Starfox 2 SNES ROM finished and translated into English!

Loefye

Lt. Laser,
Joined
Feb 27, 2002
Posts
2,835
The paragraphs below were written by my friend from the TNL forums "The Frogacuda". He found all of the info on this and the file, I am not responsible for any of it. Just posting it here to share the good news.


"Star Fox 2 (SNES) "finished" and translated into english
I mentioned this in the Argonaut thread, but really, it's probably worth giving its own thread to. I'll try to give my post some substance.

StarFox 2 was originally planned for release on the Super NES in late 1994 (but later pushed back to 95). It promised to push the series in a bold new direction, implimenting new kinds of gameplay, open-ended environments, and non-linear level structure, all thanks to the improved power of the "Super FX2". The game was hotly anticipated by fans, but quietly cancelled at the 11th hour. Many fans didn't even know to be furious until it was too late; the game simply disappeared, about 2 months before its release.

The reasons for the cancellation are largely unknown. The company line is that development was shifted over to N64 and that many of the ideas used in SF2 were incorporated into SF64. However, it has become apparent that this is complete and utter bullshit.

The late cancellation and apparent near-complete of status of the game made Star Fox 2 a holy grail of protypes. Fueling the fire is the fact that a StarFox 2 prototype was actually stolen from a tradeshow in 1994 (I don't recall if it was CES or E3). A non playable trade-show demo of the game surfaced, but served as little more than a teaser. In 1999, a playable prototype of Star Fox 2 was unearthed, but it was really very early; levels could be played and explored but not beaten, and there was no real "game" to speak of. All the manufactured prototypes were trade-show demos, not anything approaching completion.

Then, a year or so ago, someone managed to smuggle out the Star Fox 2 source code as it was before the project was dropped. This was the final build of the game before it was canned, and thus the most complete versio of the game that has ever existed. The source was compiled into a ROM, and then released to the internet (the source itself was never made public).

This was a final beta test, but it was clearly not a gold build. The screen still had debug info all over it (sprite counters, framerate, etc), your base couldn't take damage (making the game rather pointless), lots of debug modes were pesent, and a fair bit of bugginess. The game was very close to finalizable, but had not been put in finalizable condition. Also, the entire thing was in japanese, which made it rather difficult to understand given how alien it was to the first one. Alas, we were still left with what "could have been".

Well now (well, about a week ago) Aeon Genesis Translation Project (probably the most prolific transhacking group out there) have righted this wrong. Gideon Zhi and company have not only translated the game completely into english, but have fixed the bugs in the game, disabled the debug displays and modes, and even made a new title screen to create a game which could easily pass for a commercially releasable project with only a few (mostly irrelevant) things missing, like the ability to erase a game save, sound test, and stereo/mono switch (basically your standard options screen).

So nearly 10 years after we were supposed to get the game it's here in finished form. And... It's a really surprising game. It has almost nothing in common with SF or SF64. It's built around a map screen that almost goes down like a real-time strategy game, forcing the player to intercept enemy fighters and take out enemy offensive installations to protect the Coroneria. These missions can be either freespace battles or ground missions in which your ship can transform into a walking tank (these missions also involve indoor corridor parts). These missions take place in real-time, which enemy forces encroach on the corneria, so time is of the essence.

The "Normal" game is rather quick, simple, and unchallenging, but it's surprising how much work went into the "Hard" and "Expert" courses. The different difficulty setting actually have totally different levels. The higher setting not only have more levels, but the levels are much larger and provide more complicated challenges. I must say I'm really enjoying the game now.

This game is definately the radical departure that was promised back in 1994. Had this game been released when it was supposed to, it surely would have blown my mind. As it stands, it's still a very fun, addictive little game, though the 3D action genre has evolved so much in the last 10 years. The game was ahead of its time, but not 10 years ahead. Still, it's very playable, particularly on Expert, and well worth checking out."

http://agtp.romhack.net/

Written by "The Frogacuda" from the TNL Forums
 

Curt

apostate
Joined
Feb 2, 2004
Posts
7,710
This is some of the greatest stuff I have ever read, to come from the Emulation Scene.

Totally kickass...
 

JHendrix

Jello Pudding Pop, Y'know? Like that whole Bill C
Joined
Jun 27, 2001
Posts
9,436
My my how forums change over the years...:D
 

Frogacuda

n00b
Joined
Oct 29, 2004
Posts
4
lithy said:
loads up the xbox to get it ready to recieve the goodies
xSNES9x is built off of version 1.42, which does not work with Star Fox 2. Gonna have to wait for an update.

Snes9x 1.43 WIP1 (the newest version) and v 1.41-1 are the ONLY emus which play Star Fox 2 without problems.

ResOGlas said:
Try the new Znes-wip beta (oct 2004).
The new ZSNES fixes some of the problems with the game (namely the flicker) but still has issues.
 
Last edited:

Jedah Doma

Chroma Ma' Doma!,
Joined
Jun 5, 2004
Posts
9,902
Wow, thanks for the interesting story and link. I'll make sure to give this game a try. I was actually looking forward to this as a kid (along with many other games that were canned), so thanks again.
 

Late

Reichsf?rer-Finnland,
20 Year Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2001
Posts
8,348
JHendrix said:
My my how forums change over the years...:D


Yup, two-three years ago this would`ve gone down in flames (war room)
 

RAINBOW PONY

DASH DARK ANDY K,
20 Year Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Posts
24,310
wow i rememeber all the previews for this in the old nintendo powers, then this game just dropped off the face of the earth, i think it even had a release date and everything, so it's a super robot wars type sim game?
 

Nesagwa

Beard of Zeus,
20 Year Member
Joined
May 17, 2002
Posts
21,322
The game never came out, so it isnt really a no no :o
 

Loefye

Lt. Laser,
Joined
Feb 27, 2002
Posts
2,835
Glad everyone is enjoying it. I will be loading it on my Xbox as well once I send it to sonofx to get it modded.
 

Loefye

Lt. Laser,
Joined
Feb 27, 2002
Posts
2,835
Late said:
Yup, two-three years ago this would`ve gone down in flames (war room)

Thing is, this isn't a rom for a released game such as Metal Slug etc. I understand what you are saying though, it seems that the whole Xbox mod scene calmed the waters in rom land a bit.
 

Loefye

Lt. Laser,
Joined
Feb 27, 2002
Posts
2,835
Frogacuda said:
So anyone try it/enjoy it?

I will try it as soon as I get my Xbox modded. ;)


I never thought I would see this, Frogacuda posting on NG.com! :p
 

not sonic

King of Typists,
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2003
Posts
9,327
this game is crazy good

i just finished it on easy, really fun

the walker thing is insanely cool, and being able to switch at the push of a button is even better.

i dont know why people are waiting to get it on their xbox, when theyre posting about it from a computer...

if anyone needs the rom allready patched send me a pm.

it works fine in snes9x 1.43, and flickers a lot in the latest zsnes, i havent tried it in 1.41.
 

Chicago Cheeseburgler Crew

BANNED , Banned , Here's why
10 Year Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Posts
24,280
not sonic said:
i dont know why people are waiting to get it on their xbox, when theyre posting about it from a computer...
I don't have a contoller for my PC and playing games with a keyboard(not fps) sucks.
 

Late

Reichsf?rer-Finnland,
20 Year Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2001
Posts
8,348
Neo Maikeru said:
Thing is, this isn't a rom for a released game such as Metal Slug etc. I understand what you are saying though, it seems that the whole Xbox mod scene calmed the waters in rom land a bit.

Yeah, I just meant that this used to be a hardcore antipiracy forum, not just against neo emulation
 

The Legendary LoneWolf

The Garou Densetsu Guy,
20 Year Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2002
Posts
2,996
Does this have th endings and stuff and just go to the link n download it and u get the full version
 
Top