Star Fox 64 3D for Nintendo 3DSi— AMAZING!

It's been fourteen years since the original Star Fox 64, and now its time to barrel roll again in this remake for the 3DS. But is it worth it to buy this remake? To say the least YES! Star Fox 64 3D does an amazing job of recapturing the fun and gameplay of the original version with revamped graphics and new ways to control your vehicle. Its a must buy for the 3DS with only one problem to the game which is no WIFI, but that will be discussed later in the review. The story of Star Fox is set in the fictional Lylat System. The evil scientist Andross goes insane and nearly destroys his home planet of Corneria. Then General Pepper exiles him to the desolate planet of Venom. Five yerars later Corneria discovers mysterious activities coming from Venom. General Pepper deploys the Star Fox team (consisting of James McCloud, Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar) to investigate. Pigma betrays his team, and allows them to be captured. Peppy manages to escape, but James doesn't and dies.

This is where the game picks up, years later Andross tries to again capture the Lylat system, and this time General Pepper hires the new Star Fox team (Fox McCloud, Peppy Hare, Falco Lombardi, and Slippy Toad). The game revolves around their efforts to get to Venom and ultimately destroy Andross once and for all.

Like the original game, Star Fox 64 3D consists of different paths that you can enter and exit during the story. Unlike the original, you have a choice to choose which path you want to go  down (depending on what you did in the previous mission), making it easier to make the story unfold the way you want it to. During the game you go through six different worlds with different challenges and strategic bosses, before you go the seventh world where you find Andross. There are three different vehicles that you use. The Arwing (titular vehicle, used for most missions), the Land Master (a large mobile tank used for land based maps) and the Blue Marine (a submarine for underwater based maps). There are two ways of controlling your vehicle— using the 3DS gyroscope and circle pad to move, or using the original N64 controls. I preferred the original controllers over the 3DS ones, simply because of the fact that you can control your vehicle more fluidly with the circle pad instead of tilting the 3DS in the direction you wanna move. Also tilting the 3DS blurs the 3D effect so you would have to turn the 3D off just to enjoy the game.

The graphics are simply beautiful, having undergone a complete overhaul of the whole game, not missing a single detail. No more polygonal shapes, the developers made full use of the 3DS advanced hardware and revamped everything, just showing the power of the 3DS. Having the 3D on does not slow this game down, so you can enjoy this game in full 3D, having asteroids, lasers, and even the boost off of Fox's Arwing come at you. The added depth only adds to the brilliance of the redesigned graphics. There are only few downsides to this game, its primary flaw is a lack of ultra cool multiplayer modes. The gameplay of the multiplayer mode is not a massive problem, because essentially, it's the same as the original, and also has three different battle modes and power ups to use.

The different battle modes consist of points match, survival, and time battle. There's also the an intriguing feature which lets you see your opponents face during the match. The problem is rooted in the absence of WIFI, with the game being download play only. This makes the replay of the game a bit remiss, especially if you're like me and don't live in a area with many people who own a 3DS. Playing by yourself in this mode, is fun at first, but later on it gets repetitive and boring. But, the story itself, and the occasional multiplayer match with someone else... more than makes up for this flaw.

What can I say? Star Fox 64 3D is an awesome remake of the original game and is well worth the $40 price tag. The gameplay is simply superb, and the graphics are stunning. This remake does a incredible job of improving on the original but not taking away from the fun of it. The only downside I can see is the absence of online play, and for some... the shortness of the main story. But when it's all said and done, Star Fox 64 3D is a really cool game that you should add to your 3DS collection.