___________________ / Guide Information \__________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Fox 64 Medals Guide Written By John Edwards (KyoraStryker) [Contact info provided at bottom] Original Guide Written by YuriaTayde (Final Update on 20 June 2005) Version 2.51 16 November 2008 ______________ / Introduction \_______________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The content within this guide is nothing more than a revision of another guide. After speaking with the creator of that guide, she agreed to allow me to fix her guide and repost it in my name, so long as she gets credit where it's due. Not to worry, she'll definitely get it. If you're like the vast majority of gamers in the world, once you beat the game, you know you're not done with it, right? Right. Well, this game is no exception. Once you beat it once, you have to go through and beat it again. Once that's taken care of, you have to continue to beat it until you know absolutely everything about the game. Star Fox is unique in a sense that instead of finding absolutely everything, you're not satisfied with beating the game until you get medals on every planet. This guide was written to help achieve that end. Inside, you'll find all the information you need to know in order to grab the medals for each level. So what are you waiting for? Wipe the dust from your N64, blow into your Star Fox 64 cartridge, and fire it up! ___________________ / Table of Contents \__________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a breakdown of everything you'll find in the guide. 1. Update History 2. Tips and Tricks 3. The Guide 3.1. Mission One: Corneria 3.2. Mission Two 3.2.1. Meteo 3.2.3. Sector Y 3.3. Mission Three 3.3.1. Fortuna 3.3.2. Katina 3.3.3. Aquas 3.4 Mission Four 3.4.1. Sector X 3.4.2. Solar 3.4.3. Zoness 3.5. Mission Five 3.5.1. Titania 3.5.2. Macbeth 3.5.3. Sector Z 3.6 Mission Six 3.6.1. Bolse 3.6.2. Area 6 3.7 Mission Seven: Venom 4. Contact Information 5. Legal Information 6. Credits ________________ / Update History \_____________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pre Upload: 16 Nov 2008 [Version 2.0] The creator of the original guide allowed me to retype and repost the guide. Complete rectification of the guide structure has been made. Don't know when I'm going to tackle going through and doing a spell check though. Pre Upload: 17 Nov 2008 [Version 2.1] Work on correcting a major error in the formatting has begun, and as of current, it's complete. I'm almost 100% sure the guide is ready for upload. Update: 19 Nov 2008 [Version 2.2] The original creator contacted me with a slew of things to be changed and mentioned. All of these changes are throughout the entire guide. Update: 20 Nov 2008 [Version 2.3] Several sites contacted me asking for permission to host this guide on their site. The sites that have been allowed to host the guide has been updated. Update: 29 Nov 2008 [Version 2.4] Updated the outlook of the Update history, and modified the Legal section just a little. Other than that, no major content updates have been made. Update: 05 Dec 2008 [Version 2.5] Took out some unnecessary eye candy and reduced the file size. Update: 08 Dec 2008 [Version 2.51] Got an email from a reader, which contained helpful information regarding the medal for Sector Z. Such content has been added, and the contribution noted in the Credits section. _________________ / Tips and Tricks \____________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a compilation of some tips and tricks that you may or may not know. If you can master the skills contained in this section, it'll make your medal hunt so much easier. - Rapid Fire - Pressing A just once will actually shoot the lasers three times. Take advantage of this feature by finding the right time to press A again, and you'll unleash a barrage of rapid fire lasers shots, maximizing your laser output. This will allow you to drop enemies that can take more hits much quicker and allow you to focus on another target, all the while saving your thumb a little stress. - Multiple Kill - Holding A will cause your laser to charge and can be fired at one or multiple enemies that has a little extra power than a single shot from the lasers. In addition, once the shot is charged, you can lock on to enemies and the charged shot will fire towards it when the A button is quickly tapped. Utilize this feature by locking on to the center-most enemy of a formation and firing on it. The end result, if the shot hits and is strong enough to kill them all, will give you one kill point for every enemy it drops, in addition to the enemy that the laser was targeted to. For example, you lock on to the center fighter of a five-ship formation. If all enemies were downed, you'll get one point for the fighter that was targeted, plus another five points for how many were taken out simultaneously. This tactic will allow you to rack up some major points and will greatly increase your chances of getting a medal on a level. The drawback? Charging the laser takes some time, which could be costly if you noticed them too late and don't have enough to charge. Also, you have to make sure you lock on to the correct enemy, or you won't take a whole formation out. You can always negate a lock-on by simply releasing the A button (read: RELEASING - Don't tap the button again until the charge disappears, or you'll shoot the charge), but you'll waste another three seconds to charge and acquire a lock-on. If you feel you're pretty proficient at charged shots, take it a step further. Hold down R and Z while you have a charge and you won't lock on to an enemy. It's terribly inaccurate though, rather than the charge following your lock-on, it will go in the direction your Arwing is pointing. It can be useful however, if you do run into a situation where you want to attempt to take a formation out in little time in order to focus on another target. Also, if you manage to take out enemies using this feature, you'll get bonus points. - Bombs Galore - Peppy said it best: "Use bombs wisely." These things are extremely lethal and can allow for complete desecration of formations and even large targets with ease, all the while focusing on another target. Simply put, find a large formation, drop a bomb, and forget about them. However, resist the temptation to go ballistic and bomb the hell out of anything that moves - You'll be out of bombs pretty damn fast. Save your bombs for large targets (these will get mentioned in the guide) and for formations of six or more ships that are fairly spaced apart - anything less is just overkill and could be used for something bigger. When you get into the higher quantity of bombs (around six or so) occasionally dropping one is acceptable, but start to limit use of them when you drop below five. - Accuracy - Just because you have Hyper Lasers that are fast, lethal, and can be thrown out at the speed of light doesn't mean you can get away with sweeping a general area. Where circumstances arise where this is acceptable, more often than not, it's best to try to accurately aim. Practice your accuracy on the Training Mode feature, or on a level that you already have a medal for. Let's suppose you don't get a medal for a particular level. What happens when you restart? You go to your basic laser with three bombs. Accuracy in this situation is critical, because you simply just can't get away with sweeping an area with that pitiful excuse for weaponry. It just doesn't cut it. - Allies - The trio that makes up the rest of Star Fox can be your best friends and worst enemies. They're obnoxious comments get dry and lame really fast, but in reality, they're the best way to take advantage of a formation of enemies, especially when you're flying in all-range mode. When they sit there and cry for help, don't sweat it unless their shield gauge is low. Continue on with what you're doing until they naturally come into view. Then lock on, fire a charged shot, and move to the next target. Your allies play a critical role in your quest for medals, however. You cannot earn a medal for a particular level if all three of your allies do not finish with you. Read: Keep your allies alive! Chances are you'll get angrier if you don't medal a level because you let Slippy die (although he deserves it) rather than you not meeting the kill quota. - Fire and Forget - An easy tactic to learn, and even easier to master; simply lock on to an enemy, fire your charge shot, then immediate charge and lock on to another enemy. Take care to monitor the shot if the formation you're shooting at is going off screen, however, as the kills will not count if the enemy is not on screen. - The Dead Zone - On the topic of monitoring shots towards enemies going off screen, take particular note that if an enemy goes off screen and somehow it dies afterward, the kill does not go toward your count. The N64 just doesn't put out enough to power what's off screen, let alone what's in front of you. - Collecting Extra Arwings - Never miss an opportunity to pick up a 1-up. These things are essentially helpful, especially if you're flying the hard route. Also, you never know when you're going to want to restart the level, and by doing so, you lose an Arwing, not to mention your cache of bombs and your Hyper lasers. - Monitoring Your Score - Keep a partially watchful eye on your score. If you've obtained enough kills to earn a medal for a level, your score will quickly flash and turn red. Once this happens, you can ease off on your killing spree, unless you're also trying to earn extra Arwings. It also helps to monitor your score just before you fight a boss. All of the bosses offer a bonus to your kill count, so don't sweat it if you're two kills away from a medal and about to fight a boss. The bonuses work just like any kill bonus for dropping a formation, but typically worth a lot more points. - Suicide - There's points in time throughout your play-through that you're not going to achieve a medal. It doesn't mean you suck (well, it may for some people), it just means you need to try harder. If you're not satisfied with how things are going, play the level out and complete it, however, don't proceed to the next level. Simply retry your previous level. It tells you that you will lose an Arwing, but in reality, you lose an Arwing in addition to whatever lasers you have and extra bombs, and thus start with the crappy lasers and three bombs. However, if you're on Bolse or Area 6 and you don't like what's going on, you might want to kill yourself while you're playing, as there's not an option to retry those levels once you progress to Venom. The reason for this is simple. If you obtain 100 kills in the level you want to try again and complete it, you're awarded the extra Arwing, thereby esssentially removing the Arwing cost to retry. Of course, the cumulative count drops, but the Arwing cost does not. For example, you start Meteo with three Arwings. You complete the level with 186 kills and receive the extra Arwing for killing over 100. Since you didn't get the medal for it, you figure it'd be safe to restart, so you do. It puts you right back to square one: entering Meteo with three Arwings. The only difference is your weaponry. Whatever your reasons for restarting a level, don't restart while you're playing the level (except for Bolse and Area 6), as the kills you had prior to restarting will not add up to another Arwing. *Note: Since I know some idiot is going to use this against me, I'm going to save myself now. Whatever you do, don't use this guide as an excuse to commit actual suicide. I know there's going to be times where you can't beat a level and get a medal, and you're going to feel like life's not living, but remember that it's just a game and not worth a human life. Let the pixels do the dying. (I figured I'd throw that in there just in case someone wanted to try and frame me.) ___________ / The Guide \__________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here it is, the meat and potatoes of the guide. This section will cover the tactics and strategies you can use to get a medal for each level. It's broken down into seven sub-sections, based on how far you are into the game, and some are then further broken down into the different levels you can play. And take note that these tips are only one way of doing it. With a vast majority of games, there's multiple ways of doing things, and this game is no exception. _______________________ __________/ Mission One: Corneria \____________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kill Quota: 150 Difficulty: Hard Definitely not the best level to start your medal quest, but there's nothing you can do about it. The enemies here are widely spread out and move at a pretty fast pace. Some also like to hug the sides of buildings, as well as the ground. Keep watchful eyes out around these spots, because that's where a majority of the formations are. Charge shots are a must here. They'll let you lock-on to the formations so that you can focus on other enemies. Do your absolute best to take out the bots that cause some of the buildings to fall, as they're worth six kills each. When you get to the stone arches, take out all of the water gliding bots, as they're worth four points. Make sure to fly under all the arches so that Falco leads you to the real boss. By the time you see Falco headed into the waterfall, there's a couple enemies facing dead ahead, do what you can to take them out before going under the waterfall. By this time, you should have around 120-130 kills, so things should be smooth sailing for the medal. Take out as many of the remaining enemies as you can, and make sure to wait until the fighters just before the boss get into their formation to score the most points. The boss here will give 11 points, so if you reach him with 139 kills or more, you're made in the shade. _____________ __________/ Mission Two \______________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's two routes within Mission Two that you can take: easy or hard. The easy route is Meteo, the hard is Sector Y. - Easy: Meteo - Kill Quota: 200 Difficulty: Easy Not exactly the best level to attempt to medal right after Corneria, as you're going to want bombs in this level, but it still is possible. In the beginning take out as many of the asteroids you can. Drop a bomb, detonate it, and watch your score skyrocket into the next millennium. Throughout the level, use charge shots extensively and bombs minimally. But this goes without saying. Do absolutely everything you can to hit all seven warp points, as it's near impossible to medal this level without it. Lock on to the star formations of enemies as you get close to the warp points and fire your charge shots. You're going to lose focus on them after you hit the second or third warp, as your speed is going to increase greatly, but continue to attempt your lock-on shots at the formations that pass by. If you don't make the warp, I strongly suggest restarting. The boss gives 11 points, so unless you have 189 kills when you get to him (which is damn near impossible - I don't know of anyone who has done it), you won't make it. If you manage to hit the warp you're most likely going to medal this level. It's a little more difficult if you don't have a good supply of bombs, but it's still possible. Even if your going through a bomb drought, don't sweat it. There's a formation that spells out 64 that will explode, giving a mass multitude of arsenal. Navigate your Arwing to line up with the bombs and do a somersault to grab the bombs. Lock on to the few enemies that are in the level, as all of them are in some type of formation (except the swinging ones. I hate those things). When you get to the plethora of asteriods, pull the same trick you did when you started the level. Drop bombs and see the points increase greatly. Done right, you should be able to complete this level with over 250 kills. - Hard: Sector Y - Kill Quota: 150 Difficulty: Easy Things are going to be pretty fast paced in the beginning, with no apparent signs of relent. Keep your cool and you should be able to pull this level off fairly easy. The flying bots may look intimidating, but they're a joke. Lock on and shoot a charged shot at them, then forget about them. There's no need to try and take him out before the shot hits him. They die in one hit from charged shots. Do your absolute best at taking out EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT of the flying ships towards the end. Each ship is easily worth 8-10 points if you take everything out. Easy pointage right here. Unfortunately, it may seem impossible to do, since the ships fly in and off screen quickly. It is for this reason that the bombs you should be saving are beneficial. Drop a bomb just in front of the ship, and the blast will take out the ship's components, even as it flies by. When your allies jump into formation toward the end, they'll reward you with an extra Arwing. Stay in this formation to receive it. However, don't take it unless you feel you're going to need it. Instead, get out of the way of potentially shooting them and continue to aim at enemies all around the screen. The boss comes in two parts, two bots worth four points each, and the main boss worth 11, which gives a grand total of 19. That being said, make sure you reach them with at least 131 points. _______________ __________/ Mission Three \____________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the next three missions (including this one), there's three routes you can take, depending on how confident you feel, as well as your performance in the previous level. - Easy: Fortuna - Kill Quota: 50 Difficulty: Very Easy This medal is so easy to obtain, you'll probably be a little confused if you get it by accident. The only real advice you need for Fortuna is to kill Star Wolf's collection of misfits as quickly as possible. If you can drop all four of them in a timely manner (which is quite easy), you'll pretty much have all the points you need. Simply kill six enemies while you're waiting for Star Wolf to appear, drop the four losers, and you'll nab this medal. - Medium: Katina - Kill Quota: 150 Difficulty: Hard Katina is a pretty difficult level to medal. The enemies come here a dime a dozen, so you would think it's easy, right? Wrong! Your allies are able to steal kills from you much easier than Fortuna is, primarily because there's so many of them. And I'm not talking just enemies. Bill, who is apart of the Cornerian Army has a friggin' squadron of his own units there to help. Remember how I said that your allies could be your worst enemy at times? Katina is one of those times. All of Bill's pilots fly around killing enemies and it's incredibly hard to distinguish who is friend and who is foe. So what's the key to obtaining this medal: Be ruthless. Be twisted. Be sadistic! Who gives a damn if Bill tells you that you shot down one of his pilots? They don't affect your kill count, so kill them. Just say they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's two ways of doing this. One way is significantly easier than the other, but for the sake of being able to, both are listed. The first, and harder of the two, is to literally sweep the map. Seriously. Tilt your ship to one side, follow the direction of the tilt, and pull a spray-and-pray maneuver. The drawback is that you're only racking up single kills, not bonus points for taking out the multitudes of formations that persist in this level. Also, you run the risk of hurting your allies (Not Bill's units - They don't care about you, so you should feel the same), decreasing their shield gauge and putting them in potential danger. If you've got impervious accuracy, this may be a good idea to try, otherwise, use the better of the two options. Focus on lock-on shots for the formations. Don't be intimidated by your trio's cries for help - They'll be fine unless their shield gauges are critically low, but follow them and take out the formations that amass behind them. Lock-on shots are almost always the keys to medalling a level, and Katina is no exception. When the mothership comes in and centers itself over the pyramid-like building thing, don't panic. When the hatches open, resist all urges to take them out. Sure, they're worth six points each, but their existence is crucial to getting the medal. Each time they open, they let out around six enemies. Per hatch. That's around 24 enemies released each time they open! Press those hatches to the fullest advantage. The mothership itself is the boss, obviously. Dropping the core of it will award you with 11 points. You get one minute to take out the core when it appears, but it doesn't take half that. Ignore the timer until you get to about 20 seconds, then unleash a barrage of Hyper laser fury toward it. It shouldn't take more than about 10 seconds to take out, allowing for one or two passes before the timer runs out. So what's a sufficient kill count prior to completion? If you plan on taking out the hatches, you should make sure you have 115 points within the time you take out the hatches (giving 24 points for all four), so that when the core appears, you have at least 139. Of course, the more sensible option would be to ignore the hatches and let the enemies multiply like two rabbits in mating season. Regardless of your methods, make sure you have at least 139 prior to dropping the core. *Note: After a recent play-through, I noticed that the mothership's bonus value will drop after a certain time. I don't know how long it takes for the drop, but if you wait until around the 20-second mark, it's only going to be worth three. That being said, ignore the first 40 seconds of the core's visibility to press your kill count even further. If you can take it out within those last 20 seconds, you'll get three points, therefore you should aim to have at least 147 before you start attacking the core. Of course, since you have only three more kills to obtain, you may as well guarantee your medal and shoot the remaining three enemies. Seriously, it takes maybe ten seconds tops to drop the core. - Hard: Aquas - Kill Quota: 150 Difficulty: Easy This level doesn't make sense to me. It seems that Nintendo threw it in here just for filler, but whatever. It's another medal, right? Being in the Blue Marine is no different than being in an Arwing. Except for being in a submarine rather than a fighter jet/space ship thingy. The advantage: Unlimited torpedos. Yes, that's right. You get unlimited bombing ability that doesn't affect your bomb count when you get back in an Arwing. If you don't take advantage of this, you're a fool. A helpful tactic, and probably the only one you should do, is to simultaneously press A and B indefinitely throughout the level. The drawback is that your thumb will be occupied with both buttons, thus causing you to lose control of your speed should you need to speed up or slow down. I doubt you'll have much need for them in this level though. Something I learned from the original guide that may work is to obliterate everything while dodging as little as possible. If you feel the need to dodge something, simply spin and deflect it. (This next statement comes straight from the original guide) In fact, add the R button to the list; pound all three buttons endlessly. If you feel your poor thumb suffering, pause to take a break, then get back in the action. The boss can be worth either 11 points or 23. If you fail to notice the parasites that are on top of him, you'll be awarded with 11 points. Take those out however, and you'll get four points for each, in addition to the 11 for the boss. Take note that it's strongly recommended that you take out the boss in a timely manner. Take toop much time killing him, and you'll lose five points, giving your total six or 18, depending on what you do with the parasites. ______________ __________/ Mission Four \_____________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three more choices await you in the fourth mission. Starting to get tired yet? I hope not - You're only halfway home. - Easy: Sector X - Kill Quota: 150 Difficulty: Moderate Just like Sector Y, you're going to feel overwhelmed by enemies in the beginning. But if you went to Sector Y, why the hell are you looking at Sector X? Firing and forgetting is essential in this level. Lock on, fire a charged shot, then aim for the other screen. Do this relentlessly throughout the level. When you get to the mine field, drop a bomb or two while passing through. Easy points right here, and it may possibly save your life. When you get to what appears to be a weakly defended and destroyed area of the base, zig-zag around the screen and take out all the little drone bots you see, while dodging flying parts of the base. When you get to the fork in the road, fly to the right, unless you want to attempt the warp (which is pretty difficult and unrewarding whatsoever). Kill the three drones at the base of the fork, and reward yourself with a laser upgrade that drops from the last one to die. After you veer to the right, brace yourself for a shooting frenzy. Use charge shots to the fullest, and drop a bomb here and there if it becomes necessary. The boss rewards you with 11 points, so again, 139 is the magic number to have prior to starting the battle. Take out the boss as quickly as possible, as taking too long will cause the boss to take Slippy out and force you to a dreaded level, in addition to causing you to lose the medal for Sector X. - Medium: Solar - Kill Quota: 100 Difficulty: Easy Solar shouldn't give you any problems. In fact, it's so easy, there aren't any outside tips you need to know in order to receive the medal. Shoot absolutely everything, including those lava rocks. Some of the rocks will break into four, which will allow for four more points. There's even rocks in the distance, so aim for those as well. If you don't, you're missing out on some points, as they will be gone long before you get to where you think you saw it. Make sure to have a couple bombs handy for a couple swarms of those lava birds. The last swarm at the end is a bombing necessity. As soon as you see the birds emerge from the lava, shoot a bomb and detonate as needed. Go into the boss fight with 89 kills, and you'll medal the level, as the boss is worth (you guessed it!) 11 points. - Hard: Zoness - Kill Quota: 250 Difficulty: Moderate Zoness may seem pretty difficult to medal, but it's easier than you think. The most handy thing to remember is to TAKE OUT THE SEARCHLIGHTS. Every single one. They're worth three kills each, and there's around 30-40 of them. Don't miss one and get spotted. More enemies will come if you do. "But what if I want more enemies?" Granted, more enemies will come if you get spotted, but the searchlights will drop from three points each down to just one. Also, the extra enemies won't make up for the extra points you can get if you took out all the searchlights, so taking them all out is paramount. Lock-on charge shots are crucial here, just like any other level. Very rarely will enemies fly or float in that are single units, meaning that they're always in some type of formation. And formations mean extra points. The ships that have cargo boxes are fair targets, since the cargo boxes can be destroyed, and they will almost always award you with a gold or silver ring. Sometimes you'll get lucky and get a bomb though. Remember to use your bombs wisely, even though you're going to feel overwhelmed at times. The boss will award you with another expected 11 points, so your magic number here is 239. I won't go into detail about how to kill him (since that's not pertinent to the content of this guide), but make sure to stock up on your bomb supply here. It's easy to finish him off and have eight or nine bombs in reserve. ______________ __________/ Mission Five \_____________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the last mission where you have three level options to choose from. And as always, your choices depend on your performance in the previous level, as well as your physical location. - Easy: Titania - Kill Quota: 150 Difficulty: Moderate I'm going to kick this one off by making a statement: If you're going to Titania just because you want to, then you're a better man than I am. I mean sure, you can go just to get a medal, but why would you want to? And if you're going just because you want to, maybe you should reconsider your goals in the game. If you're flying this route because you need to save Slippy, it's going to be a pretty daunting task to get accustomed to the Landmaster. I'll spare you the details in the differences between it and an Arwing, but just know that you'll have to get used to it. There's really not a lot you don't already know for this level in order to medal it. Simply use your charged shots against the enemies, as they're almost always in a formation. *Note: After some information, I found that bombs here are more helpful than normal. Therefore, if you've got a couple bombs lying around collecting dust, lob a couple out there to help rack out some points. As expected, roll up to the boss fight with 139 kills and you'll medal this one. Your score won't reflect that you received the medal until Slippy rejoins you toward the end of the boss fight, so remember to keep an eye on your score. - Medium: Macbeth - Kill Quota: 150 Difficulty: Easy Another simple level to get a medal in, as a majority of the points come from taking out parts of the train. Even if this is the first time you're driving the Landmaster, it's simple to score points, unlike Titania. Start off the level by immediately braking and take out the cannon car of the train. The next three cars of the train have boulders in them, so if you can smash the A button fast enough, you'll take out the entire car (boulders included), giving you seven points for each car. Also, remember to take out the CAR ITSELF, not just the cargo it's on, as this is an easy point to miss. If you've got a few spare bombs lying around, shoot one where two boulder cars connect, and it'll greatly aid in your destruction of it. When you get to where enemy ships fly overhead, don't waste time trying to drop them with single shots. Lock on to them, fire a charged shot, then lock on to another. You shouldn't miss any by doing this, but you'll be fine if you miss a few. There's a couple formations immediately after this, so make sure to lock on and fire a charged shot at the center-most ship. A bomb with these annoying ships may come in handy as well. The boulders that follow can be pretty easy to miss to someone who's untrained with the Landmaster, so if it's necessary, one bomb to the middle of each wave of bombs will be sufficient, provided you have a few spare ones. By the time you get halfway, you should easily have over 100 points, so medalling this level is in the bag - well, that's if you take out the supply depot. There's only one or two more enemies after you hit the checkpoint, so if you don't have at least 99, restart when you complete the level. Shooting the eight switches and causing the train to collide with the supply depot will award you with 51 points, which is pretty nice. Of course, if you fail miserably and have to fight the boss, it's only 11 points, provided you take it out in a timely manner. Take too much time, and the points will drop from 11 to six, then to three. - Hard: Sector Z - Kill Quota: 100 Difficulty: Very Hard Up until this point, almost all of the levels are fairly easy to medal. Unfortunately there's gotta be one level that's a royal pain in the ass to earn a medal on, right? Hello, Sector Z. This level, unlike practically all the other levels, is probably single- handedly the hardest level to earn a medal in, if not THE hardest. It's imperative (read: really friggin' important) to kill virtually EVERY enemy within this level. The enemies are so scarce, you're going to end up playing this level several times through just to develop some kind of partial strategy to medal it. You're most likely going to waste your stockpile of extra Arwings here, which will make subsequent play-throughs more difficult (e.g. going back to the basic Arwing). Thanks to Wise One for contributing the following tip. Apparently, if you break a wing while playing the level, the Great Fox will fix it if you enter the port on the belly of the ship. Enter the port from the rear of the ship and exit out the front. Great Fox will repair your wing(s), and ROB 64 will also reward you with a supply box containing a laser upgrade. Not bad, eh? The first thing I can help you with in getting this medal is the usefulness of hitting the Start button during the cutscene. Doing this actually changes your starting position of the level, and puts you almost directly in line with an asteroid you can destroy (asteroid info provided below). Your allies are going to call for help more often than not. Press this to the fullest advantage! We all know that those three bumbling morons are just fine; they just don't know how to do a somersault and rely on big brother Star Fox to do the dirty work. Not like you should care, since their cries for help result in your score going up for killing the formations that gather behind them. Regardless, it's probably best to just ignore them altogether. They also tend to get in the way, so keep an eye out for that. The six missiles that are launched toward Great Fox are essentially the boss, and each missile is the single-most valuable enemy, worth 11 points each. Therefore, 66 of the 100 points you need lie within the six missiles. Accuracy is critical in being accredited with the points from the missiles. Sector Z is another level where your allies do more harm than good, as they'll also attempt to destroy the missiles. In between the time for each wave of missiles is a fair amount of time to target some of the enemy ships, so take advantage of that as well. Take note however, that your allies will not attempt to take out the incoming missiles if they're being pursued by a formation of enemy units. Also, since I was aware of this, but not exactly sure of their location, a small map (provided by both the original creator of the guide, as well as an external source) giving a relative location of a couple random asteroids that can be taken out for three points a piece. This little map was taken straight from the original guide. Credit for the map will be given to the original creator, as well as her external source for providing it. ------------------------- | | | | | X | | * | | (GF) | | | | X | | X | | * | ------------------------- Key: * = in plain sight, floating there and unprotected. X = in a "box" (map is assumed to be an accurate duplicate of your radar) I can almost guarantee that you're going to get frustrated with this level and restart multiple times, but make sure to keep your cool. Also, if you do restart, keep a watchful eye out for the first few enemies you kill, as they drop a laser upgrade. REALLY helpful if you want to earn the medal from a restart. _____________ __________/ Mission Six \______________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The second to last mission allows you to go to one of two levels. Unfortunately, you only get the OPTION if you fly the hard route and perform well (e.g. get Mission Accomplished instead of Mission Complete). - Easy: Bolse - Kill Quota: 150 Difficulty: Easy Bolse is a level that I'm particularly hazy about. The last time I earned a medal on Bolse was when I actually owned an N64 console and the SF64 game. I'm going to read the original strategy, give it a grammar/spelling makeover, and paste it up in hopes that it's somewhat beneficial. The best advice I can give is to focus on speedy kills. The six energy towers offer four points each, which is a total of 24 points. I can't remember how many points you can destroy on the core itself, but a safe number would be 10. They each offer 11 points each, giving 110 points, provided you take the core out in a timely manner. Similar to other boss battles, the bonus value can drop if speed isn't factored into your plan of attack. If you've got a couple of those bombs collecting dust, whip one out and lob it at the core. It's an easy way to drop three to five of the targets in one hit. If you didn't face Star Wolf's gang of hoodlums, you'll face them here. I don't know their point value (email me if you know it), as I've never faced them. The only time I ran in to them is in Fortuna and Venom. I'm sure that since it's so late in the game, they're worth a fair amount of points each. I can't think of much else, so if you have any methods that you used to obtain the medal, feel free to shoot me an email. - Hard: Area 6 - Kill Quota: 300 Difficulty: Moderate Area 6 is a fanfare of laser smashing and evasive maneuvers. There's hordes of bad guys here, so massive pointage is easy. However, they move at a quick pace and can disappear if you're not careful. Remember how I said that you want to save your bombs for when they're really needed? Well, they're really needed in this level. Use two bombs on the minefield, as you'll rack up countless points, just like you did with Sector X. Also, when you have to save Peppy, I strongly encourage the use of a bomb, as lasers don't work as well. Unless of course you're a rock steady sniper with them. The little satellite things can get you four to five points per each one you kill. Take advantage of these, as they're pretty common throughout the level and can reward you with some decent pointage. Almost all the enemies that appear in the level are in some sort of formation, so your lock-on shots and charged shots are paramount. But then again, when aren't they? Towards the end, you're going to come up against a fleet of enemy ships. They're huge things, and the best way to take them out is (you guessed it) a bomb. Nuke the hell out of these ships and you'll continue your ever- increasing score. Finally, the boss. Get here with 289 kills, and you'll medal it, since we all know that the boss gives 11 points. However, much like a lot of other bosses, if you don't kill them within a certain time (or you just suck), you points will decrease. Therefore, do your best to ensure you have your quota of 300 kills BEFORE you get here. ______________________ __________/ Mission Seven: Venom \_____________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kill Quota: 200 Difficulty: Moderate Before I begin to discuss Venom, take note that you absolutely must complete Venom through the hard route (e.g. Area 6) in order to receive the medal. I've tried time and time again, and scored hundreds of kills through the easy route, but I always end up empty-handed. Therefore, I'll only be discussing what to do in Venom via the hard route. (On a side note, if there actually IS a way to medal in easy mode, tell me and I'll be sure to post it up here in a new version.) *Note: Apparently, there IS a way to medal Venom through the easy route. Very vague information about it was given, but Yuria told me about someone who told her that they managed to do it. Regardless of its possibility, the easiest way to medal Venom is to fight Star Wolf's band of bozos and rack up points the easy way. That being said, time to talk about your last mission. Your only task before you take on Andross is to defeat Star Wolf. Depending on how you got to Area 6, this may be your second time encountering them. Assuming you fought them in Fortuna, you'll notice their skills have improved greatly, they have new ships, and are actually more elusive and can dish out more damage. If you're fighting them for the first time, you have no basis for comparison. Regardless of the route you took, your primary target should be Wolf. Your allies are going to do their infamous cries for help (as they do whenever you're in all-range mode), but take a moment to listen to them. You only have four enemies, after all. Killing the four in a swift and timely manner will award you with 51 points per kill, thereby practically giving you the medal before you fight the boss. If your skills aren't up to par, their point value will drop as usual. If this happens, you'd be better off restarting, as the most you'll be able to obtain is 23 points from Andross (more info in a sec). Factor those points into the 174 you'll have from dropping Star Wolf's gang, and it puts you at 197, three short of the medal. Provided that you do kill all four of those idiots and go into the fight against Andross, you should have 204 kills. But it's not over yet. Take out Andross as you normally would (this guide isn't meant to help you with that), then get ready to fight the brain. The two eyes are worth six points each, and are quite easy to take out. Start obliterating the brain itself and aim for the medulla oblongata (to make this easier to understand, it's the part of the brain that's a different color than the giant mass of red). Despite this not being a boss guide, I'll give a brief rundown of what to do. Don't email me questions asking to go more in-depth, because I'll send an email back saying that you need to look at other guides and not waste my time. Shoot the large mass of the brain, and when he laughs and disappears, pull a U-Turn, which will put you almost directly in line with the medulla oblongata. Killing him awards you with 11 more points, thus making the total 23. See why I said it'd be better to restart if you don't get the 51 points per kill against Star Wolf? What's next? Follow Fox's father out (which is personally one of my favorite parts of the game), sit back, relax, watch the credits, and congratulate yourself for what has been an extremely long and tedious battle for medals. _____________________ / Contact Information \________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ah yes, the part where you want to contact me about the guide, ask questions, give feedback, et cetera. Here's the available options of contacting me: AOL Instant Messenger: KyoraStryker Email Address: [email protected] Regardless of the method you use to contact me, promptly introduce yoursef and tell me what you're referencing in this guide. As far as emails are concerned, have this guide name in the subject line so I don't think it's garbage. Seriously, if it looks like trash, I'm going to treat it as such. ___________________ / Legal Information \__________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All content contained herein is the sole property of myself, with permission of use granted by YuriaTayde. Original content provided by YuriaTayde, revised content provided by myself. Absolutely no part of this guide may be reproduced without my consent. You have my contact info, simply ask. Reproduction of this document is prohibited except for personal use and reference. This guide is not permitted to be hosted on any other site than those listed below. If you want to host this guide on your site, email me with the site and reasons for wanting to host it. I'll tell you if you can or can't. And as always, all trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Should you feel that this document is in violation of copyright, send me an email explaining the issue so I can attempt to clarify any dispute you may have. Sites permitted to host this guide: http://www.gamefaqs.com http://www.neoseeker.com http://www.supercheats.com If you see this guide on any other site other than the above mentioned, please send me an email with the site URL listed and where you found the guide, so I can raise some hell. =) _________ / Credits \____________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since this is a revision of another guide, everyone who contributed to it will be mentioned here. YuriaTayde, the original creator of this guide, allowed me to edit and reproduce the guide under my name. Hats off to her for actually being pretty sincere about it. The laundry list of people who contributed to her guide: YuriaTayde's nephew. I don't have a name, or I'd post it. Sorry! Ames (proof-reading before submission) Kadox (First contact after submission) Patrick Sharp (Corrections to guide content) itlnstln37 (For beating Sector Z with 113 kills and contributing the map to the content) As for the people I want to give credit to: CJayC - As always, for having such a badass site. You rock, dude. Nintendo - For Star Fox 64. Such an awesome game, even 12 years after it's release date. My girlfriend Cassandra - She has the patience to put up with my gaming ways. I love you! Wise One - Sent me an email regarding a couple additional tips to nab the medal for Sector Z. That level is such a pain in the ass, and your contribution is definitely welcomed. And you! For taking the time to take a look at this guide. Sure, it's a reproduction, but hopefully it's a little easier to understand. Nothing against Yuria, but still. End of File.