There are some games from my childhood that I remember more fondly than others. Don't get me wrong; when it comes to the N64, I have nothing but fond memories, but there are certain titles that had more of a profound effect on me right from opening up the box.
I can pretty much remember opening up every one of my N64 games. It was more than just opening up a new title or getting a download code in a box - it was a ritual. The cardboard box was crisp with neat edges, the polythene wrap with the Nintendo tear strip keeping everything fresh. I can remember picking up the likes of Mario Tennis and Yoshi's Story from the shop and taking them to the counter, the feeling of anticipation as I put them back in my bag and got on the bus with my mother to go back home.
Space Station Silicon Valley, Jet Force Gemini, Ocarina of Time - I remember them all, but there are two games that I remember more than any. Donkey Kong 64 came with the all-important Expansion Pak and yellow game cartridge. It was one of those moments that you opened it up and saw a little plastic adapter that promised to change everything you knew about the N64, and it heralded a new dawn of gaming for me, with more complicated enemies and more characters on the screen. Or, as my 9-year-old self thought, 'wow, games are gonna be more awesome'.
But it was two years prior to DK swinging onto the N64 with his banana-themed cartridge that I had the best experience as an N64 fan. I can remember opening up a box for Christmas one year that was way bigger than all of the others. I figured that it was just one of my mum's silly games of putting socks in a Weetabix box to mess with my head. But when I opened it up and saw the Star Fox logo, I knew that something special was about to unfold.
Lylatwars, otherwise known as Star Fox 64 for all of our readers across the pond, was the biggest Nintendo 64 game box that I had ever come across. I opened the flap, pulled out the A4 instruction booklet, and completed the ritual of smelling the fresh pages (you just can't beat that smell). Next came the cardboard insert, and there it was, sitting underneath the game - the Rumble Pak.
That was the first time I had ever played with a Rumble Pak. I know it might seem mad to some of our younger readers, but I can remember a time when we played games without rumble and just had to imagine explosions and crashes. Nowadays, whether you're Link rolling into a wall or Samus Aran getting pummeled by enemy fire, there's always a ton of rumble to help you feel even more a part of the action.
It was called Star Fox in Japan and America, but there was a German company called 'Star Vox' who threatened Nintendo and said, 'We've got the trademark, you can't use Star Fox in Europe.' So it had to get renamed LylatWars.
Jez San, Argonaut Games
For those of you who have never seen a Rumble Pak, it was a chunky adapter that slotted into the back of the N64 controller. That meant that if you were playing a third-party game that needed the Memory Pak, you had to choose between feeling the rumble of an attack in your hands or actually saving your progress. The struggle was real back in the 90s! The Rumble Pak worked via two batteries that seemed to last forever, and it made the N64 controller feel much heavier. It felt more futuristic in a way, turning the remote into something that looked as though it should have been in a Star Trek episode, and it wasn't long before I had to buy a couple more for multiplayer sessions with my mates.
When I play on the Nintendo Switch 2 now, it's amazing how much I take the rumble for granted. I've just been taking pics of the game on the floor and laughing at how powerful the vibrations are in such tiny controllers. Times have really changed, but you never forget your rumble roots, and the Rumble Pak will live on as a legend in my family and friendship group forever.
Saving The Lylat System
Growing up, I was a Star Wars kid through and through. Seeing the Millennium Falcon and X-Wings pulling off amazing moves against the Empire, dodging and weaving through Tie Fighters, running rings around ATATs, blasting enemies into oblivion - it was the stuff of a young boy's dreams. I wanted to be up in space doing all of those same moves, and I would get the chance a year later with the arrival of Rogue Squadron, but in 1997, Lylat Wars allowed my imagination to run wild and let me live the life of a bona-fide intergalactic fighter.
I had never played a game like Lylat Wars up until this point. I can vividly remember the game selection screen and discovering that certain actions and certain routes that you took on levels opened up different areas for you to visit. There were certain missions or actions that you had to fulfil in order to see the Arwing heading in a different direction and opening up new quests, and finding those out on the fly was amazing. I can remember the first time that I played using the Landmaster, my mates sitting on the sofa behind me waiting to have a go when I inevitably got destroyed, and all of the quotes that came from the characters.
Lylat Wars is beloved by many for a number of reasons, including its epic Multiplayer mode, the awesome powerups, the camaraderie between the cranky Falco Lombardi and the slightly useless Slippy Toad, the targeting system that made me feel like I was bullseyeing womp rats in a T-16. And of course, that epic rumble whenever bombs exploded.
But Lylat Wars lives on in the hearts and minds of gamers everywhere for one main reason - the Barrel Roll.
The Arwing had some amazing features, and if you've played this game, then you'll know all about the cool manoeuvres where you can loop behind your enemies or half loop and move in the opposite direction, a firm favourite of mine when in multiplayer battles. But the barrel roll could be perhaps the greatest move of all time. It just looks so cool and, as I mentioned further up this section, made me feel like I was joining the likes of Han Solo as one of the best space pilots of all time.
The Transition From SNES To N64
Miyamoto famously said that Lylat Wars was a cocktail of ideas taken from Star Fox/Starwing and the then-cancelled Star Fox 2, with 60% of the finished product being the first game, 30% the sequel, and only 10% of the game being wholly new. And when you look at scrapped marketing assets from the game showing the old-style Arwings and the fact that the game should have been called 'Star Fox: Cosmic Crisis', it very much feels like Nintendo were planning on a continuation of what had come before rather than creating something wholly new. Thank goodness they reworked the Arwings and made them more detailed and utilised the increased power of the N64.
When Star Fox 64 began development at the end of Star Fox 2, the N64 wasn't actually ready to roll. Kazuaki Morita (programmer) and Takaya Imamura (Artist) had to use a dev computer with a SNES controller that had been adapted for the new system. Morta was learning 3D graphics on the go, recreating the SNES version of Star Fox as a sort of tester.
When short clips of the levels they had created were shown off alongside the N64 at Space World 95 (otherwise known as Shoshinkai), everyone fell in love with the idea. What followed was 'Cosmic Crisis', a game that was faster and easier than the SNES title and with the different progression paths I spoke about earlier - if one level was too difficult, a player could find an alternative route and still enjoy the game at their own pace.
Another two things that separate the N64 version from its predecessor are the inclusion of all-range mode and the Star Wolf team. These were features that would have arrived in Star Fox 2 but were brought forward to the N64 release. I also love the fact that there's a full team of voice actors in Lylat Wars/Star Fox 64 too - it adds an extra dimension and really gets you into the narrative. Good games have to draw you into the story, and while Lylat Wars is essentially a shooting game, the underlying tale of revenge for Fox's father, besting rivals, and the friendship of the team really drive the game along.
As an aside, we spoke to Jez San about his work on Star Fox for the SNES and with the Super FX chip when we chatted with the Argonaut Team about the creation of Croc, which as a life-long Star Fox fan was a great moment for me! Listen back to Jez talking about Star Fox and Lylat Wars below
The Switch 2 Remake
The graphics, at the time, felt unreal. I know that when we look at the comparison between the Switch 2 Remake and the N64 original in a second, they'll look as though they've been drawn with Porygon's beak, but I love it all the same.
The levels felt incredibly large, the worlds so full of interesting things to attack. And when the boss battles arrived and all-range mode kicked in, it was immense. I mean, the Asteroid fields alone were something else, seeing those rocks crashing together and finding the space to zoom in between them didn't just feel great, it looked phenomenal too.
There's no denying, however, that the upcoming remake completely blows all the water off of the planet Aquas. Just take a look at our comparison video below while I drool over my keyboard.
It's incredible, isn't it? The difference is phenomenal, especially in that opening level where you're flying over the water in Corneria. I remember thinking that all the space we had on that original N64 version was fantastic, but now it's just sparse in comparison to the remake, which brings stunning visuals into play that add so much depth to Fox's homeworld.
Just take a look at the detailing on the Arwings too, and even on Fox's fur and Falco's feathers. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: it's how we all thought the game looked back in the day when graphics couldn't possibly get any better than they were. How wrong were we, huh?
We've had various reincarnations of the original Star Fox game over the years, including a 3D version for the 3DS and Star Fox Assault for the Wii U. Other than Star Fox Adventures which, as regular readers will know, is one of my all-time favourite games, Star Fox 64 has remained the gold standard for me when it comes to Star Fox aerial shooting games and the best of the bunch. When the remake drops, that will undoubtedly change; it's hard not to instantly fall in love with how realistic the characters are now, how much more animal-like they are. Just like the voice acting helped to drive the narrative, seeing the characters looking more animalesque helps to bring you further into the weird and wonderful world of Corneria, and I'm all for it.
We might have come a long way since me opening that big box almost 3 decades ago, and there will undoubtedly be a lot less in the Switch 2 box than there was in my beloved N64 box (there better be an actual game cart in there!), but the same story, the same exciting gameplay, lives on.
