Since his debut in 1993, Starfox and his colleagues have graced a number of Nintendo’s consoles with decidedly mixed results. Just as several of the games have allowed us to take different paths through each one, each entry in the series has managed to take us in various directions from shooting enemy crafts in space to rescuing dinosaurs on a planet torn apart by evil!

With Starfox Zero on the horizon, we take a look at the journey of Starfox over the years and consider whether you should be excited for the latest game in the franchise or cautious.

STARWING (1993) SNES

Starfox team, consisting of Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad (everybody’s favourite) and Peppy Hare, first appeared in the early 90s for the Super Nintendo. This ground-breaking game introduced many of us to the Super FX chip which was used to render 3D polygons on screen in order to produce an experience unlike anything before it on the SNES.

While the graphics were impressive for their time, the decades that have passed have not been particularly kind due to the primitive nature of the visuals. Having said that, despite the buildings, enemies and arwing all lacking detail and appearing blocky, Starwing managed to carve out a style that can still be recognised today in Starfox Zero.

Tasked with flying through the Lylat System, shooting through hordes of enemies to eventually battle and take down the evil Andross, players could choose a variety of routes through the game’s levels in order to provide a fresh experience each time you barrel-rolled your way from start to finish.

Starwing is perhaps difficult to fully appreciate in 2016 given how far technology has come but if you can overcome the eye-melting visuals there’s still a fun game to blast through on a lazy afternoon and music that will be stuck in your head for hours.. or years!

A SNES sequel, featuring the walker transformation not witnessed again until Nintendo’s E3 presentation for Starfox Zero, was ultimately cancelled in favour of embracing the 3D capabilities of Nintendo’s next home console. It was certainly worth the wait.

LYLAT WARS (1997) N64

For many the pinnacle of the series, Lylat Wars took the original concept of Starwing to an entirely new level. As a reimagining of the first game, players once again piloted Fox in his arwing throughout a number of missions in the hunt for Andross.

With the introduction of the analogue stick for precision control and the Rumble Pak for force feedback, an entirely new feature for mainstream gaming in 1997, as well as the much-improved capabilities of the N64 hardware, Lylat Wars fulfilled the potential of the original and gave us an experience that fans of the franchise have been looking to recapture over the years.

The Landmaster allowed gamers to battle on the ground in certain stages whilst there was also a submarine-type fighter, the Blue Marine, which took the team underwater.

Once again, there were branching paths to take throughout the game as well as the introduction of mercenaries and rivals to the Starfox team, Starwolf, who could be defeated in several stages.

With high scores to beat, medals to be awarded and split-screen multiplayer, there was plenty to keep players coming back despite some complaints that the game can be cleared in less than an hour.

Lylat Wars still holds up superbly well today, whether you play the original on N64 or the Wii Virtual Console, and remains, for many, the absolute best in the series.

STARFOX ADVENTURES (2002) GC

The similarities between Starwing and Lylat Wars laid down the blueprint for what gamers expected of the franchise, but those expectations were to be challenged in Rare’s final game for Nintendo, 2002’s Starfox Adventures for the Gamecube.

Originally intended for Nintendo 64 as Dinosaur Planet, Fox McCloud and co. were shoehorned into an adventure game that took more than a little inspiration from The Legend of Zelda. Despite a few occasions of taking to the sky in classic Starfox style, the majority of the game involved exploring a range of beautiful locales on foot, solving puzzles and fighting bad guys with a staff. Accompanied by a triceratops named Prince Tricky, who aided and irritated you on your quest to rescue Krystal and save Dinosaur Planet, Starfox Adventures managed to provide a relatively solid adventure lasting 15-20 hours.

Some of the visuals were outstanding, not least the impressive fur effect, and still hold up fairly well today. As Rare’s swansong on the Gamecube, it certainly looked the part but the game did suffer from some of the company’s tropes and extremely poor combat. Previous Rare games, such as Banjo-Tooie and Donkey Kong 64, were maligned by some for a heavy reliance on collectables and back-tracking. Unfortunately, Starfox Adventures suffers considerably from the latter despite the adventure being quite linear throughout.

The game also felt rushed towards the end, mainly due to not being given the opportunity to battle General Scales, the antagonist you see throughout the adventure, at all as well as something of a tacked on final battle with Andross.

Reviews varied at the time of release but what is almost certain is that it does not hold up as well today as it may have done back then, mainly due to the problems already outlined. If you have any fondness for Starfox Adventures, playing through it all again is perhaps ill-advised as it can’t be guaranteed that your fond memories will remain untarnished!

STARFOX ASSAULT (2005) GC

The Gamecube is the only console to receive two new entries in the Starfox franchise. While Adventures took the series in a drastically different direction, Starfox Assault took the Starfox team back to their roots, for the most part!

With the help of Namco, Starfox Assault was released for the GC in 2005 to mediocre reviews. The first mission played out very much like a stage from Lylat Wars, paving the way for what could have been an excellent update to the 90’s classic. However, the game was criticised for not having enough levels in this vein as many of the other missions took place on-foot or in the landmaster.

In fact, several stages allowed you to switch between arwing, landmaster and on-foot to provide a nice variety to the game but, unfortunately, nothing could quite match the fun associated with piloting the arwing on-rails like in previous entries.

Starfox Assault was definitely not a bad game and had more of a focus on story than Starwing or Lylat Wars but this was at the expense of the freedom afforded by both of those games as Assault had no branching paths to speak of. It’s certainly worth playing again, though, particularly if you’ve become overly familiar with Lylat Wars, and the variety of missions keep things fresh throughout.


STARFOX COMMAND (2007) DS

Starfox Command on DS saw the series return exclusively to the skies in 2007 along with some major twists to the gameplay.

For the first time, control of your arwing would be handled by using the stylus on the touch screen to perform turns, barrel rolls and somersaults. The game felt great to control and, like some of the previous games, there were many routes through the story that could be taken on different playthroughs of the game, each providing a different ending.

Even though flying was the very much back on the agenda, the on-rails nature of past games was entirely absent in favour of ‘all-range’ mode, something which had featured in certain parts of Lylat Wars and Starfox Assault.

Each mission would involve the player drawing out a path for their arwing to take on a map screen. Fuel would limit how far you could travel during one of a limited number of turns with the objective being to take down all enemies and missiles present on the map before running out of turns or time.

Starfox Command is a lot of fun to play, even if all of the missions feel quite similar, but it’s very much worth picking up to play on DS, 2DS or 3DS. It is also available on the Wii U Virtual Console. You can even record your voice to have members of the Starfox team sound a little like you during the campaign.


STARFOX 64 3D (2011) 3DS

The most recent game in Starfox universe is a 3DS remake of Lylat Wars. With improved graphics, 3D and stage select options not featured in the original, this is perhaps the definite version of the game. In fact, it may well be the best Starfox game to date.

In addition to core gameplay, gamers could choose to play with gyroscope controls meaning that movements of the system would position the arwing instead of, or even in addition to, the circle pad. Unlike Starfox Zero, however, navigation and aiming are not independent.

An opportunity to add an online multiplayer option, not possible on the N64, was unfortunately not included but local multiplayer where you can see pictures of your friends on screen is present.

If you haven’t played Lylat Wars, Starfox 64 3D is easy to recommend. In fact, even fans of the original are likely to appreciate the update to what is a very special game.

Starfox Zero certainly has a lot to live up to in comparison to the 3DS game, particularly when you consider that Zero is a reimagining of the original games. Given that Starfox 64 3D is already a remake of a game that itself was something of a remake of Starwing, it could be argued that this re-treading of old ground could hamper how fresh the Wii U exclusive will be. On the other hand, the reception to the entries in the franchise that have varied from tradition has been so mixed that a return to the core mechanics of Starfox may be just what fans have been asking for.

With Starfox Zero still a number of weeks away, there’s still time to get excited about the game. History suggests, however, that it may be sensible to remain cautious until we finally get our hands on the game this April.