So, Was It Worth The Wait or a Waste of Time? - Star Fox 2 Retrospective

The early days of the Super NES Classic were a nightmare for fans who couldn’t find the system anywhere. It was so bad that then Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime had to publicly warn people not to buy from scalpers. Why were they so hard to find? Well…the actual answer is artificial scarcity, BUT, potentially the largest reason this mini console was so desirable is that it contained an official release of a Super Nintendo game that had never been on the market before. 21 years late to the scene, we were finally able to properly play a sequel to one of the most important games ever made. I present to you my retrospective, of Star Fox 2.
______________________________________________________________
Additional Footage Courtesy of World of Longplays
-► • SNES Longplay [610] St...
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter and Twitch
-► / zerbraxi
-► / zerbraxi
Come and hang out on our discord!
-► bit.ly/dcg_discord
Outro Music
-► Illjoy by Vince Kaichan
Thumbnail Art by Hernoid
-► / hernoid
-► fiverr.com/share/oo47pX
______________________________________________________________
#StarFox #SNES #Retrospective

[@GeneralFatman27]

I accidentally figured out how to make missile battles exciting. Engage a missile while being pursued by star wolf. If they're close enough, they'll actually join the fight and ambush you while you're attacking the missile several seconds into the mission. The fact that they even programmed this possibility into the game is amazing.

[@Zerbraxi]

It's reasons like that why I can't just knock on the flaws of Star Fox 2. The technical accomplishment of that game is still so impressive!!

[@gameplayboy5686]

It's as if its all really happening

[@J-Wolf17FTW]

Correction: Miyu and Fay do not start with twin blasters in the final version of Star Fox 2. That was something that was long in the beta builds of the game. You can get automatic twin blasters by clearing expert with a star rank, this works for every character too.

[@Zerbraxi]

Ahh, thank you for the clarification. I appreciate it.

[@justinscott7546]

Absolutely love this game. But despite some issues it has, it's still one of my top 5 SF games. To address the charge shot issue, well it made the game way too easy. Even on the Expert difficulty for the leaked ROM. I can appreciate learning to land those shots before unlocking the homing shot. The details in the game always brings a smile to my face. Like seeing the models for the Star Cruisers guns charging when they get to Corneria. But the coolest detail I never see anyone talk about? The fact that Star Wolf and mid bosses can invade space skirmishes. This blown my mind when I was chasing down missiles or enemy ships then suddenly they pop in. Intro and all. Good review though. I know it's not a perfect game and the low FPS doesn't help. (Even though for me it's not a complete bother but guess I'm just use to it)

[@Zerbraxi]

So I'm actually a bit pissed about the fact that I didn't mention that detail about the invasions. Funny enough, it was party because it didn't happen to me until my third playthrough. So after I played the game on Expert I started writing the script, and since it's such a short game I was playing it through again for some footage and some extra details after I had finished the script itself. It wasn't until that playthrough that I had Algy, I think that's his name, invade me while fighting off a missile. I was seriously blown away by it but in all the juggling of wrapping up the video I never went back to add it in. All in all, I actually think Star Fox 2 is insanely impressive. Not just in terms of technical feat, but also many of the gameplay mechanics and design is very ahead of its time. I hope I was able to convey that effectively despite my other frustrations.

[@justinscott7546]

@@Zerbraxi It's all good mate. Sometimes small details are easy to miss on the long run. SF2 is very impressive for the time. I fully understand yer frustrations with it. I thought you did a good job conveying what ya thought about the game.

[@shadekerensky3691]

I think the biggest issue this game has is the fact that it was WAY ahead of its time, so ahead in fact, that it got a bunch of cool shit going before AI and console tech was ready to handle it all. If Nintendo was to make a modern version of Star Fox 2 (say in the Zero-verse), then I think it'd be FAR better than the SNES version.

[@Zerbraxi]

It would 100% be better than the SNES version. You're absolutely right about it being ahead of its time. There's so much that it is trying to do but the ideas simply outpaced the available technology. What Star Fox 2 essentially created was an open galaxy rouge-like experience that would thrive in todays age with current tech.

[@atomicshroom]

Fully agree. This game is so cruelly underrated. Most people played it on Normal, beat it in 20 minutes, thought it was rather barebones and uninteresting, and never gave it a second shot. "Normal" should have been called "Practice" or "Only 1/3 of the game's content" or something. The game offers soooo much more content on Hard & Expert it's crazy what they withheld from Normal. More planets, new enemy types and bosses, different and much bigger bases that are now almost like simple Zelda dungeons complete with switch puzzles. On Normal you can almost ignore the strategy aspect altogether, but on Hard and especially Expert you *have* to strategize otherwise you're absolutely toast. A playthrough on Expert takes a good hour to complete and is an exhilarating and satisfying experience.

[@Zerbraxi]

I think what you described is exactly accurate. My first playthrough on normal I had thought "oh well I guess this is why it wasn't released" but even just Hard is such a better time. Far from perfect, or even great, but its impossible to deny what this game was doing for its time. Hard Mode really should've just been made Normal and Normal should've been Practice.

[@squizzlor]

Dude compleating the easy mode, made me look up how incompleate the game was, as it felt like somthing was missing. Was glad to play again on actual normal dificulty. Ill likely never beat hard, but its awsome.

[@BTAL1ama]

Definitely agree with Hard as a default. I sucked at Starfox 1 and figured 2 would be harder with the whole Corneria Defense thing. I started on easy and the run was over before it started and I was just thinking "That's it? Is this why it was never released?"

[@Zerbraxi]

Yeah I was extremely underwhelmed after my first run. Especially considering just how difficult the hard route is in the original game I definitely wanted to grasp everything first. Even Star Fox 2 hard is pretty easy overall.

[@robertkovarna8294]

Ahhhh. Star Fox 2. I got my SNES classic around day 1 just for it. Something about this game just interests me so much. From the visuals, as early 3d as they are, to the gameplay. It's sweet.

[@Zerbraxi]

I know I was potentially more critical than complimentary, but Star Fox 2 paved such a strong path for the series. Having just fully completed StarFox 64 and 64 3D for the next Star Fox video, it's impossible not to notice the clear influence of Star Fox 2. While I'm not the biggest fan of the game itself, it's impact is undeniable.

[@robertkovarna8294]

@@Zerbraxi Yeah. it's surprising just how much of Star Fox 2 can be felt in all the other games. From all range mode and Star Wolf, to missions with missiles, and Zero even having the Walker return. Or Assault with the on-foot gameplay.

[@Z95HeadHunter]

I guess it's not the most popular take, but StarFox 2 is probably at least my second favorite StarFox game after Assault and is what I think a new game should aim for if Nintendo isn't putting StarFox up on cinderblocks for good because Zero flopped. Even the more redeeming qualities in Command seem to take some inspiration from 2, like the tactical map, personalized ships for the cast, and being able to play as all of them instead of just Fox. It's funny that Miyu/Fay fans fight with Krystal fans a lot over their preferred characters' representation in StarFox, and none of those actually appear in modern StarFox games anymore, if such a thing even exists. People want only X or Y, and instead they get nothing.

[@Zerbraxi]

I'm pretty excited to get to Star Fox Command since I've never played it and have heard very polarizing things. For some reason I'm oddly compelled by controversial entries in series. Just finished the Golden Sun trilogy of videos and my first time playing Dark Dawn was really exciting since I know just how aggressive people felt about that game in either direction. I think you're definitely on to something though about elements of Star Fox 2 and Command being useful for future iterations of the series. Not that I necessarily want everything to just be made into a Rogue-lite or Rogue-like but even elements from those genre's I think could be incredibly advantageous to Star Fox. The pick up and play nature is already there, and the arcade like replayability that Star Fox exhibits would lend itself well to rogue-lite elements to encourage the replayability further. By having so many of the random events that can occur in Star Fox 2 you can keep each playthrough consistently engaging while capitalizing in the incredibly tight controls that Star Fox is famous for.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

You mentioned wondering what it would be like if you were a fan of the beta and saw how the final handled the homing shot; I had that experience. I played the beta a lot and it was an amazing feature that really helped, and seeing it wasn’t in the final really sucked. I could probably unlock it now that I know it’s locked behind the pepper coins, but it was honestly so disappointing that I didn’t play the final version more than once whereas I beat the beta multiple times.

[@Zerbraxi]

Thank you for sharing. It's pretty much how I imagine my own experience would be too. Since the video I've replayed the game again, mostly because I still wasn't entirely sure how I felt about it lol, and having the homing shot available makes the game a genuinely better experience. It's a blast and not in a "I worked so hard to unlock this and now I'm happy about it" kind of way but in a "having this is a straight up better experience for anyone" sort of way.

[@trapez77]

You have to get an S rank with every character to unlock the completion bonus music.

[@Zerbraxi]

Thanks for the clarification 👍

[@andrewalexander4331]

Brilliant video! I've finally got around to playing Starfox 2, and your review mirrors lots of my thoughts from my first 1 hour.of play. Interesting game, though.

[@Zerbraxi]

Definitely interesting and worth trying out. It tried a lot of really interesting ideas to give it credit.

[@jamessmyth3952]

This is excellent analysis and presentation Thank you

[@Zerbraxi]

Thank you very much! I'm really glad you enjoyed.

[@koyjosh94]

This is a good video man ! Keep grinding I think you'll get a following soon

[@Zerbraxi]

Thank you! I'm definitely not gonna stop anytime soon. I'm addicted to this now. Lol

[@koyjosh94]

@@Zerbraxi that's awesome! I'm hoping to make some videos soon but it's really hard balancing life and work

[@Zerbraxi]

@@koyjosh94 I feel ya there. For weeks on end my life may only consist of work and making videos as hanging out with my friends, watching tv, playing video games, and basically anything have to get put on hold for that that. However, if you do make some videos, don't hesitate to share . It can be an incredibly time consuming hobby at times, but it's often extremely fulfilling.

[@Moonlow.]

I think that the reason the SNES Mini version lags so much is probably because it doesn't emulate the FX Chip 2. Which is what Star Fox 2 was gonna use. Which would fix a bit of the FPS problem. But maybe it is just the game itself. Who knows.

[@Zerbraxi]

It would be cool to get an actual prototype cart to fully test on original hardware just to see.

[@Moonlow.]

How about you try to overclock the FX Chip to to 200%. About the power the FX Chip 2 would probably have. There are a lot of tutorials of how to do it.

[@truebnb]

thumbs up just for "mechanical waddle chicken" XD

[@Zerbraxi]

It was the best my creativity could muster lol!

[@Mike14264]

Hmm, I can see now the issues Star Fox 2 has... but honestly, I'd still love to play it! Maybe the best way to sort some of its issues would be to have you first move towards a target on the Map Screen, and then, before you start playing through it, you first need to go through a regular, linear stage, whose duration would depend on how far you went. If you move over the asteroid belt, then you'd have to play a stage with asteroids, if you moved over sector X or so, then you deal with its specific obstacles, and wherever you didn't move over anything, you'd be targeted by stray enemies and whatnot. And when you reach a planet, maybe you'd need to go through a stage before reaching a base, and there could be a few different variations of these linear stages per base invasion or so.

[@Zerbraxi]

These are fun ideas you propose. They could be a good time! Star Fox 2 is definitely a bit of a mess, but I have to admit that I appreciate it for how much it tried something new at the time.

[@Mike14264]

@@Zerbraxi yeah... honestly tho, it makes me wonder why didn't they try the whole strategy map thing more often... besides Command that is, but from what I've seen in the fandom, we don't talk about Command.

[@owlwaifu4949]

Okay so i may be insane but low framerates are kinda just something im used to Its hard to explain but when playing the origonal star fox despite the lag and the frame dropping nothing seemed wrong and i didnt really have an issue, i might just be used to playing at a lower frame rate but honestly i didnt have much issue playing the game

[@Zerbraxi]

It doesn't always bother me, and quite honestly I'm typically pretty accustomed to it as well. It just kind of comes with the territory of playing older games. However, Star Fox 2's was regularly sitting around 6-8 fps according to my recordings and it actually started to make me sick. Normally I wouldn't harp on something like this on such an old game, but the severity made it worth mentioning.

[@PrimateSoul]

Crazy how ToysRUs were clearing out minis for $20 in 99-01 or so.

[@Zerbraxi]

:(

[@zoiosilva]

I bet @HackerVilela can fix all those lag issues with his magical reverse engineering and refactoring skills.

[@Zerbraxi]

I didn't know about them until this comment. Just took a look and they've done some awesome work. I'm sure they could do it.

[@whoeverest_the_whateverest]

So... if it was released on N64 instead of remake of StarFox1, with absolute perfect controls and presentation (framerate and etc.), just how much better it would have been?

[@Zerbraxi]

Star Fox 2 with less input lag and operable framerate on hard mode would be a pretty dang special time and, if released, could've potentially changed the entire future gameplay style of the franchise.

[@PrimateSoul]

I think the Star Wars on Sega was close but meant more for the 32x

[@Zerbraxi]

Actually, yeah, Star Wars Arcade on the 32x has some pretty insane 3D for its time. I really should've shouted that out too because it deserves some recognition.

[@danielramsey6141]

An Awesome way to Bring *Miyu Lynx and Faye* into the Star Fox Series proper. Make them Part of the Team by Accident! Faye is a Rich, Wealthy Heiress with Money in her pocket and she can Help Fox and Co with her Connections! Miyu can Help Slippy with Customizing the Arwings! Because I refuse to Believe Slippy is the only one to Adjust, Modify and Create Specks for NEW Weapons and Gear all on his Own. Still, I’m willing to Keep as the Smartest Dude, with Miyu being the Grease Engine Junkie she is and will help Slippy and ROB if one of them gets injured! But moreover! They can be Part of the Star Fox team for when Certain members get Shot down and have to retreat for Maintenance!

[@Zerbraxi]

Are those the actual character traits of those two that I just didn't know about, or was that your pitch for a way to integrate them into the plot?

[@danielramsey6141]

@@Zerbraxi Sorry for the Late response! But yeah! That’s my Pitch to Everyone! Faye being a Wealthy Heiress Allows for the Starfox team to do Side/Extra Missions in Game. While Miyu becomes the Ship Customizer/parts manager allowing for the team to Grab parts to Swap out on the fly or to Paint the Ships However the player wants! She could be the one that Clashes with Slippy’s Narrow design sensibility by offering to Include stuff that is outside the norm.

[@michaelmanning9028]

Hey man I hope you're doing good, haven't heard or seen much out of you Just checking in on ya 😁

[@Zerbraxi]

Hello there! Funny enough, I'm actually wrapping up editing the next video right now. Should be up Saturday/Today hopefully, but tomorrow/Sunday at the latest. Thanks for checking in! You're too kind.

[@Zerbraxi]

My turn to check in on you I guess :) Hope things are going well.

[@michaelmanning9028]

@@Zerbraxi I'm OK, I was basically bankrupted when I got Covid a 2nd time and it kinda destroyed my stamina so work was a real struggle for a while, almost lost my house so I've been working ALOT since I've felt good enough to, but not before having to sell 3/4 of my collection so I was pretty down and absent, but I'm doing much better in the last month or so, still a struggle but I'm starting to be on more stable ground 😅 Sorry I know that was alot. kiddo is doing great, we can play Mario Kart together now, he can stay in the top 8 or so until he gets distracted by something usually a cow, toad, or shy guy 😂 he's come a LONG WAY he still doesn't understand what the objective is in games (unless it's paw patrol) so usually he just does whatever catches his eye. There is a type of innocent freedom to the way he plays games, it's been a blast being able to play games with him, alot of times it's hard to hold his attention so playing can be kinda odd at times, but games have kinda helped us do something together for longer periods and it's been so beneficial for his hand eye, attention span, and spacial awareness......God I know that was long, how have you been kind sir? good I hope. happy holidays to you.

[@Zerbraxi]

@@michaelmanning9028 Happy Holidays to you too. I'm so sorry that you had that hardship. I don't really have the words to say other than I'm sorry and I'm glad you're at least safe and healthy now. I'm fascinated by the way children play games and this story you just told of your son is something that I often try to emulate in my own game playing. Like, sometimes its fun to just explore and enjoy the world without the thought of an objective or thing to complete. I envy that and its so precious to hear that your son does that as well. Glad to hear your okay. I hope everything can continue to get better and I can't wait to hear about the day that your son smokes you in a Mario Kart race lol!

[@TheJadeFist]

I can understand why they didn't release this game, the 3d space battles is rough to control. It might be better if the game used the radar system from games like X-Wing or Tie-Fighter, where you have 2 radars, one represents in front of you and the other is behind yourself, it's a much better system to keep track of where enemies are in relation to your view point.

[@Zerbraxi]

In general, yeah, there are other games from the arcade and from around this time that were definitely better overall. It's still a bit of shame it wasn't released because I think it still could've been loved at the time, but the creative in my gets it.

[@TheJadeFist]

@@Zerbraxi X-Wing and Tie Fighter were on PC, I still have a copy of X-Wing on 5 1/2 inch floppies, even though I don't have a computer these days that can read them. But those games were out before Star Fox 1 even. It's one of the few genuine innovations they brought to the genre of just space flying games in general, that of the multiple radar system that game creators have just ignored for some reason and it really was so much better, a single 2D top down radar doesn't work when you have free range of movement like in Star Fox 2.

[@oliverhoodless7470]

I played the leaked Rom a lot in the early/mid 00's. the frame rate isn't good but then at the time you had games like goldeneye and oot that struggled to hit that magic 30 fps number on more powerful hardware so growing up with that I didnt find as distracting. That said it is very noticeable nowadays and if you were born after around 2000 I'd imagine going back and trying to play these games is hard.

[@Zerbraxi]

It's often weird to have the framerate discussion because I remember playing so many games in the early 90's and knowing I had a feeling of "this isn't smooth and it's weird" but I wasn't able to articulate that. I just didn't know what a framerate was or even to express that the FPS was even remotely correlated to a feeling of "smoothness". The main issue I had with the FPS in Star Fox 2 is that it's worse than Star Fox, which already wasn't great but the technical accomplishment made it worth it, and that the framerate directly, negatively affected the gameplay. To use my child self as another example, I remember not enjoying Jet Force Gemini on the N64 for the specific reason that "it's always chugging". I didn't know what that meant really, but I knew how it felt. It wasn't until I was an adult and pushed past that issue that I was able to appreciate it. That or perhaps I've just always been a bit of a cynical dweeb when it comes to video games.

[@oliverhoodless7470]

yeah I remember playing certain games and thinking "this is slow". I think it was a bit easier to overlook cos you knew they were pushing the system to their limits and it meant a certain amount of compromise.

[@oliverhoodless7470]

btw im loving the content just found you covering a lot of my old stomping grounds with stuff like golden sun, starfox and metroid. slowly getting through all your vids

[@Zerbraxi]

@@oliverhoodless7470 I'm so glad. That always means a lot to me. I really hope you enjoy everything I have out there and I hope you enjoy what's still to come. I have A LOT of videos still planned I'm working through.

[@patrickphilip777]

I love the game. Challenging on the highest difficulty setting

[@Zerbraxi]

Hard mode is when I started to really have fun with it.

[@wolfgod6443]

The difficulty modes are really more like the different paths in SF1 or 64 rather than actual difficulty modes. Normal actually has its own unique objectives on planets and some unique bosses like Hard and Expert. It's kind of silly how many times you'd have to play Normal to see all that content though. The planets are easily the highlight, but I don' t see much of a point in complaining about the fly towards the Cruisers. It's so short they're render nearly nonexistent. It's not filler, it's flavor. Despite some of the polish of the official version, the beta is sadly better as it both generally runs better and has QoL improvements. Regardless, the one thing I simply can't agree with is the idea that the game is boring. What I mean is it's subjective. You're not wrong, but I didn't get bored. It's...Weird. I'm not sure why it would be "boring" for you and not for me.

[@Zerbraxi]

For sure, almost anything discussing art is subjective. Most of my boredom stemmed from a lot of dead space and repetition in the tasks. Perhaps it also stemmed a bit from consistently fighting against the technical limitations and framerate. To be fair, there are plenty of games I find thrilling that others find boring. I can't get about 80% of my friends to play Life Is Strange despite it being an emotional roller-coaster ride. It's all kind of the fun in sharing experiences. It's not quite a need to agree or disagree but it's fun to hear another's perspective. I think it's awesome for example that you find a thrill in something I don't. Perhaps by sharing these experiences I might myself find enjoyment where I didn't before by looking at it through your eyes.

[@AnthonyZ.]

Well now you can play it on the Nintendo switch online service, which makes the SNES Classic less desirable, unless you don’t wanna pay per month.

[@Zerbraxi]

You absolutely can! The footage for this video was recorded on the NSO emulator since it had the cleanest quality.

[@fungo6631]

Playing Starfox 2 on ZSNES, the shittiest SNES emulator (not counting Super Retro 16) of them all, is the best way to play the game. It has very good performance, being much faster than on accurate SNES emuators.

[@Zerbraxi]

I never thought I'd say this, but bless you ZSnes.

[@jackcarraway4707]

This game would greatly benefit from a remake.

[@Zerbraxi]

Especially considering the Rogue-like nature of it I think a Star Fox 2 Remake, or inspired title, would be incredibly successful nowadays.

[@1ButtonDash]

damn that game looks sick, I gotta get me a SNES classic

[@Zerbraxi]

It's also on Nintendo Switch Online if you have it.

[@shreksnow1918]

I really should get around to playing this and the original. After all I have the NES/SNES classics. It’s very interesting how most of the ideas Nintendo would eventually use were taken right out of 2. It’s interesting how if you were to combine the best elements of Command and 2 you’d have a very strong foundation for a Star Fox tactical game. Haven’t played Command so I can’t speak on the gameplay, but I can on the story (the story is a dumpster fire. The weird thing is that it has some really good ideas, but you have to dig through a literal ocean of garbage to find them. Kind of like Deviantart😂). The reviews of Command I saw said the gameplay is fun but gets repetitive fast, having multiple characters with different strengths/weaknesses was a really cool change of pace, the tactical elements were fun, different narrative paths were a cool idea with atrocious execution, and the stylus controls weren’t very good. I hate what the game did with Krystal and Fox, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t morbidly curious enough to play the thing and see multiple spin-offs based on the different endings. If you were to fox the flaws of both games and combine their strengths you’d have something truly amazing. Too bad Nintendo most likely won’t make that because it’s too niche, and the fans won’t because most people hated Command for the story. Hopefully the original creators of Star Fox make a game that’s Star Fox in everything but name. Since I’m so used to aiming with the thumbstick I hadn’t thought about how bad the aiming in this game would be. Wow. It’s truly bizarre how they thought it would be a good idea to lock the homing attack behind 100%ing the game. I’m not entirely sure what my thoughts on 2 releasing when it did are. It was both a technical marvel and really dated at the same time. I doubt it would have changed the industry or anything like that. But, I’m sure we would have gotten multiple playable characters with different strengths/weaknesses in games other than Command, there would have been more strategy to Star Fox, and people would be less harsh on games that don’t play exactly like 1/64. Although, we can never truly say what would have happened. I’m just glad the rom was around for however long and that it got an official release. If you want more Star Fox content that isn’t official there’s two fan projects you NEED to check out. The first one is called Star Fox Event Horizon by Undying Nephalim. It’s a reimagining of the 64 continuity that uses characters and elements from all three timelines/reboots. He somehow got the lady who plays Krystal to do voice work for the game (voice lines haven’t been released yet). It’s a mod for Freespace Open which is an open source game so it’s free. Unfortunately there’s no on rails sections, or the ability to jump in and out of vehicles because of engine limitations. Luckily the maps are super big with scripted events, and he got ground vehicles working so the Adventures/Assault arcs will still function (unfortunately they won’t feel right, but this is the next best thing). He’s done an insane amount of work on the project. He also has a Zelda rts called Hyrule Conquest(that’s a whole other can of worms). There’s also this guy called Esphirian who’s making a reimagining of Adventures. I’ve talked with the guy in the comments and he has some really cool ideas for the story/lore and gameplay. It will be like BOTW where the game has an open world and you can do objects in any order you want. Andross is dead and there’s just a military alliance between Scales and the Venomian remnants. The Great Fox and it’s crew will have a much more active role in the game. Krystal will be along for the journey, you’ll be able to swap between them like in Lego Star Wars, and you’ll need their abilities to solve puzzles and fight enemies. So far there’s three trailers and a dev log. He hasn’t released any demos/playable builds because that would increase the likelihood of Nintendo stomping it and it’s nowhere near complete. So far it looks very impressive. Good video.

[@Zerbraxi]

Thank you so much for this. I'll definitely have to check out these fan projects. I've considered covering fan projects and spiritual successors in a video after I wrap up a video on Star Fox Zero. That's still a bit out but I'd love to explore the projects out there. Star Fox has such an insanely dedicated fan base, and while I'm definitely not as devoted as some others, I love this franchise and gameplay and would love to see more like it. I've just recently been notified of Ex Zodiac on Steam which looks like an awesome modern take of the original Star Fox formula. I want to check that out as well as the others you mentioned here as well. Again, thank you so much for the comment. This was a good read and very helpful. Hopefully you also enjoy the remainder of the Star Fox videos and the other videos in general I have planned. I'm trying to sprinkle in other games while I cover a series, so the next video, or 2 won't be Star Fox, but I'll be returning to cover Adventures hopefully soon. See ya!

[@shreksnow1918]

Thanks for responding. I’ll be sure to watch your other videos on the series. I liked how your review wasn’t just glowing praise, but did a good job of talking about what does and does not work about the game. I’m sure the other reviewers/future reviews are/will be the same way. I agree that it’s pretty crazy how devoted the fanbase for these games are. In a way it reminds me of the Sonic fandom where there’s a lot of really talented people, except it’s not also a breeding ground for lolcows. Obscure characters have a lot of people who want them in the games. Videos on fan projects, and new Star Fox inspired rail shooters will definitely be interesting. Good luck with that if you do end up making those. This one channel Nintendo World Report TV had an interesting short interview with the lead dev of Whiskey Squadron. Around the middle of the video they were talking about how other rail shooters were getting made and they showed on screen different examples of these. You’d have to take a bunch of screenshots, or pause and write them all down because it went by fast. I wish listed most of them on Steam so if I remember them I’ll make another comment that has the list. More on the topic of controls and modernization in games it made me think of how apparently before Halo most shooters on console felt terrible to play because the devs came up with these terrible controls that just made everything feel clunky. The Bungie came up with the control scheme most games use today. If you haven’t played the Halos you should check them out now that most of them are on Steam. It’s really meant to be played on a controller. When you critically analyze the story it’s pretty dumb, a lot of stuff doesn’t make much sense, and the characters are about as deep as a puddle. The reason the story gets the praise it does is because of the presentation. It has some of the best music in games, the characters have memorable lines and they’re all well voice acted, the gameplay is really fun with a lot of cool set pieces, and the lore is very interesting (there’s like 20-30 books in the expanded universe. I’ve only read 3 of them). Don’t watch the show because that was a complete dumpster fire and it’s only Halo in name and visuals. Also, don’t buy Infinite for a couple of years because it simply is not finished yet. A lot of staple features from previous games are missing, and it has very little content. It simply is not worth the $60 asking price. Again, great video. Good luck with your other stuff.

[@Zerbraxi]

@@shreksnow1918 Thank you again. I plan to cover Halo to some extent eventually, but I'm not sure if I'd cover it in the same style I have done lately. It'd be a long way off anyway but it is a series that I appreciate dearly, especially because of what it's done for the games industry as a whole. Thanks again for the conversation!

[@foxdavani4091]

Maybe to be able to achieve what they achieved in this game, they had to sacrifice a lot of enemies in the stage itself so the game can run smoothly. That’s the only thing I can think about is why the stages are so empty but the game is so far beyond what is 16 bit council could do.

[@Zerbraxi]

You're probably correct. There had to be some serious tradeoff considering to scope of the 3D available in Star Fox 2.

[@Leyvin]

It's *very* difficult to judge the Framerate of Starfox (Starwing) 2 for the simple reason that there is no version compatible / available for the SNES. What we have is an emulated version., on modern digital displays... This means the 9 - 12.5 FPS (11 - 15 FPS on NTSC)., well it is in a way *exactly* that... but it actually gets a little worse than you think. Sure, functionally this is just *exactly* how Starfox has _always_ run. 80 - 110ms Latency., but here's the thing... our reaction times (even a top tier gamer) is going to be a minimum of 120ms., although for most players ~180 - 220ms is more likely. As for our visual input., well as I've tried to explain many times over the years; we don't really see "Frames"., perceptually sure; it might _seem_ like we're viewing a consistent image, and obviously we can tell a difference between say 30FPS and 60FPS. The thing is, have you ever considered *what* that perception you have is? Most don't... they just feel like the game is "Slower", which is fair; but more accurately motion is choppier, meaning it is more difficult for your brain to predictively process; thus it spends more time doing so and your reactions are reduced as a result. Remember what we _actually_ perceive are changes in light intensity over time., which our brains will then predictively process and resolve into an image. And this is where CRT., specifically *interlaced* CRT end up providing a *better* experience for older games. So., here's a fun-fact the way an Interlace Display works is it Renders (on each pass) First Odd then Even Scanlines; and Televisions specifically will at maximum refresh at either 50Hz (PAL) or 60Hz (NTSC). While for a Progressive Display, these are going to be Discreet Frames... this just indicates the number of times the Scanline returns to the Top. As such., on a 50Hz PAL Display (and I'll use this as I grew up in the UK, this _was_ *our* standard)., you get 25 Odd Fields and 25 Even Fields every Second. Yet this isn't the only interesting aspect., the way a CRT works is it essentially "excites" the Phosphorus Layer... which loses excitement over time. Basically, by the time the display completes a Field., the previous layer will have lost ~50% Brightness; and you'll notice when people do a "CRT Filter" they'll try to emulate this by dimming every other line... which is why it doesn't _actually_ look like a CRT, just that recorded CRT appearance. (Why this is, is because the recording will always be "In Sync" with the display it's recording; thus from *it's* perspective either the odd or even is *always* dimmed., but these are basically switching every other frame, and more specifically entropic from the active scanline) This is very difficult to emulate with a static image., which a modern LED/OLED/TFT Display actually displays every pixel at once; the reason "Scanlines" still exist regarding screen tearing is because image buffers are still written sequentially... that won't change, but the display itself will receive a complete image buffer and the LED Matrix will display every pixel within a few nanoseconds of each other. Anyway, the point here., is that you never _really_ have a "Complete" Image on an Interlaced Display. At best you will have a Clear Even Field, with a Dimmed Odd Field... but in the next pass that Odd Field will become the next frame; while you're Dimmed Even Field will be the previous Frame. This is what I think people tend to have difficulty wrapping their head around, because remember what I said about how we perceive things... our *brain* is predictively interpreting the information of light intensity changed *over* time. In essence the Active Field (Odd/Even) will be *dominant* and the image processing our brains are doing will base what we're seeing on that... and this is *incomplete* information. It will then blend it with the Dimmed Field to create what it considers a "Complete Image". So, sure *physically* on a 50Hz Display; we will only receive 25 "Complete" images., but in reality our brain ends up thinking there are far *more* images... typically, double. As such a Game *running* at 25 FPS., will appear to be 50 FPS; if we were to compare side-by-side with a Modern Static Image Display. And here's the thing... you don't think a 30FPS Game is "Unplayable" do you? Generally., while it feels a bit more sluggish than a Native 60FPS Game (which obviously would be preferably) it's *entirely* playable. Developers on older hardware understood this "Feel" aspect to CRT., there are quite a few things that they used to do to take advantage of CRT Displays. Such-as Natural-Aliasing that came from the image not being precise pixels but instead using a mask; that gave the illusion of individual pixels... light could still "Bleed" to the surrounding area, thus resulting in "pixel" blending; and again when interpreted by our brains would "Softed" the interaction between them. What on a Modern Display might look like a very pixellated arrow that animated downward, well that turns into a soft arrow line that could be mistaken for moving water; and when we also throw in interlacing into the mix, rippling water. And here's where I think that the modern "Emulation" of the Old Hardware isn't good., because arguably to get a similar effect to what the actual Hardware and Display produced; you have to run at 2x the Framerate and Upscale the Image with Signed Distance Linear Interpolation for Colour Resolution in a Linear Space (that is then converted back to Gamma (sRGB) Space). And for accurate colour generation., Tone Mapped to PAL / NTSC mapping. (they DID look different) The result of a "Perfect" Emulation is., that it isn't perfect to how it would've felt on period correct Hardware *had* it been released. Starwing frankly feels really bad and unplayable under Emulation (even on the Switch, which is one of the BEST Emulations)., where-as while sure, on Native Hardware on a CRT it _can_ feel sluggish at times; it was quite playable. I have a feeling that Starfox (Starwing) 2 is the same... on the Switch, it *really* feels bad at times; but on the actual Hardware... I'd wager it would feel no different to playing any (almost) 30 FPS Console game today. And I'd LOVE it *IF* Nintendo would do a run of Starfox 2 for the SNES., that I could play on my old Samsung HD CRT 32" I reckon it would look and feel good to play; while on emulation on my switch (which I tend have in base mode with a Pro Controller on my Samsung UHD 70")... it *really* becomes a chore to play at times. Emulating *those* old aspects of Older Hardware is difficult, if not to a degree impossible on Modern Hardware... it simply doesn't work the same way on a fundamental level. One is Analog while the other is Digital.

[@Zerbraxi]

You may very well be on to something with your conclusion about the emulation type used, because funny enough, the ZSnes emulator actually has the game play surprisingly smooth compared to the SNES Mini and the Switch emulator. Odds are that ZSnes is running the game incorrectly and utilizing modern hardware to increase framerate. However, I have a feeling that Star Fox 2 probably did run incredibly poorly on actual hardware, especially considering that it's performance was the dominant reason Nintendo decided not to put the product to market considering the competition.

[@Leyvin]

@@Zerbraxi • Maybe... but I'm not so sure performance was the real reason. While performance drops on the emulators., we should keep in mind that it was intended to use a SuperFX 3 Chip; which run faster and had more improvements over the SuperFX 2, which itself was a refinement of the SuperFX 1. Chances are on said hardware, it would've been about the same performance as the original. Personally, I think (and it was the RIGHT decision by Nintendo) that I'd have cancelled it as well. There *IS* a good idea in there _somewhere_ but neither Starfox 2 or Starfox Command _really_ were able to figure out how to make it Fun and Engaging. I think really Starfox 2 would've been better as just an expansion on the original. ala Street Fighter 2 Vs. Super Street Fighter 2. And arguably that _is_ to a degree what Starfox 64 ended up being. I'd still like to see what the performance would've been like on the SNES with the SuperFX3 (which was never produced). Still, I'd also like to see a PROPERLY realised version of Starfox 2... something where the gameplay and mechanics were properly thought out and realised.

[@thepixeltavern]

Awesome video as usual :) It's so odd that Starfox 2 eventually released. I've played abit of it but as you say it's a little painful to play 😅 if you are playing through all the Starfox games it will be interesting to see your thoughts on starfox zero. I really enjoyed that game and it go slated so harshly

[@Zerbraxi]

Thank you very much! Yeah, it was a tough one. It's always a tough balance to strike to give praise and criticism on games that over 20 years old. I'm definitely planning on hitting all of the Star Fox games. It probably won't be as back to back as I did with my Metroid videos, but I want to make it an effort to hit them all. Honestly, Star Fox Zero is probably the one I'm most excited to go back to only because it's now been a few years so any of the hype or surprise is over with by now. I'm not looking forward to Star Fox Guard though...I don't even know what to do with that one lol.

[@thepixeltavern]

@@Zerbraxi yeah i find anything "basic" holds up well, 2d zeldas and marios for example. But 3d games age worse than 2D by far haha. I really enjoyed star fox zero, after a single run though the controls were completely synced for me and I really got into it. I recently set my WiiU back up fully and hacked it for Gamecube games so its getting a lot of use lately. Haha starfox guard is a weird one. Its a fun game but it feels like a mini game turned into a full game, but then packaged free with the main game. Bizzare haha

[@Zerbraxi]

Ohhh, how well do Gamecube works on a hacked Wii U? The Wii U still runs on the Dolphin system correct? I've wanted to do this to get better image quality out of the Gamecube but haven't looked too far into it.

[@thepixeltavern]

@@Zerbraxi actually in runs natively. The Wii U can actually run Gamecube games. Nintendo just coded it out and the disc drive cant read GC discs. But yeah no emulation at all. Its crazy that Nintendo didn't keep that as a feature

[@Zerbraxi]

​ @The Pixel Tavern WHAT?! Looking this up right now and doing it. Thanks for the tip. I could finally drop the Wii from my shelf. Would love to use my Wii U for a cleaner signal than my current Gamecube setup. Currently have to use the GC Mk2 alongside Swiss booting from the SD2SP2 adapter. Definitely gonna have to look at the Wii U modding scene more. I love that console and definitely need to give it even more love it seems.

[@michaelmanning9028]

I wish I still had my SNES Mini, I've got every one of those games on my moded wii but it's just not the same, I hate that nintendo will release something really awesome in small quantities so not everyone can get one and then never make those games available again in any sort of reliable fashion Basically forcing people to mod their consoles or play pirated versions, I have several games on my Wii U that I have paid for off of virtual counsel that I also have on modded consoles just because I wanted to give nintendo money for it and show them that there is a market for these things At least Sega releases game compilations rather large ones on every console that comes out it seems like, Sega still does what Nintendont

[@Zerbraxi]

Despite how often Sega can misstep on their products, I do have to give them immense props for the releasing as many compilations as you mentioned. I think it's kinda funny that many players get frustrated that Sega is releasing yet ANOTHER Sonic compilation, or Genesis compilation. Yet, that's also such a positive thing for the industry as a whole. While Sega for sure needs to expand the list of games they do outside the same 50 every time, it's still such a good thing for games preservation, and for their own business, to continually re-release these old games. While Sega might not do it right every time, at least they give it a try. Nintendo just doesn't treat their legacy the same which is a genuine shame.

[@TheBerendir]

Bit late to the party and I was like 12 when I first played Starfox, literally just tried this one the wives switch and.... Bring back the on rails shooter haha 🤣

[@Zerbraxi]

There's definitely just something special about the on rails portions.

[@ThatTallBrendan]

8:30 You have to be very careful with the characters you pick, because health is persistent.. *"You dibn't use* _Nova Baaawwmb.._ I, win! *All, mine!"*

[@Zerbraxi]

Don't Call Me Star Fox!!

[@nephilexfrost7202]

14:18 cheesy, but love it lol

[@Zerbraxi]

LOL! Quite honestly, the joke was mostly aimed as an insult at myself because I'm totally the "Um actually..." guy when it comes to astrophysics. Makes it all the more embarrassing that I didn't piece together that retro thrusters was referencing retrograde.

[@Purpbatboi]

in the game's source code the difficultly are labeled as easy = normal normal = hard mode hard = expert it was a mistake on their end

[@Zerbraxi]

That makes SOOO much sense. Hard Mode really does just appear to be the intended way to play and really isn't "hard" to begin with.

[@michaelmanning9028]

No wonder you are worn out, you've been cranking out great stuff pretty regularly lately. It's no wonder Nintendo didn't release this, it looks really amazing for what it is and may have cut into early sales of the N64, pretty sure thats why Nintendo canceled it, its far more complete than it should be for a "canceled" game. I'm intimidated by Star Fox Zero, I really hope you cover it as well, even if it's horrible 🤣 I've got a sealed and used copy, got both for $5 each so I couldn't pass em up, a $5 dollar game is almost always going to get bought by me, I don't care how horrible it may be.

[@Zerbraxi]

I'm glad you think the videos have been great! Having now played through all of what Star Fox 2 has to offer, I'm not surprised it was cancelled. There's some incredible engineering behind it, but as a game, I don't think it lands so much of that "Nintendo Quality" that they typically like to ensure. I'll definitely be covering Star Fox Zero eventually, don't you worry. I aim to give it the most fair shake I can. I typically go into a video with the aim of trying to pull as much good out of it as I can. I find more joy in showing off the positive feats that a game can provide. Granted, there are times when problems can't be ignored of course, but these videos are often a great way for me to turn my all too often cynicism into something more positive.

[@michaelmanning9028]

@@Zerbraxi I absolutely agree with you, the way you present these games is almost as it's almost as if you're looking at them through the eyes of a younger version of yourself how you would have seen them or played The heck out of them as if they were your only games, Which is awesome because I feel as collectors the larger our libraries grow the more picky we are on what we will play, At least I know that's a problem that I have, When I was a kid I had X amount of games and got every drop of goodness out of them that I possibly could Whether that game was super Mario brothers 3 or yonoid, we played them because it's what was available And I really enjoy that your videos put off that same vibe keep up the good work! Just make sure you don't burn yourself out 😁

[@Zerbraxi]

I appreciate the concern. I'll try to be smart about it. I'm glad that vibe comes from my videos because its definitely something I've aimed to do. I'm very much of the belief that harsh criticism can co-exist with the pure joy of experiencing a piece of art.

[@scotthewitt9861]

Idk y he says miyu and fay start with the twin blaster - THEY DON’T

[@Zerbraxi]

They don't? Hmm I could've sworn they both started with Shield + Twin Blaster as items

[@scotthewitt9861]

@@Zerbraxi I’ve read in this very thread that that was only true in the leaked beta. Did you play it?

[@Zerbraxi]

@scotthewitt9861 I ended up playing it yes, so perhaps I just got the facts crossed

[@EthanWinters176]

"Star Fox 2 2017" weird, isn't it?

[@Zerbraxi]

It's definitely weird! Finding out about Star Fox 2 all those years ago only to finally be able to play a canceled game officially. It's still wild to me.

[@PrimateSoul]

Cough Everdrive

[@Zerbraxi]

Also a good option. A little pricey but if you end up playing a bunch of games from that console that Everdrives can be super worth it.

[@squizzlor]

Amazing game, don’t admire nentendo tweek of game difficulty being called normal instead of easy, as it sabotages the fact its tutorial. This game would have probably been a huge deal at its time. End of a consoles lifetime or not its name was big enough, and its concept crestive and new, loads of replayablility.

[@Zerbraxi]

In general I think this was worth releasing if they could've worked out the framerate a bit...but at the time I doubt anyone would've actually cared

[@furryblizzard]

BWIN!!!!!!!

[@Zerbraxi]

I'm so happy you two found each other again at long last.

[@begochiddy]

FIRSTYt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111!!!!!!!!!!!

[@furryblizzard]

BWWWWINNNING

[@Zerbraxi]

Congratulations!