Katina is one of the easiest missions to complete in Star Fox, but it’s also one of the hardest stages to earn a medal on. The problem isn’t surviving the level—it’s reaching the required hit count before defeating the boss. If you destroy the Saucerer too quickly, you’ll likely finish well short of the score needed to earn the medal.
Since collecting every medal on Normal difficulty unlocks Expert Mode, mastering Katina is an important step toward completing the game.
Katina Medal Requirement
To earn the medal on Katina, you must finish the mission with at least 150 hits.
While the opening battle provides a steady stream of enemies, the majority of your score should come during the boss encounter. Defeating the Saucerer as soon as it appears usually ends the mission before you’ve had enough opportunities to build your hit count.
Score Hits During the Opening Battle
The mission begins with Fox McCloud and the Star Fox team arriving at the Cornerian base on Katina to assist Bill Grey and the local defense forces.
During this section:
- Destroy as many enemy fighters as possible.
- Use charged laser shots and lock-on attacks whenever you can.
- Keep an eye on the radar to locate nearby enemies.
Friendly ships may cross your line of fire, but accidentally hitting allies won’t prevent you from earning the medal. Your primary objective is simply to eliminate as many enemy fighters as possible before the Saucerer arrives.
Don’t Rush the Saucerer Fight
The Saucerer is where most of your score will come from.
Its underside contains four hatches that continuously launch enemy fighters. Destroying all four hatches exposes the boss’s core, allowing you to end the fight almost immediately.
While this is the fastest way to clear the stage, it’s also the main reason players miss the medal.
The Best Strategy for 150 Hits
Instead of destroying every hatch right away, leave one hatch intact.
This allows enemy fighters to continue spawning, giving you a constant supply of targets while keeping the battle manageable. Eliminating the other three hatches reduces the number of active enemies without stopping reinforcements completely.
Continue farming the newly spawned fighters until your hit counter reaches around 145.
Once you’re close to the requirement:
- Destroy the final hatch.
- Expose the Saucerer’s core.
- Defeat the boss.
The remaining objectives provide enough additional hits to push your final score beyond the 150-hit requirement.
Patience Is the Key
Unlike many Star Fox missions that reward speed, Katina requires players to slow down and make the most of the boss fight. Keeping one of the Saucerer’s hatches alive lets you farm enemy reinforcements until you’ve secured enough hits for the medal.
Once you’ve reached the target score, finish off the boss to complete the mission, earn the Katina medal, and move one step closer to unlocking Expert Mode.
