Below you will find the translated intro of Star Fox: Mission File Printout (ISBN 4-09-102424-6), an official Nintendo guidebook published by Shogakukan in 1993 and later archived by psycommando.

The pictures were drawn by Benimaru Itoh, a cartoonist famous for a number of Nintendo illustrations, including Star Fox and Metroid comics that appeared in Nintendo Power.

In addition to providing the reason for its strange name, the guidebook’s introduction features the original backstory behind Star Fox’s characters, and introduces two that are never seen again. As the series’ canon was later rebooted upon the release of Star Fox 64, much of this information has been lost.

Introduction

For over a century, the Lylat system had upheld the peace. But this was soon to change, for one day, an evil genius known as Emperor Andross launched an invasion in an attempt to bring the star system under his control. His goal: Lylat’s mother planet, Corneria, a world that had once forced him into exile.

The Cornerian Defense Force found itself pushed to its limits by the Imperial Guard’s ferocious attacks. The end loomed nigh. Only one hope remained to them. They had to release the Arwings, cutting edge fighters equipped with the latest G-Diffuser technology, into the fray.

But the Arwings’ controls were extremely delicate and difficult to handle. Any pilot who hoped to fly one would need to have excellent technique. General Pepper, leader of the Corneria Defense Force, made his decision.

He would entrust the Arwings to the band lead by Fox McCloud, a chivalrous bandit who attacked only ships of the Imperial Guard from his base on the frontier planet Papetoon. Yes, Pepper would count on the son of his friend, Fox Sr., who had vanished into a black hole!!

Despite the profits they’d made from their battles on Papetoon, Fox and his friends were broke. Pepper contacted them via hologram. He spoke of Corneria’s distress, careful to appeal to the bandits’ pride. “There’s no one else but you!”, he told them.

Just as Pepper had anticipated, Fox and his bandits had no trouble controlling the Arwings, bringing out the ships’ full potential. Not only was it clear that Fox had inherited the skills of his father, the cooperation between Fox, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy made for exceptional teamwork.

There was no doubt in Pepper’s mind that Fox and his team would restore peace to the system. The general briefed the group on Lylat’s current situation via a document containing valuable intelligence that had been acquired by the talented scouts Desslar Coba and Bear Noguccini.

Desslar and Bear were two of the most capable members in the Lylat Defense Force. They had previously embarked in cutting-edge Arwing scouting vessels, using ether wave transmissions to broadcast round-the-clock visuals of the military theatre and information on the Imperial Guard. Until their mysterious disappearance, that is…

Fox and his friends began looking over the valuable file. There was no doubt in the pilot’s mind: despite the long journey ahead of him, he would continue to lend his abilities until Andross, the man behind his father’s disappearance, tasted defeat.

The file in his hands is the one you hold now, hereby printed out and presented for your perusal.

Translator’s Note

As Desslar Coba (デスラ・コバー) and Bear Noguccini (ベア・ノウグッチーニ) do not appear in any other capacity in the Star Fox universe, the correct romanization of their names is uncertain. However, “Desslar” may come from the 1970s sci-fi anime Space Battleship Yamato, whose protagonist shares the same name. “Noguccini” may be a mix of the Italian name, “Guccini“, and the Japanese surname, “Noguchi“. I couldn’t find any significance behind the name Coba, except for the tenuous connection to space held by the ancient pyramid at Coba, Mexico, which some conspiracy theorists believe was built by aliens.

Don’t forget to check out this interview about the making of Star Fox! Did you know that Miyamoto and his team worked together with British developers in Kyoto? Or that there was a fight amongst the staff about whether the space stringrays should bend their tails?