For some time now there have been whispers of a Retro Studios-developed racing game in the Star Fox universe. Many reliable sources that have gone on record regarding Star Fox Grand Prix, and everyone’s been expecting an announcement at every subsequent Direct. So far, Nintendo is keeping shtum, but footage from the latest Nintendo Direct has some people doubting its existence.
The latest trailer for the upcoming Starlink: Battle For Atlas update includes glimpses of starship races with Player One controlling an Arwing (skip to 14:30 in the Direct video below to see the above image in motion). A poster on ResetEra is postulating that all those sources have somehow misinterpreted this coming mode as the touted Star Fox racer.
It’s an interesting theory, to be sure, but the mental gymnastics needed to explain away Retro’s involvement don’t stand up to scrutiny. The idea that Retro’s work would somehow get recycled into a cross-platform Ubisoft property is absurd, as is the likelihood that numerous independent sources would have mistakenly jumped to the conclusion that Retro was working on it.
Unless Nintendo drops an incredible bombshell, you’ll have to wait until April to go to the races in your Arwing in any form on Switch. If nothing else, these theories show the dedication – and perhaps desperation – of a Star Fox fanbase starved of quality content. For anybody in that boat who hasn’t tried Starlink yet, we suggest you dive in immediately; prices are low and the game’s excellent on Switch. This weekend there’s even a ‘Free Toys Trial’ enabling you to try out some different Starships for a limited time.
It's hard to deny the sheer quantity of sources that corroborate the rumours - why do you think Nintendo is taking so long to announce this game? Let us know your thoughts.
[source resetera.com]
Comments 77
I saw that in starlink and automatically thought "There goes you starfox grand prix".
If we're all honest, a starfox racing game would sell less than a new f-zero game. Even then I don't think they really want to make any games that have to compete for attention from Mario Kart. It makes me sad thinking this way.
On the one hand, given the sheer amount of sources claiming the legitimacy of Star Fox GP's existence I find it hard to deny that the game is real in some form. On the other, Retro's apparently been in internal turmoil for the past few years, so perhaps the project got scrapped and handed to Ubisoft once the Star Fox-Starlink collaboration began. I wouldn't put anything past Nintendo at this point.
game that does not exist is speculated to not exist
😐
Its a game that wouldn't make much sense from Nintendo's point of view. Why would they make a game similar to Mario Kart? It would be less in comparison so why bother? We're a couple years out from the port to Switch so why not work on a Mario Kart 9 instead that includes the Star Fox crew?
@Skid It's going to be an F-Zero and Star Fox crossover The G-Zero ending of Star Fox Command wasn't homage but a typo.
@Skid Now an F-Zero game with Fox and the crew would make more sense.
@Skid Same here. I'm surprised some people still cling to the original rumor. I think most just put way too much importance in these "leakers".
Speculation about Nintendo
games is the most pointless out of all companies. They are so secretive and it mostly ends in disappointment.
It fits, so that's probably it.
It's not made by Retro Studios.
It's not Star Fox, it's Starlink.
It's not even a game, it's DLC.
It's not even about racing, it's just a part of the DLC.
How can anyone honestly say they mistook it for this Starlink DLC?
Maybe Nintendo is going to look keep an eye on Starlink's races to gauge interest in a full Starfox GP. It wouldn't be the first time they made full games off another's alternate game modes.
To paraphrase everyone's favourite genocide apologist/"locker room talk" guy Cenk Uygar...
OF COURSE there's no Star Fox Grand Prix!!! A spinoff of a very niche series that may or may not cross it over with another niche series (both of which sold hardly any units in their last few incarnations) that they didn't talk about at E3 in 2017 or 2018 is suddenly going to be a new E ticket title? Not everything some unemployed SJW posts on ResetEra is true.
Would rather have a REAL starfox game...
STARFOX>starlink
Guys, Star Fox Grand Prix was NEVER a thing, and we're all the better for it.
While this would make sense, the StarFox GP rumours were going a full SIX months before the base game for Starlink even released.
I don't know if the game is real but I highly doubt that this DLC is the basis for the original rumour.
Jokes and rumours aside, Starlink is a blast. I came for Star Fox, but had to stick around for the rest, loved it.
@Skid,
I was thinking the same. I think that Retro was as good as dead, and now Nintendo is reviving it somewhat so that they can make Prime 4. Hopefully they get some of the older staff on board and/or some other really talented people from the industries.
I've said it before, and I still say it; I don't understand how folks could have thought Nintendo would put out a StarFox racing game after so many folks crapped on StarFox Zero. What, you'd think someone at Nintendo would say "Well, it's clear what the problem with Zero was... it had too many space ships and lasers. I think if we put everyone in race cars and ditched the combat, we could really get more of the fans back."? Would the final race be Andross trying to prevent Fox from driving his Chevy to the levvy?
Prototypes happen, right? It's possible someone pitched the idea, and it got rejected. That would explain the rumors. I think it's more likely Retro's been working on another DKC game (or maybe Metroid Prime HD), to be revealed at E3, if they've been working on anything at all.
@Skid Unfortunately, I feel this is a strong factor in their development process as well. It is a shame since it limits the potential of what us consumers get to experience. Business is business though.
A couple of days prior to the ND I was tempted to pick up Battle for Atlas as it was on £17.99 on amazon. Went onto Amazon the day after the Direct and it had jumped up in price to £29.99. Still a bargain don't get me wrong but I wish I'd bought it a couple of days earlier when it was priced £12 cheaper. Ah well I have enough games to get through at the moment anyway.
@Leuke I agree. If Retro has been working on anything, it is more likely we'll see it at E3. Nintendo has to keep some power dry for then - we were never going to see every single game in production in the last Direct.
You don't walk into a room full of suits and say, "Hey, you know that one flailing franchise we have? Let's make a spin-off!" That'll go over about as well as a lead Zeppelin.
@Krull Exactly, even if the game is in quality testing, they might be priming it for a holiday release, and the Direct was mostly about what's coming out now through this Summer.
People really need to stop taking the word of rumor mongers and "leakers" as gospel, just because they get a few things right. I mean, Nintendo being Nintendo, anything can happen. But I've doubted this from the beginning, because the Starfox franchise isn't in a strong enough position to leverage the ip in random spinoffs. It works with Mario, or Pokemon, because of insane popularity. But Starfox hasn't had a successful game in a long time. If anything, I fear it's close to being mothballed, along with F-Zero.
If we get anything Starfox related on the Switch. It will either be a Zero port, or something that at least resembles a space shooter. If I'm wrong, I'll take that L. But the only thing giving me any hope for a Starfox game, period, is the Starlink crossover. Meaning Nintendo at least hasn't forgotten the ip. But they might also just leave it at that, so my hopes are pretty low.
Hindsight is always gonna be 20/20, so I fully expect plenty of "of course it wasn't real, because I never believed it and anyone who thought it was real is an idiot, I'm so smart" comments
I think it’s time to let this rumor go.
"A poster on resetera has said..."
**PASS**
I think this stupid rumour was disproven the second they showed the starship racing in Starlink.
But then we were getting Metroid Prime Triology port and Pikmin 4 and a Xenoblade Chronicles X port and Mother 3 and Odyssey Delphino Island DLC and playable Chorus Kids in Smash and Waverace news and a port of Skyward Sword and a HD Mario Galaxy.
I’m sure people hear stuff from legit Nintendo leaks, but plans change, or they take longer than expected or they get shelved for a bit or permanently.
All of those ideas make sense, so I wouldn’t doubt they could happen at some point. But until Nintendo actually announce a release date take nothing as gospel.
@BradC40 cause ship racing is different than car racing
Or, call it a hunch, your sister site was wrong?
Remember they were also adamant about Pokemon Stars and then backpeddled that crap very swiftly into "It was just for internal testing for engines". Despite insisting it was a retail thing.
I know y'all got bills to pay but come the eff on.
My immediate thought was - there’s the racing game then. Might pick it up tbh...
First of all, obviously, the original font probably just said it was coming from like a american devepoler and all people beginned think in retro like developer, but the guess was wrong. It's all.
"why do you think Nintendo is taking so long to announce this game?"
Really? Pikmin 4 has been "nearly complete" for almost 4 years now and I'm not even sure Pikmin 4 has ever even been officially announced.
It's freakin NintendoLogic.
People suddenly being all "Yeah I knew Starfox GP was not real all along".
I'll laugh at you in about six months
Oh man, this reminds me of that time Super Mario Galaxy 2 was near to release and there were all sorts of rumours about Sonic being a playable character - here's one from this very site: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2010/02/sonic_playable_in_super_mario_galaxy_2
Of course it turned out to be total nonsense, however I remember in certain portions of the game Yoshi would eat a hot pepper and the gameplay would turn distinctly Sonic-esc with Yoshi running at full speed around the levels and thinking to myself - oh that's probably where that bat s#@t crazy rumour came from!
I would have loved this Star Fox GP rumour to be true but personally I feel this pretty much confirms that isn't the case, for better or for worse.
There's no such thing as Star Fox Grand Prix unless somebody made up the idea that it would happen. Retro Studio is not working on a Star Fox racing game either, they working on Metroid Prime 4.
Why are there so many people on here saying "Nah man, a Star Fox Racing game would cannibalize Mario Kart sales!" Does no one remember the N64 days when Nintendo released not only Mario Kart 64, but Diddy Kong Racing, Wave Race 64, and F-Zero X?
I dont care if its real or not, I just want to know what the hell Retro have been doing all this time.
Could possibly be what Retro was working on between DKCTF and their recently announced shift on to the development of Prime 4. Development may not have been going well, and any assets ended up getting handed to Ubisoft to use in Starlink.
Let's be realistic here folks.... a new F-Zero would sell better simply because it's established as a racing franchise. Besides, think of how many people would be screaming in rage if Star Fox came out of left field with a sci-fi racing game, yet F-Zero is sitting on the shelf.
@Nomad Retro hasn't been doing anything, aside from hemorrhaging employees and trying to right the ship. They are struggling, and may have been tasked with projects that got canned, and Nintendo is trying to hide this from the public
@Nomad
AGREED!!
@Charlie_Girl
game that does not exist is speculated to not exist
Well, when you put it like that... 😁
Hmm i still think it is real, it's such an odd idea that, how would anyone randomly think to come up with it ? Many disbelieved the Mario and Rabbids crossover when it was first rumoured too.
Even if it's not real, there is definitely a Retro Studios-developed game yet to be revealed, and most probably will be released later this year.
I always figured Retro were working on the MP Trilogy. Anyway, this is awesome. Starlink is super fun and this is a cool new addition.
A Star Fox racing game doesn't really excite me but I'll always keep an open mind.
Starlink however, as already stated, is excellent. And if Nintendo doesn't model the next Star Fox entry after Starlink, they're crazy. Especially the 2-Player mode = genius!
Nintendo has obviously given up on making more Star Fox games since they're not 64 remakes, and are going to turn all their new game ideas into Starlink DLC instead.
The thing about an actual Star Fox racing game though, it wouldn't make any sense.
The one time in the story Fox and Falco actually did race, nobody else did because they were doing something else, it was why they became racers.
Sure, you could bull crap a story about how Fox needs to win something in a race to save the Lylat System system or something, but that premises is as stupid and Fox not being allowed to use modern weapons in Dinosaur Planet because "you're there to save it not destroy it (even after it's obvious there is alien activity influencing the planet already)". And yes, I know that game was turned into a Star Fox game for marketing reasons.
And I don't hate Dinosaur Planet, but I don't want a forced premise just for the sake of marketing it with a certain IP that doesn't work with it.
Hope star fox gp ends up being f zero with star fox racers as well.
"64 remake" is a great phrase for filtering users and their opinions.
By that logic, darn near every Nintendo game is a remake of something.
@Euler As much as I don’t want to open up this can of worms..... exactly how is Cenk Uygar a genocide apologist? If anything, I would say he is the opposite of that.
@Skid - That's like saying they shouldn't make DKCTF cause they already have NSMBU.
I want F-Zero cause it's not Mario Kart. Antigravity gimmicks in a game doesn't eliminate that they consolidated their "genre angles."
@JackEatsSparrows I actually thought the idea of a Star Fox racing game perfectly fit the theme of the series... In that Nintendo doesn't even know what Star Fox is. Look at it's history!
Original - Space Shooter
64 - Space shooter
Adventures - Zelda Clone
Assault - Infantry shooter
Command - Strategy and sort of a shooter
64 for 3DS - Exactly what it sounds like
Zero - 64 again, but absolute garbage
Guard - Tower Defense
So why would people think it was believable that they'd make a Star Fox racing game? Why wouldn't they? They've slapped the name on just about everything else. Oh yeah, just in case I didn't make it clear, Zero was hot garbage.
I'd rather they have normal Star Fox game
@Charlie_Girl You’d think after all the times Starfox GP never got announced people would’ve started to put it together.
I hadn't thought about it until now, but...a Star Fox / F-Zero Crossover racing title would be awesome
@TossedLlama But I'm right here??
Honestly, I don't care if it's real or not, as long as we get a new Star Fox game (preferably one with Krystal in it, and with a much larger role than in previous games), I'll be happy.
I mean, it’s a rumor mill. Even reputable journalists get things wrong. Should it surprise anyone that games journalism, which, lets be honest, is mostly product promotion and rumors, would collectively get this so wrong too. I’m gonna say that Grand Prix doesn’t exist. It was just a perfect storm of speculation.
No The Tick reference? Spoooooon!
I have heard some murmurings that StarFox Grand Prix is indeed a hoax...
But I highly doubt it has anything to do with StarFox's inclusion in Starlink.
@Charlie_Girl Too many people buying into too many rumours leads to meltdown, this is a prime example, also the people clinging to the Metroid Prime HD Trilogy and being dismayed about it not being announced.
Which is why I prefer to let myself get pleasantly surprised by Directs. It's much better that way. The rumour mill is rarely right.
At this point I hope Retro Studios mystery game does show up, because if it does not, it means they spent four years doing a simple port to switch (six-eight months at best). That does not sound great, but it would validate rumors of their possible closure last year. They were obviously working on something and if we do not see it this year, it was canceled. Which would support all evidence to include how hard the decision to restart with Retro Studios and explains, even more, why they did not get it in the first place. They have lost faith in Retro Studios a long time ago and have had to babysit them since.
I just want a new pilotwings. Go back to basics with lovable characters and great crafts to pilot and drop the mii's. There is definitely room in the market for this genre.
Saying that, another wave race wouldn't be a bad idea either.
@BradC40 they ought to go one better and make Smash Kart will a full star studded cast and themed tracks, weapons and karts to go with them.
@Kidfunkadelic83 Ahhh Pilotwings. It wasn't about intensity or action, it was all about that chilled feeling. I'd love a new one. Imagine controlling the jetpack by tilting the joy cons back and forth, left and right, with a nice rumble when you fire up the jets...
Yeah I fondly remember flying the hand glider taking pictures of the whale in the bay.
I miss the days when we just waited for announcements from companies instead of stirring a nonexistent pot.
The thing is, I don't really want Starfox Grand Prix.
@ilikeike Yeah, I don’t think that premise is “absurd” (as the article states) at all.
@Misfit410 I think it can really work so long as it maintains the base gameplay of the series: advanving forward, shooting at things and barrel-rolling. You shoot at your opponents to slow them down and use special items (like in Mario Kart) to stay ahead. The racing would be airborne (Arwing). You could still have alternate paths through track shortcuts, too.
@WiltonRoots Making me want to play Pilotwings 64
@Kidfunkadelic83 I’ll take Waverace first (just imagine what kinds of crazy realistic wave physics can be accomplished now (you can get a taste of said tech in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey).
But they could also do a lot with a new Pilotwings, putting HD rumble to good use, leaderboards and a multiplayer tournament of events.
@DarkKirby Why can’t they just race for competition? Why does there have to be a story attached at all? W’re well aware now of how competitive the Star Fox team is even amongst themselves (“Hey! Stop taking my kills, Fox!” ; “You’ll have to try harder than that, Fox!”), is it so much a stretch of disbelief that these characters would go onto race each other at some point? I’ve always got the sense that’s exactly what Falco and Fox do to settle arguments.
@Nomad We might never know, if that project was cancelled
@Antraxx777 Hopefully we'll find out at E3.
Then WHAT has Retro Studios been doing for the past 5 years?!?
If it's true they're having problems and not getting their games off the ground, that doesn't bode well for Metroid Prime 4 either.
I'll be VERY disappointed if a Retro Studios games isn't announced and released this year.
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