Star Fox Zero Chicken

Star Fox Zero will be a key release on Wii U this Holiday season, likely to lead the Wii U charge alongside diverse titles such as Animal Crossing amiibo Festival, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Xenoblade Chronicles X. The return of the franchise will also bring one of the heaviest uses of the GamePad in a Nintendo title, with the big N and PlatinumGames teaming up to put the controller to use.

As with plenty of Nintendo games, challenge is relative - many will breeze through the campaign with ease, but grabbing all of the medals, collectibles and Mission Accomplishment ratings will likely demand repeat plays. Speaking to Wired, PlatinumGames' Yusuke Hashimoto, and Nintendo's Yugo Hayashi explained how utilising the gyro controls will be vital for the best results, but also highlighted how co-op (with one player flying and the other shooting) will open the game up to less skilled or experienced players.

Hashmoto: We don't want to make it a simple game, by any means. The challenge for us is, how to make a game that feels good and challenging to play for lots of different people?

Hayashi: At first glance, [the demo] looks very much like a traditional Star Fox level, but if you're not looking around with the GamePad, if you want to shoot down all the enemies, you wouldn't be able to do it without utilizing the gyro controls.

...We think it's a great mode [co-op] for parents to play with their children, but basically for anyone who maybe has a friend who isn't that used to shooters/

The broader interview touches upon the working relationship between PlatinumGames and Nintendo, and the rapid progress of development, but a segment on the walking Arwing transformation caught our eye. Described by plenty of gamers as a robot chicken, Hayashi-san was keen to correct that particular perception.

It is not a chicken. More like a dinosaur. Talking with one of the Star Fox character designers, since all of the characters are animals, he thought it would be better to make this design also more like an animal. That's how we ended up like this.

When you jump, it flutters its arms. That was all Miyamoto's idea.

Perhaps we should all agree that it's a dinosaur-era chicken in robot form?

In any case, let us know your thoughts on the potential of co-op in Star Fox Zero, and whether that Arwing transformation really is a chicken.

[source wired.com]