Back in February of 2017, bagel_of_time created this cool Krystal bust sculpture, which would go on to appear in what I assume is a local art show. Apparently there were some other photos of it, including work-in-progress shots, but I haven't been able to find them. Currently trying to contact the artist. You can view the original posting on Instagram.

The fourth and final in a set of posts comparing other franchises to the Star Fox universe in hopes of finding something that would satisfy us Star Fox fans in absence of an actual Star Fox anime.

Here we are. After a week of posts, we've reached what I consider THE closest thing to a Star Fox anime as we currently have. Swat Kats is an American cartoon that came out the same year as the original Star Fox, 1993. It's basically what might happen if you combined Star Fox and Batman.

The story goes like this: two hotshot pilots, T-Bone and Razor, get dishonorably discharged from the local military-police force, the Enforcers, after they disobeyed orders and accidentally caused millions in property damage to government property trying to stop a bad guy. They were stuck with a huge bill and basically told they'd never work in the industry again. But you see, dear reader, these two guys are the best of the best. They couldn't just sit around while citizens lost their lives and their city was destroyed. So, using their new position as junkyard owners, they cobbled together a next generation fighter jet from military grade hardware that had been thrown away. With this jet, other vehicles, and hand-made weapons gear, they became the Swat Kats: vigilantes who go above the law to fight crime that the Enforcers can't or won't.

As in Batman, the bad guy was not a single enemy or army, but rather many different rogues made up the antagonists of the series, each with their own motivations. Additionally, the authority figure, the Enforcers, represent a mild antagonist as well, since the Swat Kats are operating outside the law. Personally, I think having more bad guys is another thing Star Fox could use. We certainly need more and more interesting villains than Andross alone.

The main team characters are very different from each other. Though there are only two of them, they manage to have an interesting dynamic. T-Bone is the risk-taker strongman. His piloting skills are unmatched anywhere. While he puts on a tough exterior, he cares deeply about his aircraft and his partner. Razor, on the other hand, is the more technical, logical partner. He created the advanced aircraft and weapons they use. He lacks self-confidence as much as T-Bone seems to exude it, and he's a martial arts expert. At this point I should mention that there is only one aircraft. Razor is the weapons and radar officer, not the main pilot. T-Bone is the main pilot most of the time. But they can both pilot very effectively, and share time on the ground in various capacities. Their hero work requires them to leave their aircraft, the Turbokat, frequently to engage in hand to hand combat, among other things.

All of the city's residents, including our heroes, are anthro cats. It feels very Star Fox in that way. The only thing that really detracts from its similarity to Star Fox is that they don't pilot separate ships.

The timing of Swat Kats release couldn't have been worse. It was launched during the 90s moral panic over violence in cartoons. The creators knew this, and released the show quietly, never promoting it directly. As a result, though it had a slow start, the series managed to get two complete seasons broadcast before the meddlers noticed this new "hyper violent" show for kids. The complaints about violence in cartoons was ultimately the reason why the show was cancelled.

I happened upon a few episodes of the show back when I was a kid in middle school by chance. Their quiet launch of the show was so quiet, I didn't even know it was on until it was already in re-runs and soon to be cancelled. It's one of the great cartoons from the 90s that I most regret missing...

BUT NOT FOR LONG! The Swat Kats Complete Series on DVD is available from Amazon, and mine will be arriving in a couple days. Even knowing how dated it will look, I will be enthusiastically watching this show for the first time very soon. Should you watch this show? Yes! Absolutely!

In another interesting development, the original creators managed to retain the rights to the property. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter, the show is getting a reboot! (Maybe!) They were able to get enough funding to create a series bible, new scripts, character designs, concept art, and test animations. These materials should be more than enough to convince an animation studio to take up the project for production and broadcast. That is, if they approve of the idea. It really comes down to whether or not any studio thinks the property is worth it. Personally, I think they have a very good chance. You can follow their progress on their YouTube channel.

Did you guys watch Swat Kats? What did you think? Is it the most similar show to Star Fox, or did I miss one that you think was closer? Now that we're finished with my suggestions, feel free to add your own. I saw recommendations for Cowboy Bebop, Defensor 5, and one of Star Fox's original motivations, Thunderbirds. What else is out there? I imagine there are probably a couple of Japanese animes that have a Star Fox-like premise, though I don't know which they might be.

The third in a set of posts comparing other franchises to the Star Fox universe in hopes of finding something that would satisfy us Star Fox fans in absence of an actual Star Fox anime.

In this computer-animated show from the late 2000s, the planet is full of mountaintop kingdoms, where the valleys below are all but uninhabitable. The characters instead fly around with skimmers, motorcycle-airplane hybrids that can transform back and forth. Ship to ship combat is done with energy weapons, energy swords, and hand-to-hand combat by LITERALLY JUMPING ONTO THE OPPONENT'S SHIP IN MIDAIR to fight them. There are numerous races beyond humans, each with different affinities and cultures. The show is about half action/mission, and half slice-of-life.

When you think about the structural elements of a show like Storm Hawks, it's hard to imagine that it WASN'T inspired by Star Fox. Let's break down the similarities:

• There was an elite team of heroes who tried to stop a threat, but were betrayed by one of their own resulting in the loss of the team (just as Pigma betrayed James)
• A descendant of that elite team forms a new squad, and, though lacking experience, manage to become saviors in their own right (just as Fox descended from James, and made a new Star Fox team)
• The squad consists of a four-man team of pilots with individual aircraft (like the Arwing pilots of Star Fox)
• The squad's aircraft are housed and supplemented with a larger command ship that acts as their home base, and is flown by an eccentric character (like the Great Fox and ROB)
• Each squad-mate brings unique skills, like leadership and technical skill, which also influence their piloting skills (Fox is a leader, Slippy is the tech guy)
• They have a mandate to stop the evil bad guys, but as such a small, unknown squad, they are only called upon as a last resort ("It's about time you showed up, Fox! You're the only hope for our world." - General Pepper)
• They travel to many different locations with wildly different environments and local wildlife (like the planets of Lylat)
• Their primary energy source and technology systems are based on energy crystals (It's a stretch, but, you know the gems in Star Fox Adventures?)
• Even their name is similar: Storm Hawks, Star Fox

The similarities extend to some of the characters, too. There's Aerrow, the leader, who is more or less exactly like Fox McCloud. Always trying to do the right thing and keep his team moving towards the goal. Piper is a technical genius, but struggles a bit as a pilot. She also happens to be the wise character most of the time, being the voice of reason within the team, as Peppy is for Star Fox. Dark Ace, the betrayer, is very similar to Wolf. He follows orders from the big bad, but he is much more personally interested in defeating his rival, Aerrow. Master Cyclonis, the main antagonist, is shown to be very technically skilled and spends most of her time manipulating her armies from behind the scenes. Yet, she's not above taking care of situations personally if she deems it necessary. She's very much like Andross in that way.

But not all the characters match up very well. Finn is a cocky marksman, although the running gag is that he almost never hits anything, which kind of defeats the point of his character. It just leaves a cocky self-important guy who isn't actually living up to his own claims. While Falco is cocky, he's at least competent. Finn is clearly the main gag character. Junko, the final member of the squad's main pilots, is referred to as the strongman. He's the muscle and has a heart of gold, but is easily tricked or distracted. Now Stork, the helmsman of the the Great Fox-like Carrier, is probably the most interesting character in the entire series. While he isn't similar to any Star Fox characters, he steals most of the scenes he is in, because of his amusing levels of paranoia and pessimism. In a world of overly optimistic and bright-eyed people, he's the lone person who says "We're doomed!" the second things look like they might end badly (and usually before that too).

On top of all of that, the main characters, including most of the bad guys, are in their late teens and early twenties. They are portrayed more often than not as being short-sighted and overly emotional for what should be a very serious war-time situation. And that's when they're doing legitimate military missions. The other episodes are more slice-of-life, and are the same sort of rehashed morality plays you've seen everywhere else where one character makes an obvious mistake, and the audience learns a lesson about why that choice was a Bad Idea™. Even the height of Falco's pettiness, when he left the team prior to Star Fox Adventures, was not up to scale with the sort of ill-advised, inter-teammate interactions that happen almost every episode.

It's a real shame. Storm Hawks was overly silly as a whole. And this is coming from a guy who plays video games about foxes in spaceships shooting giant monkey heads. You see, Storm Hawks has a fantastic lore and setting. The characters have a lot of potential, as does the show. Unfortunately, the series creator barely scratched the surface. At first, in seems like this is going to be a serious show, where battles are won and lost within a larger war that our heroes are barely able to withstand. And there are some episodes in this series that are really good! Overall, however, the incompetence of the villains, the choices that defy common sense, and the lack of maturity often displayed by the main characters make for a show that is only really entertaining for much younger audiences.

Nothing great is accomplished, and the characters don't really progress. It seems this show, like most other American cartoons until recently, was trying to make each episode stand on its own. This was a common practice for all TV until recently, actually. Statistically, most people will watch an episode during reruns, not during the initial release. For a long time, it was thought by producers that audiences would become overly confused when seeing the episodes out of order. To prevent this, most TV shows simply made sure that each episode never really changed the status quo, so the audience would never feel lost. As a bonus, episodes could be swapped around and few would be the wiser. Thankfully, in more recent times, it's been discovered that audiences would much rather be a little confused than to have a show with no consequences or character development. If Storm Hawks had been made today, we might have gotten a better show.

Long story short, I personally recommend that Star Fox fans watch a few episodes of Storm Hawks, in spite of its flaws. Preferably watch the better episodes. I complain so much about the show because I care about it. It really is SO CLOSE to being really good!

Where can you watch the show? Well, there are DVDs, but they are mostly out of print (low popularity?) and are very expensive. I also know that the show has been posted to a ton of different streaming websites of... questionable legality.

I've seen most of the episodes, but I haven't seen the end of the final season (the second season). I don't know how it turns out. Did it end on a cliffhanger as so many cancelled shows do? Or did they give it a real climax? I guess I'll find out, because in spite of it's flaws, I'm still going to finish watching this show. What about you? Did you ever see Storm Hawks on TV? I managed to catch a few episodes back when it was originally airing, and it was interesting enough to me for a second look. Do you like the show? What would you change? Do you think Star Fox could learn from this show, and what could Storm Hawks learn from Star Fox?

The second in a set of posts comparing other franchises to the Star Fox universe in hopes of finding something that would satisfy us Star Fox fans in absence of an actual Star Fox anime.

Guardians of the Galaxy, as a series, came out of virtually nowhere relative to the much bigger names in the Marvel universe like Iron Man, Spiderman, Hulk, Thor, and so on. But, when it hit the movie scene in 2014, it was a surprise hit of good, rambunctious fun. It is an action movie to the core, with just enough character development to make the audience care, without turning it into a drama. Also, this film series has a bright, optimistic view of the future, but only on some planets. Other planets show a more "meh" future, where crime and back-room deals are the norm.

Peter Quill, who would later give himself the title Star Lord, is kidnapped from Earth as a young boy. He is forced to make his way in the universe without the guidance of family or anything familiar. As a result, he becomes a thief and misfit who makes a (small) name for himself carrying out heists while cherishing his few surviving relics from his home planet. He eventually ends up meeting a bunch of other misfits and together, they form a loose friendship and save the galaxy together.

Though many Marvel movies, as well as the Firefly series mentioned before, have jokes and humorous moments within them, Guardians of the Galaxy stands out as being a lot more silly and low-key. Even though there is a big bad villain trying to take over and the whole galaxy is at stake, these characters are of relatively low seriousness. They are easily distracted and fight amongst themselves. Yet, their unique skills and a whole lot of luck manages to allow them to secure victories, in spite of the odds.

The action takes place on multiple planets, in the atmosphere, and in space. Some planets are Metroid-style wastelands while others are full of huge cities. The fighting is hand to hand, weapon-based, and a fair bit of ship-to-ship. Unlike Star Fox, all the characters are primarily working within one ship, like in Firefly. At one point, however, there is a military air force that they coordinate with in a way strikingly similar to Star Fox's occasional assistance to the Cornerian Defense Force. But it's not all fighting. There's also a slight vibe of a heist movie at one point, which is fitting, given the criminal nature of most of the cast. It's a wonder why the Star Fox team doesn't more often explore the idea of covertly stealing plans from Andross or undermining his schemes, rather than directly stopping him by force.

Rocket, the genetically modified, talking raccoon, bears special discussion. While other movies have had talking animals or anthros before, I think this might be one of the first big productions when the talking animal is not the gag character or treated special in any way. Other characters regard him with no more interest than they do any of the other aliens and freaks that are so common in this series. With a few modifications, Rocket is probably the best case scenario when it comes to serious, furry characters upon which photorealistic Star Fox characters might be based. Rocket is more animal-like than human, but in terms of his writing, personality, and rendering, he's just like a Star Fox character might be. Not that I think photorealism is best for the Star Fox series, Rocket at least shows it could be done effectively.

Guardians of the Galaxy is already popular enough to warrant a sequel, which was released in 2017, just a few months ago. It doesn't look like its popularity is going down, and with Marvel's connected universe system of making movies in play, we'll probably see the characters making additional appearances in other Marvel movies in the near future.

Guardians of the Galaxy can be bought on DVD, Blu-ray, and digitally just about everywhere. And hey! The sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, had it's digital release distribution yesterday (DVD/Blu-ray release is not until August 22nd). I actually only saw the first Guardians of the Galaxy recently, and I haven't yet seen Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Was it any good? What do you guys think of the movies? Do you think Star Fox could gain from their more crazed antics, or do you want something more serious? What about Rocket? Good character? Good model for Star Fox characters in film?

The first in a set of posts comparing other franchises to the Star Fox universe in hopes of finding something that would satisfy us Star Fox fans in absence of an actual Star Fox anime.

Today's franchise is the Firefly series, topped off with the series-ending movie Serenity. Firefly was a rather unusual space western drama, wherein the viewer follows the misadventures of the captain (Malcolm Reynolds) and the crew of the Serenity. They exist as outcasts, misfits, and mercenaries, taking on jobs and slipping their way around the grip of the Alliance, the ruling body of humanity's new solar system. Every character has a past and a reason to be there. The drama in this space western comes from the various motivations, conflicts of interest, and history of these characters, each of which is interesting. At the same time, the characters don't take themselves too seriously, and there are jokes and humorous moments all over the place, in spite of the plot's serious nature and the tragedy some of these characters have gone through. For some of them, this apathetic attitude is a coping mechanism.

Similar to Star Fox, space travel is common and we focus on a small band of people within a larger universe. These people bring unique skills to the table to accomplish missions. Unlike Star Fox, however, the missions range from questionably legal to highly illegal, with the well-meaning but ultimately authoritarian central government, the Alliance, frequently trying to stop our anti-heroes. There is a larger, underlying plot throughout the episodes (and explored deeply in the movie). It deals with the semi-psychic yet neurotic River Tam, her relationship to the Alliance's experiments, and the Reavers.

Instead of a pessimistic or optimistic future, the Firefly series has a decidedly "meh" view of the future. The same basic struggles happen. There are huge cities and small hamlets, criminals and police, earnest religion and government conspiracies, stereotypes and families. The main differences are...

• Humanity has moved to a new solar system with dozens of planets and moons to colonize
• At some point in the past America and China merged to become the dominate people of the entire galaxy
• There is a lot of space travel
• A group of highly aggressive pain zombies (Reavers) attack randomly from deep space

That last one might seem out of the ordinary and dark, but in the show and movie, these things are just another daily problem to deal with in the life of a post-Sol galaxy.

The setting is relatively strange, but in a good way. Characters use English and Chinese. The culture of the show frequently mixes stereotypical American western tropes with Chinese influences. It is probably THE best example of a Western in space. Horses, six shooters, outlaws, the misfit with the heart of gold, and other Western tropes are on full display.

Ship to ship combat is relatively rare, unlike Star Fox. For almost the entire show, they spend most of their time attempting to avoid combat and sneak around. Any combat seen is usually on the ground or within the ship with the individuals involved. The spaceship Serenity is not a combat ship, after all. It's a heavily modified cargo ship. In fact, other than a few last minute modifications, I don't think the ship even has guns mounted externally. However, in the movie, there is a lot more spaceship combat, but not in the way you're probably thinking. I personally think it's one of the most clever spaceship fight scenes ever made, but I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it.

In 2002, Firefly premiered on Fox. Due to some weird decisions by executives at Fox, the show actually aired episodes completely out of order. Due to that and several other problems, the show got cancelled within a few months of running. It had a very short run of only 14 episodes, three of which never even aired on TV, but were instead released when the DVD was produced. It would later be picked up by Sci-Fi for rebroadcasting, where it gained a cult following very quickly. It seems the network didn't know what they had and cancelled it too early (which incidentally was similar to how the original Star Trek gained popularity: in reruns). A few years later in 2005, they tried to drum up popularity with the movie Serenity, which answered a lot of series questions but also left room to continue the series. Unfortunately, though, the movie didn't do as well as was hoped (though it did do pretty well) and the series was put on semi-permanent vacation.

Firefly and Serenity have a good sized following, with their fandom being collectively known as Browncoats. Joss Whedon, the writer and director of the series, went on to be a fantastically successful movie writer and director. He wrote and directed both The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, both of which are among the highest grossing movies of all time. What's next for Firefly? Who knows? In today's culture of remaking literally everything, even if it doesn't need it (I'm looking at you 2016 Ghostbusters), it's very possible to get a sequel or remake at some point in the coming years. Joss seems open to the idea, though he and the others who could make that happen are now very busy with other projects.

If you want to watch Firefly and Serenity, though you can get it on DVD and Blu-ray, they are both cheaper to buy as digital HD downloads through Amazon or iTunes for only $12.99 (the movie Serenity is only $9.99 on iTunes, but $13.99 digitally from Amazon).

I'm guessing at least some of you have watched this series. What did you think? Is this a good series to compare to Star Fox? Why or why not? I personally found out about the movie first from a friend of mine who was a fan, and then watched the TV show afterward. The movie is one of my all time favorites. The show was good too, though I haven't watched it very many times.

Let's get this out of the way first: The 77th Annual Nintendo Investor Meeting Official Transcript sheds some light on what I previously reported as Miyamoto planning a Star Fox anime. What they were actually saying is that they currently do have a Star Fox anime short (Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins), and that they were "interested in more actively pursuing the development of these kinds of videos" in the future. So, not totally wrong. Yes, they aren't saying they're actively planning a Star Fox anime, but they are also saying they want to continue to create new animations, and distribute existing animations, based on Nintendo IP.

If you look back, you'll find that Nintendo actually has a ton of animated projects beyond commercials and promo footage:

• The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - A Mario cartoon with live-action interstitials
• Captain N: The Game Master - A weird animated show in which Kevin Keene is sucked into Videoland to fight the video game villians
• The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 - Another Mario cartoon based on Super Mario Bros. 3
• Super Mario World - ANOTHER Mario cartoon based on Super Mario World
• Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! - A Japanese only Mario anime movie
• Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros. - Another Japan-only Mario anime OVA
• The Legend of Zelda - TV series featuring the now-famous "Well! Excuuuuuuse me, Princess!", and also probably the reason why Link never talks anymore
• Kirby: Right Back at Ya! - The Kirby anime that was actually pretty popular across the board, and included scenes that allowed us to discover that Kirby actually has a pocket universe inside his stomach
• Donkey Kong Country - A hilariously weird 3D animated Donkey Kong Country show, complete with really creepy musical numbers
• F-Zero: GP Legend - A proper anime of the F-Zero series, complete with this amazing FALCON PUNCH!!!
• Pokémon - The animated juggernaut with over 1000 animated episodes and over 20 animated movies
• Yoshi Wooly World Animated Shorts - Used to promote the game
• Pikmin Animated Shorts - Used to promote the game
• Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem - Believe it or not, there was an anime OVA for Fire Emblem
• And, of course, Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins - Used to promote the launch of Star Fox Zero
• Did I miss any? I probably did.

Nintendo has had some hits and misses when it comes to animations, but I feel confident in saying they have plenty of experience to make quality animation if they so choose. Star Fox is a little more serious as a story than the likes of Mario (and even Pokémon), but they showed some real promise with The Battle Begins. I think that what they did there was nearly perfect: a serious conflict (Andross tries to kidnap General Pepper!) with some crazy action, all mixed in with a few good jokes and gags.

Another interesting thing about the Star Fox series, as a potential animated IP, is that unlike so much of media today, Star Fox, like other IPs from the 80's and 90's portrays the future optimistically. Not that it's a utopia, but rather, the future is bright and hopeful with protagonists rising to meet new technological challenges at a galactic scale. This is different from a pessimistic view of the future, where everything is post-apocalyptic, or full of zombies, or simply slowly dying for lack of resources. It is also different from what I call the "meh" future, where things are the same as now, with all the same sort of basic problems and issues, but with space ships.

In some ways, Star Fox is a hold-over from an earlier time. The original script for the games wouldn't hold up today at all, and you can be certain it would have been a bit more pessimistic if today's typical game designer had anything to say about it. The games have changed so little in terms of story, that the spirit of the 80's and 90's still holds over into this series' narrative.

What do you guys think about a Star Fox anime? What should it include? What should it avoid? Where should they take it from here? Do you want a different graphical style? If so, what kind?

This is Part 1 of a week-long discussion on Star Fox as an animated IP. The next parts will focus on TV and movie series that capture a bit of the Star Fox spirit in the absence of an actual Star Fox anime. Thanks to Ayano and Mr. Brownstone for pointing out the correct translations of the report.

A bit old, but if you like Counter Strike: Source, and you want some Star Fox mods, TechKnow's Star Fox Mod on Gamebanana should do the trick. It includes Brawl Leon, Brawl Wolf, Melee Fox, Assault Falco, Assault Fox, and a modified low-poly CharleyFox Adventures Krystal (the same basic model originally made available in Unreal Tournament 2k4).

PacificTradingPost is a website by a gentleman who obtained autographed photos and prints from various actors, developers, and writers by going conventions or contacting personalities directly. He makes these signed prints available for sale. Turns out he knows how to contact a LOT of the Star Fox voice actors and actresses.

As you can see on the Star Fox series page, he has about a dozen different autographed prints for sale, including the signatures of:

• Ben Cullum - Falco (Star Fox Adventures)
• Bill Johns - Falco (Star Fox 64)
• Dave White - ROB64, General Pepper, Pigma, Attack Carrier Captain (Star Fox 64)
• Estelle Ellis - Krystal (Star Fox Adventures)
• John Silke - General Scales (Star Fox Adventures)
• Lyssa Browne - Slippy (Star Fox 64)
• Mike West - Fox McCloud (Star Fox 64)
• Rick May - Peppy (Star Fox 64)
• Steve Malpass - Fox McCloud (Star Fox Adventures)

Estelle Ellis specifically signed three Krystal prints:

• Star Fox Adventures Poster Print - £40, or about $52
• Krystal Dinosaur Planet Print - £40, or about $52 (Note: she didn't actually voice this version of Krystal.)
• Krystal Promo Wallpaper Print - SOLD, sorry

There are a couple other sold Star Fox prints listed on the Rareware Page. If you are interested in any of these prints, you can contact the PacificTradingPost via email at pjwoodhouse4000@yahoo.co.uk. He ships internationally and accepts Paypal.

As with the Arwing and Fox McCloud rigs, SAB64 has made more Star Fox models available for use in MMD. There's the Fully Rigged Falco model from Brawl, and the Landmaster Rig which has animations for the treads and wheels. I presume it also has bones for other movements, such as adjusting the cannon. The Landmaster Rig is also a modified version of the Landmaster found in Super Smash Bros Brawl. Downloads for both of them are found on the gallery pages.

Nintendo is celebrating the announcement of Star Fox 2 for the SNES Classic and the 20th anniversary of Star Fox 64 by hosting an... odd sale on Star Fox games. Rather than simply putting the games on sale, you have to spend MyNintendo points to get some percent off the price. Never seen anything like this before. Oh well, if you have the coins and don't have the games, here's a way to save a bit of money on the three most recent Star Fox games in the series. The offer lasts until December 1st, 2017. Here's the original announcement.

• Star Fox Zero - 30% off for 110 points
• Star Fox 64 3D - 30% off for 90 points
• Star Fox Command (Wii U) - 40% off for 30 points

Via GoNintendo.