A group of talented fans have created a native PC port of Star Fox 64 and are calling it Starship. Even better? Technically it’s legal. Harbor Masters, the team behind the project, uses tools to convert original game ROMs into PC executable code, so no Nintendo proprietary code is actually used.
This is the same method used to create the native PC port of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is still available for download today. This staff member also ported Majora’s Mask and Super Mario 64 using the same conversion tools. There is one big caveat here. To play you will need your own legally obtained Star Fox 64 game ROM.
Like previous ports, Starship has all sorts of modern bells and whistles that set it apart from the 1997 original. Frame rates are improved and the port includes frame smoothing technology for better visuals. As mentioned above, it has custom-made textures and the ability to run on widescreen monitors.
There is another big advantage. This port is moddable, so if people get their hands on it, who knows what will happen in the future. The team’s Ocarina of Time port has received a lot of love from the modding community. Some mods allow you to use abilities from new Zelda games, and some even add functioning Pikmin to the mix.
According to the Redditor, getting started with the Star Fox 64 port is easy if you have it in your Steam deck. The code is not Linux-based, so requires Proton and some light hurdle jumping. It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a proper Star Fox game from Nintendo, and it’s been weird. So this could satisfy my never-ending urge to do barrel rolls.
