List of Star Fox video games

The Star Fox video game series is a franchise of rail shooters and other action-adventure games published and produced by Nintendo. The games have been developed by a variety of developers, but all of the games have had input from Nintendo. All Star Fox video games have been developed exclusively for Nintendo video game consoles and handhelds dating from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the current generation of video game consoles. The series debuted in Japan on February 21, 1993 with Star Fox,[a] which was later released in North America and Europe, being renamed in Europe to Starwing.[1] The series revolves around the Star Fox team, a group of mercenaries hired to protect the Lylat system. The leader of the group, Fox McCloud, is the protagonist of the series, and the only playable character in most of the games. Currently, the series contains nine games. One reason the Star Fox series has remained popular is because of the shoot 'em up aerial sequences found in many of the games, which are recognized as the series' high points.[2][3] Dylan Cuthbert, one of the original creators of the series, noted that it was the combination of the on-rails aerial action and the in-game universe that made the games successful.[4]

Star Fox's logo

Video games

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Main series

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Title Details

Original release date(s):
Release years by system:
1993 – Super Nintendo Entertainment System[1]
2019 – Nintendo Switch Online[6]
Notes:
  • Known in Europe as Starwing.[1]
  • Star Fox was developed by Nintendo EAD and programmed by Argonaut Games, who created the Super FX chip to enable the 3D graphics seen in the game.[7][8]
  • A limited edition version entitled Star Fox: Super Weekend was created for competition events hosted by Nintendo Power in North America and Europe. The cartridge held modified versions of two stages and included a bonus stage. Around two thousand cartridges were estimated to be made.[9]



Original release date(s):[10]
  • JP: April 27, 1997
  • NA: July 1, 1997
  • PAL: October 20, 1997
Release years by system:
1997 – Nintendo 64[10]
2003 – iQue Player[11]
2007 – Wii Virtual Console[12]
2017 – Wii U Virtual Console[13]
2021 – Nintendo Switch Online[14]
Notes:
  • Known in Europe as Lylat Wars.[10][12]
  • Developed by Nintendo EAD.[15]
  • Star Fox 64 was the first game to feature support for the Rumble Pak peripheral, and early copies of the game shipped with the Rumble Pak in a bundle.[16]



Original release date(s):[17]
  • NA: September 22, 2002
  • JP: September 27, 2002
  • PAL: November 22, 2002
Release years by system:
2002 – GameCube[17]
Notes:
  • The last game developed by second-party Nintendo developer Rare before its acquisition by Microsoft.[18]
  • Star Fox Adventures differed from the other games of the Star Fox series by being an action-adventure game in the vein of The Legend of Zelda series instead of an on-rail shooter.[19]



Original release date(s):[20]
  • NA: February 14, 2005
  • JP: February 24, 2005
  • EU: April 29, 2005
Release years by system:
2005 – GameCube[20]
Notes:



Original release date(s):[22]
  • JP: August 3, 2006
  • NA: August 28, 2006
  • AU: September 21, 2006
  • EU: January 26, 2007
Release years by system:
2006 – Nintendo DS[22]
2015 – Wii U Virtual Console
Notes:
  • Developed by Q-Games.[23]
  • Fused strategic aspects into the series's traditional aerial combat.[3]



Original release date(s):[24]
  • JP: July 14, 2011
  • EU: September 9, 2011
  • NA: September 11, 2011
Release years by system:
2011 – Nintendo 3DS[24]
Notes:



Original release date(s):
  • JP: April 21, 2016
  • NA: April 22, 2016
  • EU: April 22, 2016
Release years by system:
2016 – Wii U
Notes:
  • Developed by PlatinumGames.
  • This game is the first original title in the series to be released in ten years.



Original release date(s):
  • NA/EU: September 29, 2017
  • AU: September 30, 2017
  • JP: October 5, 2017
Release years by system:
Cancelled – Super Nintendo Entertainment System
2017 – Super NES Classic Edition[25]
2019 – Nintendo Switch Online[26]
Notes:
  • Developed by Argonaut Games.[27]
  • Was originally canceled due to its proposed release date's proximity with the release of the Nintendo 64 and internal development problems.[28]

Cancelled titles

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Title Details

Original release date(s):
Cancelled
Release years by system:
Cancelled – Virtual Boy
Notes:



Original release date(s):
Cancelled
Release years by system:
Cancelled – Nintendo 64
Notes:
  • The game itself evolved into Star Fox Adventures.



Original release date(s):
Cancelled
Release years by system:
Cancelled – Arcade
Notes:
  • Originally planned as a companion game with Star Fox: Assault, but was abandoned and never released.[29]

Spin-offs

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Title Details

Original release date(s):[30]
  • NA: June 1, 1993
Release years by system:
1993 – Nelsonic game watch[30]
Notes:
  • Released in Europe as Starwing.
  • Re-released in at least 2 different styles of physical layout.[31]
  • Features a quartz accurate digital clock, a resettable alarm, and a headphone jack (with included headphones).[31]



Original release date(s):[30]
  • JP: April 21, 2016
  • NA: April 22, 2016
  • EU: April 22, 2016
Release years by system:
2016 – Wii U[30]
Notes:
  • Developed by PlatinumGames.
  • Instead of being a game about aerial combat, Star Fox Guard is a tower defense game.
  • Comes packaged for free with Star Fox Zero.

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: スターフォックス, Hepburn: Sutā Fokkusu

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Star Fox for SNES". GameSpot. Retrieved June 22, 2009.
  2. ^ Navarro, Alex (April 4, 2007). "Star Fox 64 Review for Wii". GameSpot. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Kasavin, Greg (August 25, 2006). "Star Fox Command Review for DS". GameSpot. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  4. ^ Burman, Rob (February 7, 2007). "Taking Command of Star Fox". IGN UK. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  5. ^ "Star Fox". IGN. Retrieved June 22, 2009.
  6. ^ Sarkar, Samit (September 4, 2019). "SNES games coming to Nintendo Switch Online". Polygon. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  7. ^ Fahs, Travis (October 31, 2008). "The Starglider Saga". IGN. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  8. ^ "Gamespot Company Page For Argonaut Games". GameSpot. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  9. ^ "Star Fox: Super Weekend (Official Competition Cartridge)". IGN. Retrieved June 22, 2009.
  10. ^ a b c "Star Fox 64 for Nintendo 64". GameSpot. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  11. ^ "iQue Ltd". iQue. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  12. ^ a b "Star Fox 64 for Wii". GameSpot. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  13. ^ "Star Fox 64 Joins The Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console". Siliconera. 19 January 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  14. ^ Notis, Ari (October 15, 2021). "You'll Have To Pay More Than Double For Switch Online If You Want N64 Games". Kotaku. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  15. ^ Perry, Doug (May 16, 1997). "Star Fox 64 Review". GameSpot. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  16. ^ Buchanan, Levi (April 3, 2008). "Happy Birthday, Rumble Pak". IGN. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  17. ^ a b "Star Fox Adventures for GameCube". GameSpot. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  18. ^ Parker, Sam (September 13, 2002). "No more Nintendo-exclusive games from Rare". GameSpot. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  19. ^ Casamassina, Matt (September 23, 2002). "Star Fox Adventures Review". IGN. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  20. ^ a b "Star Fox: Assault for GameCube". GameSpot. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  21. ^ Castro, Juan (February 2, 2005). "Star Fox Assault Review". IGN. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  22. ^ a b "Star Fox Command for DS". GameSpot. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  23. ^ Harris, Craig (August 25, 2006). "Star Fox Command Review". IGN. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  24. ^ a b "Star Fox 64 3D for 3DS". GameSpot. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  25. ^ Seiger, Theresa (June 26, 2017). "Nintendo: Super NES Classic Edition with 21 games will hit stores in September". WHIO-TV via Cox Media Group. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  26. ^ Andriessen, CJ (December 4, 2020). "Nintendo Switch Online is getting six more games and the Switch NES controllers are going on sale". Destructoid. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  27. ^ "Star Fox 2". IGN. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  28. ^ IGN Editorial Team (April 11, 2006). "Top 10 Tuesday: Modern Vaporware". IGN. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  29. ^ a b IGN Staff (May 8, 2002). "Namco Brings GCN Support". IGN. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  30. ^ a b c d "Star Fox (wristwatch)". IGN.com. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  31. ^ a b "Handheld Museum- Nelsonic Star Fox". Handheld Museum. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
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