The Ultimate Guide to StarFox64 The evil Andross has taken control of the Lylat system. You and your team of elite pilots (except that wuss Slippy) are the galaxy's only hope. Destroying an army consisting of planes, trains, and giant apes piloting huge robots won't be easy. To make matters worse, there is the evil StarWolf team always there to screw things up for you. But don't worry, you've come to the right place for the tips to turn Andross' minions into scrap metal. We've got warps, medals, and a few nasty tricks for all your StarFox needs. This guide is divided into several sections: I. General Strategies & Help A. Paths 1. How paths work 2. Easy Path 3. Medium Areas 4. Hard Path B. Medals 1. How medals work 2. Easy Path 3. Medium Areas 4. Hard Path C. Play to Win (All purpose strategies) 1. Don't get hit 2. Keep the view clear 3. Take 'em out with one shot 4. Pay attention 5. Never give up! II. Multi-Player Strategies A. Modes 1. Point Match 2. Battle Royal 3. Time Trial B. Using your vehicles 1. Arwing Vs. Arwing 2. Arwing Vs. Tank 3. Tank Vs. Arwing 4. Tank Vs. Tank 5. On Foot III. Area by Area discussion of the game A. Easy Path B. Medium Areas C. Hard Path This guide will not give detailed descriptions of everything you will see, hear, feel, and do throughout the game. It will, however, give you the strategies (That's why it is called a strategy guide as opposed to a walkthrough) needed to play well. It will also explain how to find the many secrets in the game, but if you read it all the way through, you may not have as much fun as if you found them yourself. The guide was compiled and written by Stephen Keller and Nym (visit Nym Net at http://fly.to/nym), who will both dogfight you any day. If you have any other questions or need help, feel free to drop us a line at either of our email addresses, skeller64@home.com or nym408@hotmail.com. Now, without any further delay, the actual guide. I. General Strategies & Help A. Paths How Paths Work One of the neatest things about StarFox is the way the game unfolds. Like the original, you battle through a series of planets, sattelites, and other interesting areas. You can take these areas in a variety of ways. Unlike most games, you can not simply choose how you want to go. Certain levels have hidden requirements, and depending on whether or not you meet these goal(s) you take either a harder or easier path. Also, depending on what overall path you take, there are different endings to the game. The inner planets (the ones closest to the player) are the easy areas to beat. Travel along that edge to take the easy path. The opposite edge is the hard areas, and if you travel along that edge (A difficult feat!), you can get to the real ending. The middle areas are the medium skill, and they don't form a true path, instead they act as a bridge between the easy and hard paths. The criteria for moving on to a different area are discussed for each area. Easy Path: Corneria Meteo Fortuna Sector X Titania Bolse Venom (Easy) Medium Levels: Katina Solar Macbeth Hard Path: Corneria Sector Y Aquas Zoness Sector Z Area 6 Venom (Hard) B. Medals How medals work Getting medals are a key part of unlocking the secrets in the game. Medals are awarded for defeating a given number of enemies in each area. I am including a list of enemies needed to kill to get a medal in each level, for reference. If you have any good strategies for getting the medal in a level, please send them to us! Easy Path: Corneria: 150 Meteo: 200 Fortuna: 50 Sector X: 150 Titania: 150 Bolse: 150 Venom (Easy): 200 Medium Levels: Katina: 150 Solar: 100 Macbeth: 150 Hard Path: Corneria: 150 Sector Y: 250 Aquas: 150 Zoness: 250 Sector Z: 100 Area 6: 300 Venom (Hard): 200 C. Play to Win Reading how to beat each boss, survive each level, and get each medal does not mean you are going to be a good pilot. It takes some fundamental strategies to obtain the status of StarFox Ace, and fortunately we have them! The tips below just aren't good ideas, they are rules to live by! Rule One: Don't get hit. Obvious as it sounds, it is a great way to prevent damage. How do you work it so you don't get hit? It requires the use of two little buttons: R and Z. Use Z to bank left, and R to bank right. Hit either of them twice real fast, and you'll do a barrel roll. The barrel roll deflects enemy fire, so you should use it whenever there are a ton of enemies at once shooting at you. Press Z or R once to allow you to turn sharply, this helps you to avoid things such as walls, enemy fists, and floating debris. In the Landmaster tank, R and Z have even more power, as they let you hover (press them both at the same time) and also roll out of the way, something very important while on the ground. Rule Two: Keep the view clear. No matter where you are, you need to see as much as possible. Usually, the behind-the-Arwing view is best. Using a cockpit view cuts of a lot of your side vision, and you can't see anything behind you. There are some occasions when the cockpit view is best, such as when you are trying to navigate a tunnel, and the third person angle does not give you an adequate view of what you have to avoid. During all range mode, take the view furthest away from the Arwing. This way, you can see very large distances, without your ship getting in the way. Rule Three: Take 'em out with one shot. Keep your laser charged, and lock on to enemies. A charged laser can usually take out about 5 enemies in one hit, provided that they are fairly close to each other. If there are a ton of enemies (more than 10), a smart bomb works best. Either lock on to a central enemy and use the bomb, or detonate it yourself by hitting B after firing it. Rule Four: Pay Attention. Watch for anything unusual. Things like patterns of six enemies can lead to extra bonuses, more kills, different paths, etc. Use these careful observations to beat the game (Paying attention really helps on bosses). Rule Five: Never give up! Trust your instincts! Okay, so *we* didn't actually make that one up, but it's helpful. Don't quit playing untill you are out of lives. If you find you are getting frustrated, don't despair! Often, the way to beat a level or boss is very simple; it just takes playing it a couple of times to figure it out. II. Multi-Player Strategies Perhaps one of the best parts of StarFox is the fact that you can dogfight your best friends, to prove your superiority. Originally, you can only use Arwings to fight. Get a medal on the hard Venom, and you can then use the Landmaster tanks. Get all the medals, then beat the expert mode, and you can fight on foot! In addition to this, there are three types of multi-player: Point Match: You select a certain number of points to start. Each time someone gets a kill, he/she gets a point. First person to get the set number of points wins the match. When playing this, remember that when someone dies, they come back. Also remember that when someone dies, their power ups are left where they were destroyed. So, it makes sense to go after the person with the double lasers, and snag them after his/her demise. Battle Royal: A free-for-all shooting spree, the last one standing (or flying or hovering) wins. If someone dies, that's it, they lost. In a game with more than 2 people, the idea to stay away from the action can be a good strategy. Let the other players kill each other off, and stay alive for the glory. Evasive maneuvers a must here. Time Trial: You versus enemies. The idea here is not to kill other players, but to try and get as many enemies as possible. However, if you waste another player, they come back without any points. Guard the bombs and lasers here, they are incredibly useful. Also, if you get a medal on the hard Venom, you open up the option to use tanks in multi-player. If you get all the medals, you can fight on foot with shoulder-mounted laser cannons! Tips for Arwing Vs. Arwing When doing battlemode, the first thing you have to get down is the 3 main evasive maneuvers: barrel roll, loop, and u-turn. I use the barrel roll constantly. Any time anyone is near me, I start rolling. It doesn't move your aim much, and it deflects regular lasers (charged lasers and smart bombs still hit). If you are going for a power up, and someone is behind you, you don't usually want to move out of the way, lest they steal what should be yours. The solution is to start rolling. You may take a charged laser shot, but chances are they won't wait for their weapon to charge again, and you'll be able to deflect their normal lasers. The loop should be used a lot as well. It is most effective when someone is on your tail, and you want to turn the tables on them. Just press down on the control stick and turbo, and you'll loop up and over them, usually right behind them. Fire a few shots, charge your laser, whatever. An effective way to counter the loop (if someone you are targeting does it to you) is to loop yourself. If you do it at the same time they do, you'll land right behind them (It should be noted that it is very difficult to tell a loop from a U-Turn, so they may just U-Turn away). Another good method to counter the loop is to slam on your brakes. They'll loop, and come down in front of you. They will probably be wondering where you are, and you can take that second of disorentation to fire at 'em! (Credit for that one goes to JEdiAce.) The U-Turn is best used when someone is coming at you with something like a smart bomb, and you don't want to take any chances trying to fire back. Just press down on the control stick and brake, and you'll fly over the person who is persuing you, changing your direction. Another neat thing about doing this is that most the time they assume you are doing a loop, so they either loop or brake, letting you make a clean getaway. On a more offensive note, I have found that the person who grabs the double lasers when they first appear usally wins. My suggestion is to get the laser power up at all costs. It is almost always the first power up to appear at the start of the level. So, when you start the battle, fly straight, and watch your radar. When the first gray dot appears, position yourself in its direction and slam on turbo. If you are playing a Point Match or Time Trial, and don't get the laser power up, go after the person who has it. If you kill them, the power up appears where they died. Snag it, and go on blasting! Speaking of power ups, Smart Bombs do a ton of damage (I think they are a little unfair). Try to grab these. I have found that people usually go after them ('cause they know how much damage they do, too), and they will not stop, even if you keep blasting at them. An effective strategy is to stay near the smart bomb, keep your laser charged (which you should always do anyway), and fire at whomever comes near you. If they get the bomb, I suggest you U-Turn out of there. If you choose to get the bomb yourself, the other players generally start avoiding you. If they know you have a bomb, the instant you target them, they usually loop or U-turn. The best way to hit them with a bomb is to fly at them face-on, not coming from the back like normal. Target them, and keep it locked until you are about to fly past each other, then let your bomb loose! It usually hits, and takes like half your shield bar. One more note about smart bombs: if you get the only bomb, and you have the laser power up, it sometimes works not to fire the bomb. With your lasers you are more powerful then everyone else, and another bomb won't appear until you fire yours. It's mean, but is especially effective in Time Trial. When playing as Arwing vs. Tank(s) If you're the Arwing, the first thing you have to realize is that your radar will not see Landmaster tanks. You're stuck searcing the ground for them, while you appear as a little triangle on their screen. So, you must be aware of tanks coming up from behind and blasting you. You have one major advantage over tanks: you can escape. When one of those annoying little bugs is on your tail, try turning sharply (use Z or R), and then looping or pulling of a U-Turn. This is sometimes enough to give a tank the slip, though you may also want to try flying past a structure or conitnuing to turn sharp (it drains on a tank's maneuver meter to turn sharp). Okay, so you've gotten away from a tank. Now what? Since you should have a good idea where the pest is, you can turn around and attack it. Tanks have a hard time escaping, so charge up your lasers, lock on, and fire! This should do some heavy damage, as long as you keep on blasting them. Remember, tanks can't U-Turn or loop, so it should be pretty easy to stay behind them. Bombs against tanks are a HUGE help. A tank can't pull off a fancy move and disappear the way an Arwing can; they just get hit. Fly low, lock on, and fire your bomb! You can be fairly sure of doing a lot of damage. Playing Tank Vs. Arwing Here, you need to use the fact that the Arwing will have trouble seeing you (you will be hard to spot visually, and you won't appear on their radar at all). Use this to your advantage by staying behind Arwings and shooting. Don't worry about the need to keep locking on, single shots (or if you grabbed the double lasers double shots) should drain on the Arwing's shields. Bombs aren't a whole lot of help here, they can be useful, but chances are you'll miss. If an Arwing tries to escape from you, remember that while you have a limited amount of sharp turns (using Z or R drains on your maneuver meter), you actually turn sharper then they do. Stay right on their tail, turn with them, and try and keep up if they loop or U-Turn. Defensively, you are less equipped than an Arwing. Again, your biggest defense is not letting them find you. If you do get caught, there are a few things to try: first, barrel-rolling still works, so use it (though again it drains on your maneuvar meter). Second, try to out turn the Arwing, and change directions a lot. This should allow you to lose them. If they lose you, turn the tables and go for an attack (unless they have a bomb). One last note: if the Arwing has a smart bomb, run. Just try to stay away, and hope that they miss. Use the tips above to ditch them, and stay hidden (you can sometimes hide in arch-ways, but if they find you, it means less room to get away). If they fire the bomb at you, you can press Z or R to try and roll away, but it is usually not very effective. You can also try hovering (Press Z and R), but again, you are probably just going to have to deal with some pretty heavy damage. After they fire the bomb, go after 'em, and try to get the new bomb first! Tank Vs. Tank: Neither of you can see the other one. So, how do you find each other? Well, you can always glance at your opponent's screen. ;-) But, that is sort of cheating. A good way to find your enemies is to stay near the power-ups. Everyone can see those, so they flock to them. When you do find another tank, get behind them!! That is so very important to do. Once you have gotten behind a rival tank, it is difficult to lose them. Tanks can't loop or U-Turn, so your enemy can only hope to lose you via boosts and sharp turns, both of which you should be able to match. Follow a little behind them, turn with them, accelearte with them, brake with them, etc.. All the while keep blasting them, and you should turn 'em into scrap in no time. Escaping from an enemy tank can be quite difficult. In Corneria, try going over the pyramids one direction, and changing that direction when they can't see you, that sometimes works. Try turning sharply and changing directions, maybe you can lose them that way. As a last resort, if they are following VERY close behind you, hover (Z and R together) and, if you are lucky, they'll go in front of you, so when you drop down you can destroy them. However, the best defense is a good offense here: kill them before they get behind you. On Foot: Being on foot is pretty lame. You generally end up becoming target practice for Arwings or getting destroyed by tanks. If, for some reason, you feel the urge to give up vehicles, here are a few tips that might keep you from getting slaughtered: The fact that you can stop is nice. On foot is the only time where you don't constantly have to be moving. This lets you play a sort of sniper role; you can hide behind things and shoot at enemies, as well do cool moves like standing on top of the structures. Just don't stay in one place too long or you'll end up getting bombed. No one can lock onto you. This forces all those speedy Arwings to manually detonate their bombs, and aim at you rather than simply locking-on. You don't feel like such a helpless groundpounder now, do you? III. Area-by-Area discussion of the game: Easy Path: Corneria Corneria is the first planet you encounter. It's really easy, although getting the medal can be challenging. There are two ways to go, and this decides which overall path you take: easy or hard. To take the easy route, don't fly through all the arches on the lake and/or don't rescue Falco when he flies in front of you. If you want to take the hard path, you must save Falco (do this by charging your laser, and boosting, then lock onto the enemies and fire. If you missed any, just blast them with your regular laser. Once you save him, you also have to fly under each stone arch that is on the lake. Do that, and you're on your way to the harder path. Medal Score: 150 If you want to get the medal, I suggest that you blast everything! Use your charged laser to hit multiple enemies at once, and be sure to take down the robots that push buildings over, they give you +5, as well as the robots on waterskis, who give you +3. Boss: There are two bosses for this level, depending on which path you take: Easy Boss: This guy is simple. When you first encounter him, rapidly shoot at one of his legs. It'll blow off, and he'll fall down. Fly past him, get some room, and pull of a U-Turn. Shoot at the green backpack, and he'll be dead in no time. Hard Boss: See Corneria under the hard path part of the area by area guide. Meteo Meteo is an astroid belt, and is pretty fun. Shoot everything you see, including the brown asteroids. There is a warp here, fly through all the blue rings after the checkpoint to activate it. Each time you fly through a ring you accelerate, so make sure you bank left and right to move to the other side of the screen quickly. Also, it helps a little if you brake. If you take the warp, you don't have to fight the boss, and you get to go to Katina. Medal Score: 200 This is a lot easier to get than it seems. First, each brown asteroid you shoot gives you a point, so take out as many as possible. Slightly after the checkpoint you'll come to purple groups of enemies, if you charge your laser and hit them, you get +7. However, the easiest way to get a medal is to take the warp, you enter into a bonus level, and there you can get a ton of extra points. Boss: This boss has several phases: When you first encounter him, he has a rotating shield, that if hit, absorbs the lasers and fires them back. The shield has a slight notch in it, and as the shield rotates, the notch moves over flashing yellow spots. Shoot each of these yellow spots, and he'll ditch the shield, moving into phase two. He now charges a large laser to fire at you. This is easily avoided by moving to one side. After the laser fires there is a flashing spot in his center, shoot at that several times to bring him into his last phase. He now charges two energy beams. While he is charging them, two flashing yellow rectangles appear. If you have hyper lasers, you should be able to take one of them out by the time he fires the two energy beams. To avoid the beams, weave to the left and right quickly, using Z and R. After he starts charging again, take out the other flashing rectangle. He explodes with a bang, and you get to go to Fortuna!. Fortuna Here is where you will first encounter those nasty villians, the StarWolf team. The beginning of the stage is simply defending the base by taking out all the little ships. If you have double or hyper lasers, this is no problem, also be sure to use your charged laser to lock on to enemies that are hard to see. After you've taken out the little guys for a while, ROB will announce that a bomb has been planted in the base, and StarWolf's team will show up. When they first start talking, look at your radar screen, and find where they are clumped together. Lock onto one of them, and fire a smart bomb. This will damage each member, allowing you to take them out individually a lot quicker. Use your radar to find the dark ships (StarWolf team members), and target them. Hit them with a charged laser, then rapidly blast them with normal shots. Use Z and R to make sharp turns to follow them, and continue to shoot which ever one you are going for. If you find yourself being followed closely by one, pull a loop (down on control stick and turbo), and turn the tables on your pursuer! If you don't get them all in time, the base explodes and you go to Setcor X. If you do shoot them all down, you go to Solar. Medal Score: 50 This is a pretty easy medal to get. You have to simply make sure all your wingmen stay alive, and that you are the one who takes down each member of the StarWolf team. To keep your wingmen alive, pay attention to the "Help" arrows at the bottom of the screen, and turn sharply in the direction indicated. Charge you laser, and when you see the person who is following one of your team members, lock on and fire! Hit them a few more times, and they'll leave your friend alone. Be sure to be quick in killing them, because if your wingmen get them all, you don't get points, so you won't get the medal. Sector X This stage is a flight through a destroyed weapons factory. There will be plenty of debris to dodge, so watch out for it. There are tons of enemies, so use your charged lasers when they are in small groups, and targeted smart bombs when in huge groups. When you come to a fork in the road right after the checkpoint, you have the oppurtunity to get onto the hard path. If you choose to go left at the fork, you will come to place with tons of walls and opening doors. Dodge the debris, and use boost and brake where needed. When you hear Falco say he found the warp, you know you are close to the first gate. You will see a gray wall (it stands out), and this is the first gate. Shoot it repeatedly (it helps a whole lot to have hyper lasers), and when it turns red, fly through it (it opens up). There are a total of four gates, so do it to each one. If you are succesful, you get warped to Sector Z, and are on the hard path. If you take the right fork, you get the oppurtunity for major points, because there is a ton of enemies. There is one more chance to choose your path here, and that depends on how you kill the boss. Medal Score: 150 To obtain this, you have to be smart about using your smart bombs (no pun intended... well, maybe a bit of one). Right at the beginning of the stage there are massive amounts of baddies, and the only way to get them all is to use charged lasers and smart bombs. When you come to the mine field, shoot as all the mines you can, they are each worth a point (again, smart bombs come in handy). The last thing you need to do to get the medal is to take the right path when you come to the fork mid way through the level.Again, use smart bombs, charged lasers, and a fast thumb to kill everyone you see. Boss: The boss here is a large robot. When you first encounter him, you have to worry about dodging his hands. Bank left and right to avoid his fists, and when he turns his head towards you, shoot his glowing eyes. Barell roll to deflect the lasers he shoots from his eyes. Once you drain half his life, he pretends to die, then comes back. He will throw debris at you, so again fly away from it. Shoot the top part of his head (he'll flash if you hit the right spot), and dodge him if he spins. Now, if you kill him quick enough, you go on to Macbeth. If you take too long, Slippy flies in front of you, and gets knocked to Titania, where you go to rescue him. Titania Ah, Titania. Your chance to get out of that Arwing and into the pretty cool Landmaster tank. (See the above "Play to Win" section for information about the tank) This level is pretty straight-forward, shoot everything you see, help your remaining wingmen as needed, and hover over dangers like land mines. Use charged lasers a lot, and be sure to pay attention to what you are travelling over, if it is not the ground, it'll hurt you, so blast it if it is dangerous. Be aware for falling pillars, other than that, this level should be a breeze. Medal Score: 150 To achieve the medal here, simply shoot everything you see. There are a lot of green mines to hit, one charged laser shot will take care of a large clump of them. Pay attention to everything both in the air and on the ground. Kill the large sand crabs for a +3 bonus, and keep smart bombs handy for those times when there are too many enemies for lasers. Boss: When you first find Slippy, you'll see him trapped in a tentacle, near two other tentacles sticking out from the sand. The other two will stab at you, roll away using Z and R. When the boss shows up, shoot two or three smart bombs at him. This should blow off most his tentacles, knocking Slippy free. Shoot the few remaining tentacles (If there are any left), and shoot at his opened chest head. A smart bomb and plenty of shooting should take him out. If you don't kill him quick enough, he regrows his tentacles. Again, the easiest way to beat those is with smart bombs, but you can also use normal lasers. Bolse: Another all-range level. When you first start the level, follow the path the computer tries to make you take. Charge your laser, and lock onto the energy towers. Fire at them with a charged laser, then shoot with regular lasers (Hyper lasers are a big help here). It should only take a few passes to get each tower. The energy shield lowers, and tons of ships fly out. Take out the ships like you would any all range level, making sure to turn sharp and cover your wingmen. Now, if you didn't kill them all at Fortuna, StarWolf shows up. They come just as the sattelite's core opens up. Don't take out the core until after you destroy StarWolf (Disregard what Peppy says. It's much easier this way). Take out the StarWolf team like you did in Fortuna (barrel rolls, loops, and U-turns), and try and save all of your wingmen (keep on eye on Slippy). If you ever need energy, shoot the stationary guns (They are located near the destroyed energy towers) for silver rings. Once the StarWolf team is dead, go after the core. Get a good distance away, then U-Turn towards the core. Shoot the flashing yellow areas as quickly as possible. Each time you take out a yellow spot, it starts to shoot at you, so barrel again. Once you get close to the core, U-Turn and boost to the edge of the screen, and let the computer U-Turn you. Repeat this until all the yellow spots are destroyed, and you are on your way to Venom! Medal Score: 150 To get the medal here, cover your wingmen. Also, be quick by using boost and sharp turns to get as many guys as possible. Shoot down everything you can before taking on the core. Also, make sure you get ALL the StarWolf team, not your wingmen. Keep pressing A, and you should be able to get the medal. Venom (Easy) Okay, here it is, Venom. You do have a few bombs, right? You don't need them, they just help. When you first arrive, charge your laser, lock on, and take out multiple enemies at once. A smart bomb here and there wouldn't hurt, either. Shortly, you'll come to a fork in the road (actually, there are several), and you must simply choose which path you like. Play around with it, none are really that much more difficult, it depends on your style of play. Personally, I like to follow Falco, but again it's up to you. Other than the forking, this level is quite simple, provided you keep shooting! After the checkpoint, you come to a big temple. Once in there, you face a stone gollum who runs away, creating obstacles. Follow him and shoot at various parts of his body, his back, his legs, his arms, and his rear end. Do this while avoiding the things that come at you (This is all just a matter of your piloting abilities), and use Z and R to turn sharper. It may even help to put it into the cockpit view. Once you have taken out the aforementioned parts, his head turns red. Shoot it until it blows up, then fire at the flashing diamond on his back. A few shots should take him out, and it's on to the real boss, who just happens to be the fake Andross. Medal Score: 200 The secret to getting the medal here is three things: bombs, bombs, and bombs. Blow away the massive hordes of enemies, and it shouldn't be too hard. As always, use charged lasers as well. Boss: Okay, here he is. Andross, the evil fiend who is responsible for all the destruction you've witnessed. He is actually very easy. Shoot his right eye as many times as possible, while avoiding his fists. When you hit it enough times, he rubs it with his right hand, while leaving his left hand open. Shoot like crazy at the left hand, and when he comes back, get into the upper right corner. He will be shooting lightning, but he should not hit you (Ocassionally he does, but it's only like 5% of the time). When he is done shooting lightning, go after his right eye, and repeat the process until the left hand is blown up. You can now shoot at either eye, and when you get one of them, he puts up his right hand. Take it out the same way you did the first one. If at any time he tries to suck you into his mouth, either shoot a bomb into there or barrel roll to the side until he is done. Shoot the rocks he spits out, and go after the eyes again. Once you have destroyed both hands, shoot at his head (if he flashes you hit him), until he blows up. A robot skull appears, and shoot at it until it blows up as well. That's it, you've won! Enjoy the ending, as it is... Medium Planets: Katina This level is strangely reminiscent of the movie Independence Day, but it's fun anyway. You are given all range mode and the help of Bill the dog to help protect the base. There are a ton of enemies, and it is very difficult to tell the enemies from Bill's troops. You can make up for this by only shooting up close (The aliens look sort of flat, while the good guys look kind of like Arwings), and by locking on to targets (The lock won't lock onto your side). After a bit of fighting, the alien mother ship shows up, and begins to hover over the base. When Bill says "The hatches are open," that means you can attack the ship. Shoot at the four large hatches on it's underside. Use a smart bomb or two. Once the four hatches have been destroyed, the ship begins to charge a powerful laser. The core becomes visible (It is a large spike), and it is your cue to shoot at it. It doesn't have much energy, and destroying it should only take a few passes. Medal Score: 150 Getting the medal on Katina involves being able to shoot very fast. Use smart bombs to shoot at large clumps of bad guys, and be sure to use charged lasers. Also, don't take out the alien mothership right away, spend some time killing enemies (but don't linger too long!). Solar The heart of the lylat system, Solar is an exercise in shield management. Due to the intense heat of Solar, your shields are constantly lowering. This can make the level quite challenging, if you don't know how to keep a supply of gold and silver rings keep coming. The easiest way is if you got to this level from Katina, and you destroyed the alien mothership. Shortly into the level, Bill the dog comes to help you. He drops numerous power ups, including a ton of silver rings. He also gives some laser power ups, and a few gold rings. He leaves pretty quick, but the extra edge can really help. Now, if you don't have Bill to help you, you're going to need to shoot the rocks that fly from the lava. Each one gives you a silver ring. If you shoot a larger rock, it splits into multiple rocks, shoot each of those for the maximum amount of rings. Fly high, shoot the rocks, and avoid the big towers of flame, and you should be okay. Medal Score: 100 This medal is fairly simple to get. First, be sure to get all the rocks. There are a ton of them, and you get a point a piece. Next, take out the birds. They fly in groups, so charged lasers are the best way to go. There will also be a few times in which there are tons of birds on the screen at once. Fire off a smart bomb, and you can rake in the points! Boss: The boss here is (like most of the level) pretty easy once you know what to do. Start by shooting his arms off. He'll swing them at you, so be prepared to turn sharply. If you find yourself running low on energy, take out the rocks he spits at you. They'll give you those much needed silver rings. Once you've gotten both arms, aim for the head. If he goes under the lava, be prepared for a massive wave of fire to come at you. Fly to the top of the screen as fast as possible, and you should be okay. Keep shooting at the head, and you'll be to Macbeth in to time. Macbeth One of the only two tank levels in the game, this one is a lot more complex than Titania. Your objective is to destroy the enemy supply train before it can get to the supply depot. Sounds easy, right? Well, you also have to contend with hoardes of enemy fighters, falling rocks, and an annoying switching mechanism. Throughout the level, be sure to keep your eye on both the ground and the air for enemies. Shoot the train at every possiblity, and use smart bombs to take out it's large guns. Shoot the rocks, and hover over obstacles (such as when you go through the tunnel). After the checkpoint, you come to an area where you must shoot 8 switches, to cause the train to crash into the supply depot. If you came here from Zoness, you have Katt to help you out. She'll cover a few of the hard to reach switches. To flip a switch, simply shoot at the large arrow on the top of the marker. Switch 7 is particularly hard to get, it's on the left side of the tracks, hidden behind a bunch of blow-away walls. Once you have flipped all the switches, you come to a lit up display with an odd looking object protuding from it. Shoot the object at the top, and the train will crash into the depot, and giving you a +50 bonus. You'll go onto Area 6 instead of Bolse. If you don't get all the switches or hit the switcher, you have to fight the boss, and you go to Bolse. Medal Score: 150 To achieve this, be sure to blow away each section of the train before it is detached. Used charged lasers and bombs to take care of the air resistance you'll meet, as there is a huge amount of enemies there. The most important thing to do for the medal is to hit all the switches, because the train gives you +50 when it crashes. Boss: If you didn't get all the switches, you have to face an airborne boss. Shoot at it's tail first, because it can pick you up, doing a substantial amount of damage. If it does come down to get you, use Z or R to roll away from it's grasp. Next, shoot at it's head and body. Use charged lasers to destroy the columns it rains down. When you have hit it enough times, it gets a shield and is no longer vulnerable to your laser. The section of the train that it is attatched to will open up to throw little mines out at you, and if you shoot the open spot, the boss will hang in mid air, twitching. Now is the time to shoot at it. A few smart bombs combined with repeated laser blasts should take it out. Hard Planets: Corneria This is exactly the same as in the easy path area. If you want to take the hard path, be sure to rescue Falco and fly under all the arches on the lake. Medal Score: 150 If you want to get the medal, I suggest that you blast everything! Use your charged laser to hit multiple enemies at once, and be sure to take down the robots that push buildings over, they give you +5, as well as the robots on waterskis, who give you +3. Hard Boss: Not all that difficult, wait until he opens up an arm to release the missles, then shoot at the open spots. When you blow off all three missle launchers, just shoot at the body. Barrel roll to avoid his machine gun, but you should kill him in no time. Sector Y This is a fun stage! When you start it, keep a look out for two robots to lock onto. Lock on to the first, SHOOT! Lock on to the second, SHOOT! Then, look for some little blue ships. Lock on to the middle one, and shoot! Don't worry about the gold ring... You won't need it. Lock on to the cannons on the space barges and shoot. Then, when you get to the place with two robots spinning aim for the bottom one, shoot! Then, before you choose a path, lock on and shoot the other! This will get you a lot of points! If you went on the top path shoot off a smart bomb, count 1, and Press B again to detonate it. This should take out a few enemies! Keep up this strategy to down all the enemies in one shot like Falco says. When, Peppy says "You're becoming a better pilot!" Shoot at the cannons on the left side then at the blue little ships. (If you can lock on to them.) Keep shooting until you get to the bosses, using the same strategy. Medal Score: 150 To get the medal here, follow the above instructions on taking out enemies via charged lasers and smart bombs. Also be sure to finish off the boss as soon as possible. Beyond that, just shoot everything in sight! Boss: When you go into all range mode, quickly bank left and shoot the light colored robot. If one of them gets behind you, do a U-turn! Don't sharp or regular turn! It takes up time. Once they're done for, the next and final boss comes up. Watch your radar to find him and loop and U-turn when necessary. Also, use R or Z to quick turn if needed. If you finish him off quickly, you'll get Hit+10. If you take a long time to finish him off, you'll only get Hit+5. Don't hurry, but try to get lots of hits off him early. If you got more than 100 hits, you go to Aquas. If you got below 100, you go to Katina. Aquas Doesn't the Great Fox look like a Swan that's pregnant to you? Just kidding. Anyway, stear through the archways and hit R, B, and A together. This will hit just about anything. Remember you can't charge your laser underwater, but you can use a torpedo! After you shoot one, use your laser to target something. Also, hit the lantern fish for extra points and energy rings. Look for jellyfish to shoot on the ocean floor. Shoot a torpedo towards the floor once in a while, and you'll be amazed at how many hits you get! When, you get to the canyon with the lightning things in it, shoot the Starfish! If you don't they blow up causing you serious damage! Shoot all of them if you can. Then, when Peppy says "I got a bad feeling about this Fox!" wait a second then hit your brake! (C down) You will avoid the rocks! Then, shoot at the lantern fish and at the ocean floor at the same time. You'll hit the jelly fish and kill the big lantern fish in one blow! Now, the pod creatures you should shoot with torpedoes, because nothing else hurts them... Be sure to shoot open the clams, and you should get to the boss. Medal Score: 150 Getting a medal here involves using your unlimited torpedoes like you would charged lasers. Target onto everything you see, and keep using regular lasers as well! As above, shoot the lantern fish for bonus points. Also, the rocks that get dropped towards the end of the level give points when shot at, so take all of them out as well. Boss: The boss is a giant mutant sea oyster. He has several weak points, but only one mortally kills him. First, shoot the three barnicle things on the top of his shell. (The ones that have the pig looking creatures flying out of them.) Once those are gone, aim for the two columns, when they turn red target one with a torpedo! Once both of them are gone, shoot at the shield over it's eye! When the shield is down shoot a torpedo. If the torpedo hits the rocks, then take out one of the rock throwing thing at the left or right side. A few torpedoes to the eye and he's bye-bye! Yippie! Zoness To start out in this stage, shoot the birds, then, if you have any smart bombs, shoot a smart bomb at the triangle things. You'll get Hit+5 for doing this! Then, take out every search light! If you went through Aquas to get here, someone will show up to help you! It's easier to lock on to the search lights then to just randomly shoot them... Also, the spider things will give you Hit+2 if you hit them with a charged laser! Use charged lasers to kill a majority of enemies on this stage. Also, use all the smart bombs you have to, because you can get more. (Not like there's a shortage or anything!) Remember to keep shooting the lights, and when you get to the power-ups, hit the smartbomb and, right then, do a loop! This is tricky, but if you do it right, you get a bomb, silver and gold ring! Shoot the fish jumping out of the water! Try to lock on if you can. When you get to the doors with the rudders on the ends, shoot at just the top of one of the rudders to open the gate. This is required to hit one of the search lights! So, perfect it while you still can! When, Slippy says "Here I go!" follow him. If you follow him exactly, and shoot down the five enemies in front of you (the ones in the air) then you can bank left and get a laser power-up! Finally, in the area with the tankers and barges, first just shoot the tankers' boxes. When, you get to the barges, fly over them! Not under! You'll get hurt if you fly under! Lock on to the enemies going under the barges instead! Try to aim for the middle enemies in a group of them. This will almost ensure that you hit them all. If Falco is still with you, he will help you take out the last few search lights. Just take out the ones in front of you or within your reach. He'll do the rest. When you see the kegs, either shoot them for silver rings or dodge to the right or left and just avoid them. On to the boss! Medal Score: 250 In order to achieve the medal, you'd better have a fast trigger finger! Use your smart bombs to take out multiple amounts of enemies at once, as you can refill at the end of the stage. Be sure to get all the searchlights, as well as using charged lasers to hit the spiders. Boss: The boss is a pirate in a huge submarine. Yah! Just kidding. Anyway, first, wait until he turns around then look out for the spiked ball he shoots at you. Then, shoot a smart bomb at his mid-section. This will hurt the two smoking pipes. If you run out of smart bombs, just shoot the cannon balls to get some more. When, the smoke pipes are gone, shoot the cannons with smart bombs! When one is gone, the sub will try to get a new one with the crane. Stop him by shooting smart bombs at the crane. Three should do it... Then, when both cannons are gone, weave left and right shooting the sub and using R and Z repeatedly to deflect the lasers. A few hits and he's sunk! Good going Fox! Sector Z Beating this level requires quick reflexes. Missiles are coming at the Great Fox, and it's your job to stop 'em! Pretty straightforward, listen to what's going on, and watch your radar for new missles. Cat will show up during the level to give you a hand, I mean paw, and if you're not going for the medal (see below), she's pretty helpful. The level shouldn't prove to be too dificult, if it is at first, it becomes easier after playing it through a couple of times. Medal Score: 100 To get the medal, take out all the missiles yourself! Use bombs, charged lasers, whatever it takes! The hardest thing is making sure your wingmen are alive AND that YOU PERSONALLY destroyed the missiles, so it may take a couple of tries. Boss: There is no boss, just don't let the missiles damage the Great Fox, and you get to proceed to the next level. If a missile does hit the Great Fox, it's off to Bolse for you. If you shoot 'em all down, then you're headed to Area 6. Area 6 Entering Venom air defense zone! Shoot at the huge satillite things until you hear them blow up, then lock on to the enemies! You get Hit+3 for knocking the satillites down, so go for those before going for little enemies. The best thing to do is to keep barrel-rolling throughout the entire stage. If you fail to do this, you will most definately die! And respond to ROB64! If you don't he won't shoot down the big ships and that makes you lose points. So, respond to him! Don't ignore him! And the annoying things that shoot the rainbow beams at you can be killed pretty fast. Just keep shooting at them and try to stear through the beams they shoot. The three enemy missles should be shot down with smart bombs if you have them. If you don't, shoot like crazy at all of them. On to the boss! Medal: 150 Use bombs wisely to take out a maximum number of enemies. Shoot out all the sattelites for a bunch of extra points, and use charged lasers. Keep your wingmen covered, and make sure to take out the five missles, because they can really damage your team members if you don't take care of them. Boss: The strategy for this boss is to anticipate what it's going to do... Before it opens, charge your laser and let it go just as it opens! Shoot the ends of the tenticles to open the core. The faster you finish the boss, the more hits you get... The most you can get is Hit+10. Anyway, when the core opens shoot the 3 energy balls! When you kill all of them it closes. When it shoots the missles or enemies, lock on to them and kill them! Then, when the core turns red the first time, look out! Wait until the core turns red and stear down to the bottom of the screen. Wait and count 1 after Falco says "Watch out, Fox!!" then hit the boost (C left)! Use R and Z to bank left or right faster to avoid the huge beam. When you get the core to open again SHOOT at the core! Don't even move just hit A repeatedly!!! It should be dead the first time you shoot the red core! Alright! On to Venom!!! Venom Ok. You got all the way through the other levels in one piece. That was easy, wasn't it? Now, get serious! This is Venom! Andross isn't going to make it easy for you, now is he? So, what do you do? Follow my strategy of course! Ok, here goes. Pay attention... First you face the Star Wolf team. They aren't hard if you know what to do. Wait until one of them gets right behind you, then loop around him, and drop down behind him. When he turns sharp, follow him! Use R or Z to turn faster. When you get one of them in your sights, SHOOT! Regular lasers are the only thing that hurt them, so don't even bother with charged lasers or bombs! The faster you get them downed, the less wingmen of your's get downed. Be sure that you get the four sided star shaped power icons that each member of Star Wolf leaves behind! This will help a lot! Medal Score: 200 This is a lot easier to get than it seems. Just shoot down the StarWolf team as fast as possible, and they give you +50 for each one! But, if you wait too long, they only give +20! So, turn sharp, make sure you have hyper lasers, and cover your wingmen! Getting a medal here allows you to use tanks in multi-player, so it's worth it! Boss: Once, Star Wolf is downed, Fox goes on alone to face Andross! Fly down the corridor using the LEFT paths! These have all the laser and power items! You'll need these! However, if you go right, then left all the way, you can get an extra Arwing. If you go left, then right, then left for the rest of the way, you can get hyper lasers! If you have the time, experiment to see which power ups help you the most. Finally, when you get to Andross, shoot at his eyes! This will stop him from swinging his fists at you. Look out though. If you don't destroy his left hand first, it might shoot lightning at you. And also, if he tries to suck you in to his mouth, pull away and hit R a lot! This will keep him from sucking you in so easily. When, he screams, he's dead! Or is he? NO! Of course not! He turns into his real form, ready for a rematch! There is a simple strategy for this fight. Just know when to loop and U-turn! The best way to know when to do this is to watch the radar! When a figure is behind you loop or U-turn depending on the situation.... If Andross' floating eyes get behind you, and I mean right behind you, loop. Then, shoot it while holding Z or R depending on the direction it's going. Once his eyes are gone, if you are far away from him, U-turn while he is slowed down. Then, shoot at his lob! It doesn't take much to kill his lob, so don't hurry! Take your time! Also, if he is right behind you, and you are right by or close to the edge of the radar, go for the edge. You will automatically U-turn! Right through or over Andross!!! This gives you some room to run. Also, if you shoot his brain (not the glowing part), he warps away. If you boost as soon as he warps, you can get some major distance. So, fly right at him, shooting the lob, then when you get too close, shoot his regular part, then hit boost. When your boost is gone, U-Turn and repeat the process! Remember that you have Boost and he doesn't! Use it to the limit if you have to. Also, if you get caught, don't lose hope! Press R or Z to barrel-roll multiple times until he lets you go. If you just sit there he will hurt you more and possibly kill you then and there! After you kill him, don't shut off the N64!!! A lot of people think their game is messed up at the end. But, it isn't. Someone shows up and leads you out of Andross' complex! We won't say who because the surprise is fun! Anyway, use the boost and R or Z to turn sharp to keep up with whoever it is. If you follow whoever it is exactly, you get out in one piece! If you lose sight of him, and go the wrong way, you're toast! The ending is fun! Good luck!