Nintendo's Miyamoto on return of 'Star Fox'

It started as a tech demo featuring a radio-controlled airplane. On a larger screen, players would get a view of the surrounding area, while a separate view from inside the RC airplane cockpit was displayed on the GamePad of Nintendo’s Wii U home console.

This is where heralded Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto found the idea for Star Fox Zero, the aerial action game flying onto the Wii U this spring.

“I realized you could make these really cool-looking scenes up on the TV and you could have that nice separate cockpit view,” said Miyamoto through a translator during an interview with USA TODAY. “And I thought this would be perfect for a Star Fox game.”

Miyamoto — the creator of important Nintendo franchises such as Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda — produced the first Star Fox game in 1993 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, drawing inspiration from manga comics starring fighter pilots and the sci-fi action series Thunderbirds.

At the core of Star Fox Zero are new flying mechanics, where players can view action from two perspectives: outside the aircraft of star Fox McCloud, and directly inside the cockpit, where players can move the GamePad to aim and fire at enemy targets.

Inside the cockpit of 'Star Fox Zero'

“Typically in the Star Fox games, you have these really cool cinematic sequences, but you can’t play,” says Miyamoto. “You just sit back and watch. What I thought was if we can take advantage of this system and use it very well, then you can have those cool cinematic scenes playing out on the TV but still control the ship and play the game in the middle of those sequences.”

Originally, Star Fox Zero was going to approach the story with an episodic format, where each planet or stage you explored played out like an individual TV episode. However, Miyamoto says Star Fox fans wanted a deeper story, prompting the team to create something more traditional, adding alternate routes players discover by transforming the Arwing craft into vehicles like a Walker or tank.

Along with the main game, Nintendo will include Star Fox Guard, a separate experience where players must defend their base against enemy invaders by monitoring a series of security cameras. The game was first revealed during 2014’s Electronic Entertainment Expo under the name Project Guard.

There is a bit of a learning curve with Star Fox Zero, as players must learn which screen to focus on, and when, during the heat of combat.Star Fox Zero will add a co-op mode where one person can navigate the aircraft, while a second players aims and fires at enemies with the GamePad.

But Miyamoto notes players should be able to adapt to the independent controls over time. “It gives you an ability to really hone your skills and get better at this style of gameplay,” he says. “So that you feel like you’re progressing and improving and sort of becoming that ace fighter pilot.”

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.