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Proto:Star Fox 2/December 28, 1994 (CES)

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This is a sub-page of Proto:Star Fox 2.

How about a nice leek in this trying time?
This page or section details content from the July 2020 Nintendo Leak.
Check the July 2020 Nintendo Leak category for more pages also sourced from this material.

The Winter CES build of Star Fox 2 was among the source code leak from July 24, 2020. This version of the game is considerably more developed than earlier versions, and it is really starting to resemble a proper game at this point.

The ROM can be found in other.7z\SFC.7z\ソースデータ\StarFox2\SF2\SF2_CES.ZIP, however, its header needs to be patched to make it bootable. Apply this patch to fix it.

Changes since August 31, 1994

Title and Menus

Hmmm...
To do:
If it's possible to made a patch to re-enable hidden selections, why hasn't anyone done it? If possible, publish PAR codes to include these same items.
August 31, 1994 December 28, 1994
Sf2aug31title.png SF2CES-Title.png

The game now has a brand new intro sequence and title screen. A patch can be made to re-enable the Test, Training, and Sound selections.

Acactussayswhat?
Please elaborate.
Having more detail is always a good thing.

The difficulty options for Mission mode are Easy, Normal, and Hard instead of Normal, Hard, and Expert. This is fitting, as Easy mode is very easy in this build. Whether or not this was done for the sake of people playing at CES is unknown.

The music that plays on the title screen is as it was in the August 31, 1994 build, but now with its final instrumentation.

Gameplay

Control options A and B are still the only control schemes implemented (which swaps the directions the Arwing goes when the player presses Up/Down).

You can now select a partner on the character select screen, much like the final game. However, you cannot switch to your partner on the fly, only once the primary character has died. The sheep character featured in the August 31, 1994 prototype has been replaced by Fay. This is currently the earliest known build to feature her.

This is the last known build to implement a Battle mode. You are able to choose between three different stages in this mode known as Ground, Space, and Room. It is mostly complete aside from being unable to return to the title screen without resetting the game itself.

The map screen has been reshuffled, and the planets redrawn.

August 31, 1994 December 28, 1994
Sf2aug31map.png SF2 - 24-01-1995 CES-221125-132102.png

Enemies continue to move on the map screen even when you have stopped moving, the only way to pause everything is by pressing Start. Andross' forces are able to capture liberated planets at any time in the Normal and Hard difficulties and can even recapture liberated planets, though it is possible to intercept and destroy his forces before they can capture a planet. One of the forces that can be intercepted is actually an early version of the Hunter Fantron boss seen in later prototypes. Each planet has additional objectives in the event they are recaptured.

You can refill your shields in real time by keeping your Arwing in place over the mothership on the map.

The only time that Andross actually speaks on the map screen in this prototype is when he first begins his invasion, simply saying "GO GO !". Oddly enough, he says this line whenever you hit Start to pause the map screen. He remains on a secondary map screen seemingly outside of the Lylat System itself for most of the main game. He teleports Astropolis onto the center of the main map screen once all of his forces are destroyed, instead of having the player automatically fly to Astropolis in the Mothership like in later prototypes.

Rather than a set timer counting down per level, the entire game is governed by a timer that counts up on both the map and in missions. Now, you're pressed to play as quickly as you can without the threat of losing being right around the corner. Game design!

The Walker is yet again faster than it was in earlier prototypes but is still slower than it is later. Also like earlier builds, it is possible to make it speed up by holding the Y button.

While the UFO mode is still present in the space levels, the controls have been made drastically more complicated.

  • Holding Up or Down on the D-Pad allows you to immediately fly vertically instead of just simply adjusting your engines.
  • Holding the X button causes you to fly forward while holding the B button causes you to fly backward instead of having both buttons propel the player like in earlier prototypes.
  • Strafing has been remapped to Left and Right on the D-Pad, and you can only rotate with the L and R buttons.

Pressing L or R twice in Walker mode and UFO mode allows you to spin and deflect enemy shots, much like doing a barrel roll in Arwing mode. This is the only known prototype to feature this functionality for these modes. The first-person mode was temporarily removed in this build, but was brought back by June 8, 1995.

The boost meter seen in earlier prototypes is still in this version, but lasts much longer and the Arwing is stalled for less time.

The player starts out with 5 Bombs regardless of what type of Arwing the character pilots. There is a unique item, not seen in other prototypes, that is represented by a blue D icon. Using this item creates decoys of the player, but it doesn't seem to be very useful during gameplay.

Training mode does not feature a neighborhood area like the August 31, 1994 prototype. It's instead similar in function to the Training mode in later prototypes, where it plays similar to the main game.

Interestingly, Corneria's damage meter that appears during missions is misspelled as "Coneria".

Stages

Hmmm...
To do:
You may have to replay this game in hard mode several times in a row to see all the levels.
The Meteor introduction cutscene

The missions have been redesigned again. However, they are fully functional and completable this time around. The linear missions have been ditched in favor of the confined objective-based missions from earlier builds. They only last a few seconds if you're fast, however, as you can usually destroy the main target as soon as you fly into the level.

Unlike earlier prototypes, missions only have one goal or target. Missions could revolve around destroying enemies, missiles, bosses, bases (not from the inside like in later prototypes though), Poisoners, radar equipment, and freeing captured Walkers. New base-themed missions have been added, these being Meteor and Astropolis. In these stages, the Arwing flies down corridors and into rooms in a stunning display of originality. These two stages also have unique introductory cutscenes, which is nice.

Star Wolf and the Andross boss haven't been implemented into the main game yet but it is possible to access an early version of the Andross boss in the Test menu under the EXT 1-SENKAN selection. Minibosses such as Frumpy Dragon, Tunnel Runner, Mad Tank and Spin Crusher are fully implemented, however.

The time you spend in stages and on the map is represented by a letter S rather than an H.

Say hey to Fay

Graphical Differences

Although characters still use their earlier sprites seen as early back as the August 31, 1994 build, Fay's sprites are new.

The title screen's menu options are 10 pixels tall (compared to 7 pixels tall in earlier and later builds), are written in a serif, and a ▸ is present next to whatever option the player has highlighted.

Enemy fighters have unique graphics on the map screen depending on their types (rather than placeholder Zelda enemies).

Various HUD tweaks
August 31, 1994 December 28, 1994
Sf2aug31gameplay.png Sf2cesgameplay.png

A bunch of HUD elements have been redrawn and have new palettes, the ENEMY counter now reads TARGET, and the SCORE text is gone. The mysterious "GOLD" text that has had no function since the initial prototype has finally gone. The bomb item is now represented by a ring of 8 red dots.

The texture on the walker model has also been removed:

Sf2aug31walker.png Sf2ceswalker.png
August 31, 1994 December 28, 1994