For those few of you who have never played or never heard of Star Fox, the game is one of the greatest rail shooters to ever exist. You fly through levels on a predetermined course, shooting down all manner of enemies that wish to blow you and your three team mates up. Each level ends in a boss of some sort, and many levels have multiple ways to complete the mission sending you to one of many different stages. This gives the game a lot of re-playability as you try to take different paths through the Lylat System, as well as trying to earn the difficult to acquire medals on each planet by defeating a certain amount of enemies.

Top and Bottom Screen

With the basics out of the way, let’s dive right into what sets this game apart from the original. To start with, Star Fox 64 3D has improved the graphics for the 3DS giving this old title a fresh new coat of paint. Don’t expect any amazing improvements in this area, as many of the polygons are exactly as they were in the 64 version. What is greatly improved is the textures on the models as well as the water effects. Zoness literally made my jaw drop when I saw how gorgeous the toxic waste you fly over is in this remake. Yes, you heard that right, the 3DS makes even toxic waste look beautiful. Likewise, Solar was another example of the new environmental effects at their best. Some of the original voice acting has been re-done, but fear not! The lines remain unchanged, and most if not all of the voice actors have returned making the change nearly unnoticeable to all but the most diehard Star Fox fans.

Star Fox 64 3D also seeks to take advantage of and showcase many of the 3DS’s unique features giving this title a very different feel from the original version if you so wished it. Obviously, the biggest addition is the inclusion of a 3D mode. Admittedly, the 3D did not leave a lasting impression on me, as few 3DS games have managed to accomplish thus far. While it certainly didn’t hurt the title, and it was well implemented it is not enough to sell the title. The background remains as a static flat image, but nearly every single enemy, obstacle, and projectile are depicted in 3D to give a greater depth to game’s stunning visuals. This game also utilizes the gyro sensor inside the 3DS so if you wish you can pilot your arwing without so much as ever touching the circle pad. Once again, I found this feature to be fluff added onto an already strong title and nothing substantial. The gyro controls are much more difficult than the standard controls, and I’m sure you’ll look all the more ridiculous for it if you decide to play this game in public.

Do a Barrel Roll!

This game does include multiplayer which plays much like the original version, but with new levels and all new power ups aside from the standard lasers and bombs. In addition, you can utilize the camera to take your picture so that others can see you as you blow each other up. The downside? No online play. Multiplayer on this title is entirely LAN play, but thankfully you and your friends can play with just one copy of the game via download play.

While Star Fox 64 3D certainly won’t sell systems all on its own like Ocarina of Time, if you are currently a 3DS owner and enjoy Star Fox or are unfortunate enough to have never played the game I suggest you pick it up. The only people I would recommend not to pick this particular title up would be those of you who have already played it and know you don’t like it. With such a limited number of games available for the 3DS, this game should easily slip into the top 5 games for the system and makes an excellent addition to the collection of any early 3DS adopters.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo 3DS.

The use of animals as characters was Miyamoto’s attempt to buck the trend of humans and robots  in Japanese sci fi, but the use of a Fox as the game’s protagonist came from a specific association of Mr. Miyamoto’s: “Star Fox has a lot of  scenes in which the fighter goes through arches, which reminds one of the gates at Shinto shrines called torii. And torii made me think of the thousands of such gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha,” one of the most prominent Japanese shrines dedicated to the god, Inari. “In a prototype, there were lots of scenes like going through there. And when you think of Fushimi Inari, you think of foxes.”

Helping to reinforce the name though: “Fushimi Inari Taisha is about a 15-minute walk from our former head office12, and there used to be a boys’ baseball team in the area called the Inari Foxes. I thought, “Foxes! Now that’s cool! …it was the English word “fox” from the start—not the Japanese word kitsune.”

The more you know!

Thanks to Siliconera for the info.

With so many 3DS games getting confirmed release dates over the past few days, it only seems right that the 3DS remake of StarFox 64 would share the same fate.

The game will release in Japan on July 14th according to the new official StarFox 64 website.

Now do a barrel roll.

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Thanks to CVG for the info.