Apparently not always easy to fly, but the Starfighter was an incredibly amazing design very ahead of its peers. Afaik this fighter could supercruise. It had tiny thin wings, very low drag, and clever mechanisms to cope with low speeds or higher AOA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blown_flap

Some hated them; notably one of the Luftwaffe chiefs at the time.

Disadvantage of the small low drag wings is that the aircraft cannot sustain a tight turn, as the aircraft bleeds off too much energy. So in a dogfight versus say a delta wing (low wing loading) like Mig-21 the F-104 will run out of energy.

But this is the sort of fighter that will use superiority in numbers and stand off weapons to inflict a blow on the enemy. It's not an air superiority fighter, but more of a first wave interceptor to inflict hit and run damage.