Whereas Namco’s Starblade had largely influenced the original Star Fox, Namco’s Star Luster, released in 1985 for the Famicom, as well as Argonaut’s own Starglider series, inspired more open-ended space combat. Not coincidentally, Star Luster was included in the Japanese version of Star Fox: Assault, which was developed by Namco in 2005. The goal of non-linear gameplay gave birth to Star Fox 2’s “All-Range Mode,” allowing the Arwing to fly unrestricted in 360 degrees. The Arwing comes equipped with a new chargeable homing shot to balance the now more chaotic space battles, and a mini-radar provides the location of enemies in the vicinity, as they no longer fly on a scripted path into the player’s line of sight.
All-Range Mode is just one of several substantial departures from the first Star Fox. To accompany the open-ended combat, the linear “levels” were replaced with a single map of the Lylat System. In the bottom left-hand corner is Corneria, with the Great Fox battleship from which the Star Fox team is deployed hovering in its orbit. This marked the Great Fox’s first appearance, though it appears again in Star Fox 64 and throughout the series as the mobile headquarters of the Star Fox squadron.
In addition to Corneria are the familiar planets of Fortuna, Macbeth, Titania, and Venom. Eladard, a new world never before seen and never seen again in the Star Fox universe, appears exclusively in Star Fox 2. Non-planet locations of interest include Meteor, enemy battleships, and the Cornerian Satellite Defense System. On the opposite end of the screen is Venom, and Andross’ massive base. The objective of the game is to travel around the Lylat system destroying enemy bases at the key locations while intercepting enemy fighters and missiles aimed at Corneria. Enemy battleships launch more fighters over time, and planets captured by enemy forces launch Interplanetary Ballistic Missiles (IPBMs). If the Arwing comes into contact with an enemy or captured planet on the map screen, the player is immediately taken to the corresponding combat stage.
Most notably of all, the entire game is timed. When the Arwing is moving on the map screen, time advances, allowing enemy forces to converge on Corneria from their point of origin, wherever that may be. Combat also progresses time, so while Fox is trying to shoot down missiles or destroy an enemy base, any other enemies can attack the defenseless Cornerian homeworld. Each successful attack does a varying amount of damage, denoted in percentages, and if the total damage reaches 100%, Corneria falls and the game is lost.
While some missions can be completed in a matter of seconds, anything involving a base or a drawn-out dogfight with the game’s trickier enemies can eat up dangerous amounts of time. Even on Expert, the difficulty per mission is not particularly unreasonable, but managing all threats at all times is where Star Fox 2 truly tests the player.
To aid the Star Fox team on their missions, the Arwing has been outfitted with the ability to transform into a bipedal ground unit called the Walker. The Walker can only be deployed on planet surfaces and inside bases, and has complete lateral freedom. In this mode the Walker retains the Arwing’s abilities to shoot and use items, and can also jump. The Walker is required to complete certain objectives where buttons need to be pressed to open entrances to or inside bases. While the easier Walker-specific objectives are as simple as running to the target and standing on it, triggering a cutscene, higher difficulties can require the Walker to push button platforms over or into position before activating them. There are also slot-machine-style triggers that must be shot until they are properly aligned, light platforming challenges, and an underwater base! It sounds simple, and by today’s standards undoubtedly is, but for the second Star Fox title it stands out as an enterprising amount of variety.