Yesterday (June 26) saw the official announcement of the SNES Classic Edition, or the Mini Super Famicom for Japan. Included in this announcement was the statement that the SNES Classic will include the previously unreleased Star Fox 2, among twenty other games. The release of this finished, but never before released, game surprised and excited many, but probably none more so than Dylan Cuthbert, who programmed Star Fox 2 back in 1995.
Cuthbert apparently had no idea that Star Fox 2 would be on the SNES Classic and only found out about its addition on the console yesterday, the same time everyone else did. In an email to Kotaku, Cuthbert said that seeing the announcement “made my day,” and that it is “bloody awesome!”
Cuthbert also programmed the first Star Fox, which was released in 1993 to critical acclaim, partially due to the game’s 3D-esque graphics, which were revolutionary at the time. However, by the time Star Fox 2 was ready to be released, other consoles, namely the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, had upped the game in terms of 3D graphics. Nintendo thought it best to cancel Star Fox 2, seeing as how the SNES’s 3D capabilities could not compare to their rivals’. Instead, many ideas and concepts created for Star Fox 2 were utilized in 1997’s Star Fox 64 for the Nintendo 64. Cuthbert states, “Our older retro form of 3D just didn’t cut it anymore and Nintendo didn’t want to raise comparisons. I agree that strategically (if not emotionally) it was the correct decision. But now our older retro form of 3D is the new cool kid on the block, it’s perfect timing!”
Although some fans have been able to play emulations of the game, Star Fox 2‘s first official release will be this September 29 as part of the SNES Classic. Cuthbert says, “I hope people don’t think they cleared the game with just one playthrough! In that sense, it is a very unique game.”
