Star Fox 2
Imagine a groundbreaking video game, fully developed and ready for launch, yet tucked away for over two decades. Star Fox 2 is precisely that — a lost chapter in Nintendo's history, a game that pushed the Super Nintendo to its absolute limits with innovative 3D graphics and bold new gameplay. Its unexpected release years later would reveal a title that profoundly influenced the future of the Star Fox series and Nintendo itself. Nintendo canceled Star Fox 2 despite its near-completion due to the rapidly evolving 3D console market and a strategic shift towards the Nintendo 64. The game pioneered a non-linear, strategic map-based gameplay loop with semi-real-time elements, a significant departure from its on-rails predecessor. Powered by the advanced Super FX 2 chip, Star Fox 2 pushed the boundaries of 16-bit 3D, introducing transforming Arwings and a roguelike structure that influenced future Nintendo titles.
AI Summary
Imagine a groundbreaking video game, fully developed and ready for launch, yet tucked away for over two decades. Star Fox 2 is precisely that — a lost chapter in Nintendo's history, a game that pushed the Super Nintendo to its absolute limits with innovative 3D graphics and bold new gameplay. Its unexpected release years later would reveal a title that profoundly influenced the future of the Star Fox series and Nintendo itself.
- Nintendo canceled Star Fox 2 despite its near-completion due to the rapidly evolving 3D console market and a strategic shift towards the Nintendo 64.
- The game pioneered a non-linear, strategic map-based gameplay loop with semi-real-time elements, a significant departure from its on-rails predecessor.
- Powered by the advanced Super FX 2 chip, Star Fox 2 pushed the boundaries of 16-bit 3D, introducing transforming Arwings and a roguelike structure that influenced future Nintendo titles.
The Ghost in the Machine
By 1995, Star Fox 2 was virtually complete, poised to launch as a revolutionary title for the Super Nintendo. It was set to push the 16-bit console's capabilities further than ever imagined, offering a glimpse into true 3D environments and strategic gameplay. Yet, in a surprising turn, Nintendo made the decision to cancel its release, consigning the ambitious project to the archives.
This cancellation wasn't due to technical failure or creative bankruptcy — quite the opposite. The gaming landscape was shifting dramatically, with competitors like Sony's PlayStation and Sega's Saturn entering the market, boasting impressive new 3D graphics. Nintendo feared Star Fox 2's 16-bit visuals, no matter how advanced, would pale in comparison to these next-generation systems, potentially hurting their brand.
Furthermore, Nintendo was preparing its own leap into the future with the Nintendo 64. Lead designer Shigeru Miyamoto reportedly wanted a clean break between 3D experiences on the SNES and the N64. The Super FX 2 chip, while powerful, also made production costly, adding another layer to the difficult decision to shelve a nearly finished masterpiece.
A New Kind of Fight
Unlike the original Star Fox, which featured linear, on-rails missions, Star Fox 2 introduced a groundbreaking approach. Players navigated a team of two ships freely across a strategic map of the Lylat system, choosing where to engage enemy forces. When contact was made, the game seamlessly transitioned into direct Arwing combat, familiar yet enhanced.
The core objective was to defend Corneria from annihilation, preventing its damage level from reaching 100%. This meant intercepting everything from enemy fighters and battleships to menacing interplanetary ballistic missiles. Players also had to protect General Pepper's defensive satellite, which could be hijacked by specialized foes to fire upon Corneria itself.
The game employed a semi-real-time strategy system that kept players on their toes. While selecting destinations on the map paused the action, enemies and missiles continued to move while your ships traveled. Even during intense dogfights, time flowed, albeit slower, forcing difficult choices — do you finish this fight, or break away to intercept a critical threat to Corneria?
You piloted a team of two chosen pilots, each with their own shield gauge, allowing for strategic swaps on the map screen. Losing a pilot was a severe blow, but the mission could continue with the remaining one. This dynamic added a layer of resource management and consequence to every decision.
The Lylat System Under Siege
The story picks up after the original Star Fox, with the villainous Emperor Andross returning to launch a full-scale assault on the Lylat system. His new fleet of battleships and planet-destroying missiles posed an unprecedented threat to Corneria. General Pepper once again called upon the Star Fox team, but this time, they were more prepared than ever.
The team was expanded and equipped with new custom Arwings and a Mothership. Two new recruits joined the familiar faces of Fox, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy: Miyu, a skilled lynx pilot, and Fay, a spirited dog. This diverse roster of six playable characters offered varied stats and gave players more tactical options.
Andross also upped his game, introducing a rival mercenary team: Star Wolf. Led by the formidable Wolf O'Donnell, alongside the sinister Leon Powalski and the treacherous Pigma Dengar, this group added thrilling dogfights and personal stakes, quickly becoming iconic antagonists within the series.
Pushing the 16-bit Limit
Star Fox 2 was a collaborative triumph, co-developed by Nintendo EAD and the British company Argonaut Software. Dylan Cuthbert served as the lead programmer, working closely with Nintendo designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Katsuya Eguchi, who oversaw the project. The team was determined to push the boundaries of what the SNES could achieve.
Central to this ambition was the Super FX 2 chip, an enhanced version of the original Super FX chip developed by Argonaut. This RISC processor, housed within the game cartridge itself, dramatically boosted the SNES's ability to calculate 3D math. Running at 21 MHz and with more memory, it was twice as fast as its predecessor.
These enhancements allowed for more polygons, better collision detection, and faster texture mapping, enabling truly free-roaming 3D environments — a feature initially planned for the first Star Fox but limited by the original chip's power. Cuthbert even optimized the engine to run parts in parallel, squeezing every ounce of power from the hardware to achieve advanced graphical feats and a target frame rate of 20 FPS.
Miyamoto saw the Star Fox series as a platform for constant experimentation. He was particularly interested in the new 'Walker' mechanic, where the Arwing fighters could visibly transform into bipedal robots for ground missions. Artists painstakingly designed the transformation mechanisms, making it feel grounded and realistic.
Director Katsuya Eguchi, inspired by games like 'Star Luster' and 'Fortune Street', championed the strategic and roguelike elements. He envisioned a game that would play differently every time, with randomly generated enemy encounters and a focus on replayability, further cementing the game's innovative design philosophy.
A Glimpse of the Future
Despite its eventual cancellation, Star Fox 2 wasn't a total secret. It was showcased at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1995, where it garnered significant buzz. Gaming magazines like GamePro, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Nintendo Power heaped praise upon its free-roaming gameplay, ship morphing, and strategic depth, often calling it superior to the original.
However, the tides of the industry proved too strong. By mid-1995, with the game nearly finished, Nintendo made the tough call. The breathtaking 3D of rival consoles, and the looming launch of the Nintendo 64, meant that Star Fox 2, revolutionary as it was for the SNES, was deemed a potential misstep in the evolving market.
The Long Road to Release
For over two decades, the completed version of Star Fox 2 remained locked away in Nintendo's archives. Shigeru Miyamoto himself voiced reluctance to release it, feeling it was better to focus on new titles. This led to its status as one of the most fabled unreleased games in Nintendo's history.
In the years following its cancellation, various incomplete prototype ROM images of Star Fox 2 began to leak online. These early builds, often buggy and featuring debug modes, fueled the curiosity of fans, inspiring the emulation community to improve Super FX chip handling in their emulators and even create fan translations.
However, even the most complete leaked ROMs were still beta versions, missing crucial final months of polish and quality assurance. As lead programmer Dylan Cuthbert put it, 'The last 10 percent is 90 percent of the game,' and these leaked versions lacked that vital iteration and refinement.
From Archives to Hands
The game's fate changed dramatically in 2017. As Nintendo compiled the game list for the Super NES Classic Edition, a dedicated console featuring classic SNES titles, a producer proposed including the long-lost Star Fox 2. Nintendo had meticulously preserved the game, making its inclusion surprisingly straightforward.
The announcement of Star Fox 2's inclusion in June 2017 was a delightful surprise for fans and even for the original developers, who had not been consulted. It was a triumphant moment, finally bringing a completed and debugged version of the game to the public, over 22 years after it was shelved.
The Super NES Classic, with Star Fox 2 as a flagship unreleased title, launched in September and October 2017. The version included was the fully localized English ROM from the 90s, with minor adjustments for modern regulations. Later, in December 2019, it received a second life, becoming available through the Nintendo Switch Online service.
A Legacy Unveiled
Upon its official release, Star Fox 2 received generally favorable reviews, with critics acknowledging its ambition and innovative spirit. Many praised its depth, strategic design, and the introduction of new elements like the Star Wolf team and the Arwing's transformation into a Walker.
Reviewers highlighted its unique roguelike structure, allowing for high replayability, and the thrilling freedom of its 3D dogfights. It was celebrated for building upon the original Star Fox in surprising and inventive ways, pushing the boundaries of what a 16-bit console could achieve in terms of gameplay.
However, critics also noted its technical limitations, which were unavoidable for a game developed in the mid-90s on 16-bit hardware. Complaints often cited occasional slowdowns, choppy frame rates, and sometimes imprecise controls, leading some to suggest its original cancellation, while regrettable, was understandable given the context of the time.
Shaping the Future of Fox
Star Fox 2's influence extended far beyond its initial development. Though its cancellation meant the end of Argonaut's contract with Nintendo, lead programmer Dylan Cuthbert's experiences laid the groundwork for his future endeavors, including founding Q-Games, which would later collaborate with Nintendo on titles like Star Fox Command.
Many of Star Fox 2's groundbreaking ideas directly inspired subsequent games in the series. Star Fox 64 adopted its free-range flying and the iconic Star Wolf team. For Star Fox Command, Miyamoto specifically instructed Cuthbert to draw inspiration from Star Fox 2's strategic gameplay.
The transforming Arwing Walker mechanic, a highlight of Star Fox 2, made a triumphant return in Star Fox Zero. Furthermore, the extensive platforming experimentation conducted during Star Fox 2's development is believed to have given Miyamoto crucial confidence and ideas that would later be realized in revolutionary titles like Super Mario 64.
Article
Star Fox 2
Star Fox 2 is a rail shooter game developed by Nintendo and Argonaut Software and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was completed in 1995, but was not released until 2017 on the Super NES Classic Edition.
Like the original Star Fox (1993), Star Fox 2 pushed the graphical capabilities of the SNES with Argonaut's Super FX chip. Katsuya Eguchi, Shigeru Miyamoto and Dylan Cuthbert returned as director, producer and lead programmer. Star Fox 2 introduces semi-real-time gameplay, new ship types, new playable characters, and a more advanced 3D game engine. The story continues the battle against Emperor Andross, who seeks to destroy the Lylat system.
By 1995, 3D technology was advancing quickly and the 3D game market was expanding, with competition from the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles. Concerned that the 16-bit graphics of Star Fox 2 would compare poorly against newer games, Nintendo canceled the Star Fox 2 release to prioritize its upcoming Nintendo 64 console. The Nintendo 64 game Star Fox 64 (1997) incorporated some concepts introduced in Star Fox 2.
In the years following, various prototype ROM images leaked online. In 2017, Star Fox 2 was officially released for the first time as one of 21 games included in the Super NES Classic Edition. In 2019, it became available for the Nintendo Switch through the Nintendo Classics service. Star Fox 2 received generally positive reviews, with praise for its depth, design and strategy elements, but criticism for its controls, short length and technical performance.
Gameplay
Star Fox 2
A screenshot showing the main gameplay area, a map representing the Lylat system and Fox and Slippy choosing their destination
Instead of following mostly linear paths inside predefined missions as in Star Fox, the player moves a team of two ships freely around a map screen that represents the Lylat system. When the player's ships make contact with enemy forces, the game switches to an action perspective, piloting the Arwing ship directly with controls and gameplay similar to the first Star Fox. When the player clears the specified objectives, they are taken back to the map screen to select a new destination. The two chosen pilots have their own shield gauges and can be swapped at any moment in the map, but one of them runs out of energy, their Arwing will explode, resulting in their death. When a pilot dies, it's possible to continue with remaining one, though the other cannot be used for the rest of the game.
The objective is to beat all enemy forces present in the map while defending planet Corneria, preventing its damage level from reaching 100%. The player must intercept fighters and incoming IPBMs (interplanetary ballistic missiles), while also dealing with battleships, which deploy more fighter squadrons, and planetary bases, which fire IPBMs. If Corneria's damage level reaches 100% or both pilots die, the game is over. General Pepper employs a satellite that can shoot down enemies on a limited basis; the player must also defend this installation from special enemies that can take over the satellite and use its cannon to fire at Corneria. The player also encounters the Star Wolf mercenary team and various bosses.
Star Fox 2 employs a semi-real-time strategy system. While selecting a destination on the map screen, the game is paused, but while the player's ships travel to their destinations, enemies and missiles also move toward theirs. While fighting enemies in the action screen, time moves at a slower pace than on the map screen, allowing other enemies and missiles to advance and cause damage. To prevent excessive damage to Corneria, the player may need to leave a battle to intercept another enemy.
Plot
Star Fox 2
After his defeat in the original Star Fox, the antagonist, Andross, returns to the Lylat system and launches an all-out attack against Corneria, using his new fleet of battleships and giant missiles launched from hidden bases to destroy the planet. General Pepper again calls upon the Star Fox team for help. Armed with new custom Arwings, a Mothership, and two new recruits (Miyu and Fay), the Star Fox team sets out to defend Corneria by destroying Andross's forces before they can inflict critical damage on the planet. Along the way, Star Fox must also combat giant bosses, bases on planets throughout the Lylat system, members of the Star Wolf team and finally Andross himself.
Star Fox 2 features six playable characters, more than any game in the series until Star Fox Command (2006). These include Fox McCloud, fearless leader of the Star Fox team; Falco Lombardi, the ace pilot with a headstrong attitude and Fox's best friend; Peppy Hare, longtime mentor to Fox; and Slippy Toad, the team's young tech analyst and Fox's childhood friend. The two new playable characters are Miyu, a tomboyish lynx, and Fay, a white dog and part of an aristocratic family. Star Fox 2 also introduces a team of rival mercenary pilots, Star Wolf, which includes Wolf O'Donnell, leader of Star Wolf and a despicable criminal; Leon Powalski, an inscrutable and sinister chameleon; Pigma Dengar, an arrogant and selfish pig who is a former member of the Star Fox team before betraying them; and Algy, a devious creature with incredible precision aim.
Development
Star Fox 2
Director Katsuya Eguchi
Like its predecessor Star Fox (1993), Star Fox 2 was co-developed by Nintendo EAD in Japan and the British company Argonaut Software. Development began shortly after work was finished on the European and competition versions of Star Fox. Argonaut had a contract with Nintendo to create three games; after Star Fox, Argonaut programmers Giles Goddard and Dylan Cuthbert worked on Stunt Race FX (1994) and Cuthbert on Star Fox 2. Cuthbert worked in Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto and had little contact with Argonaut during development. He served as the lead programmer and was assigned two Japanese Nintendo programmers to work under him. The team was overseen by the designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Katsuya Eguchi, with Eguchi as the director. Edge reported in December 1993 that development on a sequel to Star Fox had begun.
The team decided early on to use the Super FX 2 chip in the game cartridge. It was an enhanced version of the Super FX, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) for SNES ROM cartridges developed by Argonaut. The original chip was designed to calculate 3D math quickly and was first used in Star Fox. The Super FX 2 had more memory and ran at 21 MHz, twice as fast as the original chip. Argonaut's original proposal for the Super FX used this improved architecture, but Nintendo found it too expensive. Cuthbert also rewrote parts of the engine to run in parallel in RAM to free more Super FX 2 processing for more advanced features, such as planar clipping and advanced collision detection. These enhancements enabled the chip to manipulate more polygons and sprites and to map textures more quickly, giving the team the computing power needed for free-roaming 3D environments. Such free-roaming gameplay was planned for the original Star Fox, but it was made on-rails because of the original Super FX chip's limited computing powers. Cuthbert also retooled the engine to increase the frame rate from 20 to 30 frames per second, but it was not steady so they locked the frame rate at 20 FPS. Freely explorable environments were the only gameplay element planned for the original Star Fox carried into Star Fox 2; all other ideas were new.
The Super FX 2 chip developed by Argonaut Software, seen here in Yoshi's Island
Miyamoto considered the Star Fox series a platform for experimenting with new gameplay ideas. The team experimented more with Star Fox 2 than Star Fox. This led to gameplay ideas such as the platforming sequences with the robot walker. Miyamoto took great interest in Cuthbert's platforming gameplay (before Super Mario 64's release in 1996). At one point in development, the Walker sequences occurred in much larger space stations with energy gates that needed to be unlocked, a gameplay structure comparable to dungeon crawling. Because of the Super FX 2's greater computing power, the team decided to have the fighters visibly transform into bipedal Walkers. The transformation was made in a realistic sense; the artists drafted the mechanisms by which the fighters transformed.
Eguchi wanted to explore a more roguelike game system and use similar game mechanics to Star Luster (1985). He played Star Luster repeatedly for inspiration and was particularly fond of its random encounters system. He also enjoyed Fortune Street and was inspired by its more strategic gameplay elements. Given this direction, the team designed the main gameplay structure: players would move across a map defending planets from the enemy, battling in randomly generated enemy encounters. It was designed to play out differently each gameplay session. For further replayability, the team added six playable characters, two of which were series newcomers: Miyu and Fay. More antagonists were added, including Wolf. A two-player mode was planned and tested, but the team could not get the frame rate high and steady enough for it to be enjoyable.
Promotion at Winter CES
Star Fox 2 was playable on the show floor at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (Winter CES) in Las Vegas in January 1995. The version demonstrated was significantly different from the final version. GamePro enjoyed the free-roaming gameplay, the craft morphing ability, and strategy elements. Electronic Gaming Monthly also liked the shift to free-roaming and felt the non-linear gameplay and ship morphing abilities were major improvements. Nintendo Power dubbed it their top SNES game of the show. All three magazines thought Star Fox 2 was better than the original. Edge was more critical, writing that Star Fox 2 was Nintendo's attempt to keep the SNES relevant. They wrote that the Super FX polygons were not particularly impressive, and the gameplay lacked "the immediate appeal of its predecessor". A man was arrested and charged with felony grand larceny for attempting to steal a demo cart from the show floor.
Cancellation
By mid-1995, Star Fox 2 was nearing completion, and was planned for release in August. However, 3D technology was advancing quickly and the 3D game market was expanding, with competition from the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The consoles ran impressive 3D graphics that captured the public's attention. Nintendo was concerned that the 16-bit Star Fox 2 3D visuals would be compared to the superior 3D capabilities of competing consoles. Cuthbert said that Star Fox 2 would be "compared directly against games such as Ridge Racer, which felt like you finally had an arcade machine's power in your home".
Nintendo decided to prioritize its upcoming Nintendo 64 console, including a new Star Fox game, Star Fox 64. According to Cuthbert, Miyamoto wanted a clear break between 3D games on the SNES and Nintendo 64. The Super FX 2 chip also raised the cost of production, which would have made Star Fox 2 an expensive release.
Star Fox 2 was canceled in mid-1995, when it was about 95% complete. Nintendo still wanted the game finished after cancellation, so they took it through full localization and QA testing. Cuthbert said there may have been no official announcement of cancellation, and there was confusion about the game's status in the media. The August issue of GamePro printed that it had been delayed to 1996, while Electronic Gaming Monthly wrote that it had been canceled in their September issue. Nintendo Power wrote in their September issue that "rumors of the demise of Star Fox 2 have been greatly exaggerated", and that the release was most likely coming in the first half of 1996.
Release
Star Fox 2
For many years, the completed version of Star Fox 2 remained in Nintendo's archives. Super FX games were not considered for Nintendo's Virtual Console content distribution service because Nintendo had difficulty emulating the chip. In 2015, Miyamoto told journalists: "In my memory, I enjoyed [Star Fox 2] but I'm not sure I would release it, [...] I'd rather have people play a new game".
Beta leaks
A screenshot from a prototype build, depicting Leon Powalski being shot down and exclaiming "Aah! Boss Wolf, I'm leaving the rest to you!"
In the years following cancellation, ROM images of incomplete builds of Star Fox 2 were leaked anonymously onto the internet. Cuthbert denied he had leaked it and suspected the ROMs had been taken from his hard drive after he left Argonaut.
The first ROMs leaked in the late 1990s were early test builds with numerous software bugs. These versions mostly consist of debug menus and sparsely populated landscapes; one version includes a two-player mode. A few years later, an anonymous person reached out to the emulation community, saying that they had a non-working copy of the final beta ROM. The community determined that an internal header was missing and were able to add the header to get it functioning. The ROM image was leaked online after. This version was in Japanese and much more complete than previous versions. The emulation community was inspired by the release to improve Super FX chip handling in their Super NES emulators. A fan translation patch was also released which took four people and over 100 hours of work. The patch developers also changed a debug modifier that was set to zero, preventing Corneria from taking damage.
All leaked ROMs are beta versions. Some gameplay features do not work correctly, are incomplete, or hampered by bugs. According to Cuthbert, all the leaked ROMs lack the final few months of QA work. They were also all set up in debug mode, so the encounter systems and randomized gameplay elements do not work correctly. Speaking about the final beta ROM, he said: "The basic parts are there, but there is an adage in game development, 'The last 10 percent is 90 percent of the game' and the ROM is missing that last 10 percent of iteration and refinement".
Official release
Star Fox 2 was released on the Super NES Classic Edition in 2017.
When compiling a list of games to include on the Super NES Classic dedicated console, the system's producer proposed the inclusion of Star Fox 2. He thought it would be a waste otherwise to never release a completed and debugged game. Nintendo had preserved the game since its completion, making it easy to bring it to the Super NES Classic. The device was announced along with Star Fox 2's inclusion in June 2017. The announcement came as a delightful surprise to Cuthbert. No one from Argonaut or Q-Games was consulted or otherwise made aware ahead of the reveal. Some of the original developers celebrated the announcement.
The Super NES Classic was released on September 29, 2017, in North America and Europe and on October 5 in Japan. The version is the localized English ROM that was completed in the 1990s, though Cuthbert suspected Nintendo had to make minor changes, such as altering screen flashing, to get it past modern regulations. Promotional artwork for Star Fox 2 was created by Takaya Imamura, the original Star Fox character designer. The instruction manual was released digitally online and included concept art and design documents, an unusual move for Nintendo. The game later received a second release via the Nintendo Switch's Nintendo Classics service on December 12, 2019.
Reception
Star Fox 2
Star Fox 2 received generally favorable reception from critics during its inclusion on the Super NES Classic Edition in 2017. Polygon's Ross Miller found it to be ambitious and fun. Destructoid's Chris Carter complimented the constant swap between viewpoints and playstyles, minimal "RPG-like" exposition between levels and the introduction of Star Wolf, stating that they added character into the game but noted its short length and criticized the low framerate. Eurogamer's Christian Donlan described it as an unusual but "wonderfully surprising and inventive" sequel that builds upon the first Star Fox, due to its more roguelite nature. GamesRadar+' David Houghton gave positive remarks regarding the evolution of the franchise's core ideas and free-roaming 3D planets, but criticized its uncohesive game mechanics, overly ambitious ideas and "choppy" technical performance.
IGN's Samuel Claiborn complimented its "janky-yet-plucky aesthetic" but complained of severe frame-rate drops and found it difficult to control the ships. He felt it was the worst game included with the Super NES Classic Edition, and that it "probably deserved" to have been cancelled, but was happy to see it released. Nintendo Life's Damien McFerran praised the depth, complexity and challenge, and called it a good reason to own a Super NES Classic Edition. Nintendo World Report's Neal Ronaghan and John Rairdin praised the distinct structure and design, challenge, strategy and roguelike elements, audiovisual presentation, replayability and depth. Rairdin wrote that it was the most important game in the Star Fox series, and one of the greatest Super Nintendo games. However, both criticized the lack of rail shooter levels, the slowdown and clipping, and its technical limitations.
HobbyConsolas' David Martínez commended the Arwing's transformation mechanic, open levels and introduction of new Star Fox members and Star Wolf but criticized the game's short length, technical shortcomings and controls, feeling that it was not well-rounded as the first entry. Digital Trends' Mike Epstein felt that Star Fox 2 took some of the biggest risks the Star Fox franchise had attempted. The Verge's Andrew Webster called it "a fascinating experience". GameSpot's Michael Higham gave positive remarks to the land vehicle sequences, freedom of approach to manage an incoming threat and off-rails 3D dogfights in space, but criticized its poor technical performance, short length, and lacking sense of adventure when compared to the first Star Fox, among other aspects.
Legacy
Star Fox 2
After Star Fox 2 was canceled, Argonaut's contract with Nintendo ended. Cuthbert left Japan and moved to the United States to work with Sony. In 2001, he returned to Japan to establish Q-Games. The company collaborated with Nintendo in 2006 to develop Star Fox Command, and again in 2011 for Star Fox 64 3D. Cuthbert found the experimentation with Star Fox 2 personally helpful in his career.
Star Fox 2 inspired the design of later Star Fox games. Free-range flying and grounded vehicle gameplay were implemented into Star Fox 64, as was the Star Wolf team. Nintendo and Q-Games played Star Fox 2 to gather inspiration on its strategic gameplay elements for Star Fox Command. Miyamoto asked Cuthbert to make Command more similar to Star Fox 2 than the original Star Fox. The Arwing's ability to transform into the Walker was re-introduced in Star Fox Zero (2016). The game also drove ideas for future Nintendo 64 games. Cuthbert believes a lot of the platforming experimentation they ran in Star Fox 2 gave Miyamoto confidence for Super Mario 64.