Nintendo Has "Completed" Version of Cancelled Star Fox SNES Sequel

[StewShearerOld]

Nintendo Has "Completed" Version of Cancelled Star Fox SNES Sequel

Developer Dylan Cuthbert says that Nintendo has a finished Japanese version of the cancelled SNES game Star Fox 2.

One of the most infamous stories of Nintendo's transition from the SNES to the Nintendo 64 is the tale Star Fox 2's cancellation. A casualty of the mid-90s console war between Nintendo, Sony and Sega, the nearly completed game was axed when Nintendo executives became fearful that it would look outdated when put up against some of the more technologically advanced titles releasing on the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. Star Fox fans have pined after the game ever since, always wondering about the game that Nintendo never bothered to finish.

Or, rather, never bothered to release. You see, while Nintendo might never have shipped the game to stores, sources who worked for the company have indicated that the company actually did see Star Fox 2 through to completion. "The game was about 95 percent complete," said Dylan Cuthbert, a member of the Star Fox 2 development team. "Even after the decision was made we went ahead and completed it, taking it to be fully QA'd through Mario Club," Cuthbert would go on to confirm that he was given a chance to play the finished version when he returned to work with Nintendo on the 2006 DS game Star Fox Command. "During development [of Star Fox Command] we received a copy of the mastered Star Fox 2 ROM to play, and it was quite a blast."

This, of course, should make Cuthbert the envy of Star Fox fans everywhere who have only been to experience Star Fox 2 through screenshots and unfinished ROMs. While the version Cuthbert played was exclusively in Japanese, we're willing to bet that the franchise's devotees would likely kill for a chance to play the game that, by Nintendo's own admission, was a forerunner to a number of the Nintendo 64's earliest 3D titles including classics like Super Mario 64 and Star Fox 64.

Source: <a href=http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/05/feature_the_full_story_behind_star_fox_2_nintendos_most_famous_cancellation>Nintendo Life


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[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

You know what would be cool? Releasing Star Fox 2 on Virtual Console.

 

[JCAll]

You know what would be cool? Releasing Star Fox 2 on Virtual Console.

Or a bonus disc with the next Star Fox game.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Well... That's one of those things, isn't it?

They go through all the trouble of actually finishing a game, but then choose not to release it for, what are...
Really some odd reasons when you think about it...

Still, as has been pointed out already, it does give them an opportunity to release it on the virtual console.
They've been known to do it with stuff that never made it to other regions.
Japanese only titles with minimal translations have shown up on the virtual console, so why not a completely unreleased game?

(US releases have also shown up in Europe, such as chrono trigger, but that's less peculiar overall, I'd say... XD)

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Now this is coming from the general internet (a source that also told me that I could get rich if I wired a Nigerian prince some money), but the story I heard why they held back is slightly different.

They didn't want to spend the huge cost to produce those cartridges, which were even more expensive than normal thanks to the polygon producing Super FX chips, when the N64 was months away from release. Publishers can be hesitant (even more so with carts) to release a last gen game right when the next gen is about to come out since the sales for the game might be poor. So, they canceled Star Fox 2 and decided to start on Star Fox 64 with ideas from the shelved game. Then the N64 got pushed back by about 5-6 months so there would actually be over a year between SF 2 and the N64, instead of the small span of time that made them hesitate.

The whole "execs scared it will look out-dated against the PlayStation's and Saturn's 3D graphics" is a new one to me. But, it's likely a bit of both.

Either way, it's got to suck for Star Fox fans, maybe even more so than seeing their beloved hero shoehorned into a completely different genre in Star Fox Adventures (Stairfax Temperatures, thanks Jon Tron). All because Nintendo didn't think the original IP of the game would sell well and/or they didn't want Microsoft owning the new IP when they bought Rare. Maybe they should finally make up for the long wait between games, making Adventures (Hey, I liked it, but I'm a Zelda fan.), and all of the poor ground missions in Assault with a VC release of 2. It shouldn't take much to get it sales worthy in most regions.

 

[Queen Michael]

I'd kill for a chance to play that game. Matter of fact, I wouldn't even need to get the game.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

I enjoyed the original, but I don't think I could ever beat it more than once, if that.

Star Fox 64 though, I played through many MANY times. I even got my friends to play multiplayer, because taking out ships with shoulder mounted blasters is where its at.

The other games didn't interest me at all. I watched a video about the series and am glad I never played the other games. Adventures looks terrible, and the other one (I forget the name of it) has some of the most emo ending scenes I've ever seen in any media..

Star Fox 2 I remember seeing in Nintendo Power, then it just never happened. I've heard various reasons over the years, but I can't say I'm in need to play it now.

 

[loa]

Well I tried playing starfox and it didn't age well at all so the sexuel on the same system might not be my thing either.
Starfox 64 and panzer dragoon spoiled me too much at that point.

You know this makes me wonder why they didn't release a starfox for the wiiu yet.
You could use that tablet as a realtime ship console to order your allies and the great fox or something which would be neat.

 

[xaszatm]

Well I tried playing starfox and it didn't age well at all so the sexuel on the same system might not be my thing either.
Starfox 64 and panzer dragoon spoiled me too much at that point.

You know this makes me wonder why they didn't release a starfox for the wiiu yet.
You could use that tablet as a realtime ship console to order your allies and the great fox or something which would be neat.

Well good news then, as a Star Fox game is set to be released on the Wii U this year.

OT: That's interesting and something I would be interested in playing. The mention of rogue-like elements intrigues me. Though it is understandable why they didn't release it. It was too close to the N64 release date and there was a N64 Star Fox game in the works. Sad, but it happens.

 

[Dragonbums]

You know what would be cool? Releasing Star Fox 2 on Virtual Console.

Or a bonus disc with the next Star Fox game.

Beat me to the punch on this honestly.

OT: At this point now that the cat's out of the bag, they might as well go through the proper channels to have it properly released elsewhere. Get a small team with nothing to do in their spare time to translate it, do the whole ESRB ratings shctick and release it. I don't know if that will be any time soon though. Depends on how busy Treehouse and other translation studios are with other, much higher priority games are.
But it would be a real treat to bundle it with the newest Starfox games. Or just put in in the VC.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Nintendo could make a tidy bundle giving us SNES Star Fox fans what we want. The 64 generation shift is over, they don't need to be afraid of looking outdated. Just let us play! D:

 

[SlaughterPriest]

funny, the "unfinished" ROMs that are out there are rather finished I'd say. in fact, i even have one on a SNES cartridge. with a cute little box too. And it's got fan bug fixes and is in english. The only thing it lacks is the multiplayer mode that was in Alpha. http://www.ocdreproductions.com/Starfox_2/p1560736_7869800.aspx I did find it to be rather fun. Walking the ship around in land mode does seem rather... odd still though. I wonder how different it is from the version Cuthbert played, though i'd guess probably not much.

 

[Norithics]

Fay and Miyu have great character designs, it's a shame they got dumped in the cancelled bin.

 

[NoeL]

I'd kill for a chance to play that game. Matter of fact, I wouldn't even need to get the game.

There's an "unfinished" ROM out there, in English, that plays and feels pretty much finished to me. And it's fucking AMAZING! I honestly don't know if I like it more or less than Starfox 64... probably slightly less, but only just. Quite challenging too on the hard mode, but really fulfilling to beat. I highly recommend playing it.

 

[Dead Metal]

They could release it in a remastered bundle with the first one on the 3DS.

 

[weirdee]

The main issue with bringing back the SNES Star Fox games is that it was explicitly designed to work on the specialized hardware created in order to make the games possible to run. That means it's built directly on top the limitations of that hardware, to the point where the game design manually compensates for the lag to such a degree that when it is played on something that can run it even faster or is otherwise different from that hardware, everything is slightly out of sync, but in varying degrees so you can't even just push everything forwards or backwards and expect it to work out.

They would have to go back in and retool hundreds of hours of work, or entirely recreate the hardware configuration in order to release it, either by somehow putting the chips back into production which would be pretty costly, or figuring out how to do that virtually, which is either impossible or also costly.

So, no, it is not just a matter of putting a sticky note that says "Super FX" on the Wii U, just as it is not just a matter of drawing another circle pad on the right side of the 3DS.

 

[FireAza]

Old news, a translated and patched ROM of the game has been available for years now.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I'd kill for a chance to play that game. Matter of fact, I wouldn't even need to get the game.

There's an "unfinished" ROM out there, in English, that plays and feels pretty much finished to me. And it's fucking AMAZING! I honestly don't know if I like it more or less than Starfox 64... probably slightly less, but only just. Quite challenging too on the hard mode, but really fulfilling to beat. I highly recommend playing it.

Yeah, that's been floating around, for over 12 years now at least.
Didn't know how well known that was outside of the emulation crowd.

 

[Ima Lemming]

Nintendo could make a tidy bundle giving us SNES Star Fox fans what we want. The 64 generation shift is over, they don't need to be afraid of looking outdated. Just let us play! D:

As much as I'd also like to see it released on a modern console, they haven't even ported the original NES Earthbound which was also completed just never released (in America, anyway), I wouldn't hold my breath for Star Fox 2.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Nintendo could make a tidy bundle giving us SNES Star Fox fans what we want. The 64 generation shift is over, they don't need to be afraid of looking outdated. Just let us play! D:

As much as I'd also like to see it released on a modern console, they haven't even ported the original NES Earthbound which was also completed just never released (in America, anyway), I wouldn't hold my breath for Star Fox 2.

Spoiler: There is a heavy cost holding my breath

I pay it gladly.