Prerelease:Star Fox 2

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Star Fox 2.

This page sucks. If you could make it suck less, that would be awesome. Specifically: Really needs a top-to-bottom rewrite to account for the prototypes found in the July 2020 Nintendo leak.

To do: Move stuff that's present in the leaked prototypes to the respective pages.

Star Fox 2 underwent almost three years of development, from February 16, 1993 to September 21, 1995. At least three builds were shown in the gaming press. There were many ideas, characters, and elements that ended up being scrapped in the final game, though several of them would reappear in later entries in the series.

Concept Art

Star Wolf

As part of the online digital manual for Star Fox 2, Nintendo released this image, captioned "early concept art of Star Wolf". Dated May 29, 1994, it seems to be the earliest of the various pieces of concept artwork included within the manual.

Most notable about this art is the appearance of Andrew Oikonny, a character who did not appear in Star Fox 2 but did turn up in later Star Fox games, beginning with Star Fox 64. In this game, he was replaced by a fourth Star Wolf member named Algy.

Also of note is Wolf's eyepatch: he doesn't actually wear one in Star Fox 2, instead baring his scars for all to see, though he does wear one in every subsequent appearance in the series. In this image, he wears it on the right-hand side of his face, corresponding with the location of his scar in Star Fox 2 - in subsequent games, both were transferred to the opposite side of his face.

The text in this image reads, from left to right: レオン (Reon/Leon), ウルフ (Urufu/Wolf), ピグマ (Piguma/Pigma), and アンドリュー (Andoryuu/Andrew), then in the bottom-right:

Japanese	English
＂スターウルフ＂ アンドルフ軍の やとわれ部隊 情報開発部 '94.5.29 今村	"Star Wolf" Employed Troops for Andross's Army EAD '94.5.29 Imamura

The stamp transcribed above is that of Takaya Imamura, an artist at EAD at the time who is known for his work on the Star Fox series, as well as F-Zero and The Legend of Zelda. He is listed under Special Thanks in the Star Fox 2 credits.

(Source: Nintendo, Reading Comprehension: Kobosuke)

Arwing Design Documents

...But what does it mean? This game has text or audio that needs to be translated. If you are fluent with this language, please read our translation guidelines and then submit a translation! Notes: "隥" is perhaps wrong select kanji (correctly is "燈"), but I write it as it is in this transcription.

...But does it make sense? The translations on this page need to be proofread. If you are fluent enough in this language, please make any corrections necessary!

To do: Document how this art differs from other designs.

Also included with the digital manual was a 12-page PDF captioned "Arwing design documents". In addition to three pages documenting the mechanical process of Arwing transformation, this includes art of all three transformations of each Arwing type, one of which is the unused UFO mode seen in builds through at least CES.

Fighter Jet Form

Arwing A-Type «Fighter Jet»
Piloted by Fox and Falco

Transcription	Translation
脚部&関節	Leg & Joint
衝突防止隥	Anti-Collision Light
ここの底に 開閉式の ボム発射口がある。	There's an opening and closing bomb bay underneath here.
ブラスター砲	Blaster Laser
ブレーキ用 サブノズル	Sub-nozzle for brakes
膝部&関節	Knee & Joint

Arwing B-Type «Fighter Jet»
Piloted by Miyu and Fay

Transcription	Translation
衝突防止隥	Anti-Collision Light
脚部&関節	Leg & Joint
ブラスター砲	Blaster Laser
側部モニターカメラ 各カメラの映像を、 デジタル合成し、 モニターに再生。	Side monitor camera. The images of each camera are digitally synthesized and played back on the monitor.
本体機体の 底にボム発射口 がある	There is a bomb bay underneath the body fuselage.
ブレーキ用 サブノズル	Sub-nozzle for brakes
膝部&関節	Knee & Joint

Arwing C-Type «Fighter Jet»
Piloted by Peppy and Slippy

Transcription	Translation
衝突防止隥	Anti-Collision Light
ウォーカー・UFOへの 変形の際、 ココから割れて、 ひらく。	When transforming to walker UFO, split and open from here.
ブラスター砲	Blaster Laser
ブレーキ用 サブノズル	Sub-nozzle for brakes

UFO Form (Scrapped)

Arwing A-Type «UFO»
Piloted by Fox and Falco

Transcription	Translation
メインノズル停止 移動手段は サブノズルのみ	Stop the main nozzle. Only the sub-nozzles are used for moving.
足首 下にスライド	Ankle: Slide Downwards
機首 スライド収納	Nose: Slides in for Storage
サブノズル 約半分収納	Sub-nozzle: Retracts Around Halfway for Storage
関節下に移動 本体とつなぐ関節部が ロボのスネにあたるパーツが ぶつからないため	Move to under joint to ensure part of joint connected to body doesn't hit robot's shin.

Arwing B-Type «UFO»
Piloted by Miyu and Fay

Transcription	Translation
機首スライド 収納	Nose: Slides in for Storage
足関節つけ根 本体よりスライド	Base of ankle joint slides from body.
関節下にスライド 本体とつなぐ関節部が 膝パーツにぶつからないため	Slide to under joint to ensure part of joint connected to body doesn't collide with knee parts.

Arwing C-Type «UFO»
Piloted by Peppy and Slippy

Transcription	Translation
機首スライド収納	Nose: Slides in for Storage
開く	Open
メインノズル停止 移動手段は サブノズルのみ	Stop the main nozzle. Only the sub-nozzles are used for moving.
足のつね根 本体よりスライド	Base of ankle joint slides from body.

Walker Form

Arwing A-Type «Walker»
Piloted by Fox and Falco

Transcription	Translation
本体30°回転 コクピットは、内部で回転	Body: Rotate 30 degree. Cockpit rotate inside.
メイン&サブ ノズル停止。 移動手段は 足でのみ	Stop the main and Sub nozzle. The means of walking is only the foot.
機首スライド収納	Nose: Slides in for Storage
膝部スライド (ショックアブソーバー)	Slide knee parts. (Shock absorber)
ウィング&サブノズル収納 足となる	Storage of wing and sub nozzle. Transform to the foot.
サブノズル の入口 シャッターが閉まる	Entrance of sub nozzle Close the shutter

Arwing B-Type «Walker»
Piloted by Miyu and Fay

Transcription	Translation
本体30°回転 コクピットは、内部で回転	body: 30 degree rotate. cockpit rotate inside.
足関節つけ根 本体より スライド	Root of ankle joint. Slide from body.
メイン&サブ ノズル停止。 移動手段は 足でのみ	Stop the main and Sub nozzle. The means of walking is only the foot.
機首スライド収納
膝部スライド (ショックアブソーバー)	Slide knee parts. (Shock absorber)
ウィング&サブノズル収納 足となる	Storage of wing and sub nozzle. Transform to the foot.

Arwing C-Type «Walker»
Piloted by Peppy and Slippy

Transcription	Translation
機首スライド 収納	Nose: Slides in for Storage
横に開く	Open to side.
足関節つけ根 本体よりスライド	Root of ankle joint. Slide from body.
メイン&サブ ノズル停止。 移動手段は 足でのみ	Stop the main and Sub nozzle. The means of walking is only the foot.
ボム発射口	Bomb shooting hole
A TYPEとは 違はる関節を持つ	It has a different joint from Type A.
ウィング&サブノズル収納 足となる	Storage of wing and sub nozzle. Transform to the foot.
サブノズル の入口 シャッターが閉まる	Entrance of sub nozzle Close the shutter

Artist Stamps

This art is all marked with the stamp of EAD's Tsuyoshi Watanabe, 3D Shape Designer on Star Fox 2. He's also worked on all of the other games: Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Wave Race, 1080°, Mario Kart, Mario Party... you name it.

	A-Type	B-Type	C-Type
Japanese	情報開発部 -7.1.09 渡辺	情報開発部 -7.1.17 渡辺	情報開発部 -7.1.11 渡辺
English	EAD -7.1.09 Watanabe	EAD -7.1.17 Watanabe	EAD -7.1.11 Watanabe

The date stamp reflects the Japanese date system, in which Heisei 7 corresponds to 1995. As shown in the screenshot galleries below, the Arwing designs evolved quite a lot throughout the game's development - accordingly, the designs shown here match the ones seen from the June 22, 1995 build onwards. These designs date to January 1995, which would suggest that the developers may have still planned to include the UFO transformation in some form much later in development than was previously assumed to be the case.

Interestingly, these designs name Miyu and Fay's model of Arwing as B-Type, and Peppy and Slippy's as C-Type. Although every known build of the game lists Peppy and Slippy before Miyu and Fay (or their earlier equivalents) on the Pilot Select screens, the graphics for the Arwings are actually loaded in the order this naming scheme would suggest right from the earliest known build to the final version. This suggests that although these particular documents date from later in the development process, the naming scheme used for the different Arwing forms was likely decided very early on in development, prior to any known build of the game.

(Source: Nintendo (original documents), McAleeCh (VRAM loading order))

Development Builds

In early 1995, several builds of Star Fox 2 were shown off to the press, showing the game in many different states between the publicly-available August 31, 1994 and June 8, 1995 builds.

November 25, 1994 Build

Screenshots from a build with a November 25, 1994 date displayed on its title screen were shown in Nintendo Power Vol. #69, dated February 1995.

Title Screen

May 13, 1994	November 25, 1994

Unlike the August 31, 1994 build, the game now has a more polished-looking title screen complete with a logo. Due to the layout of the magazine article, a diagonal portion of the left-hand side of the image is missing. The plain black background and plaintext menu from the earlier build are retained, but the rest of the screen is very different to any of the publicly-available builds:

• A logo graphic is now present, though it is completely different to the one later seen in the June 8, 1995 build. The "Star Fox" text appears to be different, with the "F" the same size as the other letters and different spacing between the characters. The game's title is styled with the Roman numeral "II", as opposed to the numerical "2" used both in earlier and later builds.
• "仮" ("provisional") is displayed to the right of the logo, suggesting the game's title may have been considered non-final at this point in development.
• As in the June 8, 1995 build, the dialogue portraits for all six playable characters are displayed along the bottom of the screen, though the artwork is different to their equivalents in later builds; Falco's is the most similar as his face remains the same from this point onwards, though his body and the background behind him were both redrawn from the June 8, 1995 build onwards. From the portraits seen here, it's evident that Saru and Lady from the earlier builds had been replaced by Miyu and an unknown sheep character by this point in development.
• Unique to this version, the dialogue portraits for General Pepper and Andross are displayed on either side of the main menu. Andross appears to simply sport a bionic eye at this point in development; from the June 8, 1995 build onwards he appears more heavily cybernetically augmented, with metal plating covering the left-hand side of his head.
• A date stamp is displayed in the lower-right corner, dating this build to 16:00 on November 25, 1994.

Map Screen

To do: I'm sure more observations about the map screen interface and on-screen text can be made - perhaps someone more familiar with the various existing builds of the game can help elaborate?

May 13, 1994	November 25, 1994

The map screen appears to have been worked on heavily since the previous build - again, part of the screenshot is missing due to the source magazine's page layout.

Locations on the map are now represented by unique graphics, rather than all appearing as identical blue planets as in the May 13, 1994 build. The layout differs greatly from the previous build, with Corneria situated in the bottom-left corner of the screen and most other locations spread across the top. The background nebulae have also been rearranged. Locations occupied by Andross' forces have a red static effect surrounding them on the map, which can be seen in action in offscreen footage of the later Winter CES build of the game.

The interface at the top of the screen has been completely redesigned, and no longer displays information for a second player. The Total Time counter, located on the far right of the screen in previous builds, has been moved to the center to make room for a new counter for Andross' ships.

Mission Mode

To do: Add information on any notable differences visible in these screenshots.

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• 

  The Arwing's unused UFO transformation, seen in builds up to and including the May 13, 1994 build, was still implemented at this point.

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• 
• 
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  An early version of the game's final boss, taking place in a nondescript area of space rather than the colorful void seen from the June 22, 1995 build onwards.

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Battle Mode

• 

  The Battle mode, seen in builds up to and including the May 13, 1994 build, was still implemented at this point.

(Source: SNES Central - Information/screenshots, @VGArtAndTidbits - Better quality scans)

Late 1994/Early 1995 Build(s)

Screenshots from another different build were shown in Issue #12 of Brazilian game magazine Super Game Power, dated March 1995. While an exact dating for this build isn't possible based on the available information, from the content shown it appears to be later than the above build but earlier than the build exhibited at the Winter CES in January 1995.

A second set of screenshots showing a similar or possibly the same build appeared in another gaming magazine.

Map Screen

November 25, 1994	Late 1994/Early 1995

The map screen has been rearranged again since the November 25, 1994 build. The interface and background elements all match the earlier build, but all the planets and other locations have moved positions. In this version, Corneria now sits at the center of the screen, and a green meter displays above the planet to indicate the percentage of damage taken. The Star Fox team's Mothership occupies the top-right corner of the map - it's unknown if this is the earliest documented build in which this appears, as the screenshot from the earlier build is missing a portion due to being partially obscured in the article it was sourced from.

Pilot Select

May 13, 1994	August 31, 1994
(N/A)
(N/A)

A polished-looking Pilot Select has replaced the plain text version by this point in development, though it differs from the one seen in later builds in several ways:

• As with the dialogue portraits, the character portraits differ from those seen in the June 22, 1995 build - the backgrounds appear very similar, but in the later build the characters themselves have all been redrawn to varying degrees.
• The middle of the three screenshots shows that as with the later versions, these early versions also animated when a character was selected. Fox and Falco's animations appear similar to the ones seen in later builds, though Fox's expression was toned down in the redrawn version.
• The Arwing graphics differ too - although it's clearly a different graphic, the overall design of Fox and Falco's Arwings here matches the one seen on the Battle Mode screen in builds up to and including the May 13, 1994 build. The only major difference is they lack the open cockpits in which the bobble-head versions of the characters sat in that version, instead using blue and red palette swaps to distinguish between different characters who use the same ship, as seen in later builds. Since only Fox and Falco are shown on this screen in the available screenshots, it's unknown if the other characters' Arwings also matched these early designs at this stage of development.
• The only information displayed is the characters' names and the designations of their ships, the latter of which is not displayed by the June 22, 1995 build. Fox and Falco's designations are FM-001 and FL-001 respectively, the first two letters matching the initials of the pilots' names.
• While later builds allow selecting control layouts using a separate icon, here they are toggled by pressing R (コントロールセレクト/Control Select).

Cropped images of two more Pilot Select portraits, showing an earlier design for Miyu and giving a clear look at the unknown sheep character.

To do: Add more screenshots/info from this build. If possible, find the original source for the second set of screenshots. The filenames on SNES Central imply they're from Electronic Gaming Monthly #68 as they're named the same as that set - however, from looking at scans of the magazine it's not the source of the images as they don't appear on any page. They don't appear to be from Total! Magazine #39 either, which is the only other magazine mentioned in that paragraph. Further investigation needed. Why are there screenshots from the prototype dated August 31, 1994?!

(Source: SNES Central - Information/screenshots, [1]retroscans.org - Additional screenshots)

December 28, 1994 (CES)

Title Screen

November 25, 1994	December 28, 1994 (CES)	June 22, 1995

This build's title screen is much closer to the June 8, 1995 build, featuring the same logo, background, and layout with a few minor differences:

• The image of Andross shows only a smaller metal structure above his bionic eye, and two cables connecting to it from below. Both of these details match his dialogue portrait from the November 25, 1994 build, which was still being used at this point in development. By the June 8, 1995 build, the image had been revised to replace the small metal structure above Andross' eye with metal plating extending over the left-hand side of his head, and to show only a single cable connecting to the eye from below. Both of these changes were also reflected in his redrawn dialogue portrait seen from the same build onwards.
• The dialogue portraits for Fox, Falco, Peppy, Slippy, and Miyu are still the versions from the November 25, 1994 build.
• The unknown sheep character has now been replaced with Fay as seen in later builds, though her design looks less "cute" and more dog-like at this point. Her dialogue portrait has been drawn in the same style as the others, suggesting that the decision to redraw them for later builds was only made after Fay had already been implemented.

Opening Cutscene

December 28, 1994 (CES)	Final

The short cutscene showing Andross announcing his return is completely different, showing Andross' fortress floating in a nondescript area of space rather than in orbit around the Lylat system's sun as in the June 8th, 1995 build onwards. Andross launches small ships from his fortress instead of the two large carriers seen in later builds.

The English script shown here differs from the version seen in the final build, though it's unknown if the corresponding Japanese script also differed from the final version at this point in development.

The English font appears to have been tweaked slightly at some point between this build and the final, as some characters appear slightly different in shape, most noticeably the lowercase "s".

The comparison above uses a screenshot from the final build so that the English script differences can also be compared.

Map Screen

Late 1994/Early 1995	December 28, 1994 (CES)	June 22, 1995

A view of the map screen from this build, still using the earlier graphics set seen from the November 25, 1994 build onwards. From the June 8, 1995 build onwards, the graphics set and interface were completely redesigned.

The planets and other details have changed position again compared to the late-'94/early-'95 build, but still don't match their finalised positions from the June 22, 1995 build onwards. Corneria is still centred horizontally, though has been moved to the bottom of the screen, and the other planets have all been rearranged yet again.

Four of Andross' ships can be seen bombarding the locations on the map - comparison with the offscreen footage of this build shows that the screenshot must have been taken during the initial view of the map during the game's introductory cutscene, as after this the four ships disappear.

Pilot Select

December 28, 1994 (CES)	Final

The Pilot Select screen maintains the same layout as previous builds, though the implementation of the Control Select and its accompanying graphics now match the later June 22, 1995 build.

As with the rest of this build, the on-screen text has been fully localised into English. The localised graphics differ from those seen in the final build - the green graphic to the left reads PILOT SELECT here and SELECT PILOTS in the final, and the yellow PARTNER text becomes WING MAN in the final. Curiously, the P cursor for selecting a partner remains the same in both versions, even though changing it to a W in the final to match the accompanying localised text would perhaps have made more sense.

The graphics used for the Arwings are different once again, though they appear to be the same larger size as seen in earlier builds.

The comparison above uses screenshots from the final build, to allow easy comparison of the localisation changes in addition to the layout differences.

December 28, 1994	June 8, 1995

Cropped images of each character's Pilot Select portrait. In this build Miyu, Fox and Falco all use the same portraits seen in the late-'94/early-'95 build; it's reasonable to assume that Peppy and Slippy likely follow suit.

As touched on above, most of the characters were given cuter, more heavily anthropomorphized designs for the final game. Peppy, Miyu, and Fay were redrawn with smaller muzzles, while Slippy evidently lost some weight.

May 13, 1994	Late 1994/Early 1995	December 28, 1994	June 22, 1995
	(N/A)
	(N/A)
	(N/A)
	(N/A)

The characters' Arwings also use different artwork - Fox and Falco's ships differ from both previous and later builds of the game. The other four pilots' ships also differ from later builds, though any comparison with earlier builds is impossible as no known screenshots exist showing their ships selected on this screen.

The basic shapes of Fox, Falco, Slippy, and Peppy's ships are similar, though the detailing is very different. Miyu and Fay, on the other hand, have very different-looking ships which appear more dart-like in overall shape - their final ships appear to be similar to Fox and Falco's with minor edits, and are more similar in shape to Lady and Saru's ships from builds up to and including the May 13, 1994 build.

This is the last known build where each Arwing's designation is listed on the Pilot Select screen - by the June 22, 1995 build, these had been replaced by a more detailed set of stats related to each craft. Along with featuring the above images of each pilot and their craft, the magazine also lists each craft's designation - however, as the available offscreen footage of this build shows the list to be inaccurate in at least two cases, this information is not reproduced here.

To do: Add information on the other screenshots from this build.

(Source: SNES Central - Information/screenshots, Star Fox Online - Additional screenshots)

Pre-Title Cutscenes

The first pre-title cutscene contains many differences

December 28, 1994	June 22, 1995

• At the start of the cutscene, 3D text reading "NINTENDO PRESENTS" appears in a square-looking font. Later builds change this to a 3D version of the actual Nintendo logo, albeit with a firey texture similar to the "NINTENDO" portion of the text seen in this build.
• The whole cutscene plays out at a slower speed, meaning the music track finishes before the Mirage Dragon emits its final roar. Later builds speed things up so that the cutscene lasts around the same length of time as the accompanying music.
• Throughout the cutscene, the Mirage Dragon's body movements differ from later builds, and its mouth remains a single color rather than flashing as in later builds.

December 28, 1994	June 22, 1995

• The Mirage Dragon's laser attack is incorrectly layered behind its entire head at one point in this version of the cutscene.

The second pre-title cutscene is very different at this point in development:

January 1995	June 22, 1995

• The animation itself is almost completely different, simply panning across space to show the Star Fox team's Mothership hovering near Corneria before boosting off into the background and transitioning to the title screen. Later builds add more complexity to the scene, removing the pan and instead tracking two Arwings returning to the Mothership before it boosts off into the background, transitioning to the title screen.
• The title screen music plays throughout the whole sequence in this build - in later builds a different music track plays throughout the cutscene itself, and the title screen music only starts playing during the transition to the title screen itself.

Title Screen

The menu which appears when pressing Start on the title screen differs from any other known build:

December 28, 1994	June 22, 1995	Final

• The menu now uses larger text akin to later builds of the game, albeit with a serif font rather than the sans-serif font seen in later builds.
• Akin to the final build, the debug Test, Training and Config options seen in other prototype builds are absent here. Given that the game was playable on the show floor, it's not surprising these debug options were dummied out for this particular build.
• The Battle option from earlier builds is still present. In later builds, this is replaced by a Record option instead.
• Surprisingly, a standalone Stereo/Mono sound option is present as the final option in the list. This option is not present on this menu in any other prototype build, instead appearing within the Config menu; however, it does appear on the main menu in the final build in the same position seen here. Its presence in this build suggests it was intended for inclusion in public-facing builds much earlier than was previously speculated.

The Mission mode submenu also has two notable differences:

December 28, 1994	June 22, 1995	Final

• The difficulty levels are named Easy, Normal, and Hard. From the June 22, 1995 build onwards, these are renamed to Normal, Hard, and Expert.
• As with the main menu, the layout on the screen more closely matches the final version than the next known build, with the options vertically centered between the logo and the characters' portraits.

Opening Cutscene

As noted in the screenshots for this build, the brief cutscene showing Andross' return is entirely different, situated in a nondescript area of space and showing him launching four small ships rather than two large carriers.

December 28, 1994	Final

• Although the rest of the scene is different, the model used for Andross' fortress seems to match the one seen in later builds of the game, though it's barely visible in the equivalent cutscene from the June 22, 1995 build onwards.
• The three lines of dialog share the same general gist, but are phrased differently between the two revisions.

December 28, 1994	Final
I live again. I've returned to seek revenge!	I have returned! I shall make the Cornerians suffer!
Cornerian dogs! I will repay you for defying me!	Inhabitants of Corneria—you shall fear my vengeance.
I will demonstrate my power—on YOU!	I will demonstrate my awesome power on all of Lylat!

Map Screen

Late 1994/Early 1995	December 28, 1994

• The surrounding interface still matches the one seen since the November 25, 1994 build, though with the text localized into English per the rest of this build.

Interestingly, Andross' fortress does not reside on the main map screen, instead occupying an almost-empty secondary map screen not seen outside of this footage:

• On the initial view of the map screen, the screen briefly pans over to the right to this secondary area, showing Andross launching the four ships seen in the opening cutscene from his fortress. The screen then pans back to the main map to show the ships arriving and attacking the four planets present in this build.
• The fortress' position in a fairly nondescript area of space matches the early version of the opening cutscene featured in this build.
• Aside from the fortress itself, the only other details present are a square red barrier surrounding the fortress, and two identical purple spacial rifts, one situated outside the barrier and the other within. Presumably, these would be the means by which the player would eventually enter the fortress.

Pilot Select

The Pilot Select screen offers a glimpse of another of the early pilot animations, as well as two more of the Arwing designations which were dropped between this and the next known build:

• Peppy's designation follows the previously-established pattern of using the pilot's initials as the first two letters, designating his craft PH-001.
• Miyu's designation is MW-001. Given the pattern established by the other designations, this suggests a full name with a surname beginning with W was conceived for her at some point in development. The final game's digital manual, written for the game's eventual release in 2017, simply refers to her as "Miyu" and does the same for any other characters who only appear in this game.
• The animation for the earlier version of Miyu's Pilot Select portrait is similar to the redrawn version present in later builds, showing Miyu blowing a kiss towards the screen.
• The character's portrait animations play as soon as they are selected, and the main pilot's portrait returns to normal just before the Arwings launch. Later builds instead play the characters' animations one after the other once both a main pilot and wingman have been selected.

Launch Cutscene

The subsequent Arwing launch cutscene features two notable graphical differences:

December 28, 1994	June 22, 1995

• Both of the Mothership's launch bay doors are blank metal. Later builds add a little more detail by adding an insignia to the craft's left launch bay door.
• The background shows the Mothership floating in a nondescript area of space, matching its position on the map screen in this build. Later builds alter this to show the ship orbiting Corneria instead, consistent with its position in the map layout seen from the June 22, 1995 build onwards.

Initial Briefing

General Pepper's initial briefing to the player also differs from later builds:

December 28, 1994	Final

• The icon which appears to indicate the player should press a button to progress to the next line of dialogue is an icon of the currently-selected character's head, which overlaps the right-hand edge of the dialog box. In later builds, this is replaced with an arrow which sits within the dialogue box.
• During the briefing, all four locations present on this build's map screen are designated as occupied by Andross' forces, whereas only two random locations are occupied on the lowest difficulty setting in later builds.
• In this build, General Pepper's briefing occurs after selecting a pilot and leads directly into the functional map screen - later builds move the briefing to the brief map screen scene displayed prior to selecting a pilot. This means the Winter CES build's briefing contains instructions on moving around the map, whereas later builds display this instruction on the map screen proper as part of a separate briefing on how the map screen functions.
• The English script again differs heavily from the one seen in the final build of the game, with a much longer text:

December 28, 1994	Final
Star Fox team—do you read me? I have terrible news.	Star Fox team—do you read me? I have terrible news.
Andross lives! The Lylat system is now under attack.	Our sworn enemy, the fiend Andross, is alive!
Andross's new forses have overrun some planets!	Even as we speak, he is launching an assault on Corneria.
We expect attacks on Corneria to come from these planets.	The Battle Carriers and attack forces of Andross
We must destroy the invaders by any means possible.	are now advancing on Corneria.
Star Fox team- defend Corneria at all costs!	Enemy bases have been established on overrun planets.
We're cannot launch an offensive attack from Corneria.	Planetary missiles will be fired from these enemy bases.
It's up to you to liberate and defend the planets of Lylat.	Once again, we must ask you for your assistance, Star Fox.
Andross will attempt to reclaim any liberated planets.	Corneria will survive if it sustains minor damage, but if
This is number of Andross's invasion units.	damage reaches 100 percent, it is all over.
If these forses are destroyed, Lylat will be at peace.	Engage the forces of Andross while at the same time keeping
Remember to help defend Corneria. Remain watchfull.	damage to Corneria at the lowest level possible. Good Luck!
The enemy will launch attacks on Corneria.
Damage to Corneria mustn't reach 100 percent!
ElIminate every enemy, or all will be lost. Good luck!

December 28, 1994	Final
Crushing Andross's forses is our number one priority.	Select a destination by moving the cursor, then press B.
In order to recapture a planet, destroy all occupation forses.	To engage the enemy, land on planets and intercept ships.
If Andross has fewer planets, he launches fewer attacks.	Switch positions with your wing man by pressing SELECT.
To attack, move to planets or intercept ships.	Return to your Mothership to warp to any free planet.
Place the cursor where you want to go, then press B.

Taitania

To do: Does any of the in-level dialogue have a direct equivalent in the final build? If so, add script comparisons where appropriate.

As expected from the different objective text given on the map screen, the Taitania stage exhibits some differences:

December 28, 1994	Final

• The initial objective seems to be to destroy particular enemies rather than to press switches to open the entrance to the base.

December 28, 1994	Final

• Although the footage cuts out before much of the stage is seen, the layout of what 'can be seen is completely different from the version of the stage seen from the June 22, 1995 build onwards.
• Although it's the first Walker stage played in the footage, no briefing is given to the player on how to control the Arwing's Walker form. From the June 22, 1995 build onwards, General Pepper gives the player a short briefing on how to control the craft in its transformed state.

The graphic used to refer to the Select button in dialogue shows a small diagonal graphic of the button, followed by the word "SELECT" written in all-caps. Later builds instead use a large horizontal graphic of the button with "SELECT" written directly onto it.

(Source: PS Nation (footage), McAleeCh (perspective-corrected screenshots))