One game I’ve been looking forward to for some time is Lylat Wars, because I have extremely fond memories of playing it on the Nintendo 64 and was feeling the urge to play it again. But is the game still good by today’s standards, or was I merely looking at it through rose-coloured glasses?

For those who don’t know, Lylat Wars (known to most of the world as Star Fox 64) is a game that takes place a long time ago in a solar system far, far away… or something like that. The Lylat solar system is being taken over by a mad scientist known as Andross, and as a last resort, the Cornerian Army (Corneria being the ‘capital’ planet of sorts) has enlisted a team of mercenaries- consisting of Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare and Slippy Toad- known collectively as Star Fox. Yes, this is one of those games where an entire fleet of enemy warships that has already decimated the good guy’s fleet ends up getting destroyed by a small fighter, or in this case, a team of four small fighters. Also, all of the characters are bipedal animals. This is one of those old-school shooters where logic goes flying out the window, but in this case, it’s for the better.

On a similar note, this game has that other old-school staple known as ‘challenge’. Even after all these years it’s pretty tough in parts, and if you haven’t played through it before it will seem even tougher. And if you still find the game easy, try getting all the medals. If you can do that, there’s Hard mode. There’s a lot of replay value here if you’re looking for a challenge, but fortunately, as well as being tough, the game is loads of fun.

Do a barrel roll! (Not pictured: Barrel roll)

Part of the reason why it is so fun is due to the game structure. This is an on-rails shooter, where your ship (or tank or submarine) is stuck on a fairly limited path through the stage, aside from a few stages and boss battles where you can fly in any direction (referred to in-game as ‘All-Range Mode’). While this may sound like a bad thing, it actually has its advantages. Because the path is limited, the programmers have been able to pack a tremendous amount of detail into each stage. Every single element is tuned to perfection, leading to stages that contain alternate paths, hidden secrets, amazing scenery, and most of all, epic set-pieces! The on-rails structure allows each stage to be highly story driven and memorable, and most of the time you’re so captivated by what’s happening in the stage that you don’t feel restricted or limited in any way.

In fact, almost everything about Lylat Wars is memorable. Not only are the set pieces fantastic, the characters are surprisingly good. Since the game contains full voice acting (which was pretty amazing back in the day), each character is unique, memorable, and full of personality. They all have their own traits and flaws, and to top it all off the personalities of your wingmen directly influence the gameplay! Slippy, the scientific one, analyses the enemy shields during a boss fight. This means that if Slippy gets shot down, you can’t see the boss’s shield bar. Falco, the pure fighter, is extremely aggressive and is usually the first one to every dogfight. This means that he’s pretty handy when it comes to killing enemies, but it also means he occasionally gets into trouble and you need to save him. Peppy, the veteran, puts his years of experience to good use by telling you how to perform certain moves, spotting the weak points in bosses, and even providing clues to unlock alternate paths. It’s all very clever (and extremely impressive when you consider how old the game is), and it makes you care for your wingmen a lot more than if they were faceless nobodys- even if you don’t like them, you will end up respecting them for their various contributions throughout the game. All of the peripheral characters, particularly the bosses, are equally as memorable and brilliantly acted. If there’s one problem I have with the voice acting, it sounds very poor quality by today’s standards- Slippy’s voice is so full of static you can barely even understand him/her- but it’s still good enough to have the desired effect. Also, while the quality of the voice acting is pretty average, the music is still fantastic!

Ahh... someone wants to play!

The graphics are surprisingly good, even by today’s standards. Even though no updates appear to have been made to the game, I played it on a HDTV and the graphics were still less blurry than Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop! In fact, while the graphics may be a little blurred around the edges and pretty basic by today’s standards, they’re still surprisingly sharp and clear, allowing you to play the game with as much precision as ever. On top of this, the game is packed full of little details that still impress, such as the fact that your ship uses airbrakes when flying within an atmosphere but in space the wings are ‘closed’ and the airbrakes are not used (ain’t no air in space!). And of course, there are various visual effects, such as the water effects and the way that your lasers leave burn marks on the ground and so on, that haven’t aged a day.

I played this game with a GCN controller and funnily enough, I find this control method to be even better than the original N64 control method. The X and Y buttons are used to brake and accelerate, and they are much closer to the A button (used to fire lasers) than the C-left and C-down buttons were to the N64’s A button. This means it’s a lot easier to manoeuvre your ship while shooting. Also, while the original game used the C-right button to answer messages- a huge inconvenience, seeing as the button felt miles away from the A button in the heat of battle- the GCN controller maps that function to the Z button, which is much easier to reach and allows you to answer messages without moving your thumb from the A button. All of the C button functions are mapped to the C-stick as well, and while this is an awkward control method compared to using the buttons, it does mean that the only way to change the camera angle is by pressing up on the C-stick. This is not an issue though, because changing the camera angle is not something you have to do regularly, in the middle of a firefight, or at all. The only thing about the GCN controller that I really had an issue with was the fact that you had to click the L or R button in all the way for it to register. It’s not a big problem, just a minor annoyance, and besides, wouldn’t it have been better if pushing the button turned your ship sideways and clicking it all the way made you barrel roll, instead of just having to click once to turn sideways and twice for a barrel roll? Dammit Nintendo, just because the game is old doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to take advantage of new technology that would make the game easier to control!

How's the Landmaster, Fox?

Overall, Lylat Wars is an amazing game that is just as fun, challenging, epic, and captivating now as it was when it was first released in 1997. If you’ve never played it before, buy it. If you have played it before and want to play it again, buy it. Your fond memories of this game will not be destroyed by another playthrough, and with an improved controller layout, you may find it even more fun this time around!

By Mr_M

Graphics: B+

A bit blurry and simplistic, but still impressive in many ways.

Sound: A-

The sound quality ranges from good to bad, but the soundtrack is amazing and the voice acting is spot on!

Gameplay: A-

As fun and challenging as it ever was, and the GCN controller makes it even easier to control!

Overall: A-

A classic in every sense of the word!