“The Lylat system has been invaded! Take control of the Arwing and skim over the surface of an alien sea, weave through the concrete canyons, and dodge planetoids the size of mountains in fast-paced flight combat action”

The Nintendo 64 was the first console I ever played. Sure the Gamecube is where most of my video game childhood memories came from, but the N64 is where it all started with the likes of Ocarina of Time or the original Super Smash Bros. My brothers had so many different games for the system (and still do), of course Star Fox 64 was one of them.

The Star Fox series is similar to Metroid and Pokemon for me: the games are fun, the characters are memorable, but I’ve never beaten a single game. Funny enough, the Nintendo Switch gave me the opportunity to do that for all three series. I have the NSO + Expansion Pack split between a family membership (saves you a ton of money and everyone gets the extra benefits, I highly recommend it) – and in my 5 hour play through of the game I reached every level and completed both the final boss, as well as the “true” final boss.

The opening level in Corneria is still iconic as ever, and the controls for the most part hold up. The object is to fly through the levels, shoot down enemies that are either attacking you or chasing your squad mates, pick up gold / silver rings for extra health (bombs too), and then face off against a mini boss. Occasional levels have dog fights against Star Wolf.

Some levels also have secret paths you can unlock based on meeting certain criteria – save Falco in this situation and you’ll go onto a brand new planet you otherwise would’ve easily missed. That also brings up the trick I never caught playing as a kid: save your teammates at all costs because there will be sections later in the game where you could use their help. I did not realize this and let’s just say I may or may not have used a suspend point at least 15 times to beat Wolf at the end.

Unfortunately I don’t think the Star Fox games on the Gamecube are coming back anytime soon and considering how Star Fox Zero on Wii U wasn’t great, a new game from the series isn’t likely to be on the horizon. This experience makes me wish I didn’t give away my 3DS so I could play Star Fox 64 3D, but to have the opportunity to come back and complete the original was a fun time.