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Star Fox 2
| ← Star Fox Guard | Release dates | Last of the series |
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Star Fox 2 is a video game that was originally planned for release on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as a sequel to Star Fox. Like the previous game, Argonaut Software and Nintendo both developed the game, and was planned to utilize the improved Super FX 2 chip. The game was ultimately cancelled in 1996 by Shigeru Miyamoto due to the impending release of the Nintendo 64 and the desire to use the most advanced system available for a new Star Fox game. About 21 years later, in 2017, the game was officially released on the Super NES Classic Edition, as an unlockable title from the player finishing the first level of Star Fox. As of December 12, 2019, the game is available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
Plot
The basic plot in Star Fox 2 featured the Star Fox Team facing off against a resurrected Andross, using his army to attack and destroy planet Corneria entirely.
Some time after his defeat, and supposed destruction by the hands of the Star Fox team; Andross had somehow managed to survive, and built up a a large space station, Astropolis, orbiting the major star of the system. Utilizing Cannon Betrayers, hunter drones, IPBMs, the malevolent ape had launched a full-scale attack on Corneria, capturing numerous within the system to support his forces, and even hiring the Star Wolf team to protect key bases.
General Pepper once again contracts the Star Fox team to help protect Corneria, and repel Andross' invasion force. He aids the team by supplying two new recruits: Miyu, a tomboyish lynx, and Fay, a white spaniel. He also has the Cornerian forces deploy an automated defense turret to provide a limited degree of protection. The battle was long and hard, the Star Fox team eventually gets the upper hand and pushes back Andross' forces despite the superior forces. Finally, the entire team makes their way to Andross' base of operations, Astropolis, where an ambush was sprung, forcing the entire team to deploy as a distraction as one lone member infiltrates the base to confront the resurrected emperor. In the end, Andross' plans were foiled and his base crashed into the firey depths of Lylat, destroying him once and for all.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Star Fox 2 is very different from the original Star Fox. Instead of following linear paths inside predefined missions, the player moves a team of two ships representing the player character and a wing man freely around a map of the Lylat system. When the player's ships make contact with enemy forces, the game will go into an action perspective, piloting the Arwing directly with controls and gameplay similar to the first Star Fox, except with all-range mode and a reticle for laser shots. When the player clears the specified objectives in that encounter, the game will go back into the main map screen, where the player can select a new destination for their craft.
The objective of the game is to destroy all enemy forces present in the map while defending planet Corneria (located in the lower left corner of the map), preventing its damage level from reaching 100% due to enemy attacks. To assist Corneria, the player will have to intercept fighters and incoming planetary missiles while also dealing with the sources of these attacks: Battle Carriers, which will deploy more fighter squadrons, and enemy bases, which will fire more missiles towards Corneria. To protect Corneria, General Pepper employs an immobile defense system called the Satellite Defense Platform that can shoot down enemies on a limited basis — the player must also defend this installation from special enemy ships called viruses that can take over the satellite, and use its cannon to fire at Corneria.
If the player's ship makes contact with an occupied planet on the map screen, they will be transported into another action sequence located on the planet's surface. There they will have to open the enemy's base entrance through different means depending on the level (by pressing a switch, defeating a boss, etc.). The option to quickly transform the Arwing into a Walker is suitable for ground navigation. Once the player has been able to gain access to the base interior, they will have to go through a complex and destroy the base's generator at the end. The planet will be then liberated and no more missiles will be fired from it. Starfighters from Star Wolf are defending some captured planets, which can only be liberated by fighting Star Wolf. They eventually go after the player's Arwings when some time has passed. In parts of the game, bosses are also dispatched to chase the player's ships.
The game runs in semi-real time: when the player takes an action, time starts counting and enemies will perform actions as well. This occurs whether the player is moving around on the map screen or has engaged an enemy in battle, making it possible for enemies to damage Corneria or new enemies to launch during that time. This forces the player to think tactically and defeat their enemies as quick and efficiently as possible. At times the player may even have to leave a battle to take on other enemies that are getting too close to the planet. In this way, Star Fox 2 bears considerable similarity to many real-time strategy games.
Once all enemy forces on the map are cleared, the player's ships travel to Andross' base, located on the top right corner of the map, to face one last level and fight Andross himself at the end. When Andross is defeated, the game is completed, and the player's performance is scored and ranked in a debriefing screen.
Difficulty levels have a great impact on the game, changing the layout of all levels and presenting stronger and more numerous enemy forces on each successive difficulty level. Each difficulty level also contains collectible Mysterious Medals, which are hidden in the levels.
Characters
- General Pepper
- Fox McCloud
- Falco Lombardi
- Slippy Toad
- Peppy Hare
- Miyu
- Fay
- Andross
- Wolf O'Donnell
- Pigma Dengar
- Leon Powalski
- Algy
Locations
Planets
Artificial
Enemies
- Night Fang
Bosses
Items
- Laser Upgrade:
- Nova Bomb:
- Mysterious Medals: These replenish all shields.
- Recovery Capsule: These items recover one shield point, and are dropped by most enemies.
- Repair Items: These items summon two probes that surround the player and replenish their shield entirely.
- Shield Barriers: They grant the player invincibility for 15 seconds. Similar to the barrel roll, this makes energy projectiles ricochet off the ship.
Development
Star Fox 2 is often held as a great legacy in the overall history of video games, being one of the most anticipated and well-received games during its development time, before Nintendo pulled the plug on the game almost literally in the last minute, as Nintendo were even marketing the game at the time. Its legacy even grew greater when many years later after its cancellation the near-completed form of the game was illegitimately released as a ROM file, and distributed via the internet.
The first Star Fox was developed with British game developer Argonaut Games, which also worked on Star Fox 2. Many of the elements used in Star Fox 2 were implemented in later games, most notably Star Fox 64 (for elements such as the target-lock feature, all-range mode, and Star Wolf team), and Star Fox Command (for the strategic game play elements, and use of various characters and their respective vehicles). One Argonaut employee, Jez San, recalls that the coding used for Star Fox 64 was copied from the finished Star Fox 2 with no contribution to Argonaut Games.[1]
Gallery
- Main article: Gallery:Star Fox 2
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | スターフォックス２ Sutā Fokkusu Tsū |
Star Fox 2 |
External links
References
- ↑ Born slippy: the making of Star Fox - "They canned Star Fox 2 even though it was finished and used much of our code in Star Fox 64 without paying us a penny."
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