One of the creators involved in the scrapped Star Fox sequel expressed a sense of relief that their game didn’t launch as planned, as it wouldn’t have been able to compete with the newly-released PlayStation.
Back in 1995, Nintendo aimed to unveil Star Fox 2 on the SNES in August. By mid-year, the game was almost finished, but Nintendo opted to concentrate on the forthcoming N64 and its advanced 3D graphics, leading to the cancellation of the release. Star Fox 2 was completed behind the scenes—complete with quality assurance testing and localization—but it did not see the light of day until it was released as part of the SNES Classic collection in 2017.
According to programmer Dylan Cuthbert, who worked on Star Fox and Star Fox 2, the team might not have been as disheartened by the absence of a release as one might assume. In an interview with Retro Gamer, Cuthbert remarked, “I do wish it had been launched, but at the same time, the PlayStation had just debuted and was obviously much better in terms of 3D graphics.”
The introduction of Sony‘s console in 1994 did seem to create some apprehension for Nintendo, and Cuthbert noted he “wouldn’t have liked our game to be juxtaposed” with the PlayStation’s superior graphics. Nonetheless, he was “very pleased” that Star Fox 2 eventually released, albeit more than two decades later than initially anticipated.
Cuthbert continued to take on leadership roles in various Star Fox endeavors, directing both Star Fox Command for the Nintendo DS in 2006 and Star Fox N64 3D for the 3DS in 2011.
Star Fox secures its position on our list of the greatest SNES games of all time.
