At Nintendo’s E3 Direct presentation, we got a look at the upcoming Star Fox Zero. At E3, Shigeru Miyamoto and game director Yugo Hayashi mentioned that Star Fox 2 was an inspiration for the latest entry of the franchise, and that we will not see the game release on Virtual Console.
Star Fox 2 was fully developed for the Super Nintendo, but was ultimately canceled. The game does, however, live on in the upcoming Star Fox Zero. The Walker vehicle from the 16-bit game makes a return in the new title. Hayashi even said that the team watched reference footage from the canceled game to build Zero’s Walker.
Miyamoto states: “At that time, the 3D model was very simple. Now we have a much more complicated model, so it was a lot of work.”
Miyamoto also jokes about the fact that even though Star Fox 2 never came out, he will still “see it sometimes on the internet,” as the game can be found as a ROM on the internet.
However, Nintendo will not be coming to the Virtual Console any time soon. Miyamoto states: “In my memory, I enjoyed [Star Fox 2] but I’m not sure I would release it. I’d rather have people play a new game.”
Star Fox Zero will release later this year. It will be available on the Wii U.