Star Fox 64's Sector Z: A Unique, If Not Good, Level

When I play Star Fox 64, I generally go to all the "hard" levels(represented by red lines pointing to them- blue is easy and yellow is medium), with one exception- namely, Sector Z. It's the hardest of the fifth levels in the game, both in terms of successfully accomplishing the objective and getting a medal, and while it is memorable in some ways, that doesn't mean that it's necessarily fun.

The Level

Sector Z is one of a few levels that takes place entirely in outer space-  in this case, in a field of space debris. Like Fortuna/Fichina, Katina and Bolse, it's a purely All Range Mode engagement, in which you can fly around freely and dogfight with enemies, as opposed to the corridor-style missions that comprise the majority of the game's levels. Some enemy fighters surround Star Fox's command ship, the Great Fox, and must be dealt with, but curiously, they never try to attack the Great Fox...

...because that's the missiles' job. About a minute into the level, a large missile is launched at the Great Fox from the left(curiously, ROB 64, your ship's robot, never says "Port"). That missile will be followed by a pair of those missiles once the first is destroyed, and once those are destroyed, a trio of missiles will follow them, with the level ending once all the missiles are destroyed. If any of the missiles hit the Great Fox, the ship will be damaged and you will fail the mission but not get a game over. Instead, your failure impacts your route.

Star Fox 64 has branching paths in each mission, and with a few exceptions(Aquas, Solar, Titania and the endgame levels), each level has a secret objective and/or a warp zone that will enable you to go to a harder level. If you fail to accomplish the objective or don't find the warp zone, you'll go to the easier one. In this case, destroying all the missiles will allow you to go to Area 6, and thus the path leading to the harder version of Venom and the good ending, whereas failing the objective results in you going to Bolse and thus, the easier version of Venom and the normal ending. As you can see, this is a critical moment.

Dealing with the missiles is no easy task, especially if you only have your single laser, and you'll have to fend off the fighters while doing so. The level, however, is truly difficult if you're going for a medal.

The Medal

Like all levels in Star Fox 64, it's possible to get a medal in Sector Z, which involves completing the mission while hitting a point target and all your wingmen still on the field(which is all the more reason to take down the fighters.) Unfortunately, it's especially difficult this time.

The point target seems easy, since it's a paltry 100 points. For context, the point targets range from 300 points(Area 6) to 50 points(Fortuna/Fichina), so Sector Z is tied with Solar for the second lowest requirement, but it's probably the hardest.

For starters, since it's a purely All-Range Mode level, it's more difficult to destroy more than one enemy ship with a charged laser. Since doing so gives you one point per enemy, plus one point per enemy destroyed after the first one(displayed as a "Hit+#" message)- hitting two enemies gives three points, hitting three gives five points, hitting four gives seven points and hitting nine(the maximum feasible number) gives nine points. Bombs can destroy enemies in a wider radius, but without the point bonus.

As such, the missiles are your only hope of reaching the point target, since there's six of them, and they give 11 points each- a 10-point bonus for each one. It's no exaggeration to say that it's nearly impossible to get a medal without destroying all six missiles, and unfortunately, if any of your wingmen get the last shot on the missile, you won't get a single point. To make matters worse, if you came from Zoness, as opposed to the warp gate in Sector X, Katt, an NPC ally who fought alongside you in Zoness, will arrive and "help" you destroy the last wave of missiles.

So there you have it. It's easy to survive the level- just let the first missile hit- but difficult to accomplish the mission and even more difficult to get the medal.

What Makes Sector Z Unique

That said, there are a few things that make Sector Z stand out.

This is one of two All-Range Mode sequences in space, the other being Sector Y's boss battle. It allows you a good deal of maneuverability, albeit while being a bit of a boring stage in terms of design.

This is the only level in which the Great Fox is shown during the level, except for the times when it can provide fire support in Area 6. If you fly into the dock at the rear of the ship, your Arwing will emerge from the front fully repaired, which is a nice feature.

The consequences for failure are also unique. If you fail the mission, the Great Fox's top left wing will be blown off, and will remain damaged for the rest of the game, up to the end credits.

Conclusion

Star Fox 64 has few truly bad levels, but Sector Z is a relatively frustrating level with a low point yield and a medal that is difficult to earn. For these reasons, I generally take the detour to Macbeth even when I successfully accomplish Zoness' objective, destroy the factory for 51 points and resume my travels through the Lylat System on the hard route, getting a more enjoyable experience and a higher score in the process.