10 Things You DIDN'T Know About Star Fox 64

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Star Fox 64

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Star Fox 64.

The Game Was a Reboot, Not a Direct Sequel

Most fans assume Star Fox 64 picked up right where the original left off — but the reality is far more interesting. Development actually began as a reimagining, with Nintendo pulling inspiration from the 1993 Super Nintendo original and incorporating ideas shelved from the canceled Star Fox 2. The Nintendo 64's hardware muscle gave developers the freedom to rebuild the Star Fox universe from the ground up with more detailed, polygonal environments and smoother gameplay mechanics. Rather than continuing an existing story, the team seized the opportunity to retell Fox McCloud's origins with greater depth, ambition, and technical flair than the Super NES could ever have allowed.

Why is Aquas the Only Underwater Level?

Aquas stands out as one of Star Fox 64's most visually distinct stages, swapping the Arwing for the Blue Marine in a slow, eerie deep-sea environment — but there were other stages planned like this. The development team originally planned multiple underwater stages throughout the game. However, playtesting revealed a serious problem: the underwater sections dramatically disrupted the game's overall pacing, dragging momentum to a crawl between the faster, high-energy aerial missions. And so, most of the underwater levels got axed. Aquas survived the cut precisely because its uniqueness made it feel like a welcome detour rather than a repetitive drag.

The Puppet Mouth Animations

One of Star Fox 64's most charming and oddly iconic visual quirks is the way characters communicate — mouths flapping open and shut with a rigid, almost mechanical rhythm. That distinctive style wasn't accidental. Director Shigeru Miyamoto and the development team drew direct inspiration from the classic British television series Thunderbirds, the 1960s puppet show that featured similarly rigid mouth animations. Rather than animate fully expressive faces, the team embraced that stiff, puppet-like quality as an intentional aesthetic choice, and it ended up giving “Star Fox 64” even more personality than one may think it would on paper.

The Training Mode Was More Than a Throwaway Extra

A lot of games treat their tutorial modes as glorified instruction manuals — something you click through once and forget. Star Fox 64 had other ideas. The Training Mode dropped players into a surprisingly intricate obstacle course filled with rings, enemies for target practice, and narrow pathways designed to genuinely test your piloting skills. Completing it wasn't just about learning the basics; mastering the course demanded real precision and control. For a mode that could have been an afterthought, it packed a remarkable amount of substance.

The Forgotten Character

As some players may know, Yaru de Pon is only ever seen during the Training mode for “Star Fox 64”. Despite being a memorable enough presence during gameplay, Nintendo seemingly left him behind when the series moved forward. No cameo, no reference, no acknowledgment — he simply vanished. Whether his absence reflects a deliberate creative decision or just an oversight lost to time remains unclear. Either way, Yaru de Pon holds the peculiar distinction of being the only “Star Fox 64” character who has never appeared in another game in the franchise…not counting Andross’s cronies.

Large Character Cast, Small Voice Cast

Star Fox 64 is packed with memorable, personality-driven characters — from cocky wingmen to menacing bosses — and remarkably, only seven voice actors brought all of them to life. That small ensemble was responsible for voicing a total of 23 distinct characters across the entire game. The range required from each performer was genuinely impressive, with several actors jumping between wildly different personalities and vocal registers. Ja Green, for example, voiced the most characters, having performed as Leon Powalski and four of the game’s boss characters. Mike West got the fewest roles, but they were the big ones: Fox and James McCloud.

The Original Voice Cast

Early on in development, the staff were originally planning to voice the characters themselves with lead artist Takaya Imamura voicing Fox McCloud. This was not uncommon back in the 90’s and early 2000s as it was a way to save money. However, more often than not, this resulted in terrible performances that ruined games for many overseas players. “Star Fox 64” almost suffered the same fate until the team made the call to bring in professional voice actors, recognizing that polished, dedicated performances would elevate the final product. Imagine how differently history might have unfolded otherwise.

StarVox

Nintendo had a naming problem on their hands when Star Fox 64 was preparing for its European release. A German company called StarVox held trademark rights that clashed closely enough with the "Star Fox" name to raise serious legal concerns. Rather than fight a prolonged legal battle, Nintendo opted to rebrand the game entirely for European markets, releasing it under the title Lylat Wars — named after the Lylat System central to the game's story. It's a fascinating case of a legal wrinkle quietly reshaping how an entire region experienced the game. Many European players of a certain age still know it exclusively as Lylat Wars to this day.

The Nintendo Power Promo Video

Before social media campaigns and YouTube trailers, Nintendo found creative ways to generate hype. One of these methods was by sending special promo tapes out to Nintendo Power magazine subscribers. The promo video for “Star Fox 64” showcased gameplay footage, highlighted key features like the Rumble Pak accessory, and much more. It also featured a bizarre story where representatives from Sony and SEGA interrogate a man in a “Star Fox 64” themed pilot suit. Yeah, it was probably the weirdest one of the promo videos. For kids waiting anxiously for the game's launch though, receiving that tape felt like getting a backstage pass…even with the strange antics. Probably doesn’t help that one of the royalty-free songs used in the tape is among the songs heavily associated with “SpongeBob”.

Takaya Imamura's Involvement

Most people know Takaya Imamura as the creative mind behind Star Fox's iconic character designs — but his contributions to Star Fox 64 ran far deeper than that. Beyond crafting the visual identities of Fox, Falco, and the rest of the crew, Imamura also played a significant role in shaping the game's overall art direction, helping define the distinct visual tone that set Star Fox 64 apart from its predecessor. His fingerprints are on everything from environmental aesthetics to the enemy designs that populate each stage. He even had a hand in the game’s music composition, writing the story, and even designing some of the core mechanics. Imamura's holistic involvement helped transform Star Fox 64 from a simple sequel into a fully realized, cohesive universe — and that legacy endures every time a new generation picks up the game.

Did any of these facts surprise you? Let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays.