A very short and neat little game that's fun in an arcadey way but is fairly shallow compared to both its immediate predecessor and its immediate successor. Still, for a game that is purely arcade-style, I think there's plenty of meat here to work with when improving at it for higher scores and better times. The fact that it can run on actual SNES hardware is also great - it looks, controls, and plays really well for that. The presentation is awesome and it's seriously impressive for its era.

Honestly I'm glad that I played it primarily on my Switch Lite instead of on my SNES Mini because it makes for a far better pick-up-and-play-when-you-have-20-minutes kind of game than one you actually sit down and focus on. If you have any interest in this game and you already have an NSO subscription, just play it that way when you have a bit of free time.

This is one of those games where I'd recommend it easily to anybody who's curious. It's absolutely worth the short amount of time it asks for and is a really cool way to see some forward-thinking developers' work from back in the day. It might not be particularly great but it's still solid as all hell.

This one is interesting, I guess. It ditches the formula of the first game, focusing more on a grander adventure where you can go in any order you want. There's a map screen where you have to fight off various ships and missiles to maintain the safety of your base. You also have to deal with Star Wolf, which is a group that functions as this game's boss battles. Most of the fighting is done with the first-person view, which I don't like as much. When in third-person, much of the time is spent in a new mode where you use the Arwing as a mech that runs on the ground. It's not as fun. I like that they experimented with the formula, but the end result feels flatter than the original. The ideas were neat around the time this game was supposed to be released, and maybe if they had released it and stuck to this formula, the series would be in a different place. But it's mostly just a neat idea with less than stellar execution, though still a fun romp. 3/6

Starfox 2 is in a dilemma which, as far as I know, is unique to this one game alone. Completed in 1995, Starfox 2 was supposed to be the direct sequel to the revolutionary classic Starfox. But veterans should already recognise from the date why it was completed but not released. The N64 was on the horizon, the SNES was an aged console and Nintendo feared that the once revolutionary 3D graphics of the SNES would look outdated in comparison. Eventually, Starfox 2 was shelved for seemingly eternity. A few years later, a dumped ROM was released, which was apparently an early build of the game. However, the mystery remained as to what the official 100% finished game would have looked like. In 2017, this eternal question was finally to be answered with the help of the SNES mini.

But was all the waiting really worth it? Can a game that was technically released only a few years ago, but is based entirely on outdated 3D technology from the 90s, still be convincing today?
I can answer this question with a deliberate "yes" and would even go so far as to say that Starfox 2 overshadows its predecessor by far. On a technical level alone, the game uses pretty much the same visuals, but runs much smoother than Starfox 1. Or at least as smoothly as a Super FX game can run. Starfox 2 also uses a lot more textures, but this is probably only noticeable if you play both games in succession.

The biggest difference to Starfox 1, however, is in the gameplay. Instead of choosing from 3 different routes, which you travel with your Arwing in typical rail shooter fashion, in order to finally defeat Andross himself, Starfox 2 is about the direct defence of Corneria itself. On an open star map, Andross has taken over various planets and sends space cruisers and bombs from them to blast Corneria off the face of the solar system. The goal now is to liberate the infested planets from Andross' army and at the same time protect Corneria from as much damage as possible. Starfox 2 has a tactical element here, where the player must always decide which targets should be attacked first in order to defend themselves as efficiently as possible against Andross' squadron. Once you have decided on a target, contrary to expectations, you do not get into the rail-shooter gameplay of the predecessor. In fact, Starfox 2 introduces what would later be known as the all-range mode in Starfox 64. Most of the "levels" are in this mode and work surprisingly well despite the absence of an analogue stick. However, Starfox 2 does not yet have manoeuvres like U-turn or somersault. When selecting the attack targets and completing the levels, it is also noticeable that both on the map and in the level itself, the enemies move further and further in the direction of Corneria.

So it is always important to note how much time you spend in a level. Because too much elapsed time means another blow to Corneria. And if the damage level reaches 100%, it's Game Over. The only point where time doesn't pass is when you're not interacting with the map, so that should be used to plan the next steps. Not enough tactics, Starfox 2 adds an expanded character roster. There are now 6 members in Team Starfox, whose Arwings have different strengths and weaknesses. Fox and Falco form the middle ground with common stats with a slight propensity to attack. Peppy and Slippy are tanks. They have the largest life bar and can heal themselves with their special weapon. However, the weapon output and speed is quite low. Finally, we have the two new members Miyu and Fay, who have an enormous attack but can't withstand much. This was also to be the only appearance of the two glass cannons in a Starfox game. Depending on the difficulty, you should adjust your team accordingly, which this time consists of only two people. Unlike in Starfox 1, there aren't really 1-ups either. If the two team members die, it is also game over. The Arwings have also received a new form. As a walker, you mainly move around on the individual planets, which makes the game more in the direction of a 3D person shooter, which is a refreshing change from the typical space glider.

This game also marks the first appearance of the infamous team star wolf antagonist, who must be defeated in a similar way as in Starfox 64. Once you have finally eliminated all opponents, the way to Andross is free, who defeats in much the same way like in Starfox 1. The only difference is that this time he doesn't spit out bathroom tiles.

If you look at it in the context of the time when Starfox 2 was originally supposed to be released, I would stick to the statement that this sequel is much better than Starfox 1. The better performance makes it much easier to maneuver the Arwing or Walker and that tactical element, may be unusual for the series, but it gives the player much more creative freedom to choose how to play the game, and I find it a shame that none of the sequels have attempted a similar system again. However, Starfox 2 is far from perfect. Above all, the level design is rather short and attacks on Andross's spaceships usually don't last much longer than a minute. The longest encounters are the fights against the Starwolf members and the interior of the large battleships, which consist of simple interconnected battle rooms, with the respective reactor core as the target. This was the highlight of the game for me. In terms of difficulty, you should rather throw yourself into the hard mode, because only there can the game show its true strengths. Normal mode is ridiculously easy and you only see a few of the planets, since logically you can only visit the infested ones.
In conclusion, however, it remains to be said that Starfox 2 is a lost classic that can actually surpass its predecessor by far thanks to the strengths of a strategy and better maneuvering system. The significantly better frame rate also makes it significantly more enjoyable to play than Starfox 1. However, Starfox 2 will probably never come under the nostalgia umbrella of its predecessor. Because Starfox 2 is officially only 5 years old. Still, Starfox 2 gets my highest recommendation for retro lovers. Especially if you want to see the origin of many mechanics from Starfox 64.

Really not that good of a game, but it's nice that it's finally available, and I did have some fun with it despite the consistently piss-poor framerate. I like the non-linear approach to getting to the end. Favorite part of the game is probably the walker sections, I liked those. I really didn't like the flying bits where you moved around in a 3D space as opposed to just constantly moving forward, those were disorienting. Music's good though. All in all, an interesting title, but not really worth playing.

i get it now, why nintendo cancels it: they were afraid of this game: this really short and clanky games afraid nintendo, because this is one of the most original games of the entire snes lineup: the team mechanic change and instead, you choose between 2 of the 6 member of you team to play as, and if your first member die, you play the second one, plus, all of the member have unic stats, who make this mechanic even more orginal and exciting. you can also turn into a sort of vehicule now in all the terrestrial level, which is impressive as hell for the snes, even tho i find it not as usefull thats the spaceship (i only use it for the new switch mechanic, but i find this one kind of meh) my favorite part of this games is by far corneria, who is attack in real time, even if you are playing a other stage, and you have to stop all the boss, missile or fighter who attack the planet, or else, game over. in the end, this game is really impressive, has great (and sometime not so great) mechanic, and is overall very entertaining: so much shit happen at the exact time

my problem with the first one are still valid tho

Star Fox sempre me pareceu uma série meio parada no tempo. O que nasceu como uma experiência típica de arcade no pleno auge do SNES logo na geração seguinte sofreria um reboot que de tão similar à obra original poderia se passar por remake. Após um breve período de experimentalismo na sexta geração de consoles (algo completamente acidental, ocasionado através da infeliz canibalização de Dinosaur Planet), a série passou por um longo hiato para então receber um remake do reboot e, então, um reboot do reboot - reboot tão mal recebido que talvez a série ganhe um reboot do reboot do reboot no futuro.

Jogar Star Fox 2 me faz pensar que talvez seria melhor dizer que a série está perdida no tempo, em vez de parada. Nessa sequência cancelada que ficou quase duas décadas na geladeira vemos vários elementos originais e interessantes já poderiam estar sendo utilizados e desenvolvidos pela série há muito tempo: um sistema de estratégia em tempo semi-real, um mapa menos linear e mais dinâmico, mais tipos de missões e até um senso de urgência embutido no dano que Corneria recebe se você demora demais numa missão ou combate. Curiosamente, essas adições não fazem o jogo perder seu espírito de arcade. Pelo contrário, sua curta duração e a forma como a pontuação se integra com os novos sistemas é até um incentivo para você jogar repetidas vezes em busca de scores cada vez maiores.

O que seria de Star Fox se a franquia tivesse dado prosseguimento às ideias de sua sequência abortada em vez de repetir a primeira aventura da Raposa Estelar de novo mais uma vez one more time?