A Real Gaming Unicorn

"VonBelmont" (jvonbelmont) 12/07/2014 at 20:48 • Filed to: Starfox 2, Starfox, SNES, Gaming, comeatmebro, unicorn

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I found this on a CD-R today. For those who don't know, Starfox 2 was never released because the world's eyes could not handle another 3D game on the SNES. I do remember that my brother put this game on the school's computers when I was in 10th grade and it became something of a fad. The school's IT department is not very competent. Like, really incompetent.

I got a big soft spot for this series, even though I've only played a couple. My older brothers were/are game afficianadi and I used to hear whispers about this game. I heard shipments were destroyed. I heard it caused blindness and fear in the player. I heard someone tried to steal it. Then, one day in 2004, my brothers got ahold of a bootleg copy, traded amongst collectors like VHS copies of the Star Wars Holiday Special. I really don't remember if they liked it or not, but I'll let the fact that it spent a decade in the glovebox of a BMW speak for itself. I was always kinda curious about it, but not enough to seek it out. My brothers didn't like talking games with me.

Actually playing it, it's surprisingly modern compared to it's N64 replacement. As I said before, it's 3D on the SNES, mixed with 16-bit sprites. It looks extremely bare bones compared to the N64, and downright abstract today. It's far more playable than it's predecessor, with a consistent frame rate and hit-detection. Instead of being in rails, you can fly any which way in air battles or do...this

Yeahhhh...I don't know what the fuck that's supposed to be.

Most interesting is the fact that the game is in real time and there's no set path to follow. You're supposed to defend Earth Corneria from the evil Andross by destroying his bases and intercepting his missiles. Also, you have to deal with a rival team called StarWolf that wants to cut in on your action. The missiles and fighters can still attack Corneria while you're in a level, which means you need to plan your moves wisely. If Corneria takes too much damage, game over. It can be as long or short as you'd like.

Even though the graphics are dated on arrival, the plot's nothing original, and the characters have all the depth of onion paper, it's...engaging. Perhaps it's just the mystique around the game, but I think this is a damn good game. It's a shame it's never been released officially. Hopefully Nintendo will put this on the Wii U VC.

TheOnelectronic > VonBelmont 12/07/2014 at 20:52

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"Holy shit, this game has models with 50 polygons!" -Some guy back then, probably.

PanchoVilleneuve ST > VonBelmont 12/07/2014 at 20:57

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I remember Vortex (basically Starfox with tanks and mechs) and Stunt Race FX using the Super FX chip to make games that looked pretty much just like Starfox.

VonBelmont > TheOnelectronic 12/07/2014 at 21:00

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These Super FX games probably looked bad even back then :P

Kanaric > TheOnelectronic 12/07/2014 at 21:11

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eh, by the time this game was being made Mechwarrior 2 was out 3d started taking off around 1995, then in 96 Quake came out. Frontier: Elite 2 came out in 1993 and was 3D with texture mapping and had about a million star systems. IDK how they packed that into a couple of floppy disks.

Keep in mind that PS1 came out in 1994 in Japan.

Kanaric > VonBelmont 12/07/2014 at 21:12

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Ya they didn't look that great, lol. Quake 1 came out a year after this game's intended release and 3d games had been around in '95

VonBelmont > Kanaric 12/07/2014 at 21:20

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Heck, even PS1/N64/Saturn games have basically the same amount of polygons as this game. They just had texture maps and better rendering speed.

Sanettika > VonBelmont 12/08/2014 at 04:42

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Holy. Crap. I've been stalking this game for nearly 20 years. I remember they actually claimed a release date for it, and when I went to pick it up the store didn't have it (as was known to happen back then). I was disappointed, but I figured next week they would have it or something. Needless to say, they never did. I've found things claiming to be Star Fox 2 on eBay twice since then and both ended up selling for hundreds more than I could afford. Enjoy your little unicorn, and thanks for the pictures! As for VC, I doubt that's going to happen. There's a full, supposedly very well-done fan translation of Mother 3 (known here as Earthbound 2) that the authors have practically begged Nintendo to release as their own, no strings attached, and they won't even consider it. Sometimes, I wonder if Nintendo just hates money...

VonBelmont > Sanettika 12/08/2014 at 10:17

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AFAIK, no official copies were released, outside of maybe a couple demo carts for expos and the press. I think most copies are just wiped Yoshi's Island/Starfox carts with the bootleg'd ROM slapped on it (not sure how) and a fan-made box/sticker. Total crackpipe, and fairly illegal at that. This is basically from a ROM and an emulator that I found on a CD-R. That in itself is sketch as hell...