Nintendo’s Retro Studios is one of the most secretive developers around, but a series of leaks starting on Reddit and backed up by what Eurogamer has heard from sources suggests that Retro Studios’ next project is a Star Fox racing game.
At first thought, this seems too weird to be true. Why would Nintendo want to turn Star Fox into a racing game when it has a perfectly good galactic racing franchise sitting around dormant in F-Zero?
The leaked details about the game make it sound at least a little more palatable. Reddit user DasVergeben described the game as a cross between Nintendo 64’s Diddy Kong Racing and F-Zero. According to DasVergeben, The Diddy Kong parallel comes from the adventure mode that has an overworld and boss fight, while we can only assume that the track aesthetic, emphasis on speed, and vehicle design nod back to F-Zero.
DasVergeben’s description of the game matched what Eurogamer has heard — except for the game’s name, which DasVergeben claimed is “Star Fox Grand Prix” (a rather bland title).
It’s worth noting that after the Reddit leak, the rumored game’s logo was posted on 4chan.
While this rumor has some steam behind it, Nintendo has not commented on the game’s existence. We’re not quite sure how fans would receive a game like this, especially from Retro Studios. The studio made a name for itself bringing Metroid to 3D in the Metroid Prime trilogy on GameCube and Wii. Those groundbreaking adventure games were followed up by Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii, 3DS) and Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze (Wii U, Nintendo Switch).
Some Nintendo fans were probably disappointed to learn that Retro Studios wasn’t attached to Metroid Prime 4. Instead, Bandai Namco has taken the reins and will bring the franchise to Nintendo’s surging new hardware.
Star Fox Zero, the most recent entry in the long-running series, launched in 2016 to mediocre reviews. If you’re a big Star Fox fan, the notion that Retro Studios is possibly developing a spinoff off sorts is probably pretty exciting. If you’re a Retro Studios fan, though, you may have been hoping for something a bit grander.
If Star Fox Grand Prix is the real deal, it seems likely we’ll hear about it at E3 next month.
