Nintendo has always had a weird relationship with Star Fox
Nintendo seemingly is willing to try new things with the Star Fox franchise. While it started off as a vehicular rail shooter it eventually branched off with action adventure and tower defense spinoffs. According to a crazy rumor, Nintendo might extend that list to “racer.”
Although the logo for a game called “Star Fox: Grand Prix” has been circulating for some time, leading most people to believe that it’s fake, several folks on Twitter, reddit, and 4chan have been booming about it again. Allegedly the Switch title will be a “mix between F-Zero and Diddy Kong Racing,” with “adventure mode, bosses, and a hub world.” That’s all low-hanging wishlist fruit right there, that people have been pining for since the likes of Crash Team Racing.
Let’s take a tempered look at the situation. Right now we have no idea what Retro Studios is working on. Originally we assumed it would be Metroid Prime 4, but we’ve since learned that the job is going to a “talented new development team.” Ever since Tropical Freeze Wii U wrapped, Retro has been behind closed doors, toiling away on a new project. That could be Grand Prix I guess? If it’s real we’ll likely find out at E3 as Retro has been quiet long enough.
Realistically, all of these unsubstantiated rumors could amount to nothing. Other than the word of soothsayers and the proliferation of logos that have no official Nintendo documentation on them, we need to chalk this up as a strong rumor. But still, if it was real, I’d probably play the hell out of it.
We need more racers at the moment, and the concept of a Star Fox racer actually does fit with an in-universe bit of lore — the G-Zero Grand Prix, included as one of the endings in Star Fox Command.
Star Fox [reddit]
