Lylat Wars was a game released in the early stages of the N64’s release and it was accompanied by a rumble pack which introduced shock technology to the console. It is a reboot of the original Star Fox game featuring the awesome Fox McCloud and was only released on the N64 originally. It was re-released on the 3DS last year and it is one of the games where those of you that remember the original are going to pick it up, but for new players, is it really going to leave the mark it did back in the 90’s?

 

The 3DS version offers us a new style to play the game where you use the camera and motion tracker of the DS console to guide Fox through the various missions. It doesn’t introduce any new levels as such, but it does introduce a new tutorial which explains the new features of the game better than most tutorials would. Apart from that, it is very much like the other N64 re-boots that Nintendo have offered us in recent years.

 

The story focuses on Fox and his team (which consist of a rabbit, a falcon and a useless frog) battling across various systems and planets in the hope to save the Lylat system from the evil ape Andross. It is very linear in fashion with the player making their way through certain levels which usually end up in a boss fight at the end. Although on paper it seems like an excellent idea, when you actually sit down and play the game, the story isn’t really fleshed out much beyond the introduction and you feel like you are just mindlessly flying through space blowing things up.

 

Graphically, it is nearly identical to the N64 version. The ships don’t have much in the way of detail and the enemies look a little half formed, but Nintendo did work the glitches out from the original so the game plays a lot more fluidly than its predecessor. The character voice overs are brilliant and have greatly improved on the original version.

 

What let’s this game down terribly is the fact that you have to follow certain paths, complete missions and eventually face Andross. Depending on the paths you take depends on which ending you receive as the player and once the game has been finished it does not offer much replay value. What the game needs is a free-roaming aspect, similar to Mass Effect that would grant the player a little more freedom and also immerses them in a universe that has the solid foundations needed for some good characters and outrages plot lines. The other factor that annoyed me is the fact that the NPC’s are a little useless and it feels like you’re the only one that seems to be doing anything worthwhile.

 

This game however is definitely worth picking up if it is a reasonable price. It is a lot of fun and there are some awesome Easter Eggs to be found if you look for them. It is the same game that was released on the N64, but not the game I remembered.