A group of talented fans have made a native PC port of Star Fox 64, which they are calling Starship. Even better? It’s technically legal. Harbour Masters, the team behind the project, used a tool that converts the original game ROM into PC executable code, so it doesn’t actually use any proprietary Nintendo code.
This is the same method used to create the native PC port of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and that one’s still available for download. Members of this crew also ported Majora’s Mask and Super Mario 64 using the same conversion tool. There is one major caveat here. You’ll need your own legally-sourced Star Fox 64 game ROM to play.
Just like previous ports, Starship features all kinds of modern bells and whistles to set itself apart from the 1997 original. The frame rate is higher and the port includes frame smoothing technology for better visuals. There are custom-made textures and the ability to run on widescreen monitors, as seen above.
There’s also another major benefit. This port is moddable, so who knows what we’ll see in the future once people get their hands on it. The team’s Ocarina of Time port has received plenty of love from the modding community. Some mods allow for abilities sourced from newer Zelda games and one even throws functioning Pikmin into the mix because, well, why not?
According to Redditors, the Star Fox 64 port is easy to get going on a Steam Deck, if that’s your bag. It requires Proton and some light hurdle-jumping, as the code isn’t Linux-based. It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a legitimate Star Fox game from Nintendo, and it was a weird one, so this could sate that neverending urge to do barrel rolls.
