With Nintendo having ported pretty much all of the Wii U's titles to the Switch, it seems like many users are ready to forget the Wii U was ever a console in the first place. That doesn't mean every game has made the jump, one such being the rather divisive Star Fox Zero from 2016. A collaboration between Nintendo and PlatinumGames, it released to tepid reviews and and even more tepid fan response that pretty much killed any chance of another sequel in the once proud series from happening.
The verdict is still out on whether or not Fox McCloud will fly again, but that isn't stopping PlatinumGames from wanting another turn in the cockpit. In a recent interview with Video Games Chronicle, Platinum studio head Atsushi Inaba stated that if Nintendo was interested in porting Star Fox Zero to the Switch, Platinum would "definitely" be interested in helping.
"It kind of depends on what's in the realm of actual possibility, but yeah, if the chance came up it's definitely something we'd like to think about," stated Inaba. When questioned about bringing older titles to newer platforms, Inaba explained, "It's not cool that people aren’t able to play older games because they're locked out of the platform, so of course if anything was possible we’d like to bring over any of those older titles to the newer platforms."
So Platinum is game, but the reality is that Nintendo is the one calling the shots here. Being that Star Fox is an original IP for the company, it would have final say on how Zero is ported to Switch, if at all. The reason the Wii U original flopped so much is that its control scheme was hard for many players to wrap their heads around. It also suffered from legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto not budging on pushback to the game's "unique" setup.
Inaba even stressed that, saying, "The important thing to remember there is that because it's Nintendo's IP, the ideas are coming from Miyamoto-san himself. We have to respect what Miyamoto-san wants to do." He then explained how Zero's director, Yusuke Hashimoto, was about the only person that was able to approach Miyamoto about design concerns, even if they were ignored. Hashimoto has since left Platinum, so the company wouldn't have his input on any changes that Zero might need in the transition to Switch.
Even with a bare minimum of alterations, it stands to reason that Star Fox Zero would do better on the Switch. We can always point to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the standout example of the Switch effect, with the title pushing 37 million units versus the Wii U's 8.5 million for Mario Kart 8. Pikmin 3 and Bayonetta 2 have also performed much better despite being more niche. People really just love Nintendo's hybrid console, so why not give Star Fox another chance?
Source: VGC