Star Fox 64

The Star Fox 64 Rom is the one where Peppy yells “do a barrel roll” at you and somehow it never stops being useful. It’s the 1997 Nintendo 64 rail-shooter where you fly Fox McCloud’s Arwing against Andross across the Lylat system, and it runs on N64 emulators at a tiny 9.3MB. Most of it has you locked on a forward path, dodging stuff and spinning your ship to bounce enemy fire right back. Then it opens up.

Getting the z64 File Running in an Emulator

Setup is quick once you know the steps. Grab an N64 emulator first. Project64 is the usual pick on Windows, Mupen64Plus works across systems, and RetroArch with the ParaLLEl or Mupen core covers Android and most everything else. Install it, then unzip the download if it came in a .zip, since the actual game file is a .z64 inside. Open the emulator, hit File then Open ROM, and point it at the .z64. The game boots straight to the title screen. Map the N64 controller in the input settings before you start, because the C-buttons handle aiming and you’ll want them set right. If the framerate stutters, switch the video plugin to GLideN64 and that usually sorts it.

The Arwing, the Tank, and a Submarine Nobody Remembers

The barrel roll isn’t just flash. Hold it and your Arwing deflects incoming fire, which sounds minor until you’re getting peppered from three directions and that spin is the only thing keeping your shields up. There’s more to the team than the ship, though, and the game keeps swapping what’s under you.

That Spin Bounces Lasers Back at You

You can somersault to slip behind something that’s chasing you, which comes in handy more than you’d think. Both the Arwing and the tank-like Landmaster charge up a lock-on shot if you hold the laser down. Landing that on a boss feels great every single time. On Aquas the game drops you into a submarine called the Blue Marine instead, and certain stages hand you the Landmaster on the ground. It’s not all dogfights.

Slippy Scans Bosses, Falco Finds the Shortcuts

Your wingmen actually do things, which I didn’t expect the first time through. Slippy pops up and reads a boss’s shield gauge so you know how close it is to dying. Peppy throws advice mid-fight. Falco’s the one who spots alternate routes, but only if you keep him alive, because enemies tail your teammates and you have to shoot the pursuers off before they retreat to the Great Fox. Let them die and they sit out the next stage.

Two Endings for Andross, Hidden Behind Your Route

Here’s the part people remember. Every path starts at Corneria and ends at Venom, but how you get there changes the final fight. Come in from Bolse and you wreck a robot Andross, and the real one just drifts off still alive. Come in through Area 6 and you reach his true form, a floating brain with two hands, and you actually finish him. He blows the base on his way out, then James shows up out of nowhere to fly you clear. Medals push the replay too. Clear a mission with every wingman alive and a high hit count and you unlock Expert Mode, new multiplayer vehicles, even fighting on foot with a bazooka.