The Star Foxvideo game series is a franchise of rail shooters and other action-adventure games published and produced by Nintendo. The games have been developed by a variety of developers, but all of the games have had input from Nintendo. All Star Fox video games have been developed exclusively for Nintendo video game consoles and handhelds dating from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the current generation of video game consoles. The series debuted in Japan on February 21, 1993 with Star Fox,[a] which was later released in North America and Europe, being renamed in Europe to Starwing.[1] The series revolves around the Star Fox team, a group of mercenaries hired to protect the Lylat system. The leader of the group, Fox McCloud, is the protagonist of the series, and the only playable character in most of the games. Currently, the series contains nine games. One reason the Star Fox series has remained popular is because of the shoot 'em up aerial sequences found in many of the games, which are recognized as the series' high points.[2][3] Dylan Cuthbert, one of the original creators of the series, noted that it was the combination of the on-rails aerial action and the in-game universe that made the games successful.[4]
A limited edition version entitled Star Fox: Super Weekend was created for competition events hosted by Nintendo Power in North America and Europe. The cartridge held modified versions of two stages and included a bonus stage. Around two thousand cartridges were estimated to be made.[9]
Star Fox 64 was the first game to feature support for the Rumble Pak peripheral, and early copies of the game shipped with the Rumble Pak in a bundle.[16]
The last game developed by second-party Nintendo developer Rare before its acquisition by Microsoft.[18]
Star Fox Adventures differed from the other games of the Star Fox series by being an action-adventure game in the vein of The Legend of Zelda series instead of an on-rail shooter.[19]
