"Series Killer"
Star Fox 2 is an arcade space fighter game, in the same vein as the original Star Fox for the SNES, but with an overhaul in terms of both game play and graphics.
(A/N: I reviewed the game using the final beta only.)
One of the first major differences you will notice is that the game is rendered using the Super FX 2 chip allowing it to produce amazing graphics of its time. However sometimes the graphics can become a little shaky especially when using the walker thought this is easily compensated for by its easy controls. The graphics on the game are comparable to other games that have been released on the SNES such as Yoshi's Island and Doom. The sound is pretty standard for the SNES however.
Game play however is what amazed me the most. If you have played Star Fox: Command before then you were playing what was an iteration of the same game play on SF2, albeit a little poorer in execution. Game play can be divided into 2 parts: The Map and Flight modes. While your on the map you control you pilot (Fox, Falco, Slippy, Peppy, Miyu, or Fay) and a partner. You move around on a giant battlefield-esque map while everything moves in real-time - including while your fighting enemies - objects still move on the map, unlike Command which used a turn-based system. But before I explain anything else let me talk about the main objectives in the game.
Andross is seeking revenge on Corneria and has sent his forces to attack the planet. Your goal, as the player, is to intercept the many missiles and fighters he sends out. If they reach Corneria then it will receive damage, if enough is received the game is over. To progress with the game you must destroy the battleships and enemy bases, which brings me to the flight mode.
In flight mode the controls are mostly equivalent to Star Fox, but when dog fighting you fly freely, like Star Fox 64's all-range mode. The game also has elements that were passed on to the newer games such as: targeting, Star Wolf, and pilots with their own skills and attributes. However some elements that were pretty good did NOT make it over: controlling a land-based walker vehicle (Though I supposed the Landmaster made up for it), attacking battleships and bases (more on that later), and actually playing solo (Some might want teammates though, its just my preference). Your co-pilot doesn't necessarily do anything until you die with the first pilot so its more like a second life.
In flight mode when you're not dog fighting you're trying to destroy enemy bases and battleships. To destroy them you typically have to accomplish a goal like: "Take out the switches and destroy the core!". By destroying more and more bases and ships you will encounter bosses (Star Wolf included) and eventually face off in one final fight against Andross.
The fact that since every map is randomly generated and come in multiple difficulties the game has a pretty good replay value although since the goals themselves never change it could become repetitive.
In short, Star Fox 2 is an amazing game that rivals itself against Star Fox 64 and if it was released then it wouldn't be a surprise that it becomes a phenomenon in gaming.
The review in numbers:
9.2/10 Graphics
8.4/10 Audio
9.3/10 Gameplay
8.6/10 Lasting-Value
9.7/10 OVERALL