Due to technical limitations, video games were mostly rendered in two dimensions through the 1980s. Still, there were always attempts to make games more lifelike by creating, or at least mimicking, display in three dimensions. Most of these were done with vectors (as with the Vectrex), or using sprite scaling techniques (with Sega’s many Super Scaler arcade games like Space Harrier). While impressive, the hardware required to run these was typically relegated to the arcade or on computers, where it was mostly used in racing games or flight simulators. There were console ports of many of these titles, but they typically failed to capture the look or the flow accurately. Systems like the NES, TurboGrafx-16, and even the Genesis simply lacked the muscle.
The SNES brought these effects closer to the consumer audience with its built-in Mode 7 scaling, which worked similar to the sprite manipulation found in Sega’s games. However, games were still fundamentally rendered using 2D graphics, just with assorted display tricks. The real future of 3D rested with polygons, which allowed full 3D worlds to be created. One of the most talented creators of these types of games was UK-based Argonaut Software, who developed Starglider for the Atari ST. In the early 90s, the company worked together with Nintendo to create 3D visuals for their platforms, first resulting in the Japan-only Game Boy game X. Though rendered in simple wireframes rather than full polygons, it still showed an incredible amount of programming technique. The SNES still didn’t quite have the power to run a game with polygons, though, at least not at an acceptable speed. One need only look at the port of games like Race Drivin’ for an example, which often struggled to display more than five FPS. To that end, Argonaut helped develop a chip called the Super FX. This would then be loaded onto each cartridge, providing the extra power to make polygonal visuals possible. A team of programmers from Argonaut – Dylan Cuthbert, Giles Goddard, and Krister Wombell – shacked up with Nintendo in their Japanese office to help create a new SNES title, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and directed by Katsuya Eguchi.
In spite of the advancements, only simple polygonal models could be animated. This was where the marketing and character design skills of Nintendo came in – a spaceship assembled from a few triangles didn’t have much in the way of personality, but what if they were actually piloted by a group of cute, anthropomorphic animals? By adding in a sci-fi back story, heavily inspired by Star Wars (just as Starglider was), and populating it with likeable characters, they created one of the first blockbuster 3D breakout titles – Star Fox.
