Star Fox Zero, along with my dreams, has been deferred. There is no specific release date, but Nintendo is “aiming to launch the game in Q1 2016.” The announcement came in a Facebook post this morning on the official Wii U page (of all places) from Shigeru Miyamoto himself.
“I made a big decision last week,” the post ominously began, “We have been developing Star Fox Zero for Wii U with the aim of releasing it this year. Although we felt that the development had been progressing well, we now believe that we will need a little more time.”
Star Fox Zero is the latest game in the Star Fox franchise, which started way back in 1993. This installment is neither a remake nor a sequel, but instead a sort of hybrid of all of the ideas Miyamoto liked best from the entire series (plus some new stuff) squished into one beautiful mutant hybrid.
I got the chance to play Star Fox Zero at PAX Prime this year, and was startled to discover that while it looks and sounds a lot like Star Fox 64 (arguably the best installment in the Star Fox series), the game handles very differently. Despite my awkward first impression, I am still very much looking forward to once again spending some quality time fighting along side Fox, Falco, Peppy, and okay yeah even Slippy. Now, that quality time will have to wait until 2016.
This whole thing is depressingly reminiscent of Nintendo’s announcement earlier this year to delay The Legend of Zelda for Wii U for another year. That game was supposed to be coming out right about now, but as of today it still doesn’t even have a name.
Sometimes it’s hard being a Nintendo fan.
Still, it’s good to know that the 126-year-old company* is dedicated to quality above all else. Both the Zelda statement and this one have impressed that the delay is happening for the betterment of the game.
“While we have already reached the stage where it would be technically possible to release the title in time for the year-end holiday season, we want to polish the game a bit more so that players will be able to more smoothly grasp the new style of play that we are proposing,” Miyamoto’s Star Fox Zero statement read, “To the people looking forward to the launch of the game this holiday season, I am very sorry.”
It’s hard to get too angry at a creator for not giving us their creation exactly when they said they would. After all, they are bringing to life this thing we love. But alas, the feels! I feel them.
“All the members of the development team are doing our best so that the final product will not betray your expectations.”
Well. Thanks, I guess. In the meantime, I’ll be watching this YouTube video on a loop.
*Nintendo turns 126 next week! Happy early birthday, you heartbreakers.
