| Star Fox | |
|---|---|
 Logo since 2005 | |
| Genres | |
| Developers |
|
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Creator | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Platforms | |
| First release | Star Fox 21 February 1993 |
| Latest release | Star Fox 2 29 September 2017 |
Star Fox is arail shooter,space flight simulator, andthird person action-adventure video game series created byShigeru Miyamoto and developed and published byNintendo. The games follow the Star Fox combat team ofanthropomorphic animals, led by chief protagonistFox McCloud. Gameplay involves missions around the Lylatplanetary system in the futuristic Arwing fighter spacecraft, in other vehicles, and on foot. The originalStar Fox (1993) is a forward-scrolling 3Drail shooter, but later games add moredirectional freedom.
The first game in the series, developed byNintendo EAD and programmed byArgonaut Software, uses theSuper FX Chip to create the firsthardware-accelerated3D gaming experience on a homeconsole. The Super FX Chip is amath co-processor built into the cartridge to help the Super NES render graphics. Super FX was used in other Super NES games, some with increased processing speed. Its reboot,Star Fox 64, is the first Nintendo console game withforce feedback support.
Due to perceived issues with the German company StarVox,[1]Star Fox andStar Fox 64 were released inPAL region territories asStarwing andLylat Wars respectively. However, as ofStar Fox Adventures, Nintendo uses the same name globally.
| 1993 | Star Fox |
|---|---|
| 1994–1996 | |
| 1997 | Star Fox 64 |
| 1998–2001 | |
| 2002 | Star Fox Adventures |
| 2003–2004 | |
| 2005 | Star Fox: Assault |
| 2006 | Star Fox Command |
| 2007–2010 | |
| 2011 | Star Fox 64 3D |
| 2012–2015 | |
| 2016 | Star Fox Zero |
| Star Fox Guard | |
| 2017 | Star Fox 2 |
The first game,Star Fox, orStarwing in Europe and Australia, was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. Developed byNintendo EAD and programmed byArgonaut Software, it uses theSuper FX chip to provide 3D graphics during a period of predominately 2D games.Fox McCloud and his team,Slippy Toad,Peppy Hare, andFalco Lombardi, take onAndross, who threatens to overthrow the Lylat system. The concept was inspired by a shrine to the Japanese fox deityInari Ōkami, whichShigeru Miyamoto visited regularly. The shrine's accessibility througha series of arches, influenced the gameplay.[2] Several boss battles from the game are included as mini-games in theWii gameWarioWare: Smooth Moves, using theWii Remote to fly the ship.
Star Fox 64, orLylat Wars in Europe and Australia, introduced fully spoken dialogue, off-the-rails movement, new vehicles and characters, multiplayer, and rudimentary on-foot gameplay through an unlockable multiplayer mode. It was released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64 and came bundled with theRumble Pak, a force feedback controller attachment.[3]Star Fox 64 retells the main story of the originalStar Foxcanon,[4] with new characters and gameplay elements. New multiplayer modes include free-for-all, battle royale, and a time trial.
The overall plot is expanded with relatively small core changes. This game is famous for quotes that have become Internet memes: "Do a barrel roll!"[5] and "Use bombs wisely" by Peppy Hare and "Can't let you do that, Star Fox!" byWolf O'Donnell.[citation needed]
Star Fox 64 3D is a remake ofStar Fox 64 for theNintendo 3DS, released in 2011, as the secondStar Fox game on a handheld console. The game was announced in a conceptual trailer for the Nintendo 3DS atE3 2010.
With a few exceptions, the gameplay inStar Fox 64 3D is very similar to that of the original version. The player controls Fox's Arwing fighter using the circle pad to steer, the shoulder buttons to bank left and right, and the four right-hand buttons to fire lasers and bombs, boost and brake. The D-Pad allows the player to perform somersaults and u-turns, which can also be performed with combinations of other controls, and to zoom in and out from the Arwing in "All-Range Mode". The player can enable "Gyro Controls", using the 3DS's internal gyroscope sensor to control the Arwing. Character dialogue, messages and control information are displayed on the touch screen.
A new multiplayer "Battle Mode" allows up to 4-player LAN multiplayer (via Download Play), or to battle against CPU opponents. During battles, each player's face appears on opponents' screens in a live reaction feed from the console's internal camera.
Star Fox Adventures was released in 2002 for theGameCube. Developed byRare, it is predominately anaction-adventure game in which Fox is armed with a mystical staff. Traditional space shooting is limited to small segments between chapters. Its roots can be traced toDinosaur Planet, a game Rare was developing late in the life cycle of the Nintendo 64, but cancelled by Nintendo and converted into aStar Fox game. It introduced new characters, includingPrince Tricky andKrystal. Taking place eight years after the events ofStar Fox 64, the main antagonist is an army of dinosaurs called the Sharp Claws, led byGeneral Scales. Fox and Krystal fall in love soon before the final boss fight when Fox saves her life. Krystal then becomes the Star Fox team's newest member. The gameplay ofAdventures resembles that seen in most 3DThe Legend of Zelda games.
Developed byNamco,Star Fox: Assault was released in 2005 for the GameCube. The emphasis returned to Arwing-based gameplay, but also had portions of on-foot missions.Assault takes place one year afterAdventures, with the Aparoids becoming a new threat to the Lylat system. The Star Fox team is tasked with stopping them. Along with ROB, Peppy now pilots the Great Fox, while Krystal replaces Peppy's role as one of the team's pilots.
Star Fox Command was developed byQ-Games for theNintendo DS, and was released in 2006. It is the firstStar Fox game for ahandheld console and the first to offeronline multiplayer. Like the originalStar Fox, gameplay is completely aircraft-based, and uses chatter much like the SNES game instead of the voice acting of later installments.Command utilizes a new system of gameplay, incorporating strategy and abandoning its "fly-by-rail" roots. Players plot flight paths and engage enemies in an open arena-style flying mode using theNintendo DS's touch screen. Each character has a unique ship with different abilities. For example, Slippy's ship has no lock-on feature and shorter boosts, but has stronger lasers and shielding; Fox McCloud pilots the redesigned Arwing II.Command takes place two to three years after the events ofStar Fox: Assault and features possible nine endings, determined by the player's story progression choices.
Star Fox Zero was developed by Nintendo andPlatinumGames for theWii U and released in April 2016. The firstStar Fox game on ahome game console in over 10 years, the game is controlled using theWii U GamePad's gyroscope feature.Star Fox Zero also came packaged with a retail version ofStar Fox Guard, a tower defense spin-off game.
Star Fox 2 was originally cancelled even though it was completely finished. Many of its new ideas were implemented for the then-forthcomingStar Fox 64, such as the rival team Star Wolf, all-range mode, charge shot, and amultiplayer mode (thoughStar Fox 2's multiplayer mode was no longer featured in the final beta). Other elements such as choosing characters, map pointing, and multiple ship variations were later implemented inStar Fox Command. A beta version of the Landmaster tank (the Walker) also makes an appearance as an Arwing with leglike attachments. A patch for the final beta was released by a third-party team of hackers to make the game complete, removing the debug mode menus, making an English translation, and removing subroutines for a buggy third vehicle not used in the game.
The game was officially released as part of theSuper NES Classic Edition,[6] and was later added to the SNESNintendo Classics service forNintendo Switch Online subscribers.[7]
This game was atech demo of what would have been aStar Fox game had theVirtual Boy adopted the series. The closest game to it isRed Alarm. Cinematic camera angles were a key element, as they are inStar Fox 2. At bothE3 1995 and at the WinterConsumer Electronics Show 1995, the demo showed an Arwing doing various spins and motions.[8] One observer called it "an intriguing technical demo featuring aStar Fox-like spacecraft doing a lot of spinning and zooming in 3D. It is made of filled polygons and looks much better than the unfilledRed Alarm vehicles".[9] Attendees to these two events were given3D glasses to watch the demos and tech videos that were played on screens at the show floors, and from these videos.
Originally planned as a companion game forStar Fox: Assault, an arcade game was abandoned and never released. It was scheduled for release in 2004–2005, but was cancelled for unknown reasons.[10]
Shortly after the release of the firstStar Fox game, in June 1993,[11] Nintendo teamed up withKellogg's andNelsonic to develop and release a promotionalLCD-basedStar Fox Game Watch coupon in boxes ofCorn Flakes. It has four levels and the object is to fly toward the Attack Carrier and destroy it while dodging plasma balls and falling structures. It includes a pair ofearphones and a headphone jack for listening to the game without disturbing anyone nearby due to the game watch missing a volume control.[12] Nelsonic later released it in stores in a different watch appearance.[13]
Star Fox Guard was first shown atE3 2014 under the name ofProject Guard, and was announced under a final name in a March 2016Nintendo Direct.Guard was released for theWii U in April 2016, coinciding with the release ofStar Fox Zero. Developed byNintendo andPlatinumGames,Guard is atower defense game where the objective is to switch between different views on security cameras and protect the player's base by shooting enemy robots. A physical version of the game came bundled alongside the physical version ofStar Fox Zero, and is also available separately as a digital download on the Wii U eShop.
Shadows of Lylat is afan game which has been in development since 2003. It uses theFreeSpace Open engine.[14][15] A co-op and online multiplayer modes are planned to be included.[16]
Star Fox: Event Horizon has been in development since 2014. It also uses the FreeSpace Open engine.[17] The latest playable version was released in September 2022.[18]
VariousStar Fox characters and stage themes have appeared in theSuper Smash Bros. franchise of fighting games.Fox McCloud has appeared in every series entry as a playable character, whileFalco Lombardi has been unlockable in all games fromSuper Smash Bros. Melee onward.Wolf O'Donnell appears as an unlockable fighter inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.
InWarioWare: Smooth Moves forWii, there is aStar Fox minigame in the style of theSNES title with three stages. Using theWii Remote, the player pilots the Arwing through Corneria, Sector X, and Titania. At the end of each level, the player fightsR.O.B. (not ROB 64 from theStar Fox series, but rather the R.O.B. attachment for the NES), who is armed with a largeNES Zapper. InWarioWare Gold forNintendo 3DS, another SNES-styled Star Fox microgame appears, this time challenging players to not crash into anything when their ship is on the verge of being destroyed.
Fox, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy, along with the Arwing Walker fromStar Fox Zero, appear as Mystery Mushroom costumes inSuper Mario Maker.
The Nintendo Switch version ofUbisoft's action-adventure gameStarlink: Battle for Atlas features exclusive missions featuringStar Fox characters and ships. As part of the game'stoys-to-life features, the Nintendo Switch starter pack includes figures of Fox McCloud and his Arwing that can be used in-game.[19]
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A monthlyStar Fox comic strip, illustrated by Benimaru Itoh, was printed in issues 45 to 55 ofNintendo Power in 1993. It is an adaptation of the events of the originalStar Fox, with some exclusive characters not seen in any of the games to date. One such character is Fara Phoenix, a vixen who becomes the fifth member of Star Fox after they saved her from Venomian forces, who forms a close relationship with Fox. The story follows the Star Fox team as they went from outlaws on Papetoon, to an elite Arwing fighter squadron. Fox, Falco, and Andross were the only 3 characters whose backgrounds were fully explained in the story. A sequel set after the events of the game was produced inNintendo Power by the same team which continued the story, featuring Andross's DNA being split between two clones. The clones then begin an invasion of the Lylat system, laying waste to everything in their path. The Star Fox team springs back into action, while Fara— dressed in clothing once worn by Fox's deceased mother, as the team had been enjoying some down time when the invasion begins— manages to provide an accidental, yet significant, distraction to one of the Andross clones when he spots her on a monitor due to a revelation that the original Andross was in love with Fox's mother and accidentally murdered her with a bomb intended for Fox's father, which the clone says over a loudspeaker, as the clone believes he is speaking to the deceased vixen, rather than Fara. Enraged by this new knowledge, Fox battles his way through the forces of Andross's clones, one of whom slays the other as he considers the feelings of the one who believes Fara to be Fox's mother is a weakness that is unneeded, and destroys the survivor. The story ends with the Lylat system celebrating the ultimate defeat of Andross as what remains of his forces flee from the forces of Corneria and the surviving fighters of the other worlds in the system.[20]
The officialClub Nintendo magazine in Germany released aStar Fox 64 comic drawn manga-style to retell the game's storyline. The comic shows some scenes that were not present in the game—for instance, Wolf kicking Andrew and Pigma out of Star Wolf because they acted against his orders (and thus saving Star Fox from the plot of the two). The comic ends with a robotic Andross being defeated.
A one-issueStar Fox comic by Kazumi Sakamoto (坂本かずみ) was printed in theComic Bonbon 1993 Spring Vacation Jumbo Edition (春休みジャンボ増刊号), published in April of that month.[21]
A one-issueStar Fox comic byTakao Aoki [ja] was printed in the 1993 Spring Break Edition (増刊号 93年春休み増刊) ofCorocoro Comic.[22]
AStar Fox 64 comic by Takahiro Yamashita is within the April and June 1997 issues ofBessatsu Corocoro Comic.[23]
Star Fox: Farewell, Beloved Falco is a Japanese manga created by Nintendo, and part of the mainStar Fox series. The manga was released on the officialStar Fox Adventures Japanese website, serves to bridge the events ofStar Fox 64 andStar Fox Adventures, explaining Falco's absence from the team in the latter game.
In the series,Captain Shears runs a base on the sand-dune planet Titania, but unbeknownst to Star Fox, Shears is actually taking part in an experiment to resurrect Andross. In the beginning, Katt Monroe returns fromStar Fox 64 along with a rag-tag team of roughnecks with apparently an inside lead on the fact that Shears is evil. Fox remains unconvinced, which ends up in a sparring match between him and Falco, thus adding more emphasis into Falco's intentions of leaving Star Fox. Eventually, it is revealed to Star Fox that Shears is indeed evil, and Fox storms in to stop the resurrection plan once and for all. The manga ends with the Star Fox team learning of Dinosaur Planet's broken state and choosing to investigate, as in the opening sequence ofAdventures.
A 14-minute web video ofStar Fox Zero produced byShigeru Miyamoto,Production IG andWit Studio, features the Star Fox team in an anime-styled battle of the first level inStar Fox Zero: Corneria.[24] The short was later released via the Wii UeShop as part of theStar Fox Zero: The Battle Begins + Training demo.[25]
In an interview withThe Serf Times, comedian and television host,Adam Conover revealed that back in February 2015, him and other members ofCollegeHumor were working along with Shigeru Miyamoto to produce aclay-animated show of the series. However, the project was cancelled a month later by Nintendo after plans for a series based onThe Legend of Zelda were leaked byNetflix.[26][27][28]
TheArwing is the principal craft of the Star Fox team, and has appeared in allStar Fox games to date.
The Arwing has had considerable changes, though all versions of it retain a basic shape: a central fuselage, two crested streamlined pods attached at the sides, known as Gravity Diffusers, or G Diffusers, and wings mounted on the side pods. FromStar Fox 64 onwards, the two side pods are a distinctive blue color.
The Arwings make an appearance in theSuper Smash Bros. series. In this series, Arwings are used by Fox and Falco as their on-screen introduction,[29] in addition to being used as a stage obstacle on Fox's Level, Sector Z. The Arwings on this stage would occasionally fly through and shoot lasers at the players. While Sector Z did not return in future titles, the stage Corneria is very similar to it and also features Arwings. In the Venom, Lylat Cruise, and Orbital Gate Assault stages they are seen flying in the background.[30][31] Additionally Arwings are featured as collectible trophies in certainSmash Bros. games. The Arwing is also an easter egg inThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time but can only be accessed by aGameShark code. It appears in Kokiri forest as an enemy who can be defeated by Link with either a boomerang, fairy bow, or fairy slingshot. Once defeated, they fall to the ground, explode and its blast may inadvertently kill Link. The Arwing also appears as a piece of furniture inAnimal Crossing: Wild World andAnimal Crossing: City Folk. When touched by the game character, the Arwing will briefly play theStar Fox theme music. It also appears over a box inSuper Mario RPG, Hinopio's Market, but it's just a decor. InBayonetta 2, miniature Arwings replace Bayonetta's guns when she is wearing the game's unlockable Star Fox costume. In addition, the plane in the final level is also replaced with an Arwing.[citation needed]
Miyamoto explains that the craft is called Arwing "because it was like one big wing shaped like an A".[32]
TheLandmaster M1 tank first appeared inStar Fox 64 (1997,Nintendo 64) as a tracked light tank in two of the game's missions and one of the game's multiplayer maps. It appears inStar Fox: Assault (2005,GameCube), though with some changes, including the substitution of tank treads with tires. The Landmaster tank appears inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl (2008,Wii) as the Final Smash for Fox, Falco, and Wolf. InSmash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014,Nintendo 3DS,Wii U) it is the Final Smash for Fox and Falco.
TheWolfen is piloted by Wolf O'Donnell. This ship would have first appeared inStar Fox 2, but was instead first seen inStar Fox 64 on the planet Fichina (mistranslated as Fortuna inStar Fox 64, fixed in64 3D) – or alternatively – Bolse. Additionally, taking the hard path to Venom enables the player to battle the Wolfen II, which outperforms the Arwing. InStar Fox: Assault, Team Star Wolf piloted the original versions of the Wolfen against the Star Fox team, and they are playable in the game's multiplayer mode. The Wolfen has appeared throughout theSuper Smash Bros. series.
| Game | GameRankings | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Star Fox | 88%[33] | – |
| Star Fox 64 | 88/100[34] | 89%[35] |
| Star Fox Adventures | 82/100[36] | 80%[37] |
| Star Fox: Assault | 67/100[38] | 71%[39] |
| Star Fox Command | 76/100[40] | 76%[41] |
| Star Fox 64 3D | 81/100[42] | 82%[43] |
| Star Fox Zero | 69/100[44] | 69%[45] |
TheStar Fox series has had mostly positive reviews, the most acclaimed beingStar Fox 64, withStar Fox Zero receiving the most mixed reviews.Star Fox took the No. 115 spot onEGM's "The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time", and 82nd best game made on a Nintendo System inNintendo Power's Top 200 Games list.[46][47] It also received a 34 out of 40 fromFamitsu magazine, and a 4.125 out of 5 fromNintendo Power Magazine.[39]Next Gen Magazine pointed outStar Fox as helping pioneer the use of 3-D video game graphics.[48] The game has been used as an example of how, even with a fully polygon design, the game was still very similar to older games in that there was a set path to travel through each level.[49]
AsStar Fox Adventures took a different approach to the franchise, many fans complained it was too much like a role-playing adventure game, such asThe Legend of Zelda. Regardless, it was critically praised.[36] In anIGN poll for voting from a list of ten Nintendo characters for favorite Nintendo character of all time, Fox came in fourth, behindLink,Mario, andSamus respectively.[50]
In October 2009, Shigeru Miyamoto said that he was disappointed that sales of theStar Fox series in Japan had decreased during the preceding period.[51]
Because of the popularity of the series,Google introduced an Easter egg. Typing "do a barrel roll" or "Z or R twice" into the search bar, the screen rotates 360°.[52]
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