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Released in July 1997, StarFox 64 is essentially a remake of StarFox for the SNES. Like before, Fox and his trusted wingmen must stop the evil forces of Andross from conquering the Lylat System.

 

Note: The 100 percent run is considered single-segment because the run was done in one sitting, and the game forces you to reset twice.

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0:25:16 by Zack Allard.

Author's comments:

I really want to thank Psonar for all he's accomplished in this game. Back when I started highscoring the game, he was starting to speedrun it. Most of the things I initially learned about this game were thanks to him and his encouragement to push my personal score as high as I could push it. After exhausting many hours of effort into highscores and world records that I've held and lost, I wanted to see how hard speedrunning this game was. It's definitely a new kind of challenge in a totally different way than I thought. After about 10 failed runs and about 3 finished runs, I ended up with this gem of a run.

Because of how new I am to SDA, the only other person I kind of know in the community is Mike Uyama, who has been more than helpful in seeing me through the submission of this speedrun. Thanks a bunch!

Here is a level by level breakdown of what happened and what was running through my thoughts.

Corneria: Pretty standard stuff. The only thing that warrants a mention is that for the boss, I positioned myself so I would immediately aim for his leg before I went into all range mode (saves a tad of time aiming when the fight starts). Also, I didn't bother with firing a charge shot at his back, since firing lasers feels "lag friendly" to me.

Meteo: Also pretty standard stuff (all rail levels hardly vary). I've noticed that in the warps, it's actually slower to start off with boosting immediately as opposed to waiting about half a second. For some reason, boosting at the first moment of the warp will barely get you forward, while waiting a bit will get you well past the "GO" formation. Not sure why this is, but I went with it.

Fortuna: Ah, here's the good stuff. This run has a fantastic Starwolf fight that lasts 16 seconds from cutscene to cutscene without them breaking formation (and living). The main 2 changes on Psonar's run were: (1.) I zoomed out. This gives me a much easier time aiming in their direction more accurately, not to mention I can see more of the level. (2.) I shortened the distance between me and Starwolf when they arrived. This allows me to cram more bombs in their faces in a shorter amount of time than from afar. I was able to blast them out of the sky with 4 quick, successive bombs (the 5th was just incase the 4th didn't finish Andrew). They didn't even get to threaten me all the way! Oh well.

Sector X: The main thing here is the activation of the warp gates. Silly mistakes have ruined past runs of mine by assuming the gates will open for me, and boosting through an unopened gate is an automatic reset on any speedrun. I shot the gates with utmost caution after that glorious Starwolf execution. I also had to make sure I had at least 4 bombs for Bolse, since that level can make or break any run.

Sector Z: I killed my friends and failed immediately! Onward to Bolse!

Bolse: This level has also been pretty harsh on some of my good runs. It’s mostly when I’m being cocky, shooting an energy tower and moving to the next one quickly, only to find that I didn't finish off the previous. Luckily, that doesn't happen in this run! The towers were taken out without a hitch. One thing I'm not 100% on, but I "believe" the core comes up at the 34th kill (or 10 kills after the field disappears). It could just be the game playing tricks with me, but it seemed to be the case in this run anyways. When the core rises, I react immediately with a flip, and start bombing it during my U-Turn, and start wailing on it. On the 2nd U-Turn, the core is destroyed, meaning time saved from a 3rd pass that didn't need to happen!

Venom: This level didn't go nearly as good as I'd hoped, and it's mostly due to poor decision making. The entire run is actually fine up until the tunnel to Andross. Because of a previous run where I rammed through only 3 gates (despite not being hit in Venom at all), I lost a wing, and a ton of time on Andross. So I was both hesitant to fly through more than 3 gates, and willing to sacrifice a life just to ensure the run doesn't fail. Andross's first form goes just as planned, but his 2nd form was a little "off" and I couldn't get that ultra quick kill that Psonar had (I've done it before, but it just didn't happen this time).

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the run turned out. I think about 25:05 can be done, maybe lower if everything goes absolutely perfect. Might try to improve this run one day, but not in the near future. Anyways, enjoy!

Redline route expert mode 0:35:35 by Brett Ables.

Author's comments:

Acknowledgements
General Comments

The Redline Run Forum Topic was in fact the first Star Fox speedrun forum I found. Seeing the competition going on with the redline run and the discussion about further Star Fox 64 categories gave me the idea for my 100% run. That was where I made my first post. After being well into my 100% run a while later I went back and did a redline run for fun. In the end, my final 100% run contained a redline portion that was 35:43 with earning all the medals and it being Expert Mode. For the Redline category to make sense I figured the run submitted for it would need to be significantly faster than the redline portion of the 100% run, so I went to work. After a few days of repeated attempts I finally nailed this very snazzy 35:35 in Expert Mode.

Now, how exactly does Expert Redline count as it's own category? There was much discussion in the thread, but the basic premise is this:

The reason I chose to do it in Expert Mode was to set the bar high. For a Normal Mode run to be accepted, it would need to be much faster, which would take enough skill that it might as well be done in Expert Mode. That's what I figure anyway. Expert may not change casual playing much, but it greatly effects speedrunning because losing lasers cripples your ability to do as well. Also, the laser fire is much more intense, items are less plentiful, and Fox has awesome sunglasses! The keys to speed are in avoiding collisions, avoiding game lag, not missing searchlights on Zoness, completely owning all bosses, and off course: holding the boost button! I was very satisfied with this run, and I think while it contains some mistakes, much of it is very impressive and well executed. I think it's within a minute of TAS-like perfection, so while it is beatable, it won't be easy! Now onto level comments...


Level Comments

I hope you enjoyed it!


Feedback & Authorship

For additional comments on the run, the forum topic Star Fox 64 "Red Line" seems to be the most appropriate place. I can be PMed at SDA or contacted through any links in my SDA profile. At Gamespot and elsewhere I am flutefreak7. I'm likely done with speedrunning this game because I need to focus on other things. Any challengers have their work cut out and are welcome to replace me, just remember to check your G-diffusor system and do a barrel roll!

This run is the property of the runner, Brett Ables. If the run is posted anywhere online, or made available for viewing by any means other than personal viewing through download from SDA, please include my name and speeddemosarchive.com or a link to this comments page. I gladly allow the use of this run for DVDs, music videos, etc. with the intent of supporting SDA so long as proper credit is given as previously mentioned.

Sincere thanks to all who watched the run and/or read the comments!

A final thanks to Miyamoto for creating my favorite game.

Single-segment, 100 percent expert mode 1:24:52 by Brett Ables.

Author's comments:

Acknowledgements

Collosal props, my mostly undying gratitude, and much polysyllabic verbosity to InsipidMuckyWater for following this run so closely through to the end. No matter how much analysis, commentary, or progress I posted, he was there to give feedback, watch dozens of practice videos, and encourage me during the development of the run. Insipid had followed TSA's first and second runs of the game, and even attempted his own back in the day. As a knowledgable fan of the game and a long-standing member of SDA, his immediate and continued support were very much appreciated. Don't let his big words scare you away... jaws may bite, but he doesn't!

Huge thanks also to the others who supported me in the 100% run forum topic. SMK helped get things off the ground, then came back for some good advice: "SMK your words are like pools of wisdom reaching to unfathomable depths." Petrie911 helped greatly with support and analysis of my early videos. Thanks also to MatrixTN and all others who posted in the topic for you support!

I'd like to say thanks again to TSA for running the game first. I know he was a big Star Fox fan even though he's mostly known for Zelda. Sorry to have owned your any% time TSA, but thanks for first running the game, because that run may have been the first speedrun I ever found. You go down in my book as "The Hylian Who Saved Lylat."


General Comments

This run category, in my opinion, is the best speedrun the game has to offer. Star Fox 64 is not a naturally awesome game to speedrun, but while I think I did justice to the "out of the box" run, I think this run truly does justice to the game itself. While there's a lot to Star Fox 64 (uber-fan speaking here), the meat of this game is in shooting up hundreds of enemies. Medals are awarded for clearing a moderately high number of enemies on each level while keeping all wingmates alive. Once all the medals have been achieved, Expert Mode is then unlocked. In Expert mode, a collision takes a wing off and 25% of your health (Save the solar system and win a crappy arwing with easily detachable wings!). There are a few more enemies on certain levels (not that many actually...) and more importantly, they fire much faster and with greater intensity. Besides that there are way fewer items to grab and Fox now sports some kick-butt sun-glasses (ok, so that makes up for the shoddy arwing). Besides high scores, going back through and getting all medals in Expert Mode is the final accomplishment of the game. While getting all the medals is only moderately difficult and Expert Mode isn't so bad, doing both in a speedrun and not screwing it all up is way harder than I ever imagined! That and the simple fact that the run includes all 15 levels is just awesome. There's so much strategy in the path choosing, right down to the number of available bombs. With the right balance of gameplay, speed, and strategy, this run was a pleasure to do and I hope a spectacle to watch as well! Did I mention there are 0 deaths or retries?

So what contributes to the speed besides holding down the boost button? Not losing your wings by avoiding collisions in absolutely essential. There are so many things that can happen that this is a constant task, which for a run of this length requires good piloting, planning, and just good dumb luck. Losing wings is a such a big deal because of your lasers. You have single, then you collect upgrades for double and hyper lasers. Hyper lasers are essential to speedrun the game effectively, especially for bosses; losing a wing means losing those hyper lasers.

The next most important thing is strategy. For a look at all the available route choices (12 total) check out this chart. The route chosen for this run is shown further down. Three seperate playthroughs of the game must be made to hit all 15 levels. There was much debate over these choices, and I ultimately chose what felt best to me and made the most sense. An example would be whether or not to have Starwolf on Bolse. They count as extra points, allowing a faster medal, but they also complicate an already difficult level, and often shoot wingmates down. Indeed several tough choices arose where either would do, but the questions of speed, feasibility, and overall awesomeness were difficult to answer.

Other things greatly affecting the speed of the run were obviously boss fights, but even more so, anything in all-range mode. Besides that, keeping wingmates alive ruined several runs, because losing a wingmate means losing the medal, which means an immediate retry of the level and often entire minutes lost. Bombs were a precious commodity in many parts of the run, and became a part of the overal strategy. The most unexpected contributor to time loss however was lag. When several explosions occur at once, the game's lagginess can cause 10-20 seconds of loss in a level. This meant planning which enemies to kill to get the medal on every level instead of just wasting everything in site. While getting 200+ on Corneria is sweetness, it takes 20 seconds longer, so it's out of the picture. Sorry, but don't come looking for high scores. (Find videos of high scores here.) It took a while to get used to playing smoothly for speed and not killing everything. That and for levels that are repeated either within this run, like Corneria and Meteo or between this and my other 2 runs, it became a challenge just to remember what to do on each level!

Well, I've got to say it eventually. Fortuna is the ultimate blunder of this run. It was the only level that I had a really awesome special trick for, and I totally screwed it up for a 30 second loss! To see the "Fortuna Maneuver" done properly just watch my any% run. Other notable losses were a slightly sloppy Sector Y boss fight, which is luck-dependent and roughly an hour into the run. Then of course, Bolse and Katina could always be faster since they are both a race against the clock to get the medal. Sector Y, Katina, Bolse, Solar and Aquas were all common run breakers. Zoness and Titania were the most brutal on-rails levels. I can't even say what the highlights would be except that I owned Area 6, Star Wolf, and Andross for an awesome finish!

Here are all the charts, routes, and numbers behind the run:

Level Abbreviations & Medal Requirements:

All wingmates survive and you must obtain this many hits for each level:

Here's the list of all possible playthrough routes in the game. There are 12 possible paths of 3 play-throughs which visit all 15 levels.

For any other basic game info, I recommend:

The Route for this Run

A chart with the timing breakdown for the run can be seen here.

This chart projects an ideal time based on the best level times of my 3rd, 4th, and 6th attempts. Very interesting. It suggests I could've done a sub-1:24:00 by single segment timing. Subtracting the difference, that would be a sub-1:21:45 with segmented timing. Sounds like a goal for any competitors!

To see all the charts/spreadsheets I produced for this run, read the forum topic to see how they were first made public, or you can peruse my photobucket album where all my images are stored.

I'd say that's about all the general comments I feel like making! Have had enough yet?

On to the level comments...


Level Comments

Here again is the Timing Breakdown.

End Game Reflections

I was very satisfied with this run as a whole. I'd like to re-emphasize that I ran the game in a single segment. Because my run required two resets, SDA must interprete the run as technically being 3 segments. This run was intended to do the game justice by acquiring all medals in Expert Mode, effectively "beating" the game. I was very happy to complete a run with so many highlights and especially no deaths or retries. My initial goal was a nice round 1:30 which was then changed to 1:25. By single segment timing, I achieved 1:24:52, which came just under the 1:25 goal. While I exhaustively pointed out mistakes in my level comments, I'd say they were mostly minor and isolated. I do not plan on improving the run, but I encourage any SF64 players to try their hand at replacing my time. I'd be glad to see an improved run. I think this run indeed did justice to the game, and I'm glad to make it available for Star Fox 64 fans everywhere!

My only lingering concern is whether or not my comments are thorough enough... :)


Feedback & Authorship

For additional comments on the run head on over to my forum thread: Star Fox 64 Expert All Medals. I can be PMed at SDA or contacted through any links in my SDA profile. At Gamespot and elsewhere I am flutefreak7. I'm likely done with speedrunning this game because I need to focus on other things. Any challengers have their work cut out and are welcome to replace me, just remember to check your G-diffusor system and do a barrel roll!

This run is the property of the runner, Brett Ables. If the run is posted anywhere online, or made available for viewing by any means other than personal viewing through download from SDA, please include my name and speeddemosarchive.com or a link to this comments page. I gladly allow the use of this run for DVDs, music videos, etc. with the intent of supporting SDA so long as proper credit is given as previously mentioned.

Sincere thanks to all who watched the run and/or read the comments!

A final thanks to Miyamoto for creating my favorite game.

European version expert-mode 0:33:16 by Aleks Lukic.

Author's comments:

I am very pleased with this run. As was typical for the period before the home console discovered the mode known as PAL60, the PAL version of this game runs at 5/6th the speed of the NTSC version due to the 50/60Hz frequency difference. I thought at first this game was not at all ideal for speedrunning, due to the on-rails blaster style of most missions. Then it hit me that the branching storyline would actually make it rather interesting. I painstakingly timed every level, and every branch within a level (with the help of my little sister Angie), and discovered a faster path than the one on the NTSC speedrun already hosted here. Number of kills was not very important to me in this run, but I try and make it entertaining for you...

Expert difficulty in this game basically means there are more enemies, and they shoot more rapidly and with faster lasers. It also means if you collide with ANYTHING you lose a wing, and therefore any laser upgrades you may have accrued. Collisions also incur much more damage. Much effort is therefore taken to avoid collisions!

Corneria- Manage to get a medal, and kill the boss without having to U-turn.

Meteo- Use up some bombs at the start to avoid boosting into some enemies that pop up from behind the rocks. Very satisfied with the boss fight.

Fortuna- Was a bit worried when I lost a wing, but then I remembered that the 15th enemy killed on an all-range mission gives out a laser upgrade/wing repair. ROB saves the day! One of my fastest clearances of the Wolf team ever.

Sector X- Let Peppy die so he wouldn't distract enemies from Falco in the next mission. Some pretty shoddy flying in the warp.

Sector Z- The most important time-saver. Letting the first missile hit the Great Fox ends the mission two minutes faster than if you were to save it. I kill Slippy so the enemies focus on Falco so he doesn't go after the missile.

Bolse- I lose my wings and spend a bit too much time looking for an upgrade and give up in the end. Not much time wasted though, just a second or two after each attack run on the core. My heart skipped a beat when I collected the last gold ring (I was hoping to start Venom with two rings to allow a quick upgrade to double health).

Venom 1- In places I am more conservative with boosting to avoid crashing and losing my wings and precious health. Interestingly enough on Expert mode Venom 1 is harder than Venom 2. VERY satisfied with how quickly I manage to take out the statue boss and Andross.

Hope you enjoy watching it! Since I discovered this project a few months ago I have been mighty impressed by the work here, and it is an honour for me that I have a run hosted here. Thanks to Nate for capturing and Radix for upkeep of the site.

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