Animals in space, beating the living daylights out of each other...? (Lylat Wars (N64))

Member Name: Midrange

Product:	Lylat Wars (N64)
Date:	05/08/08 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Expert mode to unlock, reasonable multiplayer mode, good variation in level design

Disadvantages: Feels a little childish at times

Super Nintendo's "Starwing" (released in 1993) was an absolute revolution in gaming for it's day. "Lylat Wars" was released 6 years later on the Nintendo 64 and, sadly, did not cause such a stir.

The game is set in a fictional system known as Lylat. Andross, an evil scientist is planning to conquer the system and must be stopped. Fox McCloud, and his team of trusty animal sidekicks are called in to save the day. Flying their principle fighter craft (known as "Arwings") they must battle through the Lylat system to reach Andross's homeworld.

The game has two main modes of play: solo missions and multiplayer. The solo missions take a novel approach to the classic "Easy, Medium and Hard" game. If a player achieves certain goals in one mission, they can access the "harder" route or choose to continue on the easy path. Some levels are set in outer space (in asteroid fields, or against huge armadas of enemy ships), others are set on planets. As well as the Arwing, players can pilot the Landmaster (a tank) and, on one level, a submarine.

The majority of the levels work on "rails" - that is, the vehicle you are piloting automatically moves forward through the level. You can, of course, pilot the craft up and down and from side to side. There's also an "All Range" mode, where the player has full freedom to move through 3D space. There is something rather limiting about this mode of play however.

One of the greatest criticisms the game has received is that it's a little bit childish. All the characters are animals and there's nothing truly horrific in the game... as you might expect from a sci-fi shooter. But it's very playable. One of the strongest features of the game (in my mind) is the unlockable "Expert" mode. It really is a challenge to unlock this mode (you must obtain a special medal on every level) and once you've accessed it, you have, essentially a whole new game to complete. More enemies, fewer pick-ups, less health... more death!

There's also the eternal challenge of getting your "hit score" higher and higher. There are plenty of videos on YouTube of the world's finest players achieving 300 to 400 enemy kills per level (to put this in perspective, most levels average a total hit score of 100). There's a lot of technique that can be learned and it's always good fun blasting the enemy forces to smithereens with lazers and nova bombs.

The multiplayer mode isn't quite as playable as I had hoped it would be. The original "Starwing" game on the SNES had no multiplayer option, so I was very excited to see Lylat Wars released on the N64. There are only 3 levels to choose from in multiplayer and little option for different modes of play.

Summary: Sci-fi space shooter aimed at younger audience, still good fun though