Star Fox is one of the most technically impressive games on the SNES, and was a collaboration between Nintendo and UK-based Argonaut Software. We've covered the making of the game in the past, but Unseen64 has an excellent in-depth history of its little-known forerunner, NesGlider.
Based on the 1986 Atari ST and Amiga title StarGlider, NesGlider was a proof-of-concept project which was intended to show Nintendo what 3D games could look like on its hardware, and hopefully earn Argonaut some lucrative work. Argonaut also created a SNES version of the prototype, which can be seen in the video below.
NesGlider ended up being a bit slow and sluggish, and this would convince Nintendo to work with Argonaut on the Super FX chip, which would be included inside games to augment the SNES' 3D capabilities. This chip would be included in Star Fox, Stunt Race FX and other Super FX games.
When Nintendo decided to throw its weight behind NesGlider, Shigeru Miyamoto came on board and quickly built a team which would give the title a "Nintendo" touch. The result was Star Fox.
Argonaut's relationship with Nintendo wouldn't last however, and the company soldiered on alone, creating 3D games like Croc, Buck Bumble and Red Dog. The company was dissolved in 2006, but some of its more famous employees - Dylan Cuthbert and Giles Goddard - have since gone on to become major players in the Japanese development scene, founding Q-Games (Star Fox Command) and Vitei (Steel Diver: Sub Wars) respectively.
[source unseen64.net]
Comments 12
I remember Buck Bumble, I loved that game. I still get the song stuck in my head sometime, lol. Croc I recently saw someone streaming, looked interesting.
A real shame "X" for the Game Boy was never released in the west, I would love to have that game back in the day.
I wondered where the developers for Croc went. I have been hoping for a rerelease or Croc 3 :c
This is really interesting though! Never knew they tried to make this on NES long before Star Fox came out.
I loved both Croc and Buck Bumble, but I had no idea that the company helped with Star Fox. Is that the issue with porting Star Fox to the virtual console? Like does Argonaut still have some copyright on th SuperFX chip? It always gets so confusing when companies go Bankrupt. I would love to see that matter resolved and while they are at it, get Buck Bumble on the virtual console.
Polygonal 3D on an NES? Them crazy people!
Wow, I'd love to see the video of the NES prototype. The 3D would be a sight to see in 8Bit architecture.
Fairly impressive. It looks like the old Battlezone games.
Wow, that really does run like a freight train on a dirt road.
I'm glad we got the SuperFX and Starfox and Stunt Race FX instead.
Wow! Talk about pushing a System to its limits! This kind of stuff always amazes me cuz I'm too dumb to do it myself XD
Fun Fact: Croc was originally supposed to be a 3D Yoshi game but Nintendo didn't want it. Maybe that's why Croc was only released on PS1 and Saturn.
Awesome music in that video.
Thought i won Starglider in a Zzap64 drawing competition, but it was a misprint announcing that the 50 runners up got a copy of the game ... I did get a small toy plane to fly with in the mail though. Thankfully it got a crappy review in the same issue (No. 24 1987).
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