Star Fox
1993 · Rail Shooter · SNES
Overview
Star Fox was the first SNES game to use the Super FX chip — a custom coprocessor inside the cartridge that handled 3D polygon rendering. The result was a rail shooter in which the player piloted an Arwing fighter through three-dimensional environments that no SNES game had previously produced. The Super FX chip made Star Fox technically impossible on any other hardware of its era.
Deep Dive
Star Fox was developed in collaboration with Argonaut Software, a British company that had demonstrated 3D polygon rendering to Nintendo. The Super FX chip was designed by Argonaut's Ben Cheese and Peter Warnes specifically for the Star Fox project. The chip rendered approximately 15 polygon-based objects per frame at 15-20 frames per second — crude by modern standards but a genuine visual breakthrough in 1993. The game's multiple routes — different difficulty paths through the solar system — gave it replay value beyond its relatively short linear playtime.
Developer Story
Star Fox was developed jointly by Nintendo EAD and Argonaut Software, a British company specialising in 3D graphics. Argonaut's Jez San had pitched Nintendo on 3D gaming possibilities, leading to the development of the Super FX chip and the game simultaneously. The project took approximately two years.
Did You Know?
- The Super FX chip inside the Star Fox cartridge cost more to manufacture than most entire games at the time, making Star Fox one of the most expensive SNES cartridges ever produced.
- Argonaut Software approached Nintendo with a 3D Game Boy demo; Nintendo redirected their expertise to the SNES, resulting in both Star Fox and the Super FX chip.
- The game's characters — Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad — were designed to be recognisable in 3D with minimal polygon counts.
- The barrel roll manoeuvre, which became Star Fox's signature move, is technically an aileron roll — the game's characters will correct you if you call it a barrel roll.
