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5. Arwing, from the Star Fox series
The Arwing is beautiful in its simplicity. Sleek, aerodynamic and a formidable opponent, it has served as the mainstay weapon of choice in Star Fox’s outings. Though not as powerful in terms of weaponry as Star Wolf’s Wolfen craft, it possesses superior shielding systems. Capable of travelling at four times the speed of sound, or around twice the speed of Concorde (RIP), while in the atmosphere of a planet, the Arwing is truly a marvel of engineering, surpassing other ships of its type in the Lylat system by light-years.
It can travel both at atmospheric altitudes, as well as through the cold vacuum of space. Originally, it could not cope with underwater missions, hence the need for the Blue Marine on Planet Aquas, but by the time of Star Fox: Command, the Arwing appears to have been upgraded to survive underwater pressure. Another limitation of the craft is heat exposure. While not actually damaging the ship itself, the heat given off from Lylat’s sister star, Solar, is enough to deplete the Arwing’s shields.
Bizarrely, the propulsion systems of the Arwing, and its carrier the Great Fox, are possible due to Gravity Diffusion, a process that all forty of the F-Zero racers use. Curiously, the inventor of this system in the F-Zero games is called John Tanaka, who is a member of a Galactic Federation. Does this mean Samus, Fox and Falcon (all space faring mercenaries, I might add) all live in the same universe? I would quite like to see a triple crossover…
