Nintendo has announced the delay of another major Wii U title as Star Fox Zero is being pushed back to a Q1 2016 release.

The Wii U's official Facebook page has announced that Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo have decided to pump the brakes on Star Fox Zero's release in order to refine its gameplay and add some extra polish. Unfortunately, this means that Star Fox Zero isn't going to be making its scheduled Nov. 20 release date and has been pushed back to a new launch window of Q1 2016. While it's using Star Fox 64 as its framework, the team at Platinum Games needs more time to make it go far beyond the 1997 Nintendo 64 classic. We should note that Platinum Games developed Bayonetta 2, which had an awesome Star Fox-themed sequence.

Here's the message about Star Fox Zero's delay that was posted on the Wii U's official Facebook:

A Message from Mr. Miyamoto regarding Star Fox Zero:

I made a big decision last week.

We have been developing Star Fox Zero for Wii U with the aim of releasing it this year. Although we felt that the development had been progressing well, we now believe that we will need a little more time to work on areas such as the unprecedented discovery that we want players to experience in the game by using two screens, and further polishing the level designs and perfecting the tone of the cut scenes. While we have already reached the stage where it would be technically possible to release the title in time for the year-end holiday season, we want to polish the game a bit more so that players will be able to more smoothly grasp the new style of play that we are proposing.

To the people looking forward to the launch of the game this holiday season, I am very sorry.

Star Fox Zero is going to bring new game play and experiences that take it far beyond the framework established by Star Fox 64. All the members of the development team are doing our best so that the final product will not betray your expectations. And the game will not be delayed for a very long time – we’re aiming to launch the game in Q1 2016. Please stay tuned for further announcements.

Unfortunately, this marks yet another major first-party franchise being delayed for the Wii U. With the news that The Legend of Zelda was being delayed, the Wii U needed some major titles to help push some sales amidst its landslide losses in the current-gen console war. While we got Super Mario Maker and Splatoon as well as Xenoblade Chronicles X on the way, there hasn't been any major system-sellers this year for the Wii U (compared to the likes of Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 in 2014). Nevertheless, Star Fox Zero is expected to launch in Q1 2016. I just hope that this gives Platinum Games enough time to make this new Star Fox as fun as we're hoping it'll be.

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