Star Fox hasn't had a new game since 2017's Star Fox 2, but since that was basically an unreleased game for the SNES, you wouldn't be wrong in saying that the last Star Fox game ever made was Star Fox Zero. Unfortunately, that game didn't review or sell particularly well, and it seems like Nintendo has shelved the Star Fox franchise since then.

But what if Nintendo hadn't taken Star Fox out of his ship and kept him in the cockpit where he belonged? Then we might have had something like Star Fox Armada, a canceled game from Retro Studios. Originally pitched in 2013 for the Wii U, Star Fox Armada would have picked up right where Star Fox 64 left off, with Fox McCloud and the crew helping to rebuild the Lylat System after the war with Andross.

Speaking to DidYouKnowGaming?, former Retro Studios artist Eric Kozlowsky described something that sounded like the idea Star Fox title. It would have taken the classic space shooter combat and given it a mission-based structure with open levels that could be fully explored. Fox could walk around the Great Fox to take missions for General Pepper and gather credits to unlock ship upgrades, hire more crew, or even buy entirely new vehicles.



Star Fox Armada would have also had extensive multiplayer functionality too. Co-op mode would allow "multiple ships" to take part in campaign missions, player two could have taken the Wii U nunchuk to man the turret and manage shield power, and PvP would have had massive dogfights between armadas of players--hence the name. Players could also build their own teams and design their own custom anthro animal characters to place themselves in the Star Fox world.

Another multiplayer feature would have taken a page from Soulsborne games and have players invade other campaign missions like Star Wolf did. Invaded players could then issue a bounty on the Miiverse to take out mercs in retaliation.

Kozlowsky described a game that could have been Nintendo's first real evergreen title, with periodic DLC that would add new ships, planets, or cosmetics. It could have been Nintendo's Team Fortress 2, but "Retro's leadership and [Nintendo Producer] Kensuke Tanabe would ultimately decide what's the best direction to go for the studio," and they decided to pass.

Posted: Feb 10, 2023 10:26 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/cancelled-star-fox-armada-wii-u-multiplayer/