Development

Star Fox 2 is arguably the greatest long-lost treasure of the 16-bit era: a completely finished, unreleased sequel to one of the most impactful home console games of all time. Development started shortly after the original began shipping, with Nintendo EAD and Argonaut Software once again co-developing. The game used an even more powerful version of the Super FX chip, dubbed the Super FX 2.

Unlike most canceled games, Star Fox 2 made numerous appearances in magazines such as Nintendo Power, as well as debuting a massively successful demo at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1995. The demo was so popular that one man was famously arrested for attempting to steal a copy. A Star Fox tech demo for the Virtual Boy was also shown off at the same event.

Initially set for a summer 1995 release, Star Fox 2 was notably absent from the first-ever Electronic Entertainment Expo, held in May of 1995. In its place, Nintendo’s showing at E3 1995 emphasized Donkey Kong Country 2, Virtual Boy, and the upcoming Nintendo 64. Nintendo Power then positioned the Star Fox sequel to have an expected release date of early 1996. However, Star Fox 64 was instead announced and Star Fox 2 was quietly canceled, despite development being complete. In 2011, programmer Dylan Cuthbert and producer Shigeru Miyamoto explained the reasoning behind the cancellation: Nintendo felt a clean break between the 3D visuals of the current hardware—still impressive for a 16-bit system—was needed from the upcoming and more advanced 3D of the Nintendo 64.

Star Fox 2 was officially released over two decades later for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition.