In just a few console generations, Star Fox went from being one of Nintendo's premier franchises to a languishing also-ran. What happened to this once proud series, and how can it get its mojo back moving forward?
Takaya Imamura, famed ex-Nintendo developer known for his work on the F-Zero and Star Fox franchises, has taken to social media to ponder the possibility of a Star Fox Zero release on Nintendo's upcoming 'Switch 2'.
It's a good ponder. Nintendo would be stupid to not do it. The more titles and first party line up released on the Switch 2 the more enticed the customer will be.
WTMG's Leo Faria: "I respect the hell out of Star Fox for what it was setting out to do in 1993. You gotta love how feisty Nintendo was being, proving the naysayers wrong with their whole “bit wars” schtick. That doesn’t mean I have to like this game… as a game. It’s just not very good. It was a proof of concept, a big fat tech demo. If anything, we ended up getting Star Fox 64, one of the best games of all time (don’t at me) four years later, so that alone is enough to validate the original Star Fox‘s existence. It also marked the beginning of arguably Nintendo’s most neglected and disrespected franchise alongside F-Zero. One I sure hope won’t die with that disgraceful Wii U title as its swan song, its last hoorah. Happy anniversary, you weird, ugly, barely polygonal monstrosity. At the end of the day, we still love you."
I would love it if Nintendo finally did a Chorus type Star Fox game at this point. I think with their characters and their "Nintendo Appeal" - whatever that is - they could bring back Star Fox as a main franchise.
The Chorus game design, or even a Crimson Skies style to a lesser extent, would make for a great template to get Star Fox up and running again and get the franchise out of the rut it's suffering from.
Sure, they can go back to the SNES/N64 era gameplay but...really? Meh. Maybe they can use that corridor gameplay style for a smaller game, released between the big releases, or as Boss Levels at the end of each free roaming chapter for that added "Cinematic Flair".
Star Fox certainly deserves better.
Don't you mean a No Man Sky, only not really. Bit more scripted with an open world after game just in the Lylat system.
No. The game Chorus is the perfect way to bring Star Fox out of the old ways and into the new while still retaining the charm of the series. No need to bloat the game design with a No Man Sky type of open world. That would be counterproductive and just too much of a departure for the series. We'll have another Dinosaur Planet/Star Fox Adventure in our hands and tank the series once again. No thanks.
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Go watch a walkthrough of Chorus. That's a design Nintendo could excel at with this franchise while keeping the charm and concept close to the series origins but also moving it forward enough that it can flourish in a bigger scale. It's perfect.
"It’s just not very good."
You wash that filthy mouth!
--It really was something you had to be there for and experience during the early 90's, I understand haha
BLG writes: "The original titles are classics with near-infinite replayability. Later releases, however, have stumbled. Usually, they’re hampered by attempted innovation with new control schemes or gimmicks. Still, there’s a lot to enjoy with the beloved Nintendo franchise. To celebrate, we’re going to rank the best Star Fox games in the franchise. To come up with the order, we’re mixing in a little bit of Metacritic ranking and author opinion."
Great article, though I disagree somewhat with certain sections - especially regarding the handling of the characters in Assault. I fully agree with the conclusion, Star Fox was meant to be a simple and straightforward experience, therefore most of the innovations implemented in the newer titles, like the Command's tactical sections, Assault's on foot missions or Zero's controls end up affecting the core gameplay in a negative way.
If instead of simply "innovating", Nintendo would focus on improving in what past games did right. The franchise would be in a much better shape.
I liked Star Fox Assault, especially how it doesn’t try to chase after Star Fox 64’s ghost so many times.
Finally after so many years someone talks about Starfox. Starfox 64 and Starfox adventures are the last great games from the series. Nintendo isn't showing him any love.