Q: Will any of the Arwing levels in SFA have bosses?

A: Designer says: "No. The goal of the Arwing levels is allow you to travel to different worlds."

And though it may hardly be considered a gameplay detail, you can no longer see up female characters' skirts by running the camera into the wall, according to one of the game designers:

Q: I'd like to thank Rare for giving Krystal even less clothes than the entire cast of DOA3 put together. So, will you, uh, be able to er... get the camera stuck in the wall when you run Krystal into the wall, like in JFG? Uh, I was only asking, uh... because it was a really... annoying bug in JFG, and I was, um, hoping that it would be fixed, or something, in SFA. Honest. Really. I'm serious. Or not.

A: Designer also says: "The camera system is so good that nothing will ever go wrong, honest." Notice how we politely ignore your 'subtle' Krystal upskirt query. At least Vela was a human character, you perv.

Last updated: 02/21/2002 by Jonathan Metts

We've long known RareWare.com's Scribes to be an underrated source of Rare info...a valuable commodity in any case. This month's edition of Scribes once again sports semi-interesting data on Rare's next major project, Star Fox Adventures. Take it away, Fishboy! (And props to you sir; it takes special skill to extract real info from those blokes.)

"9) Will SFA use the same Z-targeting (although it’ll be more like L-targeting on the GC) that the N64 Zeldas used?

8) Will SFA support HDTV? (not that I can afford one or anything.)

6) Will it be possible to play as any of the other StarFox team members in bonus missions or something?

5) Can Fox swim, and if so, do fish have scales?

- Fishboy

Rare:

"9. SFA has Auto-targeting. No buttons required.

8. It does support the Progressive Scan mode.

6. This is information is on a need to know basis and you do not need to know.

5. Yes, he can swim."

We'll be sure to update you all with any further info we can suck out of Rare, and we'll also be sure to give Leigh a big wet hug if he shows up at E3.

Last updated: 01/27/2002 by Max Lake

When this preview was started last March, it was still referring to the N64 game Dinosaur Planet. So much has changed since then and Star Fox Adventures continues to evolve before our eyes. If you’ve seen recent screen shots of Star Fox Adventures, Fox McCloud is sporting an all new furry look - a nice demonstration of the GameCube's texture abilities.

In the latest version of Uncle Tusk at Rareware’s Website has the "official word" (of sorts) on the new fur look:

Dear Uncle Tusk,

Wow - I am loving the fur effects (note I chose the words carefully - not 'fluff', which it clearly isn't) in Starfox. Oh, seasons greetings by the way. Simple question - maybe I should have checked FAQ first, oh well. Are the fur effects going to be on the in-game characters, or just in the cut scenes, or have the screenshots just been touched-up? From what I could make-out, the in-game model is different to before, but not furry. Thanks for the time.

Matt Nicholson, Surrey, England

Uncle Tusk replies: As it's an ongoing thing and still not finalized, all that's being said at the moment is that yes, we think the fur looks damn fine too, and no, the shots certainly haven't been touched up. What do you think this is? A snowboarding game?

We’ve got a couple gameplay tidbits to add to the preview as well. If you caught

this report, you’ll know Rare has admitted that there are many Arwing levels in the game. Definitely some great news for those who were worried the Arwing would play a minor role in this latest Star Fox outing. That’s not all… Just prior to the GameCube launch, Ken Lobb spoke with PGC & other gaming media and indicated there was a lot more to Star Fox Adventures than it being similar to the N64 Zelda games. Lobb stated there would be a variety of gameplay styles in Star Fox Adventures and even compared it to Contra. Whenever we get our hands on it, SFA should really be something special.

Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t be playing it anytime soon. According to PGC’s beloved network of spies, SFA won’t be released before the second half of 2002 and it may very well be a Fall release. Certainly with Rare, one expects games to be delayed more than once but the final product to be something worth waiting for. Star Fox Adventures should be no exception. We’ll try to dig up more info, though we may not get anything concrete until E3 2002, where SFA will definitely be on display.

Last updated: 12/28/2001 by Jonathan Metts

Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet is now officially named just "Star Fox Adventures". The change can be seen at both Rare's site and Nintendo's profile for the game. Note that the setting is still called Dinosaur Planet; that name has simply been dropped from SFA's title.

The change was originally spotted by Rare Extreme. Thanks to Rowdy Rody for pointing it out to us!

Last updated: 08/23/2001 by Jonathan Metts

We can now confirm that Star Fox Adventures does indeed include Arwing flying missions. In fact, one of them is playable in the Space World 2001 demo. The famous starfighter is flying through a beautiful, bluish asteroid field. Many asteroids, both some tiny and some larger than the Arwing itself, go flying past as you pilot through the mess. Others are so huge that they appear to be planets under you...planets with their own geological structures and everything. The level we've seen is full of enemies and the classic Star Fox gold rings for flying through, and of course tons of destructable asteroids.

The adventure portions of the game have been significantly cleaned up since E3, now sporting some of the best textures and animation yet seen on GameCube. Reportedly, it's all running at 60 frames per second as well.

All these additions and improvements come at a price though; in case you missed our recent news, Star Fox Adventures has been delayed until Q1 2002 in typical Rare fashion. Come on, did anyone really expect a Rare title at launch?

Finally, the mystery of Fox's staff seems to have been solved. One movie clip from Space World shows him simply pulling the magical staff out of a rock, King Arthur style. During this cutscene, a female voice is offering the staff to him and explaining how it will help him in his quest.

Last updated: 08/14/2001 by Jonathan Metts

First off, let's clear up some confusion about Arwing missions. In the most recent edition of Scribes, Rare comments twice that Arwing missions are a possibility, but nothing is confirmed yet. We thought this somewhat odd, since video footage at E3 clearly showed an Arwing flying through an asteroid field, shooting down the larger obstructions and doing barrel rolls. Sure enough, the official Nintendo of America press release for Star Fox Adventures has a list of game features, including: "Fly Arwing missions." NOA representatives were freely discussing the flying sequences at E3, saying that they would be present but constitute only a small portion of the entire game...the focus is obviously on adventuring. Finally, Nintendo.com offers this comment: "Some portions of the game deliver classic Star Fox action, in which players pilot Fox's Arwing through dangerous asteroid fields and engage in dogfights with other ace pilots." Either something has majorly changed since May, or Rare is simply being secretive as usual on this topic.

We think it's worth mentioning that SFA is still officially listed as a November, while some unofficial release lists show it for December. There has also been speculation that it could be delayed until 2002. The game did look very early at E3, but we have no way of knowing how far along Dinosaur Planet for N64 was, or how long it will take Rare to convert and/or rewrite the game as Star Fox Adventures for GameCube.

With the questionable voice acting from Star Fox 64, some people are obviously very interested in how that aspect will be handled in SFA. Several PGC staffers remarked that Slippy's voice in the E3 demo was lower-pitched and far less annoying than his previous iteration. That's a matter of personal taste though... Our man Max Lake also notes that General Pepper sounds like Don Knotts of Andy Griffith fame; take that as you will.

When Dinosaur Planet was originally shown for N64 back in 2000, one scene particularly caught our attention. Krystal, the female character who still remains in the game, was riding on top a flying dinosaur...perhaps a Pterodactyl. The dino could spit forth balls of flaming blue energy. Krystal was facing off with some kind of flying pirate ship whose cannons were shooting fire at her. The whole sequence played very similarly to a Star Fox 64 boss battle, a fact that was not missed by your friendly neighborhood PGC editors at the time. Interestingly enough, Rare has confirmed that portion of the original game is still going to be in SFA for GameCube, so you'll get to experience it for yourself soon.

What's up with Fox's staff? Apparently it's imbued with magical powers, and as you proceed through the game, its form will grow and change as it becomes more powerful. The staff lets Fox use magic spells and pole-vault up to higher ground. It's also pretty good for beating enemies upside the head. Rare recently noted that Fox receives the staff from another character early in the game, and it probably figures into the plot even more later on.

David Wise will be composing the music and sound effects for SFA. He previously worked on Diddy Kong Racing.

Last but not least, Prince Tricky the Triceratops will apparently be a major part of the gameplay and story. Despite being included in the E3 demos for both last year and this year, we still know very little about how he is used. So far we've been able to send him out to distract enemies and go sniff out treasures. There's also a "whistle" function that calls him back to your side. Rare certainly has experience with using a second, semi-playable character...see Banjo and Kazooie. Up until now he's shown only a few parlor tricks, but in the final game you can expect Tricky to have all sorts of useful abilities to aid you in combat and in solving puzzles. The little guy even has his own compartment in Fox's Arwing, and when the ship lands, Tricky's ramp extends down to the ground so he can exit!

Last updated: 06/23/2001 by Max Lake

PGC frequently gets helpful or insightful email from our readers around the world. Just recently, we got a very interesting email regarding the Star Fox series that I thought would be a good preview update. Check it out:

Hello PGC,

I'm from Argentina. I really like your site and I always visit it, it's really great! I wouldn't email you if I don't think what I recently discovered is so surprising, so here it is: the other day I founded the instruction booklet of Star Fox for SNES, I begun reading it until I discovered one cool coincidence(?). In page 21, the second paragraph begins:

"PLANET V: FORTUNA

Fortuna is also known as the Dinosaur Planet and is prowled by untamed and brutal creatures.[...]"

"also known as the Dinosaur Planet"? I leave it to your imagination and, please tell me what the hell is going on here.

Thanks for now, and NINTENDO RULES!!

-Fernando Sosa

My! That is quite the coincidence, thanks for pointing this out Fernando! Could it be Nintendo & Rare planned this all along? Naaaaahhhhhh….

Fortuna was also in Star Fox 64 and was the “Former Defense Post.” No sign of dinosaurs, as it was an artic level & the entire planet looked somewhat barren. However, this was the level where you fought Star Wolf for the first time on the easy path.

It is unknown if the “Dinosaur Planet” in Star Fox Adventures will be called Fortuna. Maybe not, but this is still a very interesting coincidence.

Last updated: 05/16/2001 by Max Lake

Last night, our good pals at Tendo Box confirmed the rumors that Dinosaur Planet and Star Fox Adventures are now one and the same and revealed the first footage. Our lucky readers utilizing PGC Share got to see the game in action before the hardworking PGC editors (but we won’t act stupid and pretend like we’re jealous). We got to take a look at the newly retitled Star Fox: Dinosaur Planet Although many Nintendophiles were worried about the direction of the game, it seems that neither Rare’s creation (dino planet) or the Star Fox license will be compromised too much. Seeing the game footage, it looks like a match made in heaven.

Ages ago, Shigeru Miyamoto aloofly said that he wanted to make Rare’s Dinosaur Planet Star Fox Adventures. Now it has been confirmed that the game will combine the two ideas, it’s no surprise to learn that the game will be a joint development from Nintendo and Rare.

The game begins with Fox McCloud finding a magic staff, which quickly roller coasters into a Zelda-like adventure starring everybody’s favorite Arwing pilot. HOOOooo boy! The footage we saw showed off Fox fighting enemies, martial arts style, using the staff. Fox finds himself on Dinosaur Planet – a prehistoric paradise plunged into chaos by an evil dinosaur named General Scales, sections of the dino planet have been ripped from the surface and flung it into low orbit. Now, the General and his legions of mutated dinosaurs are running wild on the planet. It’s up to Fox to save the day.

Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet picks up 8 years after the Star Fox team rid the Lylat System of the evil lord Andross. In this time of peace, Fox McCloud’s high flying team has since been disbanded. Falco is off doing his own thing (“pursuing a solo career” according to NOA’s press release); Slippy is working in research & development (did he go through puberty? That frog needs his voice to mature!) and Peppy Hare is now retired from the front line and assists on mission support. Therefore, Fox is on his own and the game will be a single player adventure.

That said, Fox’s friends won’t be completely out of the action. Peppy, Slippy and General Pepper have all been glimpsed in demo reels of the game. Where’s Falco? Maybe that birdbrain is off being a jerk somewhere else, or he could pop up somewhere in there. Who knows? There is also word that Krystal, one of the original protagonists of Rare’s Dinosaur Planet (and quite literally a female fox), needs to be rescued from “the mysterious Krazoa.” There will be a new sidekick, Prince Tricky, who is apparently a smart-mouthed triceratops.

What else can we expect from the SFA: Dinosaur Planet? According to Nintendo, there will be Arwing flying missions. There will also be dinosaur riding, as seen in the N64 build of the game. As previously mentioned, there will also be plenty of action. It seems sci-fi will meet sorcery and fox will be able to use magic. Apparently, Fox’s magic staff can be controlled in unique ways with the GameCube controller, allowing for many types of combat moves and transformations. We’re not quite sure how this works, but after seeing Miyamoto demonstrate the NGC Controller, we believe it will be both innovative and cool.

“Bringing dinosaurs to life in a lush world is a definite challenge, but the power of NINTENDO GAMECUBE makes it happen in this exciting game,” says Peter Main. “The outstanding story and incredible visuals make this title an adventure for all ages.”

Fox McCloud is about to become an even bigger Nintendo hero. The Lylat System is about to be explored and expanded.

And we’re going to get to see this on the showfloor of E3. We’ll have more tomorrow!

Last updated: 05/16/2001 by Billy Berghammer

Tendo Box confirms Star Fox : Dinosaur Planet! It will be shown at E3 2001!

Looks like this will be one of the titles that will be expanding on the strong franchises that Nintendo controls! More news from the E3 show floor coming soon!

Last updated: 03/27/2001

Fans of Nintendo's oldest and most prolific second-party developer have long pined for an RPG or adventure game from the studio. In Spring of 2000, Rare answered the call by confirming the existence of Dinosaur Planet, one of the most ambitious Nintendo 64 games ever conceived. The game was to be an adventure in the style of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, with original characters and worlds and the addition of sidekick helpers in the form of baby dinosaurs. There were also two playable characters, both looking somewhat like Fox from the Starfox series, and presumably they had different abilities.

Dinosaur Planet was expected to ship in late 2000 (AHAHAHAHAHAHA) on a massive 64MB cartridge, the same size as Resident Evil 2, and require the Expansion Pak to help support very large environments and lighting effects. A week later, the game was unveiled to the press in playable form at E3. The demo was impressive, to say the least. There were a few normal environments to explore and test out the sidekick functions (only a couple of which were available in the demo), a bobsled-like race level, a Starfox-like shooting level atop a pterodactyl's back, and two boss levels. The race and shooting levels were arguably the best of the bunch, although the bosses were enormous (each considerably taller than the screen's vertical range) and quite cool. The "normal" levels played a lot like the Zelda games on N64, but the controls were different. Z-targeting was done without a fairy or similar ploy, and each C-button had a specific function. One selected your magic, one selected from your inventory, one assigned commands to your sidekick, and the top C-button put you in the standard "look around" first-person camera view. In keeping with the Zelda comparison, the characters in DP could not jump except down from ledges, and the full range of their combat moves was not realized until you Z-targeted on an enemy or breakable item. However, every cutscene was fully voiced, something that has never been attempted in a Nintendo adventure game (unless you count Conker's BFD, also from Rare).

Rather quickly after E3 came to an end, we started to hear rumors about Dinosaur Planet...that it wouldn't be finished by the end of the year 2000, and that Nintendo didn't want it released in 2001. Thus, the game had been moved to development for GameCube. Since that time, there have been countless reports and rumors saying the exact same thing, and practically zero people suggesting that the reports were false. In other words, a strong current swept through the industry, saying that Dinosaur Planet was going to GameCube. Most people familiar with the game are simply taking the reports as fact by this time. To make things perfectly clear: neither Nintendo nor Rare has yet to announce that DP is going to any system other than the N64, but everyone knows that it's going to GameCube. The official confirmation will be a mere formality to many folks.

What can you expect from Dinosaur Planet on NGC? If Rare plans to get it out by the GameCube launch in North America, don't expect the game's design to be much different than what was shown at E3 2000, just dramatically upgraded with new graphics. On the other hand, if Rare decides to take its time with the game (which has been known to happen, ahem), we might see DP emerge in a year or two as a totally new type of game. We'll keep you posted on any new info, but Nintendo isn't going to make any official comments until at least E3 2001.