One of the lesser-known facts about the gaming industry is how often proposed games never make it to the development stage. While the general public is frequently informed about canceled projects, like the two unnamed titles The Coalition was working on, a significant number of proposed games never make it past the pitching stage. Take, for instance, the canceled Nintendo game, Star Fox Armada.
Did You Know Gaming recently learned that art director Eric Kozlowsky pitched a 12-page version of the game to Nintendo executives in 2013 as a sequel to the Nintendo 64 rail shooter title Star Fox 64. The pitch, which included online multiplayer and a DLC with new ships and missions, was unfortunately rejected by Nintendo.
Here is a brief summary of the major points included in the pitch:
- Art style would have been like the puppet aesthetic seen in the series’ early promo images
- Would have continued where Star Fox 64 ended in terms of story and gameplay
- Fox would never get out of his ship
- Following the defeat of Andross, general Pepper realizes that Corneria and the Lylat System need to be rebuilt
- War with Andross left the Cornerian government with a lack of resources needed to rebuild the military and civilian sectors
- Pepper hires Star Fox, and their mission is to search nearby systems for allies and resources
- Fox and his crew will discover a threat even more imposing than Andross
- Intended to combine classic Star Fox 64 gameplay with new open world and multiplayer mechanics
- Single-player would have players taking on missions aboard the Great Fox and travel to planets, sectors, installations, and asteroid belts to complete them
- Earn money that can be given to Corneria, upgrade your ships, or buy new ones like the Land Master tank and Blue Marine submarine
- Choose how many resources to send back to aid in Corneria’s reconstruction and how much to keep for yourself
- Optional side quest missions planned that would lean into the more mercenary angle
- Less linear and more of a mission-based structure
- Fox can walk around the various decks in what amounts to an interactive menu
- GamePad would emulate a ship’s control panel with info about current mission, which parts damaged by enemy damage
- For co-op, player 1 would use a Wii Remote and Nunchuck while player 2 would use the GamePad to be the ship’s gunner with a 360 degree view, repair and control shields
- Could play online with a friend or a group to complete missions in multiple ships
- Battle mode planned with dogfights
- "Armada" name comes into play since it encourages you to build up your own squadron
- Could design your own anthropomorphic characters
- Game would have other online players dropping down on you like with Star Wolf showing up in Star Fox 64, but this was optional
- DLC intended with new ships, missions, planets over time
Star Fox 64 is considered to be one of the greatest games of all time, and based on the notes above, Star Fox Armada would have likely joined its ranks. However, Nintendo decided to develop Star Fox Zero, which was released in 2016 to mixed critical reception.
Speaking of Nintendo, a LEGO Legend of Zelda set might actually happen. This news comes after images of a Zelda LEGO set from a paid marketing survey were leaked online. It's also believed that Nintendo and Illumination are working together on an animated Zelda film.
