Proto:Star Fox 2/June 22, 1995 Build

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

This June 22, 1995 prototype of Star Fox 2 was long considered to be virtually complete, barring the presence of various debugging features and a few bugs, as well as some missing encounters and Rogue-like gameplay, though the eventual release of the completed game in 2017 showed this build to be less finished than once believed. Through a bit of hacking, this prototype spawned a version with the debug features removed as well as an English translation hack.

Download

Download Star Fox 2 (Late Prototype) File: Star_Fox_2_(J)_(Late_Prototype).smc (1 MB) (info)

Differences from Final Version

To do: Replace the US version of the final build with the JP version for a more consistent comparison. Expand this section.

The official final build of the game was finally released to the public as part of the Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Edition microconsole in 2017.

General Changes

• The Expert difficulty is available without having to unlock it by beating Hard mode.
• Collecting the Pepper Medals gives no reward; in the final, this unlocks the Secret Base.
  • All characters have the Homing Blaster at all times; in the final, this has to be collected at the Secret Base.
• Fay and Miyu's Twin Blasters are enabled by default, as opposed the final game, where they have to first be collected.
• Bombs do not seem to be functional in the prototype, the explosion effect occurs but enemies will happily shrug it off.
• In Walker mode, only the A button jumps, instead of either Y or A in the final.
• Health items replenish one dot instead of two.
• Some enemies are slightly slower and/or do not deal as much damage.
• It's possible to change the view to third-person while out of all-range mode.
• The camera hovers much closer to the Arwing in some cases, most noticeably when running in Walker mode, which blocks the player's view ahead significantly.

Interface Changes

Prototype	Final

The prototype's Nintendo logo has less saturated coloring than the final build, and lacks the 'registered trademark' symbol to the right of the logo.

The explosions and subsequent fade transitions in the opening cutscene are quicker in the prototype.

The prototype displays an FPS counter at the left top of the screen throughout, which is absent in the final version.

Prototype	Final

The game's logo seems to be incomplete, using a very basic single-colour "2" as opposed to the final's more detailed and stylised graphic. The "Star Fox" portion also uses a darker palette compared to the final build.

Andross' face is positioned higher in the prototype.

The layout for some of the background nebulae on the right-hand side of the screen also differs between the two.

At the bottom of the screen the prototype simply displays the characters' in-game dialogue portraits, rather than the unique graphic seen in the final build.

The planet in the lower-right corner is much larger than its equivalent in the final build.

Finally, the copyright message in the bottom-right corner uses a slightly different font for its numbering, and is dated 1995 rather than the final build's 1996 date.

The eye/star in the background of the prototype's title screen continues to glow at all times - in the final build, it stops once Start button is pressed. It also has an extra vertical lens-flare not present in the final build.

The prototype's menu contains three extra options, "Test", "Config" and "Training", though the "Stereo/Mono" option seen in the final build is completely absent.

Prototype	Final

The Record screen was completely reworked between this prototype and the final game. This prototype's Rank uses a star-based rating, as opposed to the letter-based rank given in the final game.

Prototype	Final

While it looks correct in-game and on the character select screen, in the prototype the Shield symbol seems to use an incorrect palette on the Lylat System Map.

Sound Test

To do: Describe in more detail what each option does.

Accessed by the CONFIG option on the title screen.

The SCENE and PORT 0 options allow you to play the background music, the SCENE option controls the Level to load, while PORT0 allows you to select the different music in the selected level.

PORT 2 allows you to play the sound of various spaceship engines, while PORT 3 allows you to play the rest of the sound effects and the speech of the game.

The "PORT" below the menu represents the sound-ports, in binary, except the last one. Interestingly, if you stop the sound with X, "PORT0" becomes 00001110 (0E in hex), while in the menu you can get up to 00001000 (08 in hex).

Unfinished Secret Base

In the Test menu, if Venom is selected and Planet Step is set to 06, an unfinished, daytime version of the final's Secret Base can be entered. According to the HUD, there are nine targets (presumably switches, as this map doesn't have a boss enemy), though there appear to be no shield switches anywhere, nor a "base" into which to proceed. There are a few things that can be shot and destroyed, but they do not count as targets. There is one item on top of the "church" that can be collected by destroying the thing on top, but it is otherwise useless.

Collision is seemingly worse than the rest of the accessible stages. For example, your Arwing can be hit when you are clearly not touching the buildings, and the non-moving "enemies" that can be shot and destroyed may have to be shot multiple times before you actually hit them.

Unused Audio

Two voice samples (one male, one female) that say "1-Up!"

Leftover Build Date

The STAR GLIDER 01 NOV 1991 string at 0xE07, which remains in the final, also appears in this build.

(Source: Original TCRF research)