Story up to when the game starts:
Star Fox 64 is set on a group of planets in the Lylat System. Ingenious scientist Andross, a native of the fourth planet Corneria, is driven to madness and nearly destroys the planet using biological weapons. For Andross' treason, General Pepper exiles the scientist to the remote planet Venom. Five years after Andross' exile, Pepper discovers an unknown activity in Venom.[6] Pepper hires the Star Fox team (consisting of James McCloud, Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar) to investigate. After arriving at Venom, Pigma betrays the team and causes James and Peppy to be captured by Andross. James eventually sacrifices himself, allowing Peppy to escape and tell James' son, Fox McCloud about his father's fate.
A few years following James' demise, Andross launches an attack across the Lylat System. Realizing that his army cannot stop Andross, Pepper summons the Star Fox team, now consisting of Fox, Peppy, Falco Lombardi and Slippy Toad.
Characters in the game:Â
The protagonist of the story and the player character is Fox McCloud, a red fox and leader of the Star Fox team, who must save the Lylat System. His father, James McCloud, was part of the original Star Fox team, but died years before the start of the game. The main antagonist of the game is Andross, a scientist from Corneria who was exiled to Venom after he nearly destroyed the planet.
The Star Fox team are a group of mercenaries and it consists of: Peppy Hare, a rabbit and member of the original Star Fox team; Slippy Toad, a frog and the mechanical and energetic expert of the team; and Falco Lombardi, a falcon and former gang member. Helping the Star Fox team on their quest to defeat Andross are: General Pepper, a dog and leader of a militia force in Corneria; Bill Grey, a bulldog friend of Fox and commander of the Bulldog and Husky units; Katt, a friend of Falco and former gang member of the same gang as Falco; and ROB 64 (known as NUS64 in the Japanese version), a robot piloting the Great Fox, Star Fox's headquarters, who gives them support along their quest.
Andross' henchmen includes the Star Wolf mercenary team, consisting of: Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Powalski, Pigma Dengar (part of the original Star Fox team with James McCloud) and Andrew Oikonny, Andross's nephew.
Star Fox 64 was re-released on the Nintendo 3DS as Star Fox 64 3D. It includes a local multiplayer mode, as well as the ability to capture the expression of the person playing using the 3DS' camera.