While we professional video game reviewers don’t really have much to complain about, the recent resurgence of remakes has thrown our role as critics into disarray. As any writer knows, the intended audience should dictate the way a piece will flow, but reviews of remakes need to speak to both fans of old and those who never had a chance to encounter the original — two entirely different crowds. And Star Fox 64 3D complicates the matter even further by taking a more complicated approach than merely upgrading textures and frame rates; the game’s been completely rebuilt from the ground up, yet stays ineffably faithful to the original.
Whether you’re new to Star Fox or have been in league with its cast of animal-puppet people since the early ’90s, one thing hasn’t changed: Star Fox 64 is easily one of Nintendo EAD’s top ten games, and perhaps the greatest rail shooter of all time. Star Fox 64 3D simply takes the greatness contained within the original and presents it in a much better looking and sounding package, free of the technical difficulties that plagued the N64’s hardware. And as long as Star Fox 64 veterans are comfortable with that fact that this new version offers barely anything new, 64 3DS is easily one of the best additions anyone can make to their 3DS library.
