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STAR FOX 2 |OT| The Battle for Corneria

Gartooth

Member
Huge post incoming!

I finished a couple runs of the original Star Fox and Star Fox 2 today. My background with the series is a lot of love for Star Fox 64 and its 3DS remake, being pretty ho-hum on Assault and Command, not having played Adventures, and being disappointed with Zero.

Once I got past the parts of the games that are the worst like the framerate and pop-in, I found that they are actually really fun! They don't hold a candle to today's shmups but I can definitely see how they were ahead of their time and laid a lot of groundwork for Star Fox 64.

I prefer the original Star Fox's design, since parts of 2 get repetitive. What 2 does well though is giving the player a ton of freedom in handling the objectives, with a really unique risk/reward system for an action game. Then there are things like the walker and the different pilot stats that I all thought were pretty cool. I think the thing about Star Fox 2 that sticks out to me, is that even though the game got cancelled it wasn't for nothing with a lot of its concepts returning later in the series. I would love for the next game to have different character loadouts like this one, albeit with more variety in weapons and stats. Overall this definitely washed out the bad taste of Zero for me. I'm still not sure I trust Nintendo with this IP anymore, but at least I know 64 wasn't a fluke.
 

Gartooth

Member
Okay, real talk... how do I change the camera controls from being stuck in first person?

Pause the game and change the view to view 2.

This messed me up since I was used to the Select button doing it in Star Fox 1. That button is now reserved for walker transforming.
 

iidesuyo

Member
I don't really like it. They should have sticked with the "on rail" gameplay and use the extra power from the SFX2 chip to improve the framerate.
 

antun

Member
A few more discoveries.

If you do find twin blasters on a planet you can exit to the space map by pressing Start and then re-enter to pick them up again for the supershot. I think this will help immensely on expert.

If you finish with a really good time you get lots of bonus points. First I thought the time bonus was insignificant cause the number I recieved when I got a bad time was always so small but if you can finish under 100 on hard you get tons of points. So you do get rewarded for being fast but only if you are SUPER fast.

The emblem Andross has on his ships is 邪 じゃ (ja) and it means evil. I thought that was funny.

I still haven´t gotten an A rank. I was two lines away from getting one on hard.

On normal I don´t know if it is possible. I´ve tried doing it as fast as possible without any damage on Corneria but I always land in the middle of C.

Please tell me if you´ve managed to get an A rank on normal.

So much fun!
 

Conezays

Member
Well, beat my first run in the game (along with Star Fox 1 earlier). A little early to give much impressions, but it's definitely a different game than the first. I'm not sure if I missed areas that have similar gameplay to the first game ala Corneria, but I didn't play any "traditional" levels. Can certainly see how Zero was influenced by this game and the walker, etc. Like the first game, totally great soundtrack. Got a C grade for what its worth (83 seconds spent with 0 % damage on Corneria).
 

TheMoon

Member
Okay, real talk... how do I change the camera controls from being stuck in first person?

man, this is a 3 page thread. it's been pointed out on the previous page and I even put it in the OP with highlighted text lol

Is there a good guide anywhere for the Pepper medal locations? And is finding them all on a given difficulty cumulative?

That too was on page 2 and is in the OP :D (yes)

Well, beat my first run in the game (along with Star Fox 1 earlier). A little early to give much impressions, but it's definitely a different game than the first. I'm not sure if I missed areas that have similar gameplay to the first game ala Corneria, but I didn't play any "traditional" levels. Can certainly see how Zero was influenced by this game and the walker, etc. Like the first game, totally great soundtrack. Got a C grade for what its worth (83 seconds spent with 0 % damage on Corneria).

there are no traditional long-form levels in this game. it's all these short burst assaults on a ship, a base, or dog-fights.
 

TheMoon

Member
Yeah, I figured as much, but was hoping there might be at least one. Interesting.

I think this was meant to facilitate the replayability and is what lets them have these randomized elements with where you go and how the encounters vary between difficulty levels. It's what emphasizes the replay-centric nature of this game over the others.
 
So do we know for sure what unlocks Expert Mode? As mentioned in the thread there is some criteria related to B-Rank on Hard (apparently it's "Never let Corneria take Damage, No-death run, and do less than 180 seconds in-game time"), but as I'm planning on writing a beginner's guide for the game I'd like to know for sure.
 

antun

Member
My guess is a B rank on hard mode.

Finishing the game on hard mode is not enough at least. Since the first time I completed hard mode I took damage on Corneria and I got a C rank and it didn´t unlock.
 
This game is so interesting. I beat it on Normal and was a bit let down, then I tried on Hard and got completely wrecked. Normal really is just a tutorial, essentially. Racing to take out the battleships before they can fire their planet cannons is frantic as hell.

My problem right now are the Star Wolf battles. I guess I am dogfighting wrong, but right now I get stuck in a loop of trailing the enemy, landing a few shots, then the enemy turns and comes right at me whileI barrel roll to dodge their lasers, getting hit at least a 3rd of the time. Rinse and repeat. I can't figure out how to beat them without taking a ton of damage and it kills my run.

It's also insane how ambitious this game is. Even with single-digit framerate drops and controlling everything with a d-pad the game is still extremely playable, it's impressive.
 

TheMoon

Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3C7_E04m0w
zallard1, who was also a wizard in Star Fox Zero, doing an expert mode 34min speed run.

zallard1
Published on Oct 2, 2017
Done on SNES Classic. This run uses the secret base that gives you back homing shot from the beta, as well as free goodies to start your run off. It also starts with double lasers on both characters, which is unlocked by beating the game with that character with a star rank or better (doing this with all characters unlocks Corneria's music during the character selection).
 
My guess is a B rank on hard mode.

Finishing the game on hard mode is not enough at least. Since the first time I completed hard mode I took damage on Corneria and I got a C rank and it didn´t unlock.

That's definitely it! Got a B rank last night and it unlocked.

This game is so interesting. I beat it on Normal and was a bit let down, then I tried on Hard and got completely wrecked. Normal really is just a tutorial, essentially. Racing to take out the battleships before they can fire their planet cannons is frantic as hell.

My problem right now are the Star Wolf battles. I guess I am dogfighting wrong, but right now I get stuck in a loop of trailing the enemy, landing a few shots, then the enemy turns and comes right at me whileI barrel roll to dodge their lasers, getting hit at least a 3rd of the time. Rinse and repeat. I can't figure out how to beat them without taking a ton of damage and it kills my run.

It's also insane how ambitious this game is. Even with single-digit framerate drops and controlling everything with a d-pad the game is still extremely playable, it's impressive.

Star Wolf fights can be problematic -- their barrel rolling can be especially frustrating -- but I found they're a cinch if you have bombs on you. If not, charge shots are the way to go, although I'm still trying to find when's the best moment to fire it.
 
Star Fox 2 was canned because the 3D effects were better than the first game and Nintendo wanted to make the N64's 3D look more impressive in comparison to previous games. So they canned it so people would only have Star Fox 1 to compare Star Fox 64 to etc.

But, like, really?

Star Fox 2 is impressive, but graphically it doesn't hold a candle to something like Mario 64. (I'd imagine the same is true of Star Fox 64, but I've only played the 3DS remake so can't comment). The fact that the gameplay is so different also would have made comparisons difficult.
 

Camjo-Z

Member
Holy crap, Expert mode doesn't play around. Took out five sets of missiles launched all at once only to be "rewarded" for my efforts by having Leon and Hunter Fantron sent after me while my virus-riddled satellite slowly destroyed Corneria.

Peppy's in a better place now.
 

MegamanNG

Neo Member
Beaten it in Normal and Hard.

Expert is the ultimate test and I'll say it here. At first it goes well if you have the right strategy and planning but once the second half starts, it all gets really intense that you need to micro-manage everything. It's crazy.

Any advice on how to deal with Expert Mode?
 
Holy crap, Expert mode doesn't play around. Took out five sets of missiles launched all at once only to be "rewarded" for my efforts by having Leon and Hunter Fantron sent after me while my virus-riddled satellite slowly destroyed Corneria.

Peppy's in a better place now.

Beaten it in Normal and Hard.

Expert is the ultimate test and I'll say it here. At first it goes well if you have the right strategy and planning but once the second half starts, it all gets really intense that you need to micro-manage everything. It's crazy.

Any advice on how to deal with Expert Mode?

You guys aren't kidding. The Star Wolf team is kicking my butt and I'm at a complete loss. Barrel rolling and charge shots are tricky here.
 
But, like, really?

Star Fox 2 is impressive, but graphically it doesn't hold a candle to something like Mario 64. (I'd imagine the same is true of Star Fox 64, but I've only played the 3DS remake so can't comment). The fact that the gameplay is so different also would have made comparisons difficult.

Who knows what kind of drugs allowed him to arrive at that conclusion. It was canned because it launched too close to the N64 and Nintendo didn't think it would do well when being compared to 3D games on a console that could natively render it without a special chip
 
I just don't understand the game. Played for over an hour and just getting destroyed. What am I supposed to even be doing? Like, all these planets or whatever are on my map and I can go to any of them but there are missiles and shot going to corneia. I don't get this at all.

It's such a mind fuck for me to be this confused while SF1 and 64 sit in my top 10 of all time
 
Played to nearly the end on normal and hard, tried to hit reset to access the suspend point menu and the game crashed on me both times. The light on the SNES goes dark and the video cuts out. Anyone else seeing this?
 

TheMoon

Member
I just don't understand the game. Played for over an hour and just getting destroyed. What am I supposed to even be doing? Like, all these planets or whatever are on my map and I can go to any of them but there are missiles and shot going to corneia. I don't get this at all.

It's such a mind fuck for me to be this confused while SF1 and 64 sit in my top 10 of all time

Reading this still very compact thread should give you some pointers. :)

Or the manual. Or what the game tells you. It's really not that hard to figure out? Are you purposefully avoiding the text boxes on screen? Serious question.
 
Okay, so I came up with a strategy for Star Wolf on Expert:

1. Conserve bombs.
2. Pray that you'll come across blaster upgrades like I did. (Although they'll probably be at low enough health that regular blasters can do the job, anyway, but it can't hurt!)

Save states are your friends, peeps.

I just don't understand the game. Played for over an hour and just getting destroyed. What am I supposed to even be doing? Like, all these planets or whatever are on my map and I can go to any of them but there are missiles and shot going to corneia. I don't get this at all.

It's such a mind fuck for me to be this confused while SF1 and 64 sit in my top 10 of all time

I'm writing a guide that should be out by the end of the day, so stay tuned!

Played to nearly the end on normal and hard, tried to hit reset to access the suspend point menu and the game crashed on me both times. The light on the SNES goes dark and the video cuts out. Anyone else seeing this?

That's really bizarre! Sorry to hear you're going through that. Maybe call Nintendo?
 
Okay, so I came up with a strategy for Star Wolf on Expert:

1. Conserve bombs.
2. Pray that you'll come across blaster upgrades like I did. (Although they'll probably be at low enough health that regular blasters can do the job, anyway, but it can't hurt!)

Someone in this thread said you can enter a planet, collect the blaster upgrade, exit, re-enter, and collect it again. The surface of Meteor "planet" has a Blaster upgrade by the rocket, so you can collect it there.
 

TheMoon

Member
sf2streamzpuko.jpg

https://twitter.com/dylancuthbert/status/914670396024119296

great! I was wondering about this :)
 
Is there a way to start off with homing shot like in the beta or do you always have to pick it up in every new game once unlocked?
 
Hell no. Pigma is nay impossible without staying in View 1.

Yeah, in Star Fox and Star Fox 64 I always do third person view... But for some reason, in this game, in space first person is way, way better.

I think maybe it's because I don't have to worry about spatial awareness since there's no stuff to avoid flying into, and when literally flying in any direction with no semblance of up / down, spinning around is easier in first person.
 

Peltz

Member
Conceptually I really dig Star Fox 2 but the hardware just isn't up for it and i would not have been happy paying full price for it back in the day. Its great that they brought back some elements for Zero and improved on them. Its a shame they didn't bring over the strategic stuff though as that would have been great with the second screen as another mode on the guard disc.

You say that now. But I remember SF1 being pretty mindblowing back on SNES when it first came out. And many people were really hyped for the sequel before it was canceled. It would have aged the same, but I think fans of the first game would have really enjoyed the sequel back in the mid 90s.
 

TheMoon

Member
Yeah, in Star Fox and Star Fox 64 I always do third person view... But for some reason, in this game, in space first person is way, way better.

I think maybe it's because I don't have to worry about spatial awareness since there's no stuff to avoid flying into, and when literally flying in any direction with no semblance of up / down, spinning around is easier in first person.

it's probably because you have to keep track of TWO (or more like three actually) objects in third-person view: your arwing, your crosshair, (and the enemy). versus just your crosshair and the enemy. deflecting the charge shots from your enemy is a pain in third person on one hand because of how much is moving but it's also easier because you know how close it is so you don't barrel roll too early, which is annoying af in cockpit view.
 

Peltz

Member
In Zero, I like to do first person view on my HDTV and third person on the gamepad. Why this wasn't the default setup, I'll never know.
 

TheMoon

Member
In Zero, I like to do first person view on my HDTV and third person on the gamepad. Why this wasn't the default setup, I'll never know.

Yes you will. Because the TV was ideally intended for "spectators" in the room with you. Hence the cinematic angle vs the intimate cockpit view in your hand that you can control like Chewbacca in the MF. There ya go. First half is truth fact, second half is analysis.


Sao: So you started off experimenting with the cameras.

Miyamoto: Yes, and then I'd find that it looked cooler watching from the control tower. It's the same in a racing game. Obviously, while you're playing, you see the action from the driving seat, but you'll often find that the replays from different angles end up looking cooler, right?

Sao: Yes, I know what you mean.

Miyamoto: That's why I decided I wanted to use the dual screen system of having both the Wii U GamePad and the TV, and have cool images of the Arwing flying shown on the TV, while the images from the cockpit were displayed on the Wii U GamePad screen.

Sao: And the Wii U GamePad's motion controls also make it easier to target the enemy.

Miyamoto: That's right. We've made it so the player is free to watch the action on the screen they prefer, depending on what's going on at that point. It also lets anyone who's watching you play enjoy really cool scenes. That's how it came about – I thought, if I want to realise this vision, we're really going to have to make a new Star Fox title for Wii U.
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2016/May/Star-Fox-Zero-Dev-Team-Interview-Part-One-1106940.html

Now you know. :)
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
This game SUCKS. Wow. So disorienting and confusing. The framerate is awful. The mission design is bizarre.
 

TheMoon

Member
So, anyone with not wrong opinions (^^) managed to beat Expert Mode yet?

I've had a hard enough time with Hard.
 
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