For those of you who were around during the N64 era and had the joy of playing Lylat Wars (as it was called here in Europe), chances are the game's most revolutionary feature left a lasting impression - rumble.
Feeling the game come alive through vibrations in the controller was genuinely mind-blowing at the time, even if we now take it for granted. But the very first game, Star Fox (Star Wing in Europe), famously had no such feature. That's now been fixed.
Thanks to a brand-new ROM hack called Star Fox, Shindou Edition, force feedback has been added to the original 1993 SNES title. The project comes from veteran fan developers Sunlit and KandoWontu, alongside Randy Linden, best known for developing a proprietary rumble specification for Limited Run Games.
The patch works on actual SNES hardware with the FXPak Pro and a custom-made SNES controller from Limited Run Games that supports rumble. It also works with other rumble-capable controllers in combination with the Mesem 2 emulator. The team writes:
"The patch has been primarily tested and designed around the LRG controller, so it's believed that the rumble may not be the strongest for those playing on the emulator. As a result, you'll likely need to change the slider in the settings to input it to maximum, to get the best results."
Cool? Oh, absolutely. And even better, the patch is compatible with all versions of Star Fox, including the Japanese, US, and European releases. That's as good a reason as any to return to this classic and take down Andross all over again.
<social>https://x.com/kandowontu/status/1945916680049234416</social>