20 Nintendo Games You Must Play Before You Die

2. Star Fox 64 (N64)

Four years after Nintendo's successful foray into space shooting and anthropomorphic animals with SNES classic Star Fox, the developer rolled out the game's long-awaited sequel for the N64.

Star Fox 64 - or Lylat Wars, as it was known in Europe - was a showcase for the 64-bit machine's capabilities. It was fast, hard hitting and boasted some of the finest 3D visuals around at the time. On top of that, it was the first game to come bundled with a Rumble Pack and was one of the few cartridge-based titles to feature full voice acting.

Granted, Star Fox 64 was a little on the easy side, but it made up for that with the amount of variety each level offered. Players had the chance to explore multiple paths, making subsequent play-thoughts a different experience.

The space fox has been on numerous adventures since this one - most recently in the lukewarmly-received Wii U title Star Fox Zero - but rarely have they lived up to the liberating blastathon that was Star Fox 64.