The Nintendo Historian
join me on my redux of video games past 🚀
Archive #2
Starwing: A retrospective look
Starwing (1993) 🦊
Genre - Rail Shooter
Developer - @Nintendo
Platform - Super Nintendo
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Starwing (known as Star Fox outside of European territories) is the first entry in the series. Development for the game was shared with British developer Argonaut Software. In early production the game codenamed "NesGlider". It's the first Nintendo game to utilise polygonal graphics, a feat achieved by Argonaut's creation of the Super FX chip. This chip is found in the game cartridge and accelerated the graphical capabilities. The Super FX chip was seen as a selling point over fellow sixteen but rivals Sega and was used by multiple games after its use here. The Super FX 2 followed which improved on the original concept and was utilised in Doom and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
Genre - Rail Shooter
Developer - @Nintendo
Platform - Super Nintendo
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Starwing (known as Star Fox outside of European territories) is the first entry in the series. Development for the game was shared with British developer Argonaut Software. In early production the game codenamed "NesGlider". It's the first Nintendo game to utilise polygonal graphics, a feat achieved by Argonaut's creation of the Super FX chip. This chip is found in the game cartridge and accelerated the graphical capabilities. The Super FX chip was seen as a selling point over fellow sixteen but rivals Sega and was used by multiple games after its use here. The Super FX 2 followed which improved on the original concept and was utilised in Doom and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
Upon release Starwing enjoyed a great deal of hype due to its excellent graphics. Players control the Arwing and play as protagonist Fox McCloud with support from Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare and Falco Lombardi. The teams' motivation stems from antagonist Andross who has declared war on their home planet of Corneria. The game was succeeded by Lylat Wars (Star Fox 64), Starfox Adventures, Starfox: Assault, Starfox Command, Starfox Zero, Starfox Guard. A sequel to Starwing named Starfox 2 was created at the end of the lifespan of the Super Nintendo and even though it was completely finished, it was never released although a ROM for the title is freely available. Starfox 2 is retrospectively being released for the first time on the upcoming release of the Super Nintendo Classic.
Archive #1
How E.T Saved Video Games
E.T the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Developer - Atari
Publisher - Atari
Genre - Adventure
Platform - Atari 2600
The Video Game Crash of 1983 will go down as one the most infamous events in gaming history. Flashback to 1983 and industry pioneers Atari were at the peak of the power. After booming sales of their home console (Atari 2600) they were the market leader and all seemed well. Unbeknownst to them over-saturation of the market was just around the corner. The volume of games released soared - the quality of these games plummeted. Customers became savvy to this trend and began returning the games in droves causing multiple leading publishers to buckle under the weight of unwanted stock. E.T the Extra-Terrestrial is the shining example of this trend and is commonly referred to as 'the worst video game of all time'.
Developer - Atari
Publisher - Atari
Genre - Adventure
Platform - Atari 2600
The Video Game Crash of 1983 will go down as one the most infamous events in gaming history. Flashback to 1983 and industry pioneers Atari were at the peak of the power. After booming sales of their home console (Atari 2600) they were the market leader and all seemed well. Unbeknownst to them over-saturation of the market was just around the corner. The volume of games released soared - the quality of these games plummeted. Customers became savvy to this trend and began returning the games in droves causing multiple leading publishers to buckle under the weight of unwanted stock. E.T the Extra-Terrestrial is the shining example of this trend and is commonly referred to as 'the worst video game of all time'.
"Atari was the fastest growing business in American history. It was also the fastest falling company in American history."
Howard Scott Forshaw on creating E.T
The game was rushed to release soon after the movie in 1983. In complete contrast to the movie, which was a critical and commercial success, the game was dull and uninspired. A decision to entirely skip audience testing for the game is often cited as the reason this game was ever released at all. The game was produced in excessive volume - so excessive that when the game was released and hit the market - Atari were left with thousands of unwanted games with no potential suitors. This surplus stock was covertly buried in the desert of Alamogordo, New Mexico. Even with the game being so poor - it can still be seen as one of the most important games to ever be released. It was a wake up call for game developers that effectively spawned the thriving video game industry we see today. Terrible- but remarkably influential. 🌵👽