Star Fox
| |
| StarFox | |
| Developer | Nintendo EAD |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| System | Super Nintendo |
| Release Date | Super Nintendo JP: February 21, 1993 US: March, 1993 EU: June 3, 1993 |
| Gallery | GH Gallery |
| Rating | ESRB: E |
StarFox is the first game in the Star Fox series. In Europe, the game is known as StarWing due to copyright issues. This game was also the first game to use the Super FX chip. The game features 3D graphics that were uncommon and impressive at the time.
Story
StarFox is an elite mercenary unit hired by General Pepper to defeat Andross. Fox McCloud, with the help of fellow pilots Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad, is on the job.
Gameplay
The player controls Fox's Arwing throughout the game. The game is a third-person rail shooter. The player can dodge obstacles and shoot down various enemies. At the end of each level, there is a final boss the player must defeat. After finishing each level, the player gets a score based on how many enemies they shot down and how well they defending their teammates.
StarFox was different from other rail shooters in several ways. For one thing, the player had some amount of control over their speed. Also, the player could bump into objects in the level without immediately having their ship destroyed. Also, there was a certain amount of localized damage.
In each level, the player's wing mates will appear on the screen either chasing an enemy or being chased themselves. If they are being chased, not helping will result in their Arwing being damaged or shot down. If they get shot down, they won't return.
The way the game's difficulty was set was also unique. Instead of simply having the player choose between Easy, Medium, and Hard like most games, StarFox as has a different set of levels to play through with different degrees of difficulty. This increased the replay value quite a bit. Each path began with Corneria and ended with Venom, however, each path had a unique version of the level.
Legacy
StarFox has spawned a large series of games. StarFox characters Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi are both playable characters in the Super Smash Bros. series. StarFox has also been used for one of 9-Volt's microgames in Warioware: Smooth Moves
Sequels
After finishing StarFox, Nintendo EAD starting working on StarFox 2. The game was never released, though one programmer has said it was completed. Eventually, StarFox 64 was released.
Ports and Remakes
- Shortly after the games release, Nintendo released Star Fox Super Weekend Competition. This was a shortened version of the game featuring only three levels.