NOTE: This post might be updated during the day as new details come in.
[Update 5]Here’s some gameplay from IGN:
[Update 5 End] [Update 4]More details about Star Fox Zero keep coming in.
Nintendo considered Monolith Soft for the game’s development.
This information comes from Shigeru Miyamoto:
“We didn’t really look around at that many different places. Our first instinct was to try and find an appropriate team within Nintendo. One place we kind of considered was Monolith Soft.”
“But it kind of came down to to there wasn’t really a place we wanted to work with other than Platinum just because they are so committed to creating exciting visuals. We kind of really wanted to improve the visual quality of the game.”
Miyamoto also said Nintendo felt comfortable trusting Platinum with an intellectual property due to the studio’s understanding of action games. Additionally, the team has a number of Nintendo fans.
Aside from that, Platinum was approached first mainly because of Miyamoto’s history with game designer Hideki Kamiya. Miyamoto mentioned:
“A kind of another element is the fact that I worked for a long time with Kamiya, even going back to our Capcom days working on Mickey Mouse games. So that was definitely part of it, too.”
Comments from Mr. Hashimoto and Mr. Hayashi:
Devs thinking about co-op and more controller options.
This information comes from Shigeru Miyamoto:
On whether Nintendo would consider one-versus-one local ship battles for Star Fox Zero:
“It’s difficult to have two people playing when you need two screens to play for one person, so it’s definitely something that we’re thinking about. We basically created this game as one you need the GamePad to play, but there is a secret There is another option.”
Star Fox Zero co-director Yugo Hayashi also said:
“As one kind of variation, we were thinking about a co-op control scheme. Basically one person would control flying the Arwing and the other person would be aiming and shooting. This is something maybe parents and children could be doing together.”
– Hayashi said, in this case, you could have a skillful player piloting the Arwing;
– The less skilled player would be targeting and shooting;
– The main pilot would use a Wii remote and Nunchuck attachment to steer;
– The team was also trying to support the Pro Controller;
Hashimoto has also confirmed that Star Wolf will make a return in the game.
Project Guard is still in the works and tied to Star Fox, but Giant Robot is on hold.
This information comes from Kotaku:
One of Miyamoto’s E3 2014 experiments, Project Guard—a Wii U game about protecting a base from invaders using security cameras and turrets—is still in the works and still tied to the Star Fox universe. (The photo above is from last year.) Hayashi is overseeing it, also with the help of Platinum. Miyamoto said it is meant to be played online and that Nintendo is still figuring out if or how to release it in conjunction with Star Fox Zero. Development of Giant Robo, another, less impressive E3 2014 experimental game is on hold.
From Siliconera:
– Star Fox Zero’s Corneria mission uses the same layout for Corneria City as Star Fox 64 with a new coat of paint;
– Fly under a bridge to save Slippy, boost past falling buildings, and shoot construction robots throwing metal beams;
– Control the Arwing with the left analog stick;
– ZR: fire lasers;
– Can hold down the button for a charge shot;
– Y: Arwing does a somersault;
– Moving the right analog stick activates boost;
– Pulling the right analog stick back triggers the brakes;
– Tapping the right stick left or right twice does a barrel roll;
– Move the Wii U GamePad to control where the Arwing shoots;
– GamePad’s screen shows what Fox sees inside the cockpit;
– At the end of the Corneria mission, it switches to an all range mode;
– When this happens, Fox needs to shoot spider-like robots from climbing a tower;
– Robots are invulnerable aside from a red target on top;
– Need to use the cockpit view to shoot down the enemies;
– After the spider robots, the Star Fox team needed to shoot laser cannons from a giant saucer;
– Another demo at E3 set in Area 3;
– This stage brings Fox McCloud into an empty space field with enemies to shoot down in all range mode;
– After taking out a few ships Pigma Dengar flies in and turns the stage into a dogfight;
– Pigma tries to fly behind Fox to get him in firing range;
– Using the somersault and then a charge beam turns the tables on Pigma;
– Hold ZL to shift the camera on the TV to focus on the action instead of behind the Arwing;
Even more Star Fox Zero details are in, courtesy of Nintendo Everything.
The quotes below come from a Eurogamer interview with Shigeru Miyamoto and Platinum’s Yusuke Hashimoto.
Miyamoto on the connection to Star Fox 64:
“The overall structure is very similar, but the gameplay, bosses – lots of new content in there.”
Miyamoto on the different views you get on the TV and GamePad:
“We’re definitely going for a different feel where it’s very cinematic, but you’re able to control everything at the same time, so it’s between a movie and a game.”
Miyamoto on the game’s look:
“There’s a strong interest in having a connection with the established aesthetics of the franchise. My big thing was that, even as computer graphics technology develops, it kinda results in people making things that look the same, so one of my concerns is making something that looks unique.”
Miyamoto on working with Platinum:
“Nintendo’s working hard in terms of partnerships with lots of different development companies to try and create as many different titles as possible. The way I think about this kind of development is, a small team can create the core of the game, and then we think about who we want to shop that out to. It was at this exact time last year, when we were showing off the Star Fox prototype, that Platinum Games was talking about wanting to put the Arwing in Bayonetta 2. And that project was wrapping up, so I thought, ‘this could be good,’ so I talked to Mr Inaba about getting a partnership going.”
– Platinum is making Project Guard into a full game
Hashimoto on any involvement from Star Fox fan and Platinum staffer Hideki Kamiya:
[Update 3 End] [Update 2]“The only input from Mr Kamiya is, do your best! My background is in creating climax action scenes, so I like to think that we’ve put a lot of that element in.”
“Mr Kamiya tends to get everything down in very very precise detail before moving forward, and… you can experience his attention to detail right through the game. My way of working adds a bit of immediacy to it, so while the game is being programmed I’m always bringing new ideas, just writing them down on paper and passing them on to the programmers.”
More Star Fox Zero Details are in. Once again, special thanks to Nintendo Everything for compiling all this stuff.
This information comes from Game Informer’s interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, game director Yugo Hiyashi, and Yusuke Hashimoto of Platinum Games.
On how the partnership with Platinum came to be:
“The way I tend to make games nowadays is to work with a smaller team internally to make the core of the game. Once that’s done, I look inside and outside Nintendo what would be a good development team to work on this game. And right about that time, it was when Bayonetta 2 was finishing up. It occurred to me that Platinum would be a great company to work on Star Fox. Now we’re working very closely. We’re working the same way we would with an internal team. We have meetings every day. We’re looking at the ROM every day.”
On whether multiplayer will be making a return in this installment:
“Multiplayer has always been something that we’ve focused on in the previous Star Fox games. Obviously in Star Fox Assault, it was a big part of it. During the course of that, we started to feel that the single player wasn’t getting enough attention or was being lost in the shuffle. This time, we’re really focused on the single player experience and figureing out how we can use the two screens to create a really rich single player experience for Star Fox.”
– He isn’t writing off this type of gameplay in an online environment down the road
– Unclear if that emerges as an add-on or a separate game
“Once we get people used to the system, it’s possible in the future as in Splatoon, set up some network feature and allow people to have one-on-one combat in that way. It’s something we’ll see maybe in the future.”
On branching paths:
“The Corneria map does have a branching path within it, but another big thing we’re focused on this time is that once you clear a stage, you’ll get a second mission on the same stage,” Miyamoto explains. “You’ll have a different set of goals.”
“In terms of what you saw in Star Fox 64, with the actual map with the different planets and lots of different branches, this time it will be simpler, but more variety in terms of different missions on the same planet. We want it to be that you can complete the course of the game in the same amount of time you would spend watching a movie, so it’s a cinematic experience. While there are still some branching paths, the main thing we are focusing on is having second and third missions available for each planet.”
– Won’t be an option to take different paths through the galaxy
– No option to tweak difficulty
“As everything around the player is getting more extravagent, the core gameplay is getting simpler. With Star Fox, what I wanted to achieve was having players actually aim at things themselves. It was very important to me, and I’m happy to see that even beginners are able to aim at things and shoot them. The biggest thing this time is that there are no bombs this time. You have to aim.”
– Scoring mechanic that awards points for defeating enemies
– The team believes that players will work to better their performance over time
“I think one thing that’s interesting about having the two screens is that it opens up a lot of strategies and ways to attack each course,” Miyamoto says. “You might see someone else playing something a different way and that will change your experience and add to the replay value. In this game, we have a point system like we had in Star Fox 64. But in Star Fox 64, taking out every single enemy in a stage was kind of impossible. Now with these new controls and being able to look around, it’s actually an achievable goal to shoot down every enemy.”
– Coins and medals scattered throughout the game.
– These won’t be used to unlock different decorations for your Arwing, but that will be a feature with a different unlock scheme
– They also won’t be used to unlock other characters for your squad or upgrade your craft.
“Being able to collect something and gradually beef up your weapons is something that’s very common in these types of games,” Miyamoto says. “While I do think it’s fun, I want to focus on making a game that’s fun without that kind of element. I want to keep it simple and pure.”
On amiibo:
“It would definitely be great to get a Slippy Amiibo, but the Amiibo lineup is so full now. Obviously, there’s a certain amount of them getting sold out. So just filling the repeat orders is kind of a challenge right now. It might be difficult. Making more of those is way harder than filling new orders of games.”
“One function we’re thinking of is that there’s already the Fox Amiibo and the Falco Amiibo will be out by the time Star Fox comes out. Tapping those will give you a small bonus in the game.”
This information comes from Shigeru Miyamoto.
On Star Fox 2 possibly releasing:
“I think it’s ok for Star Fox 2 to just remain a memory. I think the things I wanted to achieve in Star Fox 2 I’m doing in this game.”
On Star Fox Zero’s Wii origins:
“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.”
Even more details:
– Yusuke Hashimoto of Platinum Games wants big action scenes in the game
– Corneria starts with Fox McCloud in his Arwing in formation with the Great Fox of Star Fox Command
– he’s joined by Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, and Peppy Hare and the crew receives orders from General Pepper
– Fox checks the other Arwings before starting the mission, which you do through the gamepad
– when the team is ready, they rocket down to the planet’s surface, the atmosphere turning to flames as they descend
– the new water enemies at the start will form into barriers you have to avoid
– game is directly inspired by StarFox 64 and StarFox 2
– walker mode is slower and more vulnerable to attack
– Walker can hop, dash, and roll away
– demo has gold and silver rings and laser power-ups
– Slippy ends up getting in trouble early on
– demo ends with an open flying sequence in which a tower must be protected from new enemies called striders
– striders are slow moving mechs, with four long spider legs
– if they climb to the top of the tower, the game is over
– striders’ only weakspot is on their top
– after this, a mothership swoops in and is outfitted with turret gun defenses and radar dishes
– Arwing can land on the mothership in its walker form
– battle ends with a rocket-like structure that blasts off before you can fire on it
– Area 3 has Fox and his team in deep space where a huge ring-like space station resides
– huge battle takes place around this structure with multiple enemies
– this battle takes place in “All-Range” mode
– battle concludes with a fight against Pigma
– after the battle, Pigma jets to safety
– motion-based targeting system
– left analog stick handles vertical and horizontal movement, right analog stick is dedicated to boost, brake, and barrel rolls
– A button is exclusively used for transformations
– right trigger fires the laser and can be held down to initiate the Arwing’s signature lock-on blast
– left trigger is used for locking on to targets
– X button is used in conjunction with the analog stick for somersaults and U-turns
– on the Landmaster desert planet, fight off gusting winds that send huge chunks of debris everywhere
– Lanmaster’s hover ability is show via a meter on the bottom of the screen
– the worm battle at the end of this level has you blasting hit spots while avoiding thrashing from the worm
– hit all the weak points to get the worm to open up its mouth
– gyrowing level makes you move low or cautious due to search lights
So, Miyamoto has been sharing a lot of info on the new Star Fox Zero. Check it all out below.
Miyamoto on how the game doesn’t take place before others in the series:
“It’s definitely not a prequel. In some ways I think more of it as being a remake of the first one or we’re starting from ‘1’ again, but obviously with that as a base trying to think, ‘now with these two different screens and new play system and different vehicles, what are the new things we can add to that?’”
– Zero name was chosen in part because they “liked how it sounded”;
– The Kanji character for Zero is written into the game’s logo in a way to resemble the tail of a fox;
– Art is being done at Platinum Games’ Osaka office;
– Design is being done in Nintendo’s offices in Kyoto, where some of the Platinum guys have taken temporary root;
– Nintendo’s director on the project is Yugo Hayashi (responsible for the level design in The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and director of Wii Fit U);
Miyamoto on how a dev goes from Zelda to Wii Fit to Star Fox:
“I was kind of surprised by it, too. Probably the main reason is actually that he sits the closest to me [of anyone in the development group].”
– Main gameplay idea is a two-screen view;
– GamePad shows a cockpit view by default;
– TV displays a behind-the-vehicle angle or in some scenes a more cinematic angle;
– At times, the player can lock on to an enemy target on the TV screen;
– This allows them to see the relative positioning of their vehicle;
– Use the Wii U’s gyro sensor to look around in your virtual cockpit by moving the GamePad above your head, downward (glass-floored cockpit), left or right;
– Can’t look behind;
– Your lasers are essentially on a turret;
– In practice, the developers assume you’ll sometimes be watching the TV, sometimes looking at the cockpit;
– 4 ways of playing: Arwing flight, the Landmaster tank, a “gyrowing” and a walker;
– The walker is the Arwing, transformed;
– Hashimoto said that the transformation is mechanically sound, using all the parts of the Arwing;
– Landmaster is still a tank but can transform into a hover-tank that can fly through parts of a level;
– The transformation holds only for a few seconds, as it is tied to a rapidly-expiring meter;
– Gyrowing is a slower flying vehicle that works like a helicopter;
– You see it from behind on our TV but also sometimes need to switch to an overhead view so you can position the craft precisely;
– The Gyrowing carries a little robot called the Direct-i;
– Can drop Direct-i from the gyrowing and drive around;
– The robot is tied to a tether so can’t go far from the gyrowing;
– The GamePad will display what the Direct-i sees;
– Gameplay for Direct-i seems to involve tucking into nooks and crannies, exploring insides of buildings, finding bonuses;
– Miyamoto said it added a “Mario”-like element to it in terms of rewarding exploration;
– Some dialogue and level design as Star Fox 64;
– Not exactly a remake;
– New vehicles, planets (levels);
– Returning levels seem different;
– Example of the above from Kotaku:
Corneria, the first sequence from the N64, begins on Wii U the same way, with Fox’s team flying down to the verdant planet and skimming over a body of water. But immediately there are changes as massive… flying sword-like enemy fighters… emerge from the water and attack. The subsequent action is still funneled through a city area, still past some big robots, but as it moves from a “Phase 1” to a “Phase 2” it then opens into a “Phase 3” that opens up into more of an arena-flight stage that involves protecting a central tower (and General Pepper inside it) while enemy fighters, tower-climbing spider-bots and eventually a massive enemy flying saucer attack.
– Star Wolf returns;
– Dogfighting with all four of the series’ signature enemy squad;
– Levels are intended to be replayed, sometimes with different vehicles;
– Ex: only have the Arwing when initially playing the Corneria stage, but can transform into a walker when playing it again;
– With the press of a button, the player can transform, drop to the ground and engage robot enemies more directly;
– The final battle with the giant saucer can play out very differently;
– With just the Arwing, the player has to attack various turrets and chip away at the saucer;
– With the walker, players can chip away just enough to spot a now-exposed interior corridor, fly into it, transform, walk into the core of the saucer and destroy the core for a quicker victory;
– Star Fox Zero is more linear than Star Fox 64, unclear if there is any branching;
– Kotaku was told “not as much” about branching;
– The developers told Kotaku that Slippy, Peppy, and Falco will shoot enemies down;
– These characters are smarter than in the N64 game;
– They’re still designed to let players feel like they’re handling most of the action;
– Falco might scold you if you take one of his kills;
– 60 frames per second on the TV and GamePad, across two distinct views;
– That comes at some price to the complexity of the graphics, which is in turn a challenge for Platinum’s artists;
“The visuals kind of can’t be that rich, but we also want them to appear rich. That’s been an interesting technical challenge for me, and I’ve used my experience as a designer in the past to help with that.”
Miyamoto on the frame rate emphasis:
“Yes, I absolutely don’t talk about specs very much, but when it comes to framerate, that’s just tied very closely, be it a Mario game, an F-Zero or a Star Fox game…to the controls feeling very immediate, to having the image react to what you are doing, so that is something I will focus on from time to time. Of course in a Zelda game, the visual expression becomes more important, so a lower framerate is kind of okay in that type of game.”
– Uses 3D sound to simulate the effects of an earpiece;
– When you are holding the GamePad and playing without headphones, you’ll hear chatter from your allies;
– It sounds like it is coming into your right ear, thanks to the developer’s use of “3D sound effects”;
Miyamoto on the sound:
“We basically think of the GamePad as the cockpit. So we wanted to get that feeling of being surrounded even if you aren’t using headphones. On the television, you’ll have all of the environment noise and on the GamePad you’ll have the cockpit noise like the shooting and the enemies passing by. The third level is when your teammates speak they’ll sound like they’re in your ear.”
– Co-op mode planned;
– One player is driving/flying and the other shooting;
I went through Corneria as described above, taking out the saucer by flying into its corridors and using the walker to attack its core.
I played Sector Alpha, a reinterpretation of a Star Fox 64 level that is an on-rails battle amid an armada of ships. This level appears to be the one that introduces the walker, as you fly into one ship, transform and explore it from within (while doing this I killed enough enemies to earn a medal, a sign that there are hidden challenges in these levels).
In an industrial planetary level called Zoneness, I flew the Gyrowing out of sight from searchlights, dropped the Direct-i robot to activate security panels that opened gates, and used the Direct-i’s tether to grab an explosive crate and then drop it on an enemy barge. Near the end of that level, I heard from Kat, a returning franchise character.
Finally, I drove the Landmaster in a desert level called Titania, using the Landmaster’s charged shells to blow up stone structures that toppled onto enemies to inflict indirect damage. That level ended with a boss battle, my tank against a sort of giant enemy worm.
(Special thanks to Nintendo Everything for compiling all this info!)
[Update 1 End]Star Fox Zero is being co-developed by Platinum games, according to Mr. Miyamoto.
He also confirmed the game won’t have online multiplayer, at least at first, because they are focusing in the single player experience. Here’s the statement:
“So, we’re really prioritising getting this new game playing at 60 frames-per-second. In previous Star Fox games we had focused a lot on dogfighting, but here we’re really focused more the single-player experience.
“Of course, as we continue on and once people get a feeling for the game… as the process continues if we find that we do think it’d be really good we’ll definitely consider it, but right now we’re not.”
Moreover, in a conversation with IGN, he said they are working on a possible transformable Arwing amiibo! Here’s what Miyamoto had to say:
“We’re creating lots of different types of prototypes of Arwing amiibo, but we’re not sure when it will be ready to be announced for sale. I’m sure you’re aware of the amiibo shortage situation, even with the back orders and repeat orders. We kind of have our hands full. Earlier, we talked about how the 3D model of the Arwing will actually transform [into a two-legged Walker] in the game. We have an actual model and we’re thinking how much it would actually cost to make when it’s transformable. Can we actually do that? We’re thinking about a lot of different things right now.”
Nintendo also released a facts sheet about the game, check it out: 
Finally, here’s the trailer and a screenshots gallery from the game:
Star Fox Zero is set for release in Holiday 2015.
What did you think about the new Star Fox game? Share your opinion in the comments below.