In the midst of a particularly fertile period for rumors, multiple leaks point to the development of a Star Fox spin-off headed by Nintendo affiliated Retro Studios.
The ostensibly titled Star Fox Grand Prix is rumored to be a racing game akin to a mashup of Diddy Kong Racing and F-Zero, a futuristic racing franchise running since the nineties. Scrutinizing these similarities further, the game play is expected to be similar to F-Zero, while an open world hub format mimics Diddy Kong Racing. Grand Prix is expected to feature an adventure mode, online multiplayer matchmaking, and boss fights. These details have all emerged from a non-corroborated post
IGN’s own sources reported a 2019 release date as well as game play mixing timed racing with shooting down enemies that grant timing boost, and other benefits, once destroyed. The races are to be run in a grand prix format consisting of three individual races leading to a final boss battle to round things off. A brief post on 4chan also popped up verifying the leak and producing a logo for Star Fox Grand Prix, or at the very least, some form of in-development visual identity.
Nintendo Insider also flagged an interesting parallel between one of the endings in Star Fox Command, whereby ships have been re-purposed for the G-Zero Grand Prix. In other words, breakneck-speed ship racing, potentially easing into the new Star Fox Grand Prix world without too much deviation.
The sources are questionable at best. Yet, in the lead up to E3 any rumor immediately garners a certain amount of traction, for better or for worse. Texas-based Retro Studios apparent silence since the release of their last project, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, back in 2014 and the fact we know they are working on a new game. The IP has reportedly never been touched by Retro Studios before, which also gives some credence to the rumors.
For the moment, everything remains speculative and we advise a sizeable grain of salt and hefty helping of skepticism. We will have to wait for E3 to see if Nintendo makes an announcement to get a definitive word on the matter.
