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Star Fox (universe): Difference between revisions
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The 1993 release of ''Star Fox'' for the SNES was very significant in the gaming press and the eyes of the public, and had won many accolades both for its ambitious three-dimensional presentation and its shooting gameplay. ''Star Fox'' is often credited with pioneering the use of 3D video game graphics on home consoles, and Nintendo took advantage of the opportunity to establish the IP as a series and franchise; however, despite a SNES sequel named ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox 2}}'' allegedly finishing development, Nintendo decided to cancel it, and a programmer explained it was because of the impending release of the Nintendo 64 and the presumed price increase of the upgraded Super FX 2 Chip (though the console would end up releasing much later than originally intended). Shigeru Miyamoto had wanted the next ''Star Fox'' game to make full use of the enormous advantages offered by the newest hardware, and so he produced ''[[lylatwiki:Star Fox 64|Star Fox 64]]'', which is for many intents and purposes a series reboot and a remake combining both the story and gameplay elements of both ''Star Fox'' and ''Star Fox 2''. ''Star Fox 64'' (which was renamed ''Lylat Wars'' in PAL regions due to the aforementioned trademark issue) was released in 1996 to very enthusiastic critical acclaim and successful sales, and was regarded as an instant classic for the N64 for its refined rail-shooting gameplay, cinematic character-driven storytelling complete with full voice acting, and branching paths. | The 1993 release of ''Star Fox'' for the SNES was very significant in the gaming press and the eyes of the public, and had won many accolades both for its ambitious three-dimensional presentation and its shooting gameplay. ''Star Fox'' is often credited with pioneering the use of 3D video game graphics on home consoles, and Nintendo took advantage of the opportunity to establish the IP as a series and franchise; however, despite a SNES sequel named ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox 2}}'' allegedly finishing development, Nintendo decided to cancel it, and a programmer explained it was because of the impending release of the Nintendo 64 and the presumed price increase of the upgraded Super FX 2 Chip (though the console would end up releasing much later than originally intended). Shigeru Miyamoto had wanted the next ''Star Fox'' game to make full use of the enormous advantages offered by the newest hardware, and so he produced ''[[lylatwiki:Star Fox 64|Star Fox 64]]'', which is for many intents and purposes a series reboot and a remake combining both the story and gameplay elements of both ''Star Fox'' and ''Star Fox 2''. ''Star Fox 64'' (which was renamed ''Lylat Wars'' in PAL regions due to the aforementioned trademark issue) was released in 1996 to very enthusiastic critical acclaim and successful sales, and was regarded as an instant classic for the N64 for its refined rail-shooting gameplay, cinematic character-driven storytelling complete with full voice acting, and branching paths. | ||
Despite the undisputed success of ''Star Fox 64'' and its appearances in the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' series since that series' inception, the ''Star Fox'' series underwent a five-year hiatus before being brought back to public attention via unorthodox circumstances; British developer Rareware had originally intended to release an action-adventure title for the Nintendo 64 called ''Dinosaur Planet'', featuring [[The Legend of Zelda (universe)|three-dimensional ''Zelda''-style gameplay]] and a cast of anthropomorphic animal characters, including the newly created character Krystal. Miyamoto looked over the product and noted its cast's similarities to ''Star Fox'', and the game was revised as a ''Star Fox''-brand title for the GameCube, ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox Adventures}}'', and was released late 2002. While generally well-received, ''Star Fox Adventures'' drew some criticism for being a particularly large departure for the series both in terms of gameplay and setting. Rare, meanwhile, was subsequently acquired as a first-party developer for Microsoft; ''Star Fox Adventures'' was their final title for a Nintendo home video game system. | Despite the undisputed success of ''Star Fox 64'' and its appearances in the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' series since that series' inception, the ''Star Fox'' series underwent a five-year hiatus before being brought back to public attention via unorthodox circumstances; British developer Rareware had originally intended to release an action-adventure title for the Nintendo 64 called ''Dinosaur Planet'', featuring [[The Legend of Zelda (universe)|three-dimensional ''Zelda''-style gameplay]] and a cast of anthropomorphic animal characters, including the newly created character [[Krystal]]. Miyamoto looked over the product and noted its cast's similarities to ''Star Fox'', and the game was revised as a ''Star Fox''-brand title for the GameCube, ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox Adventures}}'', and was released late 2002. While generally well-received, ''Star Fox Adventures'' drew some criticism for being a particularly large departure for the series both in terms of gameplay and setting. Rare, meanwhile, was subsequently acquired as a first-party developer for Microsoft; ''Star Fox Adventures'' was their final title for a Nintendo home video game system. | ||
The ''Star Fox'' series saw two more installments that progressively returned to the space-shooting roots established by ''Star Fox 64''. ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox: Assault}}'' was developed by Namco and released for the GameCube in late 2005, and features on-rails shooting segments as well as additional on-foot gameplay segments with third-person-shooter elements. Then, ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox Command}}'' was developed in conjunction with Q-Games and released for the Nintendo DS in mid-2006, and alternates between an all-range shooting mode and a turn-based strategy mode. The series would enter an extended hiatus until the release of ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox 64 3D}}'', a remake of ''Star Fox 64'', in 2012 on the [[Nintendo 3DS]], and ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox Zero}}'', a re-imagining of ''Star Fox 64'' developed by [[Nintendo]] and {{s|wikipedia|PlatinumGames}}, in 2016 on the [[Wii U]]. ''Star Fox Zero'' introduces a Walker mode for the Arwing, a mechanic which was previously scrapped with the cancellation of ''Star Fox 2'', as well as a new hovercraft called the {{s|lylatwiki|Gyrowing}} that deploys a tethered robot named Direct-i to collect items and complete various objectives. | The ''Star Fox'' series saw two more installments that progressively returned to the space-shooting roots established by ''Star Fox 64''. ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox: Assault}}'' was developed by Namco and released for the GameCube in late 2005, and features on-rails shooting segments as well as additional on-foot gameplay segments with third-person-shooter elements. Then, ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox Command}}'' was developed in conjunction with Q-Games and released for the Nintendo DS in mid-2006, and alternates between an all-range shooting mode and a turn-based strategy mode. The series would enter an extended hiatus until the release of ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox 64 3D}}'', a remake of ''Star Fox 64'', in 2012 on the [[Nintendo 3DS]], and ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox Zero}}'', a re-imagining of ''Star Fox 64'' developed by [[Nintendo]] and {{s|wikipedia|PlatinumGames}}, in 2016 on the [[Wii U]]. ''Star Fox Zero'' introduces a Walker mode for the Arwing, a mechanic which was previously scrapped with the cancellation of ''Star Fox 2'', as well as a new hovercraft called the {{s|lylatwiki|Gyrowing}} that deploys a tethered robot named Direct-i to collect items and complete various objectives. | ||
During the development of ''Star Fox Command'', Q-Games programmer Dylan Cuthbert experienced a finished version of ''Star Fox 2'' to use as inspiration. However, the prospect of an official release for the cancelled title was not probable, according to him. To the surprise of many, ''Star Fox 2'' would see its first ever official release in September 2017 as one of the 21 games | During the development of ''Star Fox Command'', Q-Games programmer Dylan Cuthbert experienced a finished version of ''Star Fox 2'' to use as inspiration. However, the prospect of an official release for the cancelled title was not probable, according to him. To the surprise of many, ''Star Fox 2'' would see its first ever official release in September 2017 as one of the 21 games included on the Super NES Classic Edition microconsole, alongside the first ever reissuing of the original ''Star Fox'' due to both titles incorporating the Super FX Chip. | ||
The setting of the ''Star Fox'' series is a planetary system named the Lylat system, and [[Corneria]] is the Earth-like planet that supports sapient life in this system. All sapient life, however, is composed of | The setting of the ''Star Fox'' series is a planetary system named the Lylat system, and [[Corneria]] is the Earth-like planet that supports sapient life in this system. All sapient life, however, is composed of anthropomorphic animals belonging to a wide variety of species, but nonetheless Cornerian civilization is technologically advanced enough to allow for interplanetary travel and starship dogfights not unlike ''Star Wars''. A group of mercenaries named Star Fox, operating small assault spacecraft called [[Arwing]]s and based on a mothership named the [[Great Fox]], are regularly hired by Corneria's defense forces to conduct military operations against enemy forces that threaten Corneria and the Lylat system as a whole. The leader is [[Fox McCloud]], a red fox who inherits his position from his late father, team founder James McCloud, and his initial wingmates are the pheasant [[Falco Lombardi]], the hare Peppy Hare, and the toad Slippy Toad. | ||
In ''Star Fox 64'', a mad ape scientist, [[Andross]], previously exiled from Corneria, launches an attack across the Lylat system, and Fox takes up the job to destroy Andross and his operations at the planet [[Venom]] and settle a personal score, while dealing with a rival mercenary team hired by Andross, Star Wolf, led by [[Wolf O'Donnell]]. Eight years later in ''Star Fox Adventures'', Star Fox is assigned to conduct an on-foot investigation of a crumbling planet named Sauria, and after the end of Fox's effort to stop the planet's self-destruction, the princess of another destroyed planet, the blue fox Krystal, joins the Star Fox team. The following year, amidst Star Fox's continued battles against vengeful remnants from Andross' army, Lylat is suddenly threatened by a race of mechanical insectoids called the Aparoids, and Star Fox must make unlikely alliances in order to save the day. Lastly, two-to-three years later in ''Star Fox Command'', most of team Star Fox has disbanded, but Fox is given heavy incentive to bring team members back into the fold when one last threat, a fish-like race called the Anglar, emerges out of Venom's acidic oceans to strike at Corneria. This game's story allows multiple branching paths, and a total of nine different endings are possible; the question of which one, if any, is the "canon" ending is left to player speculation. | In ''Star Fox 64'', a mad ape scientist, [[Andross]], previously exiled from Corneria, launches an attack across the Lylat system, and Fox takes up the job to destroy Andross and his operations at the planet [[Venom]] and settle a personal score, while dealing with a rival mercenary team hired by Andross, Star Wolf, led by [[Wolf O'Donnell]]. Eight years later in ''Star Fox Adventures'', Star Fox is assigned to conduct an on-foot investigation of a crumbling planet named Sauria, and after the end of Fox's effort to stop the planet's self-destruction, the princess of another destroyed planet, the blue fox Krystal, joins the Star Fox team. The following year, amidst Star Fox's continued battles against vengeful remnants from Andross' army, Lylat is suddenly threatened by a race of mechanical insectoids called the Aparoids, and Star Fox must make unlikely alliances in order to save the day. Lastly, two-to-three years later in ''Star Fox Command'', most of team Star Fox has disbanded, but Fox is given heavy incentive to bring team members back into the fold when one last threat, a fish-like race called the Anglar, emerges out of Venom's acidic oceans to strike at Corneria. This game's story allows multiple branching paths, and a total of nine different endings are possible; the question of which one, if any, is the "canon" ending is left to player speculation. | ||