Star Fox 2 (Super Famicom, 1995)

 

Everyone knows the story by now. This is the missing link between the original and Star Fox 64, and never made it out of Japan. Much like Earthbound Zero, the game was finished, but just didn't get published, so it was easy for Nintendo to dig it up and put it on their modern classic consoles. I'm playing it on Switch Online, and this is the first time I've ever played it in complete form. Even the complete form seems kind of incomplete though, lul.

Here's the hypothetical Nintendo Power cover that we could have gotten if this game actually got ported stateside in 1995. Whoever made this really nailed the fonts and color gradients. That said, was Nintendo Power really still this cool-looking by 1995?

Andross has returned! ...and he's missing an eye!

This has a totally different structure from the first game. Rather than picking a path and going level by level, you can pretty much go wherever you want right off the bat. Corneria isn't a level this time unfortunately, and the objective is to basically capture territory from Andross. Each planet is a (short) level, and there are also ship squads and battleships heading towards Corneria that can be intercepted/fought.

If any of Andross' forces DO reach Corneria, it takes damage. Once it gets to 100%, the game's over. So yeah, this is pretty weird compared to the first game, at least until it clicks. While the player's initial instinct is to go beeline for Venom and try to make things happen, a better strategy is to treat the map like a game of Risk and play defense, taking out territories and battleships when they're in intercept range.

There's a character select in this one, and you can choose two of 'em.

-Slippy actually has higher defense and health than Fox, surprisingly, with lower attack power. Peppy is in the same category.

-There are a couple of new characters and they're chix, both with high attack power and like no health.

-Fox and Falco are the kind of averaged-out characters.

At first I had no idea what to do, and bumbled around while Corneria got pummeled with missiles. Luckily it has an Iron Dome of sorts and a lot of the missiles get intercepted.

However, if the player lets the weapons platforms around Corneria get taken over by enemy forces...

...it won't take long at all for Corneria to hit 100% and blow up, so you have to play defensively.

Fail, and...

Jesus Christ!

"I KNOW HOW IT HAPPENS! IT HAPPENS!!"

Let's try this again. So Star Wolf makes their debut here as Andross' Ginyu-esque hired goons, and you pretty much have to fight one of them before you land on any given planet.

Who are Star Wolf, you ask? There's...

Wolf O'Donnell - A guy who really despises Fox for some reason and is on an endless quest to prove he's better.

Pigma Dengar - Used to be a member of Star Fox (the original one with James McCloud) and betrayed them to join Andross' forces. Didn't keep his rank, unlike Sergeant Slaughter when he became a turncoat and joined the Iraqis.

Leon Powalski - A sadistic gecko that Wolf found in a bar. Anyone else weirded out that these guys have last names? Why do they have last names, Nintendo??

Algy - Some weird robot. I can't even remember what he looks like. Gets replaced in Star Fox 64.

Having you fight these guys immediately is a weird design choice because the Star Wolf guys are basically boss fights, AND the official version of this game removes the charge-up homing laser that the game had in the leaked beta version, so you gotta chase these little enemy arwings all over the place. Pretty tedious thing to have to do before every planet level.

They absolutely 100% should have left the homing component of the charged laser in. This game feels like it was designed around the homing function (much like Star Fox 64 is) and it just doesn't make sense to take it out.

On the map screen you can go do the Venom level right away if you want, and it's a good idea because this place has...

...the Twin Laser, which for whatever reason is ultra-rare in this game. I mean super rare in the sense that I think I only saw 2 or 3 of them across all the levels over both of the playthroughs I did.

The Twin Laser makes everything way easier, much like the first game. Not sure if getting a second one powers it up further, but I don't think so. Which is almost as odd as removing the homing shot.

While in the levels, missiles are still pounding Corneria. Could they maybe STOP WHILE I'M PLAYING LEVELS?

Oh yeah, the "planets" are tiny, basically just battle arenas. Like the size of a really large room. No expansive levels in this game and it doesn't feel big at all as a result.

The Landmaster debuts here. Lot of people hate this thing because it isn't the Arwing, but I actually preferred it in this game. It's easier to control, isn't constantly moving forward, and you can strafe around things (very clumsily).

In this mode it's basically a homeless man's Armored Core.

Most levels have some kind of core/reactor to blow up, so my ghetto Armored Core shoulder button strafing gets a lot of work.

The bosses in this game are roundly pretty easy, much easier than the first game. Most important thing (besides not letting Corneria blow up) is to go back to your base between levels, since it fully restores your health (and nothing else does).

The shield meter is your HP, and it's kind of interesting because weaker hits will turn a circle yellow while strong hits will turn it red. To put it another way, each one is two HP, and red means they're depleted.

After a few levels, Andross sends out this dragon. It's another open-arena fight in space where you can fly around in all directions. Once again, the lack of a homing laser is an issue, not sure why they took it out of the game.

There's really not a whole lot to say about this game. It's over in like 20-30 minutes.

Oh damn! Andross is preparing to unleash... the Planet Cannon!

This means going and intercepting his battle cruisers before they get in-range to unleash their massive death-beams, which I think might be instant game over. It gives you a ton of time to deal with this threat, though.

Defeat the cruiser head-on and you fly inside for another core fight, strafing and shooting. Strafe n' shoot!

Take out enough of Andross' forces, and Star Wolf himself swoops in. This guy is the baddest of the group, and just as tedious to fight as the rest of his gang.

Take him out, and win his respect. That's it for the Ginyu Force, onward to THE FINAL LEVEL:

It isn't Venom, it's this battle station Andross is zipping around on. Venom's just a regular level in this.

I still have my Twin Blaster, and it chews everything up. Andross pipes in to talk some smack while I Landmaster through the space station.

Final Andross is the same cube as the first game (damn, I miss the Bishop of Battle). Blast him a bit and he flies out into space, where...

...he talks more smack, before summoning his newest face:

A giant GIMP MASK~!

No seriously, Andross' shell in this game is a full-on leathery gimp mask. Similar fight as the Bishop, blast the eyes until it breaks apart and then blast the Andross cube.

Nova Bombs obliterate the cube in seconds, and that's it for this game.

Fox with some words of encouragement as he flies out of the smoldering inferno!

All that bullshit and I got a rank of D.

D??? I never even died!

Normally I just put "ASS" here but I'm gonna be respectful. It's a new day! Truly I have matured!

The game isn't over yet though. I ran it again on Hard mode, which is what one should probably play from the get-go. It's still easier than the first game, and you see a lot more of this game's content on Hard mode since Andross has more forces to deploy.

In short, Hard is basically the same as Normal, just with more levels added on and an actual reasonable play length. I'll grab screens from the worlds I didn't get to visit on Normal.

Macbeth is a planet I didn't see the first time through, and it might be the only planet in the game that's particularly interesting. The floor here is literally lava.

As in, no Landmaster usage here. Macbeth is pretty cool in the first game too.

The toughest fight in the game is Knight Nack, the boss of Macbeth. It's basically a mech with a giant shield, and you have to strafe around it to land any real hits. Also, tons of HP.

As mentioned earlier, every so often, resources get recaptured by Andross' forces, like the gun platform that protects Corneria. When that happens, you have to liberate it FAST, which takes about 10 seconds because you just need to take out 3 enemy ships hovering around it. This happens more often in Hard mode.

Titania is another planet I didn't get to see the first time. It's a little atmospheric, but there's nothing here.

Finally, Fortuna is the other planet of note. This one is a water world, like the first game. Very nice-looking...and just a big arena, like the other worlds.

Phantron returns from the first game, and now he's a big spinning behemoth. Probably the second-toughest fight in this game, which isn't saying too much (still only have a couple of deaths across this entire run).

Heavy Chariot is another new boss, and it rolls around the arena like the Executioner Chariot in Dark Souls II. That's the last fight before Andross:

He's got the gimp mask still, and it still isn't much of a challenge. Beating Hard mode unlocks another level, Extreme mode, which is more of the same except Andross' forces are more aggressive.

On Extreme, instead of a Gimp Mask, you actually fight Andross' face:

Yep, there he is. Man, this guy is creepy as hell. I'll see him again in Star Fox 64, which is as far as I'm concerned the best and end of the series.

Great trilogy here! (And no more)

Next up: Star Fox 64