Star Fox Armada: The Cancelled Retro Studios Wii U Project With a Puppet Aesthetic
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Published on: February 06, 2023
Description
More than seven years have passed since players last joined Fox McCloud and his crew in Star Fox Zero, with anticipation still high among fans for a potential return of the iconic franchise on Nintendo Switch or future hardware.
While the series currently remains on pause, intriguing new details have surfaced regarding one of Star Fox’s most promising, yet ultimately cancelled, concepts at the hands of acclaimed developer Retro Studios.
In a recent feature by YouTube channel Did You Know Gaming, former Retro Studios artist Eric Kozlowsky shared insights into a pitched Wii U title called 'Star Fox Armada.' The proposal, initially presented in early 2013, envisioned a game that would build directly on the legacy of the beloved Star Fox 64, maintaining the classic space-faring shoot-'em-up gameplay and narrative that fans expect from the series.
Unlike titles such as Star Fox Adventures, Armada would have kept Fox McCloud and his team firmly in their Arwings, battling foes among the stars.
Kozlowsky, who provided his original 24-page pitch document to Did You Know Gaming, detailed how Star Fox Armada aimed to follow the aftermath of Andross’s defeat.
The story was set to focus on rebuilding the Lylat System—a narrative arc echoing events from the 1997 Nintendo 64 classic.
The game was carefully designed to appeal to core Star Fox fans by offering a return to the franchise's roots.
One of the standout features of the Star Fox Armada pitch was its proposed art direction.
Recognizing the Wii U's limitations compared to contemporary PlayStation and Xbox consoles, the team proposed a puppet-inspired visual style, taking cues from the series' early promotional materials.
This approach would have allowed Retro Studios to bring the anthropomorphic cast to life in a visually unique yet hardware-appropriate way, bypassing the need for ultra-realistic graphics.
The 'Armada' subtitle also had significant gameplay implications.
Kozlowsky revealed that the game was designed with a robust online component in mind.
Players would be able to form their own squads of animal pilots, facilitating large-scale online dogfights and real-time encounters with rival teams during missions—a compelling multiplayer concept that distinguished Armada from previous Star Fox titles.
Despite these innovative ideas, Retro Studios ultimately chose not to advance the project.
According to Kozlowsky, the decision was made swiftly, and Star Fox Armada never progressed beyond the proposal stage.
These revelations offer insight into both Retro Studios’ creative ambitions and the ever-competitive process of greenlighting new projects within Nintendo.
Though Star Fox Armada never saw the light of day, its legacy lives on in the imaginations of franchise enthusiasts and serves as a testament to the series’ enduring influence.
For an in-depth exploration, viewers can watch the full Did You Know Gaming video detailing Kozlowsky’s pitch and the design philosophy behind the cancelled Wii U title.
With the Star Fox series’ future still uncertain, retrospectives like these shed light on the ideas and talent that continue to shape Nintendo’s storied history.
