Video: Let's See What Star Fox 2 Might Offer on the Super NES Classic Edition

Well, since the whole rogue-like aspect that Dylan Cuthbert is so lyrical about is missing from these beta versions, this is actually not very representative of what to expect at all, other than getting an idea the visuals and only some elements of gameplay.

But most of the latter were already known from the first game, so not much news there...

It wouldn't surprise me too, too much if they dump the leaked ROM on the SNES Mini. Hope I'm wrong, however.

Such an awesome game, looking forward to the finished product.
And it still makes me want a HD remake of the original.

@ottospooky Why would they use the leaked ROM if they have the master in their possession? Makes absolutely zero sense (Star Fox pun right there) to offer an inferior version if you already have the better one lying around in your vaults.

Bets are it is this master version that they've now added the final touches to, so it can be included on the SNES Mini/SNES Classic.

people are going to be so underwhelmed when they finally play this. it's gonna be like every other virtual console experience for people: 10 minutes over maybe 2 play sessions and then never picking it up again, asking yourself why you bought it in the first place.

Well, I honestly do not like the ROM of Star Fox 2. I think it's worse than the original in nearly every single way, save for apparently being a little more advanced technically. It loses much of the truly epic Star Wars space opera feel that the original had in spades. And the more open loop-around level designs ultimately just feels very shallow and unrewarding to me too; they're not a patch on the more linear but also far more deliberately designed, exciting, and genuinely satisfying levels in the original game. The controls in general also feel more lose and clunky all-round as well, particularly on some of the newer vehicles and stuff--which is one of the cardinal sins that can be made in a sequel imo. But, I am glad it has finally seen an official release--just because it was about time.

@gatorboi352 i had this on a repo cart on an original SNES & it was worth the play

@gatorboi352 Most of the games in the SNES Mini selection actually still hold up brilliantly, and I can see people putting many, many hours into more than a few of them--including the first Star Fox.

I don't, however, think most people will find Star Fox 2 as rewarding or satisfying as they might imagine. Personally, I found my time with the ROM of the game extremely disappointing; it's not patch on the original in my opinion. and I don't think a slightly better version of basically the same game is going to change it enough to change my opinion of it.

Again though, I'm still happy to see it finally get an official release, regardless of my personal feelings.

But, seriously, I expect nearly all of the games on the list will compel most people who've purchased this system to probably put a least a couple of hours into them; and some of them I very much expect to suck away tens of hours from a whole lot of people.

It's very different playing some half-baked Virtual Console versions of these games with clunky controllers not actually made for them, and finally having a proper SNES console with two official controllers hooked up to your TV and a two-player game like Street Fighter II Turbo in there so you and your mate can kick ten shades out of each other from the comfort of you couch--old-school style.

Me, I feel like I'm gonna have a total blast playing these games they way there were meant to be played for the first time in a long time. Playing ROMs on my PC with my Xbox One controller is cool and all, but it doesn't even come close to how this is surely going to feel.

Christ, I might even invite a few mates around for a snack and gaming session on my SNES Mini, just because that's how excited I am about it, and becaues it arrives nigh-on my Birthday, and because I know it will work in that kind of situation. And I haven't played games locally with anyone properly in about ten frikin' years (I did a wee bit of Wii Bowling at one point, and some Wii Tanks in the Wii Play game, but that's about it), because almost nothing about modern gaming is genuinely conducive to it.

I get the sense that almost no one really plays their Xbox One, PS4, and probably even their Switch sitting in their living room with a mate or two gathered around and joining in--regardless of what all the marketing and whatever else would have us all believe. With the Xbox One and PS4 in particular, expect the vast majority of their multiplayer gaming is done with faceless strangers online.

So, yeah, I'm hyped for the SNES Mini. And I'm lucky to have managed to get one on pre-order--so very lucky--just in time for my Birthday on 2nd October.

**** Yeah!

Now I'm playing with Super Power!

PS. And this kind of fanboyism is exactly why Nintendo can get away with charging me 33% more for a retro system with 33% less games than the one that came before it. lol

@gatorboi352 is that seriously how you play VC games? Sounds to me like you are probably wasting your time and money if they don't appeal to you. Personally, I play mine all the time and probably more than most new titles.

@gatorboi352 I assume you've played this yourself? (Pulls out chair) I'm ever so anxious to hear about your experience.

My eyes!

@ThanosReXXX I hope you're right. But remember they've apparently dumped internet ROMs of Mario 1 on the Wii VC. And Nintendo has a way of surprising in the wrong way!! I'm just being a bit cynical.

@ottospooky Yeah, i think the whole "rogue-like" thing will probably just be those random missions scattered around the map that you can choose between (as seen in the current ROM version of the game) might just be in a random order each time your go to that screen, and/or maybe the specific amount of craft and stuff that appear in each of those levels will vary a little bit each time you tackle them. But, I expect they will largely still just be the same open loop-around levels as they are in the current build, similar to the loop-around levels in Star Fox 64, which no matter how much the developers mix and match stuff in them, never have and never will feel anywhere near as satisfying to me as actual deliberately designed Star Fox levels with cool points of interest and moments of cinematic action, and arches to fly under and building to fly between and pillars crashing down around you and armadas attacking you with you eventually flying inside and through the giant ship, etc. But, I guess we'll see. I've only played the first handful of missions in Star Fox 2 before they ultimately put me off the game entirely--so who knows. . . .

It should be duly noted that this isn't exactly leaked protoype ROM.

The one in this video has been patched with a fan-made English translation that also took out a lot of the debug functions like preventing all damage to Corneria. It also fixed a lot of bugs/incomplete bits. Not to mention they redesigned the logo.

It's a fan-made "spit and polish" to "complete" the game as they saw fit at the time. The actual leaked prototype is in Japanese and a whole lot buggier.

I might be on the fringe here, but I actually think the visuals and mechanics hold up surprisingly well. It's not just nostalgia for me, I recently finished another play through of Star Fox on my SNES last week, and I still find it to be an amazing game today.

Also, I think it's totally cool that a game that was supposed to be released 22 years ago is FINALLY going to be properly played for the first time and reviewed by modern reviewers.

I actually enjoy his waffling...

The sub-title reminded me of the end of Star Fox 64, "This is one steep bill, but it's worth it".

@Racthet916 I think so too, kind of. I find the original Star Fox a little bit clunky today, but this one looks much more playable and fluid. Though I admit to have only seen both and never played either.

@ottospooky True, but that was another story entirely, and that wasn't a game that has never been released before, meaning that even the ROMs online are full versions of the game, that have gone through Nintendo's quality check and so forth. So there was nothing wrong with it, meaning that it didn't really matter if the ROM came from Nintendo's own collection or from an external source.

As for Star Fox 2: at the very least, I think it's reasonable to expect them to have ironed out any bugs and glitches. One of the versions I have played, was "patched" by a hacker, and simply froze in the middle of one of the later levels, and another one had strange bugs in the sound and some animations seemed off.

The latter could also be because of the emulator, but the first bug definitely didn't. I don't expect Nintendo to let something like that end up as part of a commercial product.

@impurekind "Again though, I'm still happy to see it finally get an official release, regardless of my personal feelings."

This, EXACTLY this. That's the only proper way to look games that you yourself might not like or appreciate. Hats off for that sensible comment.

So many people can't seem to get past their own selfish ideas and their tunnel-vision perspective, so to them it's all bad, not thinking for a single second that someone else might still enjoy it, regardless of someone else's opinion.

Oh well, it's the internet, what can you do? I really miss the internet-free, monthly magazine only days, sometimes...

@ThanosReXXX @impurekind Is there anyone in the public who has played this final version? There's a lot that can change just with some additions or removals. For example, the Level 0 patch for Chrono Trigger removes the redundant character levels, and just has tech points to unlock techs/magic, and stats are improved with gear upgrades. Even little balance changes like that can transform the gameplay feel. So I'm curious how the rogue like elements will add onto the currently available version...

@PlywoodStick According to all reports not. The older interviews concerning this game mention that the most complete version, aka the last beta, went under lock and key and only the older betas somehow got leaked and appeared online years later.

@PlywoodStick But it still makes me wonder how those other betas could have even leaked. Did they just discard them on one of those dev cartridges that sometimes surface in obscure garage sales? And who got them out of the building or out from under Nintendo's watchful eye?

To my knowledge, that has only happened once or twice with Nintendo, so that always makes me wonder if the devs themselves were to blame.

@gatorboi352 sad but true.

@ThanosReXXX I wouldn't be surprised if it so happened that one or more of the devs got more than slightly annoyed that the production they worked so hard on would not release publicly, just because of Nintendo's perception of timing back in 1995/1996. So they took the latest copy of the game which wouldn't arouse immediate suspicion to "drop" after a certain amount of time passed... A career ending move if the whole truth were revealed, so we may never know.

@PlywoodStick If Nintendo would have known back then, old man Yamauchi may very well have sent the Yakuza after that sneaky devil...

P.S.

I don't think they took the latest version, but more than likely either an earlier beta, or the second most recent one.

@PlywoodStick I don't think anyone other than the developers has played the final 100%-done version.

@gatorboi352 Well, luckily there's plenty more games on the system, so it's not like you're only buying Star Fox 2. There will always be games on systems/collections like these, that people will either prefer less or more, but in general, there's more than enough on there to keep you entertained for more than just 2 play sessions.

@ThanosReXXX Yeah, I mean I wouldn't want it to not come out just because I don't personally like it (at least the version I've played). It's a piece of gaming history, and it's def a very cool inclusion to have on the list.

I would, however, still have wanted those nine extra games (ten, if we think of Star Fox 2 as a bonus +1) that would have taken the number up to the same as the NES Mini. That would have just been sublime. But the selection of 20+1 titles on the SNES Mini really is pretty dang stellar all-round, so it's still gonna be a hella lotta fun.

I honestly miss monthly magazines too. Mean Machines was one of the greatest videogame magazines I ever read. And even going back to read old issues now--only via digital scan unfortunately--it still has more charm in one page than most gaming websites have in a thousand pages.

@impurekind Stop making sense, man.

@ThanosReXXX There will be fleeting moments when the stars just align. lol

@impurekind Well, as long as it's just the stars and not all the planets as well, the larger apocalypse can still be averted...

@impurekind "it still has more charm in one page than most gaming websites have in a thousand pages"

And contrary to the open sewer that is the internet, far less gutter mouths and negative Nancy's too...

I can definitely see the Star Fox Zero and Star Fox Command relations in this footage...

I love the chicken walker!

Makes me wanna go back and give Star Fox Zero another go.

I did finish the game months ago, when I found out that there was a rom hanging on the internet. I took the most advanced version I could find, and it was a thrill. Sure the game wasn't perfect, but for a fanboy of the franchise like me (I'm one of the few who dig the WiiU episode, for example), it was really, really good. I like that they tried something new, the battles in space in 360°, the ability to transform...
I'm really, really looking for the definitive version of the game (thought I really think that it won't be very different from the rom I played...), just to play it with real SNES controllers, and on my TV.

@ThanosReXXX
How do you know is lying around? Many games have been lost due to negligence and seeing as not important. Remember the Mario World snaffu, where Nintendo used a wild world ROM instead of their own ROM? Same with several Kirby ROMs that were on a satellite-based console.

@gatorboi352 funny, that's how I feel about almost every PS4 game I play. Then I just go back to ether my wiiU/3ds/switch or the last PS4 game I play, rocket league. And once that's on switch, PS4 gets sold. I know ps+ won't be renewed.

@gatorboi352 Or maybe like my usual Virtual Console purchases where I finish the game and fully enjoy it. Star Fox 2 is awesome.

@ThanosReXXX That's actually true.

@Shiryu A full remake, because the first level is in wario ware smooth moves for the wii in 60 fps. The biggest tease ever. Damn you nintendo.

It's a pretty mediocre game. There's a reason Nintendo held back.

The title made me think that Nintendo showed off Star Fox 2, and then later confirmed to us that It's not the completed ROM. Good headline.

@gatorboi352 What are you talking about? I play my Virtual Console games more then my newer games.

I feel like some KFC.

I'm excited for this. While it looks rather average from the footage, I'm backing Nintendo to deliver a worthy sequel to a game I played for tens of hours.

@nesrocks Indeed! I almost forgot that was a thing.

People are hyped because of curiosity, because it never got officially released before. However the game looks a lot like Starfox command in structure, wich is not good. The graphics may be a improvement on the original, but I bet the game won't be nearly as good.

@Donutman k.

@maceng We already covered the Mario ROM, so that's irrelevant. And it is known that the master/last version of Star Fox 2 was never released to the public, because it was still in possession of Nintendo.

Even Dylan Cuthbert commented on the leaked versions not being similar to the final one he had worked on, so that's more than enough evidence.

@impurekind What's true? About the planets aligning or the open sewer that is the internet?
(I'm assuming it's the latter, but even I am wrong every now and then... )

No is not. Nintendo could have lost even the completed version and just used a prior version, we'll never know.

@ThanosReXXX The latter.

@maceng Yeah, and if I didn't have a certain amount of chromosomes then I would have been born a girl instead of a boy...

Man, what you're saying is the very definition of reaching. We DO know because it's mentioned in several interviews with the ACTUAL people involved, so that's first hand information.

None of the leaked ROMs is complete, or bug tested, so that's another piece of proof. Like I said: the example of the Mario ROM (or any other ROM of a released game, even the NES Satellite games) doesn't apply, because that game was officially released and only uploaded online long AFTER it was released, so copies of that are the same as the already passed and approved version of Nintendo themselves. Star Fox 2 is another situation entirely.

I actually dig Star Fox 2. Yeah, it's not quite as cool as the first one, but I had fun with it, and I do enjoy playing games that push older hardware its limits.

But like I said, I strongly doubt it will be much different than the English ROM we've had for years now. The changes likely won't amount to a much different experience. I wouldn't count on a much better translation either.

Shame for the NES one last year they didn't pull out their ultimate troll ROM from late Nintendo Power (under them) days that showed up with a final proto rom with a HAHA message with a picture.

Sim City NES. That would have been really fantastic.

I can't wait to see how much smoke they're blowing or not compared to the 'final' copy that's out there now as I got it on a cart and have for many years now and it's a gem.