Solar is a star from Star Fox 64. It's a medium route stage that can only be accessed by accomplishing missions on Katina and Fortuna. The surface of Solar is nothing but fire and lava and the sheer heat will constantly eat away at the player's health throughout the entire stage. Heat damage is affected by how close the Arwing flies to the surface. Flying high ensures less damage but drop too low and damage increases rapidly. Besides fighting off enemies and tidal waves of lava, keeping a full shield gauge is the other challenge. The only way to survive Solar is by shooting rocks that drop shield power-ups. Even Vulcain, the boss at the end of the stage, will launch rocks that drop much needed shield rings.
In-game, there isn't a lot of time spent justifying the fly through of Solar despite the obvious risks of skimming the surface of a star. The official Nintendo player's guide offers the explanation that Andross originally deployed bioweapons on Solar just to prove that he was so intelligent, he could create creatures hardened enough to live on a star. What started out a display of skill quickly snowballed into using Solar as a testing ground for bioweapons that could adapt to any environment in the Lylat System. Vulcain is one example and serves as a boss battle. A shorter explanation involves flying through Solar to gain a surprise attack on Macbeth because no one would expect ships to fly around a star.
Information on Solar:
Radius: 8153 skm
Gravity: 32 mG
Temperature: 3,500 degrees k
Energy Output: 6,947 ergons
Stellar Class: M
Log in to comment