'Star Fox 2' 2017: SNES Classic release date and games revealed

So, Star Fox. It's a game series with a complicated history. The original came out in 1993 and one of its sequels, Star Fox 64, made the series a household name nearly four years later. Fox McCloud and his team of misfit Arwing pilots are a household name at this point, so you might wonder why everyone is freaking out about Star Fox 2 being bundled with the now officially announced SNES Classic, which launches in September.

The reason for this is very simple, but you might not believe it: Star Fox 2 has never had an official release. Ever.

Star Fox 2 2017: SNES Classic launch will be its first official release

As Patrick Klepek explained in Kotaku in April 2016, Star Fox 2 never saw an official release. What's insane about this is that, according to Klepek, the game was 95% complete by the time Nintendo opted to shutter it. The sequel to Star Fox included six playable characters, a dynamic world map and random encounters.

Although various builds of the game have leaked online, there has never been a legitimate release — not in North America, not in Europe, not even in Japan. A lot of the ideas in the game would find new life in Star Fox 64, a reboot of the original game, but it's still strange that a game so close to completion has never been released.

That's why it's so huge Star Fox 2 will be included in the SNES Classic bundle. As noted by Nintendo Life, it's still unclear what game we'll be getting. The 95% completed version? A different, previously leaked beta build? Or a never-before-seen fully completed version? It's a remarkable, historic event regardless, and we can't wait to save the Lylat System again — after we beat level one of the original Star Fox to prove ourselves, of course.

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