Star Fox 2

Star Fox 2

Promotional artwork for the 2017 release in the style of Super Famicom box art[1]
Developer(s) Nintendo
Argonaut Games[2]
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Director(s) Katsuya Eguchi
Producer(s) Shigeru Miyamoto
Programmer(s) Dylan Cuthbert
Composer(s) Kozue Ishikawa
Yumiko Kanki
Series Star Fox
Platform(s) Super NES
Release

Super NES Classic

  • NA/EU: September 29, 2017
  • AU: September 30, 2017
  • JP: October 5, 2017
Genre(s) Rail shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Star Fox 2[lower-alpha 1] is a video game developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Nintendo and Argonaut Games. Cancelled shortly before its planned release in 1995, it was to be the second in the Star Fox series and the sequel to Star Fox (1993). The game will receive its first official release as part of the Super NES Classic Edition microconsole in September 2017.[3][4]

Star Fox 2 continues the Star Fox team's battle against Emperor Andross, who seeks to conquer the Lylat system. The game introduces semi-real time gameplay, featuring new ship types and two new Star Fox team members. It also features a more advanced 3D game engine due to an improved version of the Super FX GSU-2 chip.[2]

Although Star Fox 2 was complete, Nintendo cancelled the original release due to the impending release of the Nintendo 64, the desire to use the most advanced system available for a new Star Fox game,[5] and competition changing expectations of 3D games.[6] Various Japanese prototype ROM images have been leaked online. In 2015, original programmer Dylan Cuthbert announced he possessed a fully mastered ROM image, but could not release it for legal reasons.[6] While originally no official English version of the ROM image existed, a fan translation patch was released.

Gameplay

A screenshot showing the main gameplay area, a map representing the Lylat system.

Instead of following mostly linear paths inside predefined missions as in Star Fox 1, the player moves a team of two ships freely around a map screen that represents the Lylat system.[7] When the player's ships make contact with enemy forces, the game switches to an action perspective, piloting the Arwing ship directly with controls and game play similar to the first Star Fox. When the player clears the specified objectives, he or she is taken back to the map screen to select a new destination.[8]

The objective is to beat all enemy forces present in the map while defending planet Corneria, preventing its damage level from reaching 100%. The player must intercept fighters and incoming IPBMs (interplanetary ballistic missiles), while also dealing with battleships, which deploy more fighter squadrons, and planetary bases, which fire IPBMs. If Corneria's damage level reaches 100% or the player runs out of extra ships, the game will end. General Pepper employs a satellite that can shoot down enemies on a limited basis; the player must also defend this installation from special enemies that can take over the satellite, and use its cannon to fire at Corneria. The player also encounters the Star Wolf mercenary team and various bosses.

Star Fox 2 employs a semi-real-time game system. While selecting a destination on the map screen, the game is paused, but while the player's ships travel to their destinations, enemies and missiles also move toward theirs. While fighting enemies in the action screen, time counts forward at a slower pace than on the map screen, allowing other enemies and missiles to advance and cause damage. To prevent excessive damage to Corneria, the player may occasionally need to leave a battle to intercept another enemy.

In addition to the main game, Star Fox 2 includes a two-player split screen "duel" mode.[9]

Plot

A screenshot from an earlier build showing the character Leon from Star Wolf, transmitting a message after being defeated in a space battle.

After his defeat in the original Star Fox, the game's antagonist, Andross, returns to the Lylat system and launches an all-out attack against Corneria, using his new fleet of battleships and giant missiles launched from hidden bases to destroy the planet. General Pepper again calls upon the Star Fox team for help. Armed with new custom Arwings, a Mothership, and two new recruits (Miyu, a lynx, and Fay, a dog), the Star Fox team sets out to defend Corneria by destroying Andross's forces before they can inflict critical damage on the planet. Along the way, Star Fox must also combat giant boss enemies, bases on planets throughout the Lylat system, members of the Star Wolf team and finally Andross himself.

Characters

Star Fox 2 features six playable characters, the highest number of any game in the series until Star Fox Command. Primary characters include Fox McCloud, a fox who wears a green suit and leads the Star Fox team; Falco Lombardi, the cocky expert pilot with a green suit and a sometimes contentious relationship with Fox; Peppy Hare, a rabbit in a red suit and a mentor to Fox and the wisest member of the team; Slippy Toad, a frog in a blue suit and the team technician and childhood friend of Fox; Fay, a white dog with a blue suit like Slippy and a pink hair bow who is a new member of the team; and Miyu, a tomboyish lynx in a red suit like Peppy who is also a new addition to the team.

Development and cancellation

Star Fox 2 was extensively covered by game magazines at the time, with screenshots provided by Nintendo.[10] A playable version was exhibited at the 1995 Winter Consumer Electronics Show.[11] Early in development, Fara Phoenix from the Star Fox comic (called "Lady" in the alpha) and the Andross look-alike "Saru" (Japanese for "monkey") were in place of Miyu and Fay. Fay replaced a female sheep character.[12]

According to lead programmer Dylan Cuthbert, after Star Fox 2 was completed, Nintendo canceled its release due to the imminent release of the Nintendo 64; producer Shigeru Miyamoto wanted a "clean break" between 3D games on the consoles.[5] Nintendo also wanted to avoid comparisons with 3D games on the more powerful PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles.[13]

Release

Prototype leaks

A ROM image was leaked of an early alpha version of the game,[14] which came from a source code archive dating to when the game was in early development.[15] This version features a rudimentary multiplayer mode. Another ROM, compiled from the latest known source code before the project was cancelled, can also be found—this version is nearly complete and contains minor bugs, debug code, and unfinished features, however, it lacks the multiplayer mode found in the alpha version. These ROMs can be played using a SNES emulator and can be run on real hardware if burned to a cartridge with a Super FX chip. Additionally, a fan-made patch can be added to the near-final ROM, which fixes most of the bugs, removes the debug code and the unfinished features, and translates the game's dialog into English, although a version of this patch also exists without the language translation.[16]

Super NES Classic Edition release

In an interview with Nintendo Life in 2015, Cuthbert stated that he acquired a copy of the game's final ROM image during the development of the 2006 Nintendo DS game Star Fox Command, reviewed and debugged by Mario Club, Nintendo's quality control team. The image sustains many elements missing from the leaked prototype ROM images. He was legally unable to release it.[6]

Asked whether the game would be released on the Wii's Virtual Console or the Nintendo DS, Star Fox designer Takaya Imamura said "probably not."[17] In a 2015 interview, Cuthbert stated that releasing the game on the newer Nintendo eShop was unlikely due to legal disputes between Nintendo and Argonaut Games.[6] In a 2017 interview, a Nintendo spokesperson stated that the game had not been released on Virtual Console due to the difficulty in emulating the Super FX chip, but that they were able to solve this problem for the Super NES Classic Edition.[18]

On June 26, 2017, 22 years after its intended release, Nintendo of America announced that Star Fox 2 would finally receive an official release as one of the games included in the Super NES Classic Edition microconsole, scheduled for release on September 29, 2017.[3][4] It can be unlocked by beating the first level of Star Fox, also included on the system.[19] Cuthbert was not involved in the release.[20]

Legacy

According to Cuthbert, some programming elements made for the game, such as the camera programs, were reused for the development of Super Mario 64.[21] Miyamoto estimated that 30% of Star Fox 64 came from Star Fox 2, citing ideas such as the all-range mode, multiplayer mode, and Star Wolf scenarios.[22] Several concepts were reused in Star Fox Command, including the map screen and multiple playable characters with their own fighters and statistics.[17] Some of its other gameplay mechanics, such as the walker mode for the Arwings, are used in Star Fox Zero (2016).

Notes

  1. ↑ In Japanese: Sutā Fokkusu Tsū (スターフォックス2)

References

  1. ↑ Life, Nintendo (June 27, 2017). "1995 Called, It Wants Its Official Star Fox 2 Box Art Back". Nintendo Life. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Jarratt, Steve. ed. News: Starfox II In Progress. Edge magazine. Issue 3. Pg.8. December 1993.
  3. 1 2 Wales, Matt (June 26, 2017). "Nintendo Announces SNES Mini, and it'll Include Star Fox 2". Kotaku UK. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Farnham, Donovan (June 26, 2017). "Star Fox 2 is alive, will be released on the SNES Classic". CNET. Archived from the original on June 26, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  5. 1 2 G., Evan (January 1, 2006). "Starfox2". Archived from the original on December 6, 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-27.
  6. 1 2 3 4 McFerran, Damien (December 24, 2015). "Feature: The Full Story Behind Star Fox 2, Nintendo's Most Famous Cancellation". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 25, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  7. ↑ IGN Editorial Team (April 11, 2006). "Top 10 Tuesday: Modern Vaporware". IGN. Archived from the original on September 13, 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  8. ↑ TOTAL! Magazine (March 1995). "TOTAL! magazine Star Fox 2 preview scans". Archived from the original on January 11, 2009. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  9. ↑ "StarFox [sic] 2". GamePro. IDG (68): 140. March 1995.
  10. ↑ "Neue (alte) Screenshots von Star Fox 2". Die Spiele. January 1, 2006. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2006-09-27.
  11. ↑ "WCES: The Calm Before the Storm". Next Generation. Imagine Media (3): 15. March 1995.
  12. ↑ Pak Watch; Nintendo Power, February 1994-volume 69 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2010-08-11
  13. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (3 May 2011). "The Kid Who Trained with the Masters of Nintendo During a Gaming Golden Age". Kotaku. Gizmodo. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  14. ↑ "Star Fox 2 Beta Analysis". Unseen64. May 2, 2008. Archived from the original on April 13, 2010.
  15. ↑ Gowan, Evan (24 March 2010). "Star Fox 2". Snes Central. Archived from the original on February 21, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Project "Star Fox 2"". Aeon Genesis. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  17. 1 2 Harris, Craig (September 6, 2006). "Star Fox Command Interview". IGN DS. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 19, 2007. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
  18. ↑ "“ニンテンドークラシックミニ　スーパーファミコン”収録作の選定理由は？ 出荷台数はどうなる？ 任天堂の回答を公開 - ファミ通.com". ファミ通.com (in Japanese). 28 June 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  19. ↑ Frank, Allegra (June 26, 2017). "SNES Classic coming this September, with a never-before-released game". Polygon. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  20. ↑ Dring, Christopher. "Dylan Cuthbert: "Star Fox 2 release is a big awesome surprise"". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  21. ↑ Laut, Cornelson (November 23, 2007). "Points 02 'Super FX Documentary'". GameVideos. 1UP.com. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  22. ↑ Nintendo Power Editors (January 1, 1997). "Interview with Miyamoto". Nintendo Power. Retrieved 2006-09-27.
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