August 31, 1994

This is a sub-page of Proto:Star Fox 2.

'This page or section details content from theJuly 2020 Nintendo Leak.'''

To do: A lot, for starters: The open-ended levels are certainly interesting; they deserve to be covered in full. Music is also quite noteworthy. Some made it to WCES, some all the way to final. Compare them all. There's Japanese text dialogue that needs to be documented and translated. Make note of that dizzy, but amazing background transition in one of the levels. It ties to the HELL.ASM source file found in the source repository.

The August 31, 1994 prototype is an internal build, found in the source repository for Star Fox 2, that showcases a point when the game's groundwork had just more or less been laid out, and is beginning to resemble the final game.

Elements like the characters (minus one) and their Arwing designs, controls, the sound effects, the physics, and gameplay are becoming finalized, but the level design and layout, the mission objectives, the overworld map, music and even story elements are extremely different. The former point about levels suggesting a time when the development team were ambitious about using the Super FX chip to bring about much more spacious levels to roam and explore than the final version. Battle Mode, however broken, is still around at this point as well. Most of the unused graphics and debug information present in earlier prototypes are used in this prototype in the missions. The latter being disabled.

This build can be found in other.7z\SFC.7z\SFC\ソースデータ\StarFox2\SF2\SFROM.ZIP.

Title Screen Menu#

To do: Explore the levels in depth. In particular STG2, which has three forks, and an area with a satellite behind a closed gate, which is destroyed by a homing bomb.

Despite appearances, the menu is functionally identical. The font uses a new palette with an outline and displays over a rotating textured cube and part of Taitania's (Mission 2 in this prototype) sky.

May 13, 1994	August 31, 1994	After leaving the first mission if there was a boss fight before that

Every other menu retains the black background, and reverts the text palette to that of the April 15, 1994 build.

• Test works as it should: the player can select their Arwing pilot and pick a stage to play, with no hassle.
• Config now has updated sound effects in the SE option.

Mission#

Character Select Screen#

May 13, 1994	August 31, 1994	Final (US)

The character select screen has been implemented, based on the 2P character select screen from earlier builds. Only one character can be selected at a time, but it's a start. Miyu is here, but Fay is currently represented by a unique sheep character who appeared in unused graphics in the previous builds. They have the placeholder names of FFF and OOO respectively, and their respective Arwing designations are FY-001 and FA-001. Given the two-letter prefix of those designations, which are the first and last name initials of the pilots. It's unknown if their names were already conceptualized or not by this point.

Map Screen#

The map is now also (mostly) functional, with only minor bugginess. The planets are 3D with wrapping textures, and all act as if a mission is available there. However, the main game in this prototype doesn't have its main objective programmed in yet, so Andross's forces fly around aimlessly in space.

May 13, 1994	August 31, 1994
file:Sf2april1map.png

Andross's forces use placeholder sprites from Link's Awakening, such as Boo Buddies, Ghinis, Anti-Kirbys, and Bloobers.

Mission Debriefing#

The mission debriefings in this prototype are similar to the one in the first Star Fox, having General Pepper explain the mission to the player's character before it starts, instead of featuring a target description screen that shows the targets like in the Winter CES 1995 build onward. Complete with the same "Good Luck!" voice effect from the original.

Missions 3, 4, and 6, while reusing assets and music from previous builds, are brand new.

Missions#

The developers seem to have gone off the free-roaming gameplay of earlier builds, as now each level is a sprawling linear path surrounded on both sides by walls, in a manner not too dissimilar to the original Star Fox. However, the progression is more dungeon crawler than space shooter, as the player solves puzzles and destroys targets to shut down force fields and progress.

EXT1-SENKAN#

Encounters in this prototype load a linear looping level, taking the place of EXT1-SENKAN, that can't be beat. Several types of enemies and some large battleships are hurled towards the player... and a large lava bird.

Taitania#

The most complete mission in this version is on Taitania (read: the only planet that was named by this point). This mission uses music and assets attributed to Venom in later versions of the game. It has a fully functioning route, enemies, objectives and paths, plus a working King Dodora boss with its own stormy backdrop and rain. All it's missing is an ending.

Mission-4#

Mission-4 however does have a fluctuating background, that switches between a pastel mountain and a dark desolate landscape every few seconds. Impressive for the hardware, yes, but not that much intuitive for the gameplay experience.

Mission-3#

Mission-3 takes place on a fiery planet, that would be known as "Macbeth" in later builds. For whatever reason, the level collision becomes wonky when the player has two satellites left to destroy, so which satellites get destroyed first should be carefully thought out; The wonky collision restricts the player from accessing a large majority of the level, however it's just enough to allow the player to shoot down the two remaining satellites.

Mission-6 | EXTRA 1-MISSION FINAL STAGE#

Also notable is the water level, Mission-6, which General Pepper identifies in English as "EXTRA 1-MISSION FINAL STAGE". This could suggest that Andross was going to appear underwater... or it could be an error. The background on this stage is partly broken, as the horizon does not rotate with the 3D objects.

King Dodora#

King Dodora makes his first appearance in this build (but is properly named in later prototypes). This is the only boss that can actually be fought in levels in this prototype. At the end of a stage, the background transitions, the music stages and a voice says "incoming enemy" (like other voice clips, this one is lifted from the original Star Fox). The Arwing is then locked in Walker mode, and the boss appears. If the player dies to the boss, they are re-spawned before the boss appears but are not put into walker mode and King Dodora never emerges. Once the boss is defeated, nothing happens, and the game is essentially soft-locked until the player resets the console, or uses a button code to return to the world map.

Battle Mode#

The eventually-scrapped Battle mode was oddly not as functional as it is in earlier prototypes. Only one level can be properly played; in the rest of the levels, the players' Arwings repeatedly crash into both each other and the floor, while the camera rapidly moves around. In this build, each level is still divided into 3 rounds, however when an opponent is destroyed, unique victory music starts playing (or nothing, like in Marin). At the end of all rounds, a similar placeholder screen from previous builds is shown, only with a recolor vertical bar at the bottom.

Training Mode#

Training mode uses the neighborhood map that would later become the secret base in the final game, plus a "Welcome" sign and several static robots. Depending on the emulator in use, this mode can appear very broken, with flickering polygons and missing graphics.

Palette 1	Palette 2	Mockup

Pressing Start loads an options screen that looks like it should change the player's Arwing type and control scheme, however it appears to lack functionality. It also displays in some odd palettes. It's perhaps possible this screen was intended to use the Train/Type palette from previous builds (Note that the bizarre Q-tarou/caveman (?) placeholders are still present).

Gameplay Differences#

Walker#

The Walker's movement speed has been increased yet again and but it still feels like a drag. Though by holding down either Left or Right after double-tapping, the Walker can strafe faster. The mech now also comes with unique animations in this build.

May 13, 2994	August 31, 1994

In addition, the texture on the back also has been erroneously replaced with that of a wooden crate.

1-Up#

Apparently, 1-Ups at this point in time were considered as a way to continue the game should you lose a pilot. The final uses the partner system to allow the player to have a second chance at completing the game.

Game Over & Continue#

Game Over	Continue

This is also the first known build to include "Game Over" and "Continue" screens.

Debug Controls#

To do: See if there’s more debug button combo codes.

• L + R + Y: Toggle first person camera.
• L + R + X: Enables twin blasters. Doing the combo again enables the plasma shot.
• L + R + Y + A: Makes your Arwing immediately explode.
• L + R + Select: Instantly lose a life (no Arwing explosions involved). This also restarts the music and timer.
• L + R + B + A: Sends you back to the map screen without dying or getting a game over.
• A + B + X + Y + L + R: Plays the death animation, loses a life, and then spawns the boss.