Medal Requirements

Medals are the campaign’s primary skill benchmark on Normal and Expert difficulty. Each of the 16 missions awards a medal when you reach the required hit score before the stage ends and every wingmate — Fox, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy — survives to the exit. Miss either condition and the debrief shows a blank medal slot even if your hit count looked strong on the HUD.

How Hit Scores Work

Your hit counter increases when you destroy enemies, blow up destructible scenery, and in some cases when you intercept missiles or chain combo targets. Charged laser shots and smart bombs can spike your count quickly, but reckless bombing on stages with tight survival windows can cost wingmate health. Study each mission’s enemy density in the relevant walkthrough before committing to a medal attempt.

On most stages, kills scored by AI wingmates count toward the team total displayed on your HUD. The notable exception is Zoness, where wingmate kills are excluded — you must personally tag enough targets while staying undetected for the hard-route branch.

All 16 Medal Hit Requirements

Stage	Hit Score	Notes
Corneria	150	Save Falco early for route flexibility; arches add bonus hits.
Meteo	200	Warp rings and asteroid clusters reward charged shots.
Sector Y	150	All-range mode — prioritize formations over wingmate assists.
Fichina	200	Landmaster stage; clear ground targets before pillars fall.
Katina	150	Focus Saucerer weak points and ground emplacements.
Aquas	200	Blue-Marine torpedo timing drives most hit opportunities.
Sector X	150	Hidden hatch enemies inside the base grant extra hits.
Solar	100	Lowest threshold, but heat limits how long you can engage.
Zoness	250	Highest requirement; wingmate kills do not count.
Titania	150	Landmaster again — chain kills between rescue objectives.
Macbeth	150	Train route destructibles add steady hit income.
Sector Z	100	Each Copperhead missile destroyed grants +10 hits.
Bolse	150	Destroy shield generators to expose core targets.
Area 6	200	Fleet battle — bombs clear clusters efficiently.
Venom	150	Normal ending; limited hits during the Andross fight.
Venom II	200	Star Wolf intercept plus True Andross — most demanding finale.

Wingmate Survival Rules

Wingmate survival is non-negotiable for medals. Falco can be rescued when Andross forces pin him — doing so on Corneria also opens the hard route through Sector Y. Peppy and Slippy cannot be manually saved; instead, destroy lock-on threats, break enemy formations with barrel rolls, and use shield rings when available to reduce chip damage across the squadron.

If a wingmate is shot down, they reappear at the next checkpoint with reduced effectiveness, but the medal is already lost for that attempt. Restart from the mission briefing if anyone fails to reach the exit. On co-op campaign runs, the second player controls a separate Arwing — wingmate AI rules still apply to Falco, Peppy, and Slippy on your team.

Stages with escort pressure — especially Sector Z, where Great Fox must survive missile salvos — punish passive play. Aggressive interception protects both the mothership and your wingmates from stray fire. On Fichina and Titania, prioritize enemies marching toward objective pillars or Fox’s Landmaster before farming distant targets.

Medal Hunting Tips

Route choice affects which medals you need in a single playthrough. A complete set requires multiple campaign runs across the easy, medium, and hard paths. Use the route planner to chart which stages appear on each path before grinding Expert medals.

Upgrade lasers early with silver ring pickups and hold charged shots for armored targets. Expert difficulty removes continues — pair medal attempts with the Expert Mode guide when you are ready for no-second-chance runs.

Related Guides

• Expert Mode Guide Difficulty differences and Expert medal strategy
• All Medals Guide Route planning for a full medal run
• All Stages Mission list with exit conditions