Star Fox 2
| Star Fox 2 | |
|---|---|
 Box art used on SNES Classic Edition | |
| Developers | Nintendo EAD Argonaut Software |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Director | Katsuya Eguchi |
| Producer | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Programmers | Dylan Cuthbert Takumi Kawagoe Yasuhiro Kawaguchi |
| Artist | Masanao Arimoto |
| Composers | Kozue Ishikawa Yumiko Kanki |
| Series | Star Fox |
| Platform | Super Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Release | Super NES Classic Edition |
| Genres | Shoot 'em up, real-time strategy |
| Mode | Single-player |
Star Fox 2 is a shoot 'em up game developed by Nintendo and Argonaut Software for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was completed in 1995, but was not released until 2017 on the Super NES Classic Edition. Like the original Star Fox (1993), the player controls the Star Fox team as they battle Emperor Andross, who survived his previous defeat and seeks to destroy the Lylat System. Star Fox 2 introduces semi-real-time gameplay, new ship types, new playable characters, and a more advanced 3D game engine.
The development began after Star Fox's release, with Katsuya Eguchi, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Dylan Cuthbert returning as director, producer, and lead programmer. Like the original, Star Fox 2 pushed the SNES's graphical capabilities with Argonaut's Super FX chip. The team experimented more than they had with Star Fox and incorporated platforming and roguelike elements. Star Fox 2 was set for release in August 1995, but 3D technology was advancing quickly, with competition from the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Concerned that Star Fox 2's 16-bit graphics would compare poorly against newer games, Nintendo canceled the release to prioritize its upcoming Nintendo 64 console.
Concepts from Star Fox 2 were incorporated in subsequent Star Fox games, including Star Fox 64 (1997), and ROM images of incomplete builds were leaked online. In September 2017, Nintendo released Star Fox 2 as one of the 21 games included in the Super NES Classic Edition. In 2019, it became available for the Nintendo Switch through the Nintendo Classics service. Star Fox 2 received generally positive reviews, with praise for its depth, design, and strategy elements, but criticism for its controls, short length, and technical performance.