Nintendo recently released a 14 minute anime short to help promote yesterday’s launch for Star Fox Zero for the Wii U. Serving as an introduction to the major characters – Fox, Peppy, Slippy, Falco and General Pepper – it doesn’t exactly shed any new light on the Star Fox universe but it is still quite the treat for long time fans.

Like the game, the aesthetic of “The Battle Begins“ is very reminicint of Star Fox 64 and it can be quite amusing to see some of the long running anime tropes make their way into the Star Fox formula. Also if you happen to remember the introduction cinematic for SF64 look for a visual shoutout to that game about half way through this episode.

Production IG, famous for their work on Ghost In The Shell / The End of Evangelion & others handled the animation for “The Battle Begins”.

Check it out below:

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