With a lifetime of gaming under my belt, it’s fair to say I’ve had my share of favourite series over the years. As a youngster I would’ve shouted about Mario from the rooftops if I was allowed up that high, then as I grew Zelda became the series that I was suitably obsessed with. As time moved on I devoured and adored so many different series, that captured my emotions in a variety of ways and brought me great joy. One series that doesn’t necessarily come to mind when thinking about my all time faves is Star Fox, but after some reflection it has been a huge part of my life.
My first console was an SNES, and this Nintendo trend carried on throughout my life. I can’t remember how Star Wing found its way into my library of cartridges, but its magical 3D visuals absolutely amazed me. I’d never seen anything like it, because at the time it was incredibly graphically advanced. Star Wing was also the game that introduced me to inverted controls for flying, which is an odd thought really.
I had a great time listening to the crew babble at each other, and shooting Andross’ ships out of the sky. I was entranced by the soundtrack too, and often find myself humming the Corneria theme today as I go about daily tasks. I also remember finding the ability to break off the wings of my Arwing endlessly entertaining, and purposefully bouncing off the floor to shatter them before starting each mission. It seems silly now, but really this was me being introduced to parts of a vehicle taking separate damage. Innovation that appealed to a destructive young fella.
The next Star Fox game in Europe was known as Lylat Wars, but most know it as Star Fox 64. I actually didn’t own this back in 1997, but did rent it a few times. The game originally released with the Rumble Pack, providing haptic feedback to the masses in a very early form. This bundled angry controller plugin was pretty much the main selling point of the game, but only when you weren’t aware that Lylat Wars is one of the greatest games of all time. I’m getting ahead of myself though, because Lyle of the past didn’t know this yet.
I had a great time with Lylat Wars, but somehow not enough to consider buying it to keep. I think this was likely because I was able to beat it multiple times in a single rental period, and new games weren’t exactly growing on trees back then for an eight year old. It was a fun game but not one that fully stole my heart, or at least it seemed that way.
I had a huge revelation when thinking about what to write for this piece about Star Fox. It’s the only video game series I’ve ever written fan fiction about. I don’t really consider myself much of a creative writer, but back in primary school we were asked to write a story. Despite loving so many other characters across fiction, it was Fox and the gang that jumped into my brain that fateful day. The Star Fox crew are just bursting with personality, and I suppose I just wanted to bring that to life. I don’t remember the details of this likely awful classroom assignment (besides the fact I for some reason gave Andross’ nephew Andrew a large role) but it always stuck with me as a core memory.
I went through life after Lylat Wars not really thinking about Fox, Falco, Slippy, and Peppy. I played a few more Star Fox games (particularly enjoying the Zelda style game with lots of dinosaurs- Star Fox Adventures) but they came and went. Then as adulthood reared its ugly head I found myself browsing the Virtual Console on the Wii, and saw Lylat Wars. That classic title I had enjoyed but never owned. It was time to set things right, and jump back into the cockpit.
Lylat Wars isn’t a particularly long game, so I sat and played through the whole thing in one sitting. I had a blast as expected, and then went to bed after a hard day saving the galaxy. The next day I woke up, and immediately wanted to jump in again. This carried on for an entire month, where every day I still wanted to play Star Fox and so completed it another time. I had so many modern titles at my disposal which I hadn’t even touched, and instead this Nintendo 64 classic was bringing me all the happiness I needed. I was hooked.
Part of why I was so excited to keep playing Lylat Wars was the variety. Despite being a game you could complete in a couple of hours, there were so many routes you could take to the end. Different stages had different hidden objectives that would unlock new planets, and this meant that every day I could choose where I fancied visiting. One day I’d focus on fighting Star Wolf as often as I could, another I’d want to take the hardest trip possible in my space plane. Whichever route I took, I always had a delightful time.
Needless to say, I consider Lylat Wars one of my favourite games of all time now. Fox may have spent a long time absent from Nintendo consoles (outside of appearances in Super Smash Bros games) but he never left my heart. Then one fateful day Star Fox was back in the spotlight, with a shiny new remake of an all time great coming to the Switch 2. I was ecstatic, and completely floored. After years of waiting it felt like Fox McCloud was a thing of the past, a washed up old pilot that your dad remembered being cool. Now he was in Super Mario movies, and embarking on a comeback.
I can’t wait for Star Fox to release, and show a whole new generation this special game. I can only hope that this will lead to all new Star Fox games too, and a resurrection of the series I loved without realising it. Maybe it’ll even get me back in the fan fiction game, although let’s not make any promises we won’t keep. Corneria, I’m coming into land. Ready the G-Diffusers and tell Peppy he’s skipping the next mission, the galaxy needs me.
Star Fox is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25th.
