Nintendo releases a brief anime based on Star Fox Zero, featuring all of the beloved animal pilots from the main game. It's actually quite good and can be watched here.

Fans have been waiting almost ten years for a new Star Fox game, and they've finally gotten it in the form of Star Fox Zero for the Nintendo Wii U. Given the gap in core iterations of the beloved sci-fi series, this is a big deal for quite a few longtime followers of the Big N, and the company is pulling out all the stops to surround the title's arrival with a great deal of fanfare. One of the biggest ways the company is doing this is through a brief animation featuring a number of the franchise's well-known bipedal animals and a little bit of fleshed out narrative.

The entire animation has a runtime of almost 15 minutes, although it's likely enough to get fans of the series eager to see more. Made in collaboration with Production IG and WIT Studios, there's quite an impressive line of famed anime associated with both companies. For example, IG has worked on the Ghost in a Shell and Psycho-Pass series, while WIT is quite well known for working on Attack on Titan. With those backgrounds in the field, it's no surprise that Nintendo approached these animators to work on a Star Fox Zero feature.

With all of this said, fans can check out the animation, aptly titled 'The Battle Begins', below.

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Admittedly, while Nintendo has yet to confirm the release of further episodes for the series, the ending of this anime (as well as the title) imply that there could very well be more for gamers to anticipate. Of course, this is just speculation on our end, but fans hoping to see more of Fox McCloud and his merry band of mercenaries in the form of an anime may indeed get their wish. Given the quality of the animation as well, it would surely be an impressive move – which is further backed up by Nintendo stating that it would be pushing into anime in 2016.

Gamers have tried to make their own animated Star Fox adventure in the past, so it's nice to witness Nintendo doing something that fans have been eager to see. Given the mixed reception to the new game – although we had positive things to say in our review of Star Fox Zero – it's hard to say if this particular animation will stick, but it'll all likely come down to the views on this short and the sales of Zero.

Star Fox Zero arrives exclusively for the Nintendo Wii U on April 22, 2016.

Source: Nintendo