Gameplay
The premise of Star Fox 2 was very different from the original Star Fox: Instead of following mostly linear paths inside predefined missions, the player moves a team of two ships freely around a map screen that represents the Lylat system. When the player's ships make contact with enemy forces, the game went into an action perspective, piloting the Arwing ship directly with controls and game play similar to the first Star Fox. When the player cleared the specified objectives in that encounter (destroying all fighters in the vicinity, for example), the game went back into the main map screen, where the player could select a new destination for his craft.
The objective of the game was to destroy all enemy forces present in the map while defending planet Corneria (located in the lower left corner of the map), preventing its damage level from reaching 100% due to enemy attacks. To protect Corneria the player would have to intercept fighters and incoming missiles, called IPBMs (Inter-Planetary Ballistic Missiles) in the game, while also dealing with the sources of these attacks: battleships, which will deploy more fighter squadrons, and planetary bases which would fire more missiles towards Corneria. To assist the player, General Pepper would employ an immobile space station that could shoot down enemies on a limited basis — the player also had to defend this installation from special enemy ships called viruses that could take over the satellite, and use its cannon to fire at Corneria.
If a player's ship makes contact in the map screen with a captured planet they would be transported into another action sequence located on the planet's surface. There they would have to open the enemy's base entrance through different means depending on the level (by pressing a switch, defeating a boss, etc.) Once the player had been able to gain access to the base interior, he/she would have to go through a complex and destroy the base's generator at the end. The planet would be then liberated and no more missiles would be fired from it. Starfighters from the Star Wolf mercenary team would be defending some captured planets, and they will have to be fought if the player wants to liberate one of those planets. They would eventually go after the player's Arwings when some time has passed. Bosses will also be dispatched to chase the player's ships at some point in the game.
The game ran in semi-real time — when the player took an action, time started counting and enemies would perform actions as well. This occurred whether the player was moving around on the map screen or has engaged an enemy in battle, making it possible for enemies to damage Corneria or new enemies to launch during that time. This forced the player to think tactically and defeat their enemies as quick and efficiently as possible. At times the player may even have to leave a battle to take on other enemies that are getting too close to the planet. In this way, Star Fox 2 bears considerable similarity to many real-time strategy games.
Once the player has cleared all enemy forces present on the map, his ships would then travel to Andross' base, located on the top right corner of the map, to face one last level and fight Andross himself at the end of it. Once Andross is defeated the player won the game, and his performance would be scored and ranked in a debriefing screen.
Difficulty levels had a great impact on the game, changing the layout of all levels and presenting stronger and more numerous enemy forces on each successive difficulty level. Each difficulty level also contained its own bonus items called "Pepper Coins", which would be hidden inside the game's levels for the player to find and collect.
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