Difference between revisions of "Star Fox 2"

The premise of ''Star Fox 2'' is very different from the original ''[[Star Fox (game)|Star Fox]]'': Instead of following mostly linear paths inside predefined missions, the player moves a team of two ships freely around a map screen that represents the Lylat system. When the player's ships make contact with enemy forces, the game will go into an action perspective, piloting the Arwing ship directly with controls and game play similar to the first Star Fox. When the player clears the specified objectives in that encounter, destroying all fighters in the vicinity for example, the game will go back into the main map screen, where the player can select a new destination for his craft.

The objective of the game is to destroy all enemy forces present in the map while defending planet [[Corneria]] (located in the lower left corner of the map), preventing its damage level from reaching 100% due to enemy attacks. To protect Corneria the player will have to intercept fighters and incoming missiles, called [[IPBM]]s in the game, while also dealing with the sources of these attacks: battleships, which will deploy more fighter squadrons, and planetary bases which will fire more missiles towards Corneria. To assist the player, General Pepper will employ an immobile space station that can shoot down enemies on a limited basis — the player must also defend this installation from special enemy ships called viruses that can take over the satellite, and use its cannon to fire at Corneria.

If a the player's ship make contact in the map screen with a captured planet they will be transported into another action sequence located on the planet's surface. There they will have to open the enemy's base entrance through different means depending on the level (by pressing a switch, defeating a boss, etc.) Once the player has been able to gain access to the base interior, he/she will have to go through a complex and destroy the base's generator at the end. The planet will be then liberated and no more missiles will be fired from it. Starfighters from the Star Wolf mercenary team will be defending some captured planets, and they will have to be fought if the player wants to liberate one of those planets. They will eventually go after the player's Arwings when some time has passed. Bosses will also be dispatched to chase the player's ships at some point in the game.

The game runs in semi-real time: when the player takes an action, time starts counting and enemies will perform actions as well. This occurs whether the player is moving around on the map screen or has engaged an enemy in battle, making it possible for enemies to damage Corneria or new enemies to launch during that time. This forces the player to think tactically and defeat their enemies as quick and efficiently as possible. At times the player may even have to leave a battle to take on other enemies that are getting too close to the planet. In this way, Star Fox 2 bears considerable similarity to many real-time strategy games.

Once the player has cleared all enemy forces present on the map, his ships will then travel to Andross' base, located on the top right corner of the map, to face one last level and fight Andross himself at the end of it. Once Andross is defeated, the player has won the game, and his performance will be scored and ranked in a debriefing screen.

Difficulty levels have a great impact on the game, changing the layout of all levels and presenting stronger and more numerous enemy forces on each successive difficulty level. Each difficulty level also contains its own bonus items called "Pepper Coins", which will be hidden inside the game's levels for the player to find and collect.

*[[Pepper Coin]]s: These replenish all shields.