Star Fox Zero, the first new game in the classic shooter series in almost a decade, is almost here. Ahead of its launch, Shigeru Miyamoto discussed the new game with Time, pointing out the game’s focus on story and storytelling- which is unusual for a Nintendo game, and for a Miyamoto game in particular.
“For the Star Fox story, what’s really important are the relationships between General Pepper and Andross and Fox and his father,” Miyamoto said. “I didn’t want to try to tell a new story, so by keeping those relationships at the core, then going back to the Star Fox 64 story framework, we’ve added quite a bit of story to that and introduced the idea of these teleporters. The teleporters have an important role both from a story as well as a gameplay standpoint, and that’s allowed us to strengthen the original story that existed in Star Fox 64.
“And so the characters that appear will have the same names, but of course the boss battles are all new, and also the way that you attack each of the routes and approach the levels is very different. It will feel like you’re playing that original style of Star Fox 64 gameplay, but in an all-new version.”
He also discussed adding new difficulty modes into the game, for newcomers and for veterans, so that everyone can net some satisfaction from the game.
“Beyond those modes, we have additional ones for people who like the game but find it too hard to get past certain levels. So for instance there’ll be a way for them to get an invincible Arwing, so that they can fly through and see the levels. But at the same time, we’re also preparing modes for Star Fox fans looking for an even harder challenge, such as a ship that does more damage, but which also takes more damage.”
He added that he understands the importance of challenge, especially in a game like Star Fox- “Simply lowering the hurdle doesn’t necessarily mean that the challenge will be fun. What’s fun is you mastering the skill and having that sense of accomplishment—of achieving something that’s difficult.”
So, that seems to be an encouraging sign from Nintendo. Star Fox Zero is due out on Wii U exclusively next month.