The creative team behind Star Fox 64, obviously got much of it's inspiration from Star Wars.
The game is saturated with typical Star Wars elements.
From the aerobatic star ships to a gigantic mothership in the introduction.
To a Death Star like assault against a shield protected star base. (Bolse)
Star Wars wasn't the only influence, during development though.
On the planet Katina - you will notice a shadow casting mothership that makes for an uncanny resemblance to the film "Independence Day"
What struck us most from playing the 64-bit Star Fox, was how much it had improved since the 16-bit original from about five years ago.
The graphics were then considered revolutionary but, today they're almost painful to the eyes.
Star Fox 64 is a graphical beauty.
Complete with reflections and water surfaces and fantastically dramatic explosions.
The bosses you must defeat are equally impressive - both in size and design.
Each boss has different vulnerabilities and you have to figure out what part of them to defeat first.
And sometimes how to avoid their attacks in the process.
The game comes packed with a "Rumble Pack" - a wireless device that simply clicks into the bottom of your controller and provides force feedback, when you are hit by the enemy.
We found the "Rumble Pack" to be a letdown.
The rumbles did not seem to to vary in intensity.
One would expect crashing into the ground, would cause the "Rumble Pack" to thrash furiously.
But the effect is no more than a slight rumble.
At least the unit is apply nammed.
The "Rumble Pack" causes a major problem for owners of the popular interactive "GameShark" controller.
You can't pause if the "Rumble Pack" is in use.
We opted to avoid the rumbler entirely.
And quite honestly, the game doesn't need the "Rumble" to provide the action.
Although the challenge level is not too high, you'll have to practice several times before beating the game on the "Hard" levels.
While Star Fox is a great game, we found several areas for nitpicking.
The cinematic sequences are too short, without substantive of plot and hardly as immersive as a good movie.
The cinema scenes are often nothing more, than a scene showing you flying towards the next level.
The graphics, while well rendered, are not very detailed.
The levels in outer space lacked depth in the stars.
And the skies look more like dotted backgrounds then immersive Star Wars battle scenes.
Okay, this is a silly complaint. But the play control is something that may frustrate everyone.
Targeting your enemy is difficult. Even with the homing device.
Some enemies likethe Star Wolf team for example, must be defeated without the homing device or charge laser blasts. (refering to the Hard Route of Venom fight with them.)
One major flaw that could be avoided is the somersaults varying response rate.
Occasionally, you'll press the buttons necessary to perform a somersault.
But nothing will happen.
To avoid this, make sure you press the control stick, all the way down in a lighting-quick motion.
Frankly, it makes no sense to involve the control stick in somersault operations, when the stick is already utilized in basic movement.
Sometimes, the game will think you're merely pressing down.
When you are actually pressing down AND a C-Button to do a somersault.
In the case of Star Fox though, control problems are easy to overcome.
Persistent players should beat the game on "Hard" in a week or so.
However? Some players may not even know how to access the "Hard" level.
The "Hard" level is determined by the path you take, to the planet of Venom.
Some paths do not become available until you meet certain requirements.
For info, on how to beat the "Hard Level" stay tuned to "Flights" (a segment on Gaming In The Clinton Years)
And we will give you, the whole scoop and nothing but the scoop later in this episode.
The bottom line on Star Fox though is that, you should rent it, beat it and save your money.
Graphics were graded as a B, Control was graded as a B and Challenge was graded as a C.
End review.