Star Fox
Image: Nintendo

Update #2 (Thu 22nd September): Not content with just adding 30FPS and 60FPS modes to the original Star Fox, KandoWontu has released another patch for Star Fox 2 over on archive.org.

This adds 60FPS to the sequel and like the previous patch comes with a number of instructions on how to get it up and running in the best possible quality.

Here's a video of the patch courtesy of Shiryu:

Update #1 (Wed 21 September): The original article incorrectly stated that this patch was for the Star Fox Exploration patch, which is in fact a separate thing entirely.

Last month, we covered the Star Fox Exploration Showcase, a mod that is introducing a bevy of original features to the classic SNES title, including multiplayer, new weapons/maps, and even a new game+ feature. But it seems like that isn't the only thing KandoWontu has been working on, with the modder releasing a patch today (Wed 21 September) to unlock 30 and 60FPS for Star Fox.

On the page for this hack, KandoWontu talks about how this is possible,

"The game has 3 IRQ routines to complete the game cycle of strats (movement/attack/health/etc routines), drawing the screen etc. It does this in 3 game cycles, which limits the game to 20FPS at max.

"What has been done is the IRQ routines have been programmed to run right after each other without waiting a game cycle, from irq 2-3 for 30fps mode and from irq 1-2-3 for 60fps mode. Additionally, every frame will also be drawing as well as doing the strats. What has been done is the strats will only process every 2/3 frames for 30/60fps while still drawing it every frame. This slows the game back down to its ORIGINAL pace. Also attached is a FULL SPEED patch that does not slow the game down to its original pace (just for fun)."

The patch does not run on the original hardware. Instead, you will need to apply either patch to a copy of Star Fox 1.2 and run it in an emulator like SNES9X, BSNES, MESEN, or Retroarch SNES9X. Instructions can be found here. According to KandoWontu, in both modes, you also can hit A+B on the title screen to enable an on-screen FPS counter.

This latest news will obviously be exciting for anyone who loves Star Fox and want to find a new way to experience it. And next month will hopefully see the release of the Star Fox Exploration Showcase, which adds even more to the game. You can watch videos of these two patches below, courtesy of Shiryu and KandoWontu themselves:

Are you going to try out this patch? Let us know below!

[source romhacking.net]