It looks like there were some review embargos lifted today on the SNES Classic. As you can see in the video above, Nintendo Life talks about what it feels like to play Star Fox 2. He talks a lot about the differences between this game and the leaked ROM. Namely, he says it's significantly harder. Other changes include newer logos, description changes, name changes, and there are no lock-ons initially.

GameXplain says that it feels like a brand new retro sequel, much like Sonic Mania is to the Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog games. The reviewer also mentions that Star Fox 2 won't unlock as playable until you beat the first level of the original Star Fox. Check out the video for that info:

Here's the first 7 minutes of gameplay:

More gameplay footage:

More gameplay footage:

For those of you guys who have played the ROM, do you see anything else that has changed?

NarbePlays just posted a video showcasing a weird camera glitch where the camera refuses to follow Krystal, or follows her too closely, for portions of the game's intro. This results in some weird audio and video glitching, as well as providing alternate angles in some cutscenes. Namely, we get to see Krystal get trapped in the crystal from her perspective, more or less. The video is relatively low quality, and the glitchiness can make it hard to watch. I'm hoping to find out more about this glitch, and have sent a message to Narbe.

Remember a couple months ago when I posted about HyperShadow92's custom Krystal Amiibo? Well he's back, this time with a custom box for the Amiibo. It's amazing what people like this can do with a little time and effort. There's also a Twitter post and a high resolution photo on his DeviantArt account.

TheSecondDimension frequently paints video game inspired paintings and sells them on Etsy. This original painting of Krystal is the only one of its kind. Not a print, but the actual original painting. TheSecondDimension used acrylic paints on a sketched canvas. The painting is 8 by 10 inches, and is ready to hang on a wall. The painting is available for about $37 dollars.

View the Listing

Cosplayer 天狐, which roughly translates to "Day Fox," joined a group of other cosplayers for a Star Fox Photoshoot on July 9th, 2017. (I'm going to use her Twitter name, Pipita, for the rest of the post.) There were cosplayers for Fox, Falco, Slippy, Wolf, Leon, and Panther in addition to Krystal. As far as I can tell, based on the other accounts, I think this is an all-female cosplay group who put this on. Work on the Human Krystal cosplay began on April 17th, 2017. It features a wig with ears, tail, jewelry, a jumpsuit, boots, and custom makeup. The cosplayers used prop pistols during the photoshoot, Krystal handling one for some photos. This was Pipita's first time working with a zentai suit for cosplay.

The photos in the gallery below are just a sample of all the photos. Other than photos by Pipita herself, there are photos by mnkr_03_ (the Fox cosplayer), runatandeath (probably the Panther cosplayer), tunekitinnkuru7 (the Wolf cosplayer). Check out the sources in the links below.

• Main Post
• More Photos of the Photoshoot - Includes behind the scenes photos
• Working on the wig and ears
• Working on the jumpsuit, tail, and jewelry
• Selfie and group photo
• Hanging out with Fox
• Close ups of Fox and Krystal
• Star Fox Team Group Shot
• Star Fox Team Group Shot 2
• Star Fox vs Star Wolf
• More Group Shots
• Photo Slideshow
• More Group Shots 2
• More Group Shots 3
• More Group Shots 4

Thanks to Ayano for the heads up.

Today, I have an update on the situation with the Mini Consoles.

First, on July 18th, 2017 (last month), Nintendo registered four trademark images with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. They registered an NES controller image, a SNES controller image, a Switch image, and a N64 controller image. Given the timing, contents, and descriptions, it lead the discoverer Rösti on NeoGAF to conclude that this is for the a forthcoming Nintendo 64 Classic, to be released in 2018 following the NES Classic from last year and the SNES Classic to be released later this year.

I think the conclusion he made is reasonable, given the track record we've seen so far. Now, just to add a cherry on top, remember how there was just no way Star Fox 2 would ever be released? Then, do you recall when it suddenly got a release date through the SNES Classic, even to Dylan Cuthbert's shock? Well, you know... there's another game related to Star Fox that never saw release... That's right! I'm talking about the Star Fox Demo for Virtual Boy! Just kidding, I'm talking about Dinosaur Planet. We don't actually know how far along Rare was with the game before it got transitioned to Star Fox Adventures, but we do know they had playable demos. It's a long shot, but could Nintendo do it again? Could Nintendo resurrect a long-thought-dead game from the grave? We'll see.

Alright, enough pie in the sky ideas. One thing is certain: if a N64 Classic get released, you can be certain that Star Fox 64 will be there. I think that's like the 14th release of that game, right? Then again, you should see how many times Ocarina of Time was released!

Next up, there is news of SNES Classic preorders opening in August for retailers across the country. When in August? No-one knows. Obviously, it'll be in the last half of the month since we haven't seen them open up yet. As soon as they are open, I expect to see most of them get gobbled up in the first few hours, if not minutes. The good news is that Nintendo will be producing tons more SNES Classics than they did with the NES Classic, since they know now just how popular it will be.

If you want to get real-time alerts, pricing, and availability of the SNES Classic as it gets nearer to release, check out the SNES Classic page on NowInStock.com. There are ways to get alerts to your phone in real time if you sign up with their instructions.

On that note, would you guys be interested in watching me, play through Star Fox and Star Fox 2 on livestream? As someone who has never played a single Star Fox 2 ROM, and only played a grand total of about 30 minutes of the original Star Fox, you will get a genuine first-time reaction from me, and also get to see me die a lot. I hear the controls are pretty tough. Interested?

As summer winds down, Ayano Harumaki has been posting a few more photos of her summer suit: a lighter, shorter-fur costume. She often wears this suit with a bikini, as she does this time. Earlier this month, Ayano posted about being under the weather. She hoped to return in September (though I'm not sure if she means returning to cosplaying, or returning to regular posting). For now, she's mostly been posting about one of her earlier cosplays: Mrs. Hudson. Best wishes to her as she recovers.

It's finally here! I've begun real work on bringing Star Fox Assault video content to you in glorious 4K. This video is a 4K remake of the Shot Difference Video from 2007, originally posted more than 10 years ago! In the Japanese version of Assault, the first encounter Aparoid shoots at Slippy. But in the English version, Krystal is the target of the attack. Not only is this version in 4K, it shows some interesting details in other parts of the scene. What details? Watch the video and find out! I think you'll find it amusing.

I'm going to attempt to bring one new Star Fox Assault cutscene to you per week until they're done. There are still a lot of things to consider:

• Text glitching with Dolphin - I found a way to fix it, but it causes glitches with pre-rendered cutscenes
• Wide-screen glitches - I'm still investigating
• Japanese animation differences - I will probably record both the English and Japanese versions of those scenes, and also make another set of videos where I combine the Japanese animation with the English dub and text
• 30fps in-game cutscenes - It seems that in Star Fox Assault, during the in-game cutscenes, the game switches to rendering duplicates every other frame, making the video effectively 30fps (lame)
• Pre-rendered cutscene size - The pre-rendered cutscenes are exactly 640 by 448 pixels. The quality will never get better than that. I'm thinking of uploading a 1 to 1 pixel version, as well as an upscaled version of each one

HBR102989 has made a human version of Krystal, with both Adventures and Assault outfits, for MMD. As far as I know, this MMD rig is not available for download yet, if it ever will be released. View the original post.

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.