

• Swamp Sensei
• LiveStudioAudiance
• Megadoomer
• Grim "Anubis" Reaper
• nirvanafan
• Champion of Hyrule

Star Fox 64 is one of the first games I've ever played. It was one of the first video games I was introduced to, way back in pre-school. I was awful at it, but it was super fun to see my friend play it. I was enthralled by the characters and the world. I loved Fox. I loved Falco. I loved Peppy. I loved Slippy. Seeing huge threats like Andross and Star Wolf was incredible to see and seeing how unique each level was sparked something in me. This game and Super Mario 64 are the games that got me interested in video games.

Star Fox 64 is often regarded as the best game in the series. It codified nearly everything for the franchise. It's incredibly fun to play and is super replayable. It's perfect for short bursts and the multiple pathways give it a wonderful sense of discovery. It can be a bit hard, but it always feels fair. I will say that sometimes, finding alternate routes can be a bit complicated with no way of knowing what will earn you the path you want. For example, finding the hard path to Aquas from Sector Y is usually only found by accident (or with the help of a guide). And well... for a bit of a confession. I've played the game a ton, but I've never beaten the hard path by myself. I did it with a friend and we took turns.

I still love this game to bits though. I recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in the franchise. It's on NSO and its also short (a trend we seem to be getting, don't worry, next week's games are not on NSO), so its easily accessible.

Also, the game gave us the iconic line....

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Star Fox 64 is the game that's cast the biggest shadow over its series, and once you play its easy to understand why.

SF64 is one of the tightest and most effective arcade like home console releases ever and is one of the go to examples I point to when it comes to replay value. The multiple paths, medal challenges, and satisfaction of the shooting mechanics constantly brought me back to it, and so much of the title just clicks. Interestingly enough it might be the most Sega like Nintendo game of its era, given that the former was far more known for arcade like experiences and aerial shooters (which makes it a pity Sega's never gotten a crack at trying a SF title). In this case though it was Nintendo that took the concept of the SNES Star Fox game, polished it up incredibly and gave it the kind of bells and whistles that still make it stand out even now.

The character and charm in that latter regard has to be highlighted. Voice acting in games was still in its rough early years and the cartridge based N64 wasn't exactly known for it. Those facts make the performances in SF64 all the more incredible because 25 years later they stand out. Are they cheesy? Absolutely but they're memorable in gaming culture for a reason and no other Star Fox game as come close to capturing the popcorn flick charm that this game radiates. The uncompressed audio from the gigaleak a few years ago actually suggests the voice acting was even more underrated than we realized given how much had to be crunched to fit the cartridge.

Its not without its flaws of course. The darker tone/vibe from the SNES game is a bit lost in favor of the more action movie like feel, the Blue Marine is noble attempt at gameplay novelty which doesn't quite land, and the multiplayer is fun, but is not the fully developed realization that it would be in Star Fox Assault. Slippy is also a bit annoying, though some of that is due to the aforementioned lowered voice quality as he sounds much better in uncompressed audio. The lack of saving is going to be a hurdle to modern players too, as it was basically from the last generation where a game could get away with that sort of thing.

While it is a meme that Star Fox fans simply want SF64 again, I think it might be more accurate to say that most of them simply want the kind of focused execution this game had without compromising its core elements. Assault lacked multiple paths (on top of conceding its single player level design for the multiplayer stages), Command focused too heavily on all range mode for its RTS emphasis, and Zero sacrificed more organic gameplay for the sake of the two screens control gimmick. 64 gets all the important aspects right and has aged so beautifully because of it.

 

[Megadoomer]

I rented Star Fox 64 so much as a kid, eventually buying it as a pawn shop. (as a result, it was just the cartridge, so I've never seen its manual outside of black and white photocopied versions from the rented game)

It seems like it's the gold standard that all later Star Fox games try and fail to live up to. It's got a simple story, but with branching paths to encourage replayability. The controls are tight, the difficulty is reasonable, and the voice acting is so ridiculous/great that it feels like half of the lines of dialogue in that game have become memes. (Do a barrel roll! Can't let you do that, Star Fox!, etc.) This also makes the characters extremely memorable as a result, even minor characters like the train conductor on Macbeth. (I remember thinking, years later, that the opening to the Expendables 3 felt really similar to this scene)

I have to make note of Koji Kondo's music - you can definitely hear the similarities to some of his other games, like Ocarina of Time, but the ending credits theme, the Star Wolf theme, the Zoness theme - all classics.

Another aspect of the game that encourages replays are the medals. A few of them are tied to unlockable content (such as unlocking expert mode, or the Landmaster and on-foot characters in multiplayer), though I've only managed to get a handful of medals over the years.

The levels definitely have a movie-like feel to them, both in terms of presentation and in terms of set pieces being borrowed from movies (particularly 2001: A Space Odyssey and Independence Day - when watching the sequel to Independence Day, the movie reached its climax and my first thought was "this would make for an amazing Star Fox level")

It's not without its flaws (the multiplayer doesn't have a wide variety of options even with the unlockables, and there's the odd choice of limiting who you're playing as to which controller port you're using - by contrast, I have fond memories of Star Fox Assault's multiplayer because of things like unlockable characters or being able to play hide-and-go-seek with remote control missiles), but it's a game that I feel like any Nintendo fan should play at least once. And then another time or two to unlock alternate pathways.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

I own it. I love it. I still suck at some parts, but I did get 100% at some point. Sadly lost the data, but it happens.

Some of the best quotes you can get.

I do appreciate the other games for adding more lore, etc. afterwards too~

 

[Dan Quixote]

Funny enough despite how famous and accessible it is, this is one of the only Star Fox games I've never played. I owned and played Command a lot as a kid, I played the original SNES Star Fox through rereleases, and I played Assault at friends' houses. I'm sure it's as good as everyone says it is, though, and I do have a 3DS so maybe it's time to check out that remake.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Funny enough despite how famous and accessible it is, this is one of the only Star Fox games I've never played. I owned and played Command a lot as a kid, I played the original SNES Star Fox through rereleases, and I played Assault at friends' houses. I'm sure it's as good as everyone says it is, though, and I do have a 3DS so maybe it's time to check out that remake.

Unless you already have a copy, it's impossible to play it now. The 3DS shop has since closed down.

 

[Megadoomer]

What are your favourite bosses from the game?

Aside from Star Wolf, who are always a highlight, the bosses that come to mind when I think of Star Fox 64 are the boss of Corneria's easy route (mostly because destroying one of his legs causes him to fall over and flail around uselessly) and the train boss in Macbeth (especially in the Mission Accomplished ending, which I linked to earlier, where you change the tracks and have him crash into a factory).

The Meteo boss is the first one that comes to mind when I think of the boss music, though.

EDIT: looking up videos of the bosses, I'm reminded of a particularly frustrating moment when I was playing the game - I had beaten Star Wolf on the hard version of Venom quickly enough to earn the medal... and then Fox's Arwing was stuck infinitely looping around the entrance to Andross's base in a cutscene, forcing me to restart the game.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

The Macbeth boss is definitely a highlight. I'd also like to bring up the boss of Easy Path Venom. A boss running away from you is a fun idea, and it being somewhat hard is a nice surprise.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Macbeth is a pretty hard boss at times. And I love it that way. Getting the difficult path is a fun challenge in itself.

If anything, I love the save states on the NSO so you can make sure and get that particular path you want. Or for newcomers, practice some bosses.