So Nintendo gave us another look at Star Fox Zero a few weeks ago, in both the Nintendo
Direct, as well as on the Japanese website. And at first, a lot of it might look pretty
familiar. But if you dig a little deeper, it turns out Nintendo’s tweaked quite a
few things since we last saw the game at E3. So you know what that means--it’s time to
turn on the analysis machine's G-Diffuser system to uncover all of the secrets the new
gameplay is hiding. But lie usual, we’re only going to cover the new stuff here, so
make sure to check out our previous analysis from E3 for even more--you’ll find a link
to it in the description below. Alright, let’s get started
Okay, so let’s get the biggest details out of the way first--and by far the biggest addition
is the first actual gameplay of a snow-based world. And if the analysis machine could place
bets, it’d go all in on this being Fichina, the snow world featured in Star Fox 64--seeing
as every other planet-based level we’ve seen so far is also from that game.
I mean, the overall setting is nearly identical, being an all-range mode level set in a hilly
field covered in snow. Now in the original game, there was a base the middle that you
had to enter in order to defuse a bomb that Andross had set up.
But this time, there doesn’t appear to be any such thing--I mean, we can see that the
vast majority of the field is just hills. However, after carefully watching the footage
a lot, I noticed that while we see most of the field, we don’t see all if it--I mean,
If we use the large moon/planet here as a reference point--let’s say 12
o’Clock, we never actually see the area at roughly 4’oclock. So could they be hiding
something there...like a base? It would explain why all the enemies are here since there seems
to be nothing else of interest...or is there?
Because in this clip, we can see the Great Fox, hanging out in the distance, which means
it probably plays some kind of role in this stage. But what? Maybe Fox and the gang need
to clear out enough enemies so that it can safely land? And perhaps they have to defend
it from attack in the process? After all, we can see some pretty hefty looking artillery
on the ground that launch missiles, instead of the usual energy attacks--could they be
targeting the Great Fox?
The missiles do seem to be heading in the direction--but that could be a coincidence.
But we think there’s a chance the Great Fox may serve another, more exciting purpose.
Because while most of the gameplay showcases the Arwing being used in this level, one of
the clips showcases the Landmaster instead, including in its Gravmaster form. And this
is the first time in Star Fox Zero we’ve seen two different vehicles being used for
the same mission--which is also a significant departure from Star Fox 64 where you only
ever used one vehicle per level. So the question is--are you able to choose between different
vehicles for every level? Or only specific ones? After all, both the Arwing and Landmaster
are somewhat interchangeable between their two forms.
Despite this, we don’t actually think you’ll be choose the vehicle on a per-level basis,
since we’ve already seen the opening cutscenes to several levels which seems to dictate the
vehicle you start with. So instead, we think the Great Fox might be the key to this. What
if you can swap vehicles simply by flying into the docking bay? After all, if we assume
the mountains in the background serve as the boundary for the area, the Great Fox is well
within those parameters. Supporting this idea is the fact that, in the Arwing clips, the
enemy counter is at 0, suggesting the mission just start, whereas in the Landmaster clip,
Fox has already racked up 9-kills, which suggests he switched to it after starring in the Arwing
So if the Great Fox is indeed key to swapping vehicles, then perhaps it’ll play a similar
role in other levels too. After all, back in the E3 trailer, the Great Fox also appeared
in another all-range level that took place in space. Although we have a feeling swapping
vehicles may not be an option in space, because even though the Landmaster’s alternate form
can fly, the fact that its name is the Gravmaster--showcasing its supremacy over gravity, might suggest
it actually won’t work in space, where gravity is obviously less of a factor.
At any rate, now that Fichina is a thing, that marks the 8th level in SF0 that we know
about. Which means there are still potentially around 7 left to be revealed, at least if
the amount of levels in Star Fox 64 is anything to go by. And speaking of which, in the original
game, Fichina was your first opportunity to meet Star Wolf, so could that be the case
this time too.
Besides the new level, there have been quite a few tweaks since we last saw the game too.
And the next biggest addition has these bad boys right here--yep, those are the Smart
Bombs, which return from pretty much every other Star Fox ever. And we even see one in
action in this scene--and not surprisingly, they act just like the ones in past games,
destroying any enemy within the blast radius. Only this time, the explosion is a more realistic
red, instead of blue.
But it does look like the Gyro Wing will miss out on the smart bomb fun, as there are no
bomb icons for it here--nor even a place for them to go, being above the boost meter, which
is also absent. We also noticed that the Arwing’s Walker form didn’t have any bomb icons either,
though it’s possible the player just burned through them earlier on
But interestingly, every single gameplay clip with the Arwing shows the player as starting
with 3-bombs. And at first, that seems right--since you would also start Star Fox 64 with 3-Smart
Bombs. But here’s the thing, in Star Fox 64, the number of Smart Bombs would carry
over from level to level, which means the odds of having 3 at the start of every level
was pretty low. So we can’t help but wonder if this might mean that you start every level
with 3-bombs this time, regardless of however many you had before. Adding to this is the
fact that we don’t see any bomb power-ups either--although we would be surprised if
they don’t return--particularly as there’s clearly space to store at least 2-more in
the area above the boost meter--plus you could store up to 9 in previous games.
But here’s another idea--so if we assume that the amount of bombs do in fact still
carry over level to level, could this hint at the idea that you might be able to choose
individual levels to play, instead of making you play through every level in the story
mode. After all, Star Fox 64 3D introduced this very idea with Score Attack, so we wouldn’t
be surprised if that’s returning here as well.
Now besides the addition of bombs, the overall HUD has also gotten a facelift since E3. Take
the enemy counter for example, which now features a much sleeker looking font, with the word
“hits” moved to the right. There’s also a rather peculiar addition of a hyphen followed
by the 1 here--and that number never changes at all throughout the trailer. But we think
it’s related to the Gold Ring counter in some way, since it’s, you know, right next
to it, and also features a similar gold hue.
Now there’s something else new here too--three unfilled slots. But in another clip, we can
actually see one of them filled in with a red, white, and blue ribbon. Now as you might
recall from our previous analysis, we saw that exact same ribbon attached to a collectible
medal in Titania. But it seems like the medals might have been redesigned since then, because
we can see see that same ribbon just left of the Great Fox in Fichina--only this time,
instead of being attached to a medal, it’s inside a gold ring. At any rate, it seems
there’s 3 of them to find in every level now--or at least most levels, because those
icons are actually missing from the scenes that take place in Zoness.
Instead, the icons have been swapped out for a counter that goes up to 10. And we can see
exactly what that’s for in the next clip, where the Direct-i collects a silver coin
that adds one to the counter. And we can see a 2nd one just behind it. Now as you might
recall, there was a similar coin located around this portion in the E3 demo, only it looked
quite a bit different then--it was bronze instead of silver, and had a star on it, instead
of the familiar Star Fox icon.
Anyways, the fact that there are 10 of these suckers to find, likely means that the Gyro
Wing missions-or at least this one--are more focused on exploration than the others. But
there is one odd thing about that counter, because we can see that it appears to be greyed-out
and inactive in a gameplay clip from earlier in the level, whereas it’s much brighter
later on--but why? Maybe it only becomes active after ROB teaches you about it? Although we
do have one other idea...
And it’s related to something else odd about this clip, because not only is the number
counter unlit, but the Enemy Hit counter is orange instead of blue here too, which is
something we also see in one of the Cornerian clips. So what’s that about? Now in Star
Fox 64, the color of that counter did change once you killed enough enemies to satisfy
the requirement for the medal, but that’s clearly not what’s happening here, since
the player’s racked up a grand total of 0 kills. Instead, could it be related to the
Score Attack idea we floated earlier? Maybe it’s to reinforce the idea that you’re
playing a different mode, which would also explain why the coin counter is unlit, since
it’s not relevant here?
And speaking of the Hit counter, there are several gameplay portions where the player
can be seen playing a later phase of a level, and yet has almost no kills, such as Phase
3 of Corneria or Phase 2 in Sector Alpha, where it should be impossible to have a score
that low. In fact, between all of the new gameplay, we don’t see a single phase in
a level without the score resetting to Zero. So maybe the game tabulates each level’s
score differently this time, treating each phase as its own section? Or maybe it’s
just a side effect of Nintendo’s development team having the ability to start playing wherever
they doggone want.
Okay, so that covers it for all of the big changes since E3, but there are still some
more subtle ones you might have missed. For example, Miyamoto had previously explained
that one of the reasons why Star Fox 0 has been delayed was to enhance the cutscenes--and
we can actually see some very slight evidence of this in the new footage.
Such as how the camera pulls in closer to the Arwing, before it begins its descent into
Corneria, which is now accompanied by improved atmosphere effects, including better looking
fire and new clouds that it passes through
Then we have the cutscene in Sector Alpha, where the Arwing transforms into the Walker,
but this time it now happens in slow-motion, making it feel a bit more cinematic. Along
similar lines, the dialogue for the enemy here has been changed, making him sound more
uncertain, or subservient than before.
Now besides cutscenes & dialogue, we can see some other slight tweaks in pretty much every
level.
Such as how the spotlights in Zoness are now green instead of yellow, and feature a lot
more detail instead of the totally flat color before. They’ve also added some explosive
blocks on the right here--which we’re guessing will help out once you open the door ahead,
And speaking of color changes, the terminals that the Direct-I can interact with are now
green instead of red, and feature a reticle on them, making it more evident they’re
interactive. And finally, when the silo opens up, we can see the energy beam not only looks
a lot better, but a 2nd energy beam now rotates beneath it. Oh, and the chamber has new lighting
effects have been added along the edges too.
Then in Sector Alpha, there are a lot more enemy ships in the background--and each one
now sport a lot more detail, such as varied panels on the body, and enhanced guns. And
when you enter the large ship near the end, the ramp lights have been changed to red from
blue--perhaps to signify this is an enemy base,
Next, Titania features different enemy placement than before--such as the loss of the spider-walker
here, as well as a Silver ring that was moved back slightly.
And similarly, in Corneria, we can see the addition of a Gold Ring when you destroy this
portion of the boss. Now this one is pretty interesting for a couple of reasons, because
it either means one of the rings that we pointed out in a previous analysis has been moved--still
making for 3 total. Or it is indeed a 4th ring, which could indeed mean the Gold Rings
work like they did in Star Fox 64, instead of some ideas we threw out in a past analyses.
And speaking of things working like how they have before, one scene shows the return of
the Green Twin laser upgrade, which was missing from the E3 version. So this likely means
the laser upgrades now follow the same pattern as the original game, going from the Single-Laser,
to the Twin Laser, to the Hyper Laser, with each progressive laser power-up
Finally, we noticed that the talking-head boxes have been improved too. For instance,
whenever either Fox or one of the teammates pops up, their head now shakes arounds within
the box, as if they’re being shaken around by their aircraft--which is a nice touch.
Then if we take a look at the Primate character here, we can see he actually forms a couple
of different lip movements, instead of the simple bobble-head effect seen previously.
And then we have this scene, which shows the characters looking around. Now while it’s
not from actual gameplay, it seems to support the idea that the characters will be a little
more animated than before/
Alright, and that covers it for everything from the actual gameplay portion of the Nintendo
Direct. But there’s still one element we haven’t touched on yet: the cg trailer that
came before it. So let’s take a quick look at it and see what else it might be hiding.
Okay, so the cg trailer opens up by showcasing the 3 main vehicles in action. The Arwing
in Corneria, the Gyro Wing in Zones, and the Landmaster--back in Corneria. So can you tell
which of those doesn’t belong? Yep, the Landmaster is the odd one out here, as we
haven’t seen it in action on Corneria at all. And while this was likely just done for
the trailer, could it hint at some kind of Landmaster usage in Corneria in the final
game?
Now each of those is piloted by a different member of the Star Fox team, with Peppy manning
the Landmaster, and Slippy the Gyro Wing--and this is pretty interesting because in Star
Fox 64, Fox’s teammates only every piloted the Arwings. So is there a chance they may
actually use other vehicles this time around? Or maybe this was just done for the trailer
too?
Now speaking of vehicles. we can see Fox’s Arwing turn into a Walker IN SPACE, in order
to finish off one of the enemy ships. Now we already knew you could still turn into
a walker while in space from the E3 demo, but this trailer suggests it may actually
serve some purpose, besides just making you fall to the bottom of the screen.
Okay moving on , there’s a really cool detail when the camera zooms in on Peppy, because
if we zoom in even further onto his control panel, we can see a picture of him, along
with Sergeant Pepper, as well as Fox’s dad,James McCloud, which basically confirms that James
McCloud will still a play a role in this game, likely as the founding member, along with
Peppy, of team Star Fox. But where’s Pigma? After all, he too was one of the founders
in Star Fox 64, but here he’s nowhere to be seen--was his back story changed? Or maybe
this picture was taken after Pigma's defection.
Okay, so the cg trailer looks pretty cool right? Well, given how elaborate the it is
in general, we can’t help but wonder if these might be snippets of actual cutscenes
from the game. It would tie back into the idea of SF0’s delay being partly due in
order to improve the cinematic nature of the game.
Ok, and that wraps it up for the cg trailer too. But there’s still one more detail from
the Nintendo Direct I wanted to point out--and it’s hidden in the vehicle title cards sandwiched
between the gameplay scenes. Because if you look at the background, you can see all kinds
of cool diagrams and text--some of which is readable, such as a label for the famous G-Diffuser
system. And if we bring up the Landmaster one, we can see one that says, Plasma Engine,
followed by NTD-FX Zero type). But what does that mean? Well, the FX might just be a shortened
“fox”--only missing the “O,” which would tie into the “Zero” that follows
immediately after. But it might actually be a reference to the FX chip that powered the
original Star Fox on the Super Nintendo.
And what about that NTD? Well, as it turns out, Nintendo has a division called Nintendo
Technology Development, or NTD for short. Pretty sneaky Nintendo.
And there you have it--that’s everything we could dig up on Star Fox Zero. But as usual,
let us know if we missed anything by posting in the comments below. Thanks for watching
and make sure to stay tuned to GameXplain for more on Star Fox Zero and other things
gaming too.