Star Fox Archives

BetaBeacon

June 2, 2025

The best Nintendo 3DS emulator on Android just got even better

The update brings performance and compatibility gains on all platforms.

AppWizard

May 14, 2025

Modders use reverse engineering to bring Mario Party 4 to PC, more GameCube games to follow

The gaming community has seen a rise in reverse-engineering source code from retro console games, particularly from the Nintendo 64 era and earlier, leading to native PC ports. The decompilation of Mario Party 4 is nearly complete, making it the first fully decompiled GameCube title, which will facilitate unofficial PC ports. A port of Mario Party 4 with online multiplayer is in development. Other GameCube titles like Super Smash Bros. Melee and Metroid Prime are also being targeted for decompilation. An unofficial PC port of the Xbox 360 game Sonic Unleashed has been completed. Previous titles such as Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time have received PC ports with enhanced features. Modders are experimenting with advanced technologies like ray tracing for classic games. A modding tool has improved the recompilation process, but technical challenges remain. Nintendo has not taken legal action against these decompilation efforts, and modders use clean room tactics to avoid legal issues, requiring ownership of the original game for PC ports.

AppWizard

May 1, 2025

The Story Of Ecstatica, The Groundbreaking Survival Horror With Plenty Of Balls

In the early 1990s, the video game industry was transitioning from 2D to 3D gaming, with titles like Star Fox and Doom emerging. The small UK studio, founded by Andrew Spencer and Alain Maindron, released the groundbreaking game Ecstatica in 1994 after five years of development. Spencer created a unique game engine using ellipsoid graphics, which provided a lifelike quality to characters, inspired by traditional animation techniques. The game received an 8/10 rating from EDGE magazine for its emotional engagement. Spencer expressed ambitions for sequels using his innovative engine to explore new gaming landscapes, but challenges, including the departure of key personnel, led to the shelving of the sequel. Spencer later shifted his career towards academia and research, hinting at ongoing ideas for new projects that have not materialized.

AppWizard

March 12, 2025

On-rails aerial combat adventure game Wild Blue announced for PC

Publisher Humble Games and developer Chuhai Labs are releasing a game called Wild Blue, an aerial combat adventure that revitalizes the on-rails shooter genre from the 1990s. The game features players controlling Bowie Stray and the Blue Bombers on a mission to save the world, with gameplay that includes battles against enemies and the Baron. It will be available on PC via Steam, though the release date is not yet announced. Wild Blue offers easy-to-learn controls, hand-crafted anime-style visuals, branching paths, and various missions. Key features include classic on-rails shooter action, a colorful world, boss battles, secret paths, and a score system for mastering missions.

AppWizard

February 23, 2025

This New PC Game is Essentially Roguelike Star Fox

Indie developers have launched Whisker Squadron: Survivor, a roguelite shooter inspired by the Star Fox series, after a long hiatus since the last official release in 2017. The game, created by Flippfly, features on-rail shooting combined with roguelite elements, allowing players to choose ships and weapons to fight robotic enemies called The Swarm. It includes three acts with boss fights, voiced dialogues, and accessibility options. Whisker Squadron: Survivor is available on PC via Steam for .99, with a promotional price of .99 until February 28th. A Deluxe Edition is also available for .87, currently priced at .29. The recent 1.0.0 update introduced new features, improvements, and bug fixes, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.

AppWizard

December 24, 2024

Fan-made PC port of Star Fox 64 is out now

A new PC port of Star Fox 64, called Starship, has been developed by a team known for their PC ports of Nintendo titles. This project does not include copyrighted assets, requiring users to provide their own data files from a legitimate copy of the game. The current build is for Windows users, with Linux and Mac versions in progress. The developers are seeking contributions from Linux and MacOS developers and have made the source code available on GitHub. Takaya Imamura, the designer of Star Fox, expressed mixed feelings about the project on social media, acknowledging potential issues with Nintendo while also expressing happiness about the initiative. Further details can be found on the project's GitHub page.

AppWizard

December 23, 2024

Another N64 classic has been quietly ported to PC by fans

An unofficial PC port of the Nintendo 64 game Star Fox 64, called 'Starship,' has been released by the Harbour Masters team, who previously created PC ports for Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. The port features enhanced capabilities such as higher frame rates and ultra-widescreen resolutions, and players must use their own legally sourced ROMs to access it. The development involved reverse-engineering the original game while ensuring compliance with copyright laws. Original Star Fox programmer Dylan Cuthbert expressed hope for the franchise's future, noting the absence of a new game for eight years since Star Fox Zero on the Wii U. He discussed the game's inspirations and the importance of character development in the franchise.