With the launch of the SNES Classic, Star Fox 2 gets the official release that was originally planned for 1995-96. The game was finished but ultimately scrapped during this transitional period for game consoles, when both the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 were on the brink of delivering richer 3D experiences. It's a game that's hard to evaluate in 2017 without contextualizing it in the time it was created. But out of its 22-year limbo, Star Fox 2 is both an expression of technical limitations of the SNES platform and laudable modern game design.
At the start of a playthrough, you choose two pilots to embark on the campaign. The original cast of anthropomorphic critters--Fox, Slippy, Falco, and Peppy--returns with two new female characters in Miyu and Fay. Each character has their own special item, shield strength, speed, and ship design. The overworld map is where you swap between your two pilots, in case one is low on shields and needs a break between battle sequences. This approach detracts from the feeling of camaraderie present in the squadron-style premise of past Star Fox games, especially since you engage in fights as a duo or on your own. It does, however, make you responsible for managing characters' statuses.
Star Fox 2 breaks from tradition as it's structured more as a game of base defense than a pure on-rails shooter. The overworld map operates in real time as you send your pilot duo off to defuse a multitude of interplanetary threats in the embattled Lylat system. And the core of the game is to take down Andross (again) before Corneria reaches 100% destruction at the hands of incoming forces. In order to get to Andross, you repel attacks in familiar locations like Macbeth, Titania, and Fortuna. His cronies and high-ranking pilots Star Wolf, Pigma, and Leon will intercept you at times; it's in these instances where you engage in free-flowing 3D dogfights in space.
Free-roam planet missions differ slightly and offer Star Fox 2's best moments. Your Arwing ship can transform into a land-based walker. Doing so causes the game to switch to manual acceleration and an alternate aiming system. It's a showcase of rudimentary third-person shooting that feels surprisingly contemporary, especially with the 16-bit era as your frame of reference. The L and R shoulder buttons control your aim and the D-pad controls forward and backward movement and strafing. Swapping between air and land vehicles as you take down planetary bases is a highlight and peaks in the final level when the game opens up branching paths. But like the game itself, these moments come to a close very quickly.
Each run of the campaign is built around obtaining a high score, and making it to the final stage takes about 20 to 30 minutes. Since actual battles eat up real time, and the ultimate goal is to take down Andross before Corneria is destroyed, you're encouraged to accomplish everything as soon as possible; plus, you get more points for faster mission completion. It's a deliberate design decision, but it sacrifices the more intricate boss fights seen in the first Star Fox, which results in a game that feels too thin overall.
To the developers' credit, the systems in place that make up the base-defense segments in Star Fox 2 instill a valuable sense of player agency. You decide where to go, what to defend, and how to juggle multiple threats; it's in contrast to the distinct paths you choose in other Star Fox games. You'd be hard-pressed to repel every enemy, and you have to put a bit more foresight into your approach through the campaign, despite its brevity.
However, the biggest factor that holds back Star Fox 2 is its poor technical performance. While we can boil it down to the lack of system resources the original developers had to work with on the SNES, knowing this doesn't negate the fact that the sluggish framerate and rudimentary visuals make dogfights laborious. You'll find yourself mindlessly following target indicators since it's nearly impossible to track enemy ships in the game. It's hard to enjoy the pace of fights when Star Fox 2 runs almost like a slideshow.
Star Fox 2 can be praised for the ambitious structure that seemed to be ahead of its time, but the enjoyable moments are hamstrung by modern standards and expectations. Framerate issues and tech that wasn't suited for this style of game prevent Star Fox 2's vision from being fully realized, but it's an important piece of gaming history kept alive with an official release. This game alone isn't the driving force to seek out an SNES Classic, and you'll want to consider the more time-tested games in the package.
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