Pros: Super FX chip; three completely different paths; the voice acting; great soundtrack
Cons: Super FX chip; hit detection can be spotty; completely worthless teammates
Star Fox has always been a bit of a Moby Dick to me. As a kid, I played the game constantly, memorizing just about every detail of the first two paths that the game offered. I could easily reach Andross and defeat him as long as I chose Levels 1 or 2. However, I could never finish the third path. I'd try, getting to the third level without too much difficulty, but inevitably the boss would kill me and I'd give up, opting for one of the other paths instead so that I could actually finish the game. I vaguely remember beating the third level boss once, but I know for a fact I didn't make it past the fourth level out of seven. When Star Fox 64 came out, I played that game even more, unlocking literally everything by getting gold medals on every level. And yet in the back of my mind, I always knew that I had cheated a little bit by never actually finishing the third path of the original. No matter how satisfying it was to unlock playing multiplayer in tanks, I still couldn't finish a measly five levels in the first game. And so for the 25th Mission: Backlog I went back to a classic for some much needed closure.
As most people know, Star Fox is an on rails shooter in which you fly through each level destroying as many enemies as possible before encountering a boss. What made Star Fox so special at the time was that it was one of the first 3D games on a 16 bit console thanks to the Super FX chip which helped simulate a 3D environment. At the time, the game looked completely unique because of this, but now it just looks like an incredibly early 3D game like the original Descent. It's a bit unfair to knock the game for this now though, considering it used a completely new technology at the time. You're tasked with defeating Andross on the planet Venom, but there are three different paths to get there, each of them completely unique. The Level 1 path is of course the easiest, with the Level 2 path being slightly more difficult, and the Level 3 path being fairly punishing.You'll always start on Corneria, but even this level changes depending on what path you take, so you really haven't completed the game in its entirety until you've cleared all three paths. Granted, all three paths probably won't take you more than three hours to beat, but the variety of levels (19 in all) is definitely welcome.
In each level you'll be accompanied by three co-pilots (Falco, Slippy, and Peppy), but they're completely worthless. You can save them if you want when they're being attacked, but they'll never really take down enemies on their own. In face, I ended up killing them all off when they began to actually hinder my progress on the Level 3 path. In one of the later levels, you'll encounter gates that open a certain way depending on the direction of the blinking arrow on its front. If you shoot this arrow, it'll change directions, and you need to know which way the gate will swing so you can fly the opposite direction. Well, after rescuing Falco, he proceeded to shoot said arrow as I was about to pass the gate, causing it to open in my face and damage my ship. I might have just laughed it off if the level wasn't so damn difficult and the damage hurt me bad when it came to fighting the boss. Needless to say, there were three downed ships within minutes. The one saving grace of your teammates is the "voice acting" which is just gibberish but still incredibly entertaining. In addition to the sound effects being great, the soundtrack is one of the best I can remember on the SNES. I don't know how I didn't appreciate it more as a kid, but just about every level has an incredible theme and the opening as well as closing themes are also both classics.
There are two types of levels in Star Fox, although they're both still shooter levels. All levels that take place on a planet as well as several in space take a third person perspective and tend to be a bit more wide open. There are some levels in space that take a first person perspective, with the camera automatically returning to the center of the screen if you aren't pressing in a direction. Overall, these levels are much more restricted in terms of movement and will require you to shoot down the enemies before they strike as opposed to the third person levels where you can also dodge their shots more easily. One minor complaint is that the hit detection doesn't always seem quite on target, and this is particularly true when the enemies are further away. Granted, in the third person view there is no shooting reticule, but I was still making a lot of shots that I thought should have connected. Once the enemies are close, the detection is fine so it didn't ruin the game for me, but it still could be better. The one exception to all of this is a certain boss on the sixth stage of Level 3. I couldn't ever seem to actually hit his weak point, no matter how close I was, and I honestly ended up winning the fight with a decent amount of luck. You'll use your Arwing's blasters as well as bombs to advance through the levels. The blasters can be upgraded twice by a special powerup that comes up about once every level and, while the upgrades aren't necessary to beat the game, make it a lot more manageable. Bombs are handed out via a powerup a bit more liberally and will clear most of the screen of enemies as well as do decent damage on most bosses.
The original Star Fox isn't quite as good as it's sequel on the Nintendo 64, but it definitely laid a strong foundation for what was to follow. By no means is this a knock against the original, but for those with the option of playing either, Star Fox 64 should win out due to its more varied combat, amazingly cheesy voice acting, and great setpieces. Still, Star Fox is a classic that is worth visiting because much of this can be seen in its infancy in the original and because of the title's place in SNES history as one of the first 3D games.
Overall: 8.4
Recommended Price: $12.99 (or if you're cheap emulate it)
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