they've scarcely gotten any of their own releases in recent years.
All that's about to change, though, with the reveal of Wild Blue, a Star Fox spiritual successor newly revealed to be in development in a world premiere trailer during today's Humble Games Showcase. An on-rails aerial space combat shooter, it hearkens back to the old-school Star Fox games in both gameplay and visuals. It's now in development by Chuhai Labs, a studio founded by original Star Fox programmer Giles Goddard. It appears to be a PC exclusive for now; no release date has been announced.
Wild Blue Wears Its Star Fox Inspiration Proudly
How Star Fox Influenced Wild Blue
Even if it weren't so open about all the ideas it draws from Star Fox, it'd be pretty obvious that Wild Blue is a spiritual successor to the SNES classic. First, there's the gameplay: it looks almost identical to Star Fox, with simple, colorful, blocky graphics featuring X-shaped ships locking onto distant targets as they race over the surface of alien worlds. Like Star Fox, ships move on rails in Wild Blue - while players will almost certainly have at least some control over orientation and positioning, speed will be set automatically.
New Switch 2 Leaks Have Me Hopeful The Console Will Resolve One of Nintendo's Biggest Shortcomings
With the most recent Switch 2 leaks hinting at the console having faster wi-fi, it suggests Nintendo might finally be improving online play.
In addition, there's the character design aspect: Bowie Stray, the only character we've seen from Wild Blue thus far, is an anthropomorphic animal. They have a decidedly different art style from anything in Star Fox, but the influence is undeniable: instead of an orange fox, a slightly-lighter-orange dog in a futuristic bomber jacket and driving gloves.
Finally, there's the involvement of Giles Goddard. A programmer who worked on the original Star Fox, as well as 1080° Snowboarding and the interactive Mario face in the menu for Mario 64, Goddard is a Nintendo veteran with a fascinating career under his belt. He founded Chuhai Labs (then called Vitei) as a Kyoto-based studio back in 2002. It's since developed a couple of spiritual successors to classic Nintendo games Goddard worked on, including Steel Diver: Sub Wars and the VR game Carve Snowboarding.
Wild Blue Could Be Great, But There's No Guarantee
Still Early Days
Wild Blue has a good pedigree, and already has Star Fox fans excited. Still, it's only the earliest days of its announcement, and we scarcely know anything about the game at this early juncture. Gilles was undeniably an important part of Star Fox's development, but he's just one programmer on a much larger team; it's going to take a lot of work to recapture that magic.
After 8 Years, The Nintendo Switch Era May Be Over - And The Game Responsible May Surprise You
At least one major Switch release may launch on the Switch 2 instead, causing the original Switch era to come to an abrupt and disappointing end.
In addition, spiritual successors like this one can be hit-or-miss. Some of them turn out great: when assistant director of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night came out with spiritual successor Bloodstained in 2019, it was a critical and commercial success, reeling in classic Castlevania fans while bringing tons of new players to the genre. But they don't always make the grade. Mighty No. 9, Mega Man developer Keiji Inafune's effort to revive the series, didn't quite live up to fan expectations, and was largely criticized as a poor imitator of the original games.
Still, a modern Star Fox successor sounds cool, and it does have the potential to breathe a little life back into a mostly-dormant series. The development of Wild Blue is one to watch.