It's a shame, isn't it?
These days, we have it all. We can easily access an entire console's library with a mere flick of our fingers through means that don't hurt anyone. You could play mods, fixes, hacks and all sorts of things to improve or build upon whatever it is you're interested in. We have everything we could imagine to play anything in gaming history, but despite all this, you can never stop time's continuous march forward. We grow older, we develop more as a society, and technology progresses towards it's next plateau until the next big breakthrough, but could you really know what it's like to play something from it's time period without knowledge of what we have now? To envision yourself as that five year old kid playing it for the very first time? Could you really?
The very first 3D game that I remember playing was Hard Drivin' on the Sega Genesis. It was an impressive looking racer for it's time, but even when I was that young and so full of imagination I only ever saw it as "neat". It wasn't exactly leaving a mark on me anytime soon with it's scenic barnyard aesthetic and lack of music during gameplay. It was funny to crash, that was about it. I laughed, and I went back to playing my 2D games of which many even today still enjoy. Three Dee? What of it? Star Fox you say? Super FX you say? I don't know what those are, but it sure sounds cool!
For me, it was something I couldn't believe. The immediate introduction with that cinematic shot of the giant carrier slowly approaching Corneria with the backing of that powerful and sinister orchestra hooked me immediately. I was amazed. Am I really playing this? Yes, yes I was. Soon as I knew it, I was piloting an Arwing and living that cinematic space-flying adventure with the coolest rock tune to grace my ears at the time. I was navigating through asteroid fields, taking part in chaotic assaults on Andross' space armada and destroying gigantic battleships from the inside in my own little trench run. This wasn't any old game I was used to, it was an experience, and it was amazing. I loved it, and I would never forget it.
...and now, all those... moments are lost on those who come after me, and I find myself alone and lonely on this mountaintop. Star Fox... was no longer considered that amazing, it was just..."neat", like Hard Drivin' on the Genesis. Heartbreaking. Some could be ignorant, some could be respectful, and others could even enjoy it, but I know that deep down they could never be awestruck by it. Their experience will never be the same as mine was, and it will never hit the same again. It's pathetic maybe to lament, but I've come to face the music. I will never meet someone from generations onward who will love this as much as me, and my loneliness will continue as I feel more and more like the last of my kind. Maybe it hit at just the right age as my creativity was just beginning to manifest? I dunno how else to describe my attachment. It rules, and it still has the best sound I have ever experienced off the system. Feel those enemy shots go past you as you boost through space, experience the explosions radiating off the bosses after they're defeated. God.....it's so good.
At the end of it all, Star Fox is still Star Fox and my heart never changed. If I must be alone on this mountain until I die, then so be it. I ain't moving.
These days, we have it all. We can easily access an entire console's library with a mere flick of our fingers through means that don't hurt anyone. You could play mods, fixes, hacks and all sorts of things to improve or build upon whatever it is you're interested in. We have everything we could imagine to play anything in gaming history, but despite all this, you can never stop time's continuous march forward. We grow older, we develop more as a society, and technology progresses towards it's next plateau until the next big breakthrough, but could you really know what it's like to play something from it's time period without knowledge of what we have now? To envision yourself as that five year old kid playing it for the very first time? Could you really?
The very first 3D game that I remember playing was Hard Drivin' on the Sega Genesis. It was an impressive looking racer for it's time, but even when I was that young and so full of imagination I only ever saw it as "neat". It wasn't exactly leaving a mark on me anytime soon with it's scenic barnyard aesthetic and lack of music during gameplay. It was funny to crash, that was about it. I laughed, and I went back to playing my 2D games of which many even today still enjoy. Three Dee? What of it? Star Fox you say? Super FX you say? I don't know what those are, but it sure sounds cool!
For me, it was something I couldn't believe. The immediate introduction with that cinematic shot of the giant carrier slowly approaching Corneria with the backing of that powerful and sinister orchestra hooked me immediately. I was amazed. Am I really playing this? Yes, yes I was. Soon as I knew it, I was piloting an Arwing and living that cinematic space-flying adventure with the coolest rock tune to grace my ears at the time. I was navigating through asteroid fields, taking part in chaotic assaults on Andross' space armada and destroying gigantic battleships from the inside in my own little trench run. This wasn't any old game I was used to, it was an experience, and it was amazing. I loved it, and I would never forget it.
...and now, all those... moments are lost on those who come after me, and I find myself alone and lonely on this mountaintop. Star Fox... was no longer considered that amazing, it was just..."neat", like Hard Drivin' on the Genesis. Heartbreaking. Some could be ignorant, some could be respectful, and others could even enjoy it, but I know that deep down they could never be awestruck by it. Their experience will never be the same as mine was, and it will never hit the same again. It's pathetic maybe to lament, but I've come to face the music. I will never meet someone from generations onward who will love this as much as me, and my loneliness will continue as I feel more and more like the last of my kind. Maybe it hit at just the right age as my creativity was just beginning to manifest? I dunno how else to describe my attachment. It rules, and it still has the best sound I have ever experienced off the system. Feel those enemy shots go past you as you boost through space, experience the explosions radiating off the bosses after they're defeated. God.....it's so good.
At the end of it all, Star Fox is still Star Fox and my heart never changed. If I must be alone on this mountain until I die, then so be it. I ain't moving.
8 Comments
You know what? I'm gonna retry this game just for you. I'll try to keep what you said in mind, and will use a SNES controller to get the full effect. My first 3D experiences were Super Mario 64 and Lego Island, so the hyper-pixelated visuals of Star Fox always were just "neat" to me, but I'm gonna try to put myself in your shoes for this next attempt. 🙏
This was one of my first-ever snes games as a kid, so I can tell you now there are at least two of us
Excellent writeup. Hit me somewhere special.
@zn0 man, I owned Stunt Race FX growing up as well. I always found that game super cute, but there's a such a huge difference in performance and control for me between it and Star Fox. I guess that's just a racing game versus a rail shooter? I saw it running at close to 30 in a retroarch mode once though and it looks pretty fantastic. I subscribe to "games don't age" as much as I can, but this just feels like a case of everyone else aging if that makes sense. We all just take these games for granted now, and it kinda sucks a lot for my heart to hear if someone dumps on it because they can't adjust to the controls or the frame rate for a moment.
@thealexmott if you can adjust you'll find a decent rail shooter underneath with a great difficulty curve, I do heavily recommend putting the sound way up tho.....it's the game's strongest aspect imo.
@gare hell yeah man, this game fuckin' rules. I don't care what anyone says!
@MelMellon thank you! I wasn't sure if I was being too overdramatic or not with this, but I kept getting emotional as I was writing lol...
@thealexmott if you can adjust you'll find a decent rail shooter underneath with a great difficulty curve, I do heavily recommend putting the sound way up tho.....it's the game's strongest aspect imo.
@gare hell yeah man, this game fuckin' rules. I don't care what anyone says!
@MelMellon thank you! I wasn't sure if I was being too overdramatic or not with this, but I kept getting emotional as I was writing lol...
I plan on doing a StarFox marathon in the future, and when I play this I'll try to imagine that I'm playing as if it just had came out in the 90's. It may be impossible to truly replicate that feeling, but after reading this, I have to try, such an honest feeling expressed so well...
Amazing review!
Amazing review!
I remember playing it as a wee child and wondering why it was so slow and choppy. the performance was so bad it didn't even have that wow factor to me back then
It didn't really happen to me with this game, but I know that feeling all too well, that feeling of knowing that many games are great, but won't be fully appreciated because of the inevitable and cruel passing of time. I'm sure even I have misjudged games at some point, but I always make an effort to be aware of what era they come from and their importance....
It's a shame as you say at the beginning, but it's great that there are still players like you who have the memory of what a game like this really meant.
It's a shame as you say at the beginning, but it's great that there are still players like you who have the memory of what a game like this really meant.
zn0
1 year ago