Star Fox Zero’s origins as a Wii prototype, multiple missions per level instead of branching paths
Speaking with Game Informer, Shigeru Miyamoto elaborated on the origins of Star Fox Zero as a prototype that started life as a hardware test for Wii. He says that he works closely with one of the programmers from Star Fox 64 every time they receive new hardware and they create Star Fox prototypes to test the new tech’s limits.
“I work very closely with the programmer of Star Fox 64. Basically, every time we get new hardware, we do a Star Fox prototype.”
“This Star Fox started out being based on a prototype we created for the Wii. We took that prototype and thought about what we could do with it. We came back and just said that this should be a Star Fox game.”
Miyamoto also elaborated on the game structure, specifically in relation to earlier games that featured branching paths associated with various difficulties. Star Fox Zero is a more linear game and thus there will be only very few branching paths. However, once players clear a mission on a planet, that planet can then be replayed with different mission types. The goal is to have two or three missions per level or planet. Additionally, Miyamoto said he wants one run of the game to be finishable in about the same time as it would take to watch a movie to create that cinematic experience that Star Fox is known for since its beginnings.
Nintendo of America also shared this picture with a message from PlatinumGames’ Mr. Hashimoto and Nintendo EAD’s Mr. Hayashi on their Twitter:
