Star Fox is a 3D shooter released for the Super Famicom in Japan on 21 February 1993 and in North America on 23 March 1993. It was co-developed by Nintendo EAD and the British studio Argonaut Software, with Shigeru Miyamoto as producer and Katsuya Eguchi as director. The cartridge contains the Super FX chip, described as the first 3D graphics accelerator in a consumer product. The torii gates of Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto inspired the rings the player flies through, and a fox statue there inspired Fox McCloud.
In PAL regions the game was renamed Starwing because of the German company StarVox. In the US, Nintendo held the Super Star Fox Weekend contest from 30 April to 2 May 1993 at about 2,000 shops, using a special competition cartridge that was later sold through Nintendo Power.
Its sequel, Star Fox 2, was finished for the SNES but stayed unreleased until the Super NES Classic Edition in 2017. Miyamoto said that seeing 3D modeling in Star Fox made him realise "we could do much more", which led towards Super Mario 64.1
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Star FoxA later US revision (Rev. 1) has a duller red logo | SNES | Mar 23, 1993 | Nintendo | 1 |
| NA | Star Fox Super Weekend: Official Competition CartridgeContest cartridge from the April–May 1993 Super Star Fox Weekend, later sold through Nintendo Power's Spring 1994 catalogue | SNES | 1994 | Nintendo | 1 |
| NA | Star FoxIncluded on Super NES Classic Edition together with the previously unreleased Star Fox 2 | Other | September 2017 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | スターフォックスSutā FokkusuSuper Famicom; Super FX cartridge | SNES | Feb 21, 1993 | Nintendo | 2 |
| EU | StarwingUK release 5 June 1993 | SNES | Jun 3, 1993 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | スターフォックスNintendo Classic Mini: Super Famicom | Other | Oct 5, 2017 | Nintendo | 2 |
| JP | スターフォックススーパーファミコン Nintendo Switch Online | Switch | Sep 6, 2019 | Nintendo | 2 |
| WW | Star FoxSuper Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online | Switch | September 2019 | Nintendo | 1 |
Also known as: Starwing EU1スターフォックス JP2Sutā Fokkusu JP2Starfox JP3
Box art by region
NA Star Fox 
EU Starwing 
JP スターフォックス
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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TitleSNES (EU)
In Europe and Australia the game was renamed Starwing; developer Jez San said Nintendo was concerned about the similarity to the German company StarVox.3
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GraphicsSNES (JP)SNES (NA)SNES (EU)
Each region has its own logo: the Japanese one is grayish blue with larger letters ("Starfox"), the first US release uses bright red, and the European one reads "Starwing".3
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GraphicsSNES (NA, Rev. 1)
The revised North American cartridge changed the logo color from bright red to a duller red.3
Translations
Where to play legally today
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Nintendo Switch Online Subscription
Star Fox (Super Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online)
SNES version (listed as Star Fox, not Starwing, in the Western library); Japan's service has スターフォックス (added 2019-09-06)
Checked: 2026-10-134nintendo.com
Reception
Star Fox sold more than 1.7 million copies in Japan and the US by the end of March 1993 and over four million worldwide by 1998. Electronic Gaming Monthly named it Best Shooter of 1993.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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