Ah, Star Fox. Staaaaaar Fox!
The series has taken so many forms over the years. You have the on-rails/all-range action of the SNES and N64 titles (including the unreleased Star Fox II). You have the mixed approach of Assault... The "strategic" approach of Command... And I believe there was one more... Ah yes, the Zelda clone Stairfax Temperatures.
But now the series is missing! Who knows when we may see another. :-\
In the meanwhile, Star Fox fans, I'd like to know what your dream Star Fox title would look like. And emphasis on the word "dream" -- although you can temper it with some degree of reality (I.E. physically possible, but requiring a developer's best effort).
Here's mine (going all-out)!
STAR FOX 64-II
- Co-developers: PlatinumGames AND Treasure
- Director: Hideki Kamiya / Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto
- The most content-packed installment in series history
- Difficulty slider for risk/reward, like Kid Icarus Uprising
- 100 missions — 70 Arwing; 15 Landmaster; 15 on-foot
- Branching paths can lead to alternate levels and endings
- Players will see roughly 50 levels on a single playthrough
- Levels have three parts — on-rails, all-range, boss battle
- Levels can change up the order and extent of each part
- Levels are vast, intricately detailed, and fully destructible
- Huge variety of enemy types and over-the-top set-pieces
- Issue commands to AI-controlled wingmates in campaign
- Team includes Fox, Falco, Peppy, Slippy, Miyu and Fay
- Arwing can hover and strafe in all-range mode, like Warhawk
- Arwing has extendable appendages for melee and grappling
- Arwing can find upgrades, like a Galaga-style "second ship"
- Arwing transforms into a bipedal mech with new abilities
- Mech is reminiscent of mech in Starhawk, only faster
- Mech can infiltrate installations during flight missions
- Mech can dismantle ground fortifications (I.E. anti-air)
- Mech is originally from the unreleased STAR FOX 2
- Landmaster is amphibious and can roll right into the water
- Landmaster can sail like a ship, and dive like a submarine
- Landmaster's submarine form is called Blue Marine Mode
- Landmaster can drive up walls and across ceilings
- Landmaster uses anti-gravity treads for climbing
- On-foot missions (on-rails) play similar to Sin & Punishment
- On-foot missions (all-range) feature "stylish character action"
- This means TPS action like Vanquish, melee like Bayonetta
- There are also one-on-one rival duels like Metal Gear Rising
- Fox's legs are enhanced with new cybernetic augmentations
- This references his appearance in the SNES promotional art
- Fox's legs can super-sprint, rocket-jump, jackhammer foes
- Fox's leg moves are regulated by a gauge, Vanquish-style
- Fox wields a variety of firearms, and an extendable bō staff
- Fox and his vehicles can be customized to a high degree
- Customize by equipping new armaments and subsystems
- Players control a transformable Great Fox for the final battle
- Andross plugs his head into a robot body for the final battle
- Most cutscenes/codecs feature Thunderbirds-style puppets
- Live-action puppets call back to the SNES promotional art
- Cutscenes during missions are all in-engine (codecs aside)
- Database has art, music, lore, bestiary, 3D figures, dioramas
- Achievements rewarded by prize wall, like Kid Icarus Uprising
- Online leaderboards are available for missions, campaigns
- Replay data is uploaded to authenticate the record-holders
- Multiplayer has local split-screen, online, and local/online
- Multiplayer has Warhawk-like sandbox battles (2-32 players)
- Multiplayer has a co-op campaign for up to four players
- In co-op, players are briefed on the target and receive intel
- Players have various options, similar to the heists in GTAV
- Players must divide and conquer, handling different tasks
- For the sandbox battles, players create custom characters
- Pick species, gender, color of skin/fur/feathers/scales, etc.
- Battle by land, air and sea, in free-for-all and team formats
- Spectate live matches (co-op and PvP) via Star Fox TV
- Soundtrack scored by an all-star team, led by Koji Kondo
- Bonus: Mirror Mode that mirrors levels, remixes enemies
- Bonus: Challenging mini-campaign with playable Wolf
- Bonus: Super FX Mode with flat-shaded polygon style
- Bonus: The unreleased SNES title STAR FOX 2
- Above bonuses are secret post-game content
Even though Kamiya said he's no longer interested in Star Fox (due to the incessant pestering of people on Twitter), part of me hopes this is a mere attempt to cull the fanboy spam. After all, the original games are among his favorites. I'm sure Kamiya could take Star Fox and dial it up to a Spinal Tap-py 11.
What would your dream Star Fox look like?
The series has taken so many forms over the years. You have the on-rails/all-range action of the SNES and N64 titles (including the unreleased Star Fox II). You have the mixed approach of Assault... The "strategic" approach of Command... And I believe there was one more... Ah yes, the Zelda clone Stairfax Temperatures.
But now the series is missing! Who knows when we may see another. :-\
In the meanwhile, Star Fox fans, I'd like to know what your dream Star Fox title would look like. And emphasis on the word "dream" -- although you can temper it with some degree of reality (I.E. physically possible, but requiring a developer's best effort).
Here's mine (going all-out)!
STAR FOX 64-II
- Co-developers: PlatinumGames AND Treasure
- Director: Hideki Kamiya / Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto
- The most content-packed installment in series history
- Difficulty slider for risk/reward, like Kid Icarus Uprising
- 100 missions — 70 Arwing; 15 Landmaster; 15 on-foot
- Branching paths can lead to alternate levels and endings
- Players will see roughly 50 levels on a single playthrough
- Levels have three parts — on-rails, all-range, boss battle
- Levels can change up the order and extent of each part
- Levels are vast, intricately detailed, and fully destructible
- Huge variety of enemy types and over-the-top set-pieces
- Issue commands to AI-controlled wingmates in campaign
- Team includes Fox, Falco, Peppy, Slippy, Miyu and Fay
- Arwing can hover and strafe in all-range mode, like Warhawk
- Arwing has extendable appendages for melee and grappling
- Arwing can find upgrades, like a Galaga-style "second ship"
- Arwing transforms into a bipedal mech with new abilities
- Mech is reminiscent of mech in Starhawk, only faster
- Mech can infiltrate installations during flight missions
- Mech can dismantle ground fortifications (I.E. anti-air)
- Mech is originally from the unreleased STAR FOX 2
- Landmaster is amphibious and can roll right into the water
- Landmaster can sail like a ship, and dive like a submarine
- Landmaster's submarine form is called Blue Marine Mode
- Landmaster can drive up walls and across ceilings
- Landmaster uses anti-gravity treads for climbing
- On-foot missions (on-rails) play similar to Sin & Punishment
- On-foot missions (all-range) feature "stylish character action"
- This means TPS action like Vanquish, melee like Bayonetta
- There are also one-on-one rival duels like Metal Gear Rising
- Fox's legs are enhanced with new cybernetic augmentations
- This references his appearance in the SNES promotional art
- Fox's legs can super-sprint, rocket-jump, jackhammer foes
- Fox's leg moves are regulated by a gauge, Vanquish-style
- Fox wields a variety of firearms, and an extendable bō staff
- Fox and his vehicles can be customized to a high degree
- Customize by equipping new armaments and subsystems
- Players control a transformable Great Fox for the final battle
- Andross plugs his head into a robot body for the final battle
- Most cutscenes/codecs feature Thunderbirds-style puppets
- Live-action puppets call back to the SNES promotional art
- Cutscenes during missions are all in-engine (codecs aside)
- Database has art, music, lore, bestiary, 3D figures, dioramas
- Achievements rewarded by prize wall, like Kid Icarus Uprising
- Online leaderboards are available for missions, campaigns
- Replay data is uploaded to authenticate the record-holders
- Multiplayer has local split-screen, online, and local/online
- Multiplayer has Warhawk-like sandbox battles (2-32 players)
- Multiplayer has a co-op campaign for up to four players
- In co-op, players are briefed on the target and receive intel
- Players have various options, similar to the heists in GTAV
- Players must divide and conquer, handling different tasks
- For the sandbox battles, players create custom characters
- Pick species, gender, color of skin/fur/feathers/scales, etc.
- Battle by land, air and sea, in free-for-all and team formats
- Spectate live matches (co-op and PvP) via Star Fox TV
- Soundtrack scored by an all-star team, led by Koji Kondo
- Bonus: Mirror Mode that mirrors levels, remixes enemies
- Bonus: Challenging mini-campaign with playable Wolf
- Bonus: Super FX Mode with flat-shaded polygon style
- Bonus: The unreleased SNES title STAR FOX 2
- Above bonuses are secret post-game content
Even though Kamiya said he's no longer interested in Star Fox (due to the incessant pestering of people on Twitter), part of me hopes this is a mere attempt to cull the fanboy spam. After all, the original games are among his favorites. I'm sure Kamiya could take Star Fox and dial it up to a Spinal Tap-py 11.
What would your dream Star Fox look like?