Star Fox

After playing through Star Fox Adventures, I became interested in seeing what other Star Fox games were like, which quickly turned into a deep-dive that involved going back to the franchise’s 1993 roots with the original Star Fox (aka Starwing in Europe) on the SNES to see how it all began. Although I own a SNES and the game itself isn’t too difficult to find, I would end up playing the game through the SNES Classic, as it happened to be one of the included games and has a save state function that would make an otherwise difficult game easier for me to get through and play in chunks. While the game does still impress with the hardware limitations at the time, there are still areas where it didn’t age quite so well due to later entries improving upon what it set out to be.

After years of hiding on the planet Venom following a banishment from Corneria, the evil Andross has escaped and has begun an attack on the Lylat system. In response, General Pepper calls on Star Fox, with a team consisting of Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad and Peppy Hare, to stop Andross.

The core gameplay is that of a rail shooter, in which you fly through a linear path while shooting down enemies, with some sections played in first-person. There are times where you may have to shoot down enemies chasing after your teammates, with the points you earn at the end of the level influenced by the amount of remaining shields among the entire team. Although I did not run into this on my initial playthrough, I am aware that if a teammate runs out of shields, they are out of commission for the rest of the game. Also worth mentioning is that the game has four different control options, with two of them including a non-inverted Y-axis, and you can even preview the controls in the selection screen. The lack of analog sticks on the SNES controller makes having to use the d-pad to steer take some getting used to, and while the controls may be simple, an older gamer such as myself may find the inability to hold down the fire button a way to fast-track RSI.

There are three different routes to choose from, each with increasing difficulty, though for this review I only played through Route 1, which is the easiest. Throughout each level, you can also pick up upgrades that refill your shields or enhance your weaponry, and these upgrades persist between levels until you lose a life. You only have three lives to get through the game, but earning enough points earns you a Continue (max. 3), which, when used, starts you back at the map screen where you must start over from the beginning of the current level. While benevolent, this system becomes punishing if you die at Venom, the final level, which is broken into three parts, as using a Continue makes you start all the way back at the first. For this, the save state system on the SNES Classic is a godsend, as I was able to save my progress with level cleared with good performance, even maximizing the device’s allotted four save slots per game.

 

The gameplay is simple, but the controls take some getting used to.

For the standards of the time, it’s actually quite impressive even today that a 16-bit system is able to render consistent 3D graphics, however crude they may be, and this always fascinated me even as someone who isn’t a huge Nintendo fan. That said, this won’t stop me from criticizing the horrendous draw distance, which can and will make certain obstacles and even environmental objects appear out of thin air, making you inevitably take damage unless you know to anticipate it. The lack of an aiming reticle also makes it difficult to know where you’re aiming, but this isn’t really an issue in first-person segments, which do feature such a reticle.

By modern standards, the sound design is basic, but by the standards of the time it came out, it works well enough for the system limitations of the SNES. Regardless of this, the game has a pretty memorable soundtrack, helped by having to perform multiple attempts at some levels to complete them efficiently. This soundtrack also features an early version of the series’ iconic pre-Mission “Good luck” soundbite.

Looking back at the original Star Fox, it feels like a skeleton for later entries in the series due to its basic control scheme. Recommending this game can be a little difficult, since it can be a bit challenging for newcomers, especially if playing the original cartridge, but it may be worth it for Star Fox fans to see where the franchise came from. In any case, the SNES Classic is the most ideal way to play it, if only for its save state function.