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00:00Are you okay? My name is Fox MacLeod, and you must be the Queen Earthwalker.
00:06No, no, rude, no, cad, you. Way away.
00:09Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're taking a look at 25 things you may not have known about Star
00:17Fox.
00:18Andros!
00:20And now, to destroy the Lylant system!
00:25I've got to stop it!
00:28Before we begin, we publish new videos all week long, so be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays, and ring
00:33the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
00:36The Many Stitches of Star Fox 64
00:40What the heck? Fox, look behind you!
00:44Star Fox 64 is the most interesting game in the entire franchise.
00:49Not only is this game regarded as the best Star Fox game ever made,
00:53it is also a reboot of the original Star Fox, released in 1993.
00:58Not sure how you reboot a series after only one game, but when you dig into the game's development,
01:04it kinda starts to make sense.
01:06Following the cancellation of Star Fox 2,
01:09creator Shigeru Miyamoto and his team went back to the drawing board to figure out how to make this new
01:14title work.
01:14Essentially, they took some of the ideas from Star Fox 2, such as utilizing different vehicles for some levels,
01:21and blended that with the core mechanics of the original Star Fox.
01:24That, combined with the technological advancements of the Nintendo 64, is what ended up making Star Fox 64.
01:46It sounds far-fetched when said out loud, but would you believe that Star Fox has some connection to Team
01:53Fortress 2?
01:54It's nothing in the narrative, but one may be surprised to hear that a couple of voice actors have done
01:59work on both Valve's acclaimed FPS and Nintendo's flagship on-rails shooter.
02:05Rick May, best known for the voice of the soldier in TF2, was also known as the voice of Peppy
02:10Hare and Andross in Star Fox 64.
02:14As for Grant Goodeve, who voiced TF2's engineer, he served as the voice of Wolf O'Donnell in Star Fox Assault.
02:21Fox! Crystal! I knew you'd come! Thank you so much!
02:27For the Krizoa, you monster.
02:30I mean, I mean, this isn't a conversation for children!
02:33In case the title didn't make it clear, Team Fortress 2 is not the only Valve game to share actors
02:40with Star Fox.
02:41In Star Fox Assault, Crystal is voiced by Elysia Glidewell.
02:45Prior to this, Glidewell had only voiced Carmelita Fox and Constable Neela in Sly 3 Honor Among Thieves.
02:52After Assault, Glidewell became more recognizable once Portal caught the PC world by storm.
02:59Glidewell became the face map for Chell in both Portal games, and would later voice Zero Suit Samus, as well
03:05as Crystal, in the Super Smash Bros. games.
03:08The Uprising, that didn't happen.
03:12Slippy, watch out! Bogey on your tail!
03:18Whoa! Thanks, Fox!
03:20For those unfamiliar, Kid Icarus Uprising was a 3DS game that played a little similarly to the Star Fox games.
03:26Every level would begin with an on-rails shooting segment, before taking the rest of the game into a somewhat
03:32more traditional third-person shooter portion.
03:35Still, the similarities were enough to cause some folks to ask why this wasn't a Star Fox game instead.
03:41Well, director and writer Masahiro Sakurai admits to almost going in that direction.
03:46In a 2010 interview with Time Magazine, Sakurai explains that the gameplay ideas and moments he wanted to incorporate into
03:55Uprising would not have fit the Star Fox formula,
03:58the most notable being able to turn around while flying.
04:01Funny to hear that today after experiencing the awful camera controls in Star Fox Zero, am I right?
04:07A retconned system?
04:09You are no way to be right.
04:13Most Star Fox fans know the situation with Star Fox Command.
04:17Absolutely nothing in this game is to be taken seriously, as none of it is canon.
04:22Even so, it's strange to play this game given that it takes place in the Lilac system, yet it is
04:28very clearly missing a few key locations.
04:31We can understand Area 6 and Bulls missing because those were just Andros' own space stations outside of Venom, so
04:39it makes sense.
04:40But where are Macbeth and Zonis?
04:43Why is Titania missing its rings?
04:46And how exactly did Sector Y manage to stray farther away from Corneria?
04:53Nothing about Command's map makes a lick of sense here.
04:56Incoming enemy missiles!
04:58Shoot them down! We're being marked!
05:00The obscurity of Fox's mother.
05:04Never give up. Trust your instincts.
05:07James McCloud, Fox's dad, has been a prominent figure throughout the franchise.
05:12But what about Fox's mom?
05:14Does he even have one?
05:15I mean, obviously yes, but it's just, we've never seen her before, so that's why I'm asking.
05:20It's a rhetorical question.
05:21But as a matter of fact, he does.
05:24According to the short-lived 1993 comics, Fox's mother is named Vixie Renard McCloud.
05:30And just like her husband, she too was killed by Andros.
05:34Turns out, Andros had a deep obsession for Vixie, despite her already being married to James.
05:40In an attempt to kill James, Andros had only caused Vixie to die, thus cementing the feud between the McClouds
05:47and the Mad Scientist.
05:49Star Fox, we are in your debt. I would be honored to have you as part of the Cornerian.
05:56Oh no, sir. We prefer doing things our own way.
06:00The fastest Cornerian.
06:09While we're on the subject of Fox's parents, James McCloud has a rather interesting alternate life.
06:14Be it because of interdimensional travel, or perhaps some bizarre alternate reality,
06:20James got to experience a brief racing career in both F-Zero X and F-Zero GX.
06:26James serves as an unlockable character in both games, and even comes with a machine heavily inspired by the Arwing.
06:34His bios even state that he leads a patrol squad named Galaxy Dog, and his rivals with a man named
06:41O'Donnell.
06:42One of the non-canon endings in Star Fox Command even takes this connection a step further,
06:47and shows Fox and Falco entering a race called G-Zero Grand Prix.
06:59Andross's Origins
07:05Compared to the rest of the cast from across the games, Andross's Inception has a few bizarre points that led
07:12to his creation.
07:13For starters, character designer Takaya Imamura has stated how every character is based on somebody that he worked with at
07:20Nintendo,
07:21Fox being based on Shigeru Miyamoto himself, for having, according to Imamura, a face that looks like a fox.
07:28As for Andross in particular, Imamura had based him off of his own boss, many believed to be Hiroshi Ikeda.
07:35As for how his English name was created, it is a portmanteau of the term Android, and Sir Edmund Andross,
07:42the 17th-century governor of the Dominion of New England, who was infamous for illegally imposing taxes,
07:49actively disrupting trade that sent New England into economic turmoil,
07:53exercising the military to oppress citizens, and had political opponents arrested and imprisoned.
07:59Only I have the brains to rule my life.
08:03ESRB Conundrums
08:17When it comes to age ratings, the Star Fox games have faced a couple of bizarre warnings,
08:23specifically for Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox Assault.
08:27Star Fox Adventures was rated T for Teen in North America,
08:31with one of the reasons being depictions of animated blood.
08:35The weird part about this is that there is no depiction of blood throughout the entire game,
08:40just moments where Fox and Crystal flash red when they take damage.
08:44As for Assault, the game also received a T for Teen rating for the sole reason of
08:50fantasy violence.
08:51Every other Star Fox game has received an E for Everyone rating, or E10+, for ages 10 and up.
08:58Language Exclusivity
09:04For a time, it was quite common for games to have different versions across certain regions.
09:09Not all of these differences were game-changing, however.
09:12Star Fox 64 is a good example of this occurrence.
09:15Most of the differences between the NTSC PAL and Japanese versions are purely cosmetic.
09:21At least, that's what it seems on the surface.
09:24PAL regions actually got an extra language setting for Star Fox 64, I mean, uh,
09:29Lylat Wars, that other regions did not get.
09:32Go into the language settings, and you can choose between having the English voiceover,
09:37or have the characters speak in Lylat.
09:39This setting also removes the narration from the start of the campaign.
09:44Sadly.
09:45Lost Lylat Literature
09:51Earlier, we had mentioned something about the original Star Fox game getting a series of comic books.
09:57Yes, you heard that right.
09:58The 1993 original game got an 11-issue series about Fox McCloud, his past,
10:04and the various adventures the Star Fox team has been through.
10:07This was not an uncommon method for Nintendo to market some of their games,
10:11as there were several other comic books published through Nintendo Power.
10:14Perhaps one of these days, Nintendo can publish these old works of literature in some fashion?
10:20Lyssa Brown, Lylat's Legendary Lass
10:23While we all dunk on Slippy Toad for being the least useful of the Star Fox team,
10:33he does have more utility in that he reveals health bars of bosses.
10:37But the lovely lady behind the helpless frog is none other than Lyssa Brown.
10:41Brown has been the voice of Slippy in Star Fox 64, Star Fox 64 3D, Star Fox Zero,
10:47and even the Super Smash Brothers games.
10:50As far as other games go, Brown has also provided voices for games such as Monday Night Combat,
10:55Shank, and Dead or Alive 4, where she voiced Spartan 458, aka Nicole, the devious Yaru Dupont.
11:11Don't know who we're talking about?
11:13Then you must not have ever touched the training mode in Star Fox 64,
11:18as this is the only part of the game that Yaru ever appears in.
11:22But much like the evil Andros, there is a somewhat sinister connection to his name.
11:27Due to the similarities in name, it is believed that our Tanuki in question is a reference to
11:32the 19th century businessman, Henry Dupont. During his time, Dupont made a fortune from selling
11:39gunpowder until the American Civil War, in which he refused to sell any of his product to the Confederacy.
11:45This connection, along with how old the Star Fox website described him as
11:49scheming, is what has led some fans to believe that Yaru Dupont is some kind of weapons manufacturer.
11:56The truth behind Dinosaur Planet
11:59A point of frustration within the Star Fox community and the general Nintendo community
12:10lies in the origins of Star Fox Adventures.
12:13As most folks within both fan bases are aware, the game had initially begun as an original IP that
12:19Rare wanted to create, called Dinosaur Planet. When Miyamoto saw the first build featuring Saber the
12:25Wolf, he had Rare use Fox instead and turn the game into a new Star Fox game. However, there was
12:32another turning point before that where Dinosaur Planet could have become a reality. At one point in
12:38development, Rare had wanted to use Timber the Tiger from Diddy Kong Racing as their main character. If they
12:44had stuck with this, perhaps we could have seen the game in its intended form after all.
12:48The elusive Versus Mode
12:56Star Fox 64's multiplayer has often been ignored by N64 fans in favor of stronger offerings like Mario
13:03Kart 64 and Super Smash Brothers. What some may not have known is that there were ways to make Versus
13:10Mode more exciting than just flying around empty areas with our wings. By earning medals in the campaign,
13:16you could unlock the Land Master for use in Versus, and even unlock an On Foot Mode. Earn a medal
13:22on every
13:23stage to unlock the Land Master, but earn a medal on every stage on Expert Mode to unlock the On
13:29Foot Mode.
13:30Yeah, there probably weren't a ton of people willing to go through that much torment. Can you imagine the
13:36number of hours you'd have to clock in order to get just the Land Master? Getting medals in this game
13:44is hard. It's really hard.
13:46A specially marked cereal fox.
13:54At one point, Nintendo partnered up with Kellogg's to sell specially marked cereal boxes containing game watches.
14:01No, not game and watch games. We mean watches themed around video games. Buy two boxes of Kellogg's Corn Flakes
14:10and mail in the proof of purchase tabs to get your very own game watch.
14:15You could either get one themed around the Game Boy, or you could get one based on Star Fox. The
14:20Star Fox Watch, particularly,
14:22came with a mini game where you have to defeat the Attack Carrier, which is the first boss in the
14:27SNES classic. A truly rare actress.
14:41Star Fox Adventures was the very first game to introduce Crystal, a Dinosaur Planet resident who
14:46would become a Star Fox member in later games. Hardcore fans of Rare may have recognized her voice, though.
14:52Crystal is voiced by Estelle Ellis, who had assisted in localization for rare games like Donkey Kong Country,
14:59Donkey Kong Country 2 Diddy's Conquest, and of course, Star Fox Adventures. She was also the voice of Amber in
15:05Grabbed by the Ghoulies and provided additional support work during the development of Conker Live and Reloaded.
15:11According to her page on Moby Games, the last game she worked on was Perfect Dark Zero, in which she
15:17helped provide motion capture.
15:19Told you to keep out of harm's way, kid!
15:22Andross's Controversial Return
15:25I'll be looking forward to this day, to see you again, Fox McCloud!
15:32At the end of Star Fox Adventures, it is revealed that the Krazoa statue was a simple disguise for Andross,
15:38and that he was using General Scales as a puppet to get himself resurrected over the last several years.
15:44This rehash of the Mad Scientist was pretty scandalous among players,
15:49as the story does not hint at his presence in any way whatsoever.
15:53It wound up feeling super forced, especially since this is the only time Falco decides to show up out of
15:59nowhere.
16:00Did time constraints prevent other sections being implemented that would have explained all of this?
16:05Or was it Nintendo's demand for the game to end this way?
16:08No one knows for certain, as no developers have spoken up about how this came to pass.
16:20When turret sections could be exciting
16:23Star Fox 64 may have borrowed a few ideas here and there from Star Fox 2, but there was one
16:29original bit it almost had.
16:31In a seemingly never-ending quest to uncover all bits and bobs about the N64 gem,
16:36YouTube channel Elleryx's Bootleg Game Shack discovered evidence of turret sections in Star Fox 64's files.
16:44In these sections, Fox would take control of the Great Fox's turret for an entire level or two.
16:50According to Elleryx, the turret mode was likely made with Area 6 and Sector Y in mind.
16:55There's a good chance this was axed from the final build because of technical limitations.
17:00Have you seen this bird?
17:03What's going on? You said this would save her!
17:06Going back to adventures one more time, the game presents a weird mystery surrounding Falco in the
17:12instruction manual. He's mentioned and has a bio, but doesn't show up until the end of the game?
17:18And when he does, nothing about his absence is explained. What gives?
17:23Well, there was an entire manga to explain that.
17:26Star Fox's farewell beloved Falco gives an entire storyline between the events of 64 and Adventures,
17:34where Kat Monroe and her cohorts inform Star Fox about a villain's plans to resurrect Andross.
17:41For some reason, Fox doesn't buy any of it, and it causes him and Falco to get into a heated
17:46fight,
17:47thus ending in Falco leaving the team. The only voice for a true hero.
17:52I see him up ahead. Let's rock and roll!
17:56Fox has had a few different voice actors over the past few decades. Daniel Osen in the original game,
18:02Steve Malpass in Adventures, and Jim Walker for Assault and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
18:07But the actor to play him most frequently, and the one that resonates with most Star Fox fans,
18:13is Mike West. Oddly enough, voicing Fox in 64, 64 3D, Zero, and the newer Smash games,
18:21those are his only video game credits. So what's he been doing all this time since 1997? Well,
18:28West primarily worked in radio broadcasting for the majority of his career. As for what he's up to at
18:34the time of this video? Well, to be honest, we couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but we hope he's doing very
18:40well.
18:41Tribute to Iwata
18:42The year 2016 was one of the saddest years in Nintendo history. Then-CEO of Nintendo,
18:52Satoru Iwata had passed away the year prior, and now we were witnessing some of the last games he
18:57ever had a hand in. Star Fox Zero was the very first game to pay tribute to him. Iwata had
19:03served
19:04as executive producer for the game, as he did with most Nintendo games at this point. After the cutscene
19:09that plays during the end credits, a message appears at the bottom of the screen that reads,
19:13quote,
19:14This game is dedicated to our wingman, who fell in battle, end quote.
19:35Iwata was not the only Star Fox member we had lost to medical complications. In 2020,
19:40the world was hit with a massive pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus. Many had lost their lives
19:46from severe strains of the virus, and among them was Rick May. As we mentioned earlier,
19:51May was widely known in the Star Fox fandom as the voice of Peppy Hair and Andross in Star Fox
19:5764.
19:57In addition to voicing the soldier in Team Fortress 2, May had also voiced the sinister Dr. M in Sly
20:043
20:04Honor Among Thieves and Genghis Khan in Age of Empires 2. According to Swedish Medical Center in
20:11Seattle, Washington, May suffered from a stroke and later passed away from further complications
20:16caused by COVID-19. While TF2 players performed gun salutes and taunts galore across their games,
20:23Star Fox fans were barrel rolling throughout Star Fox 64. Cancelled Crusades
20:34You don't really hear much about Star Fox games getting cancelled compared to other Nintendo
20:39franchises. However, there are at least two that are known. One was a game announced for the ill-fated
20:45Virtual Boy device, while Star Fox 2 was still in development. There wasn't much to it,
20:50it was just the original SNES game with 3D visuals. It would get cancelled due to the Virtual Boy's
20:55abysmal sales. The second Star Fox game to be cancelled was announced in tandem with Assault,
21:02simply called Star Fox Arcade. Namco was to develop both games, we got Assault of course,
21:08so what happened to the arcade game? Well, nobody said it was cancelled, but you know,
21:13it has been over 20 years since that announcement. I know that. Hey, it looks like that distress
21:21signal is no longer transmitting. Hmm, that doesn't sound good. Super Weekends?
21:31What some folks may not know is that there is a Star Fox game very, very, very few folks have
21:38gotten
21:38to play for themselves. From April 30th to May 2nd, 1993, players could participate in a special
21:45tournament where you had five minutes to blast through modified versions of Corneria and an
21:50asteroid stage in order to get the highest score possible. The grand prize was a luxurious vacation
21:56for you and your family. Only 2,000 cartridges of this version were ever made as this iteration would
22:03get sold for a very brief period of time. Today, this Super Weekend Edition of Star Fox fetches
22:10thousands of dollars. And I mean, thousands of dollars. You got one of these cartridges? You're rich, son.
22:27Did any of these facts surprise you? Let us know down in the comments,
22:31and don't forget to subscribe to Mojo Plays.
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