Developer: Velan Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Switch 2
Tested on: Switch 2
Star Fox – Review
Fox McCloud’s guest appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie earlier this year already hinted at a comeback for the vulpine pilot, but it wasn’t until the May Nintendo Direct that we knew just how fast we’d be joining him in the Arwing once again. You can take that ‘again’ literally too, as Fox’s first outing since 2017 is yet another remake of 1997’s Star Fox 64. We’ve seen the game in some form on the 3DS and the Wii U, and now the Switch 2 joins that illustrious lineup. Simply titled Star Fox, can this latest iteration prove that the formula still has wings?
Story
The story of Star Fox is a faithful re-telling of that of Star Fox 64, taking us back to the Lylat Wars. We follow the Star Fox team, an elite mercenary squad consisting of Fox McCloud himself, alongside Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare and Slippy Toad. They are on a mission commissioned by General Pepper to defend their homeworld of Corneria and liberate the Lylat System from the invading forces of the mad scientist Dr. Andross. Although Star Fox’s version of this story hits the same beats as its 1997 counterpart, this newer interpretation adds brand new character dialogue interspersed between missions, delving deeper into character backgrounds and franchise lore. A new prologue cutscene shows how former team leader (and Fox’s father) James McCloud was betrayed by his teammate Pigma. This scene, and others, flesh out the distinct personalities of each character. Story details even adapt dynamically based on your performance and which of the branching routes you decide to follow through the galaxy.
Graphics
If there was ever a right occasion to use the term “glow-up”, then it would definitely be here. Star Fox takes the established aesthetics of previous entries and reimagines everything from the ground up. The resulting visual presentation adds a cinematic feel to the game, not just in the high-quality cutscene sequences, but also as you are flying through the Lylat System. If anything, Star Fox further cements what The Super Mario Galaxy Movie already hinted at: we need a full-fledged Fox McCloud movie. The game doesn’t just look the part either: it runs remarkably smoothly, both in handheld and in docked configurations, boasting a 4K resolution and an oh-so-satisfying and flawlessly stable 60 FPS. This is nothing short of a showcase of what the Switch 2 is capable of in terms of graphics.
Sound
It’s not just those improved visuals either. The game’s revamped soundtrack brings back the familiar tunes of the original, but adds so much depth to them, perfectly capturing the atmospheric vibe of each distinct location. The voice cast does an excellent job at capturing the personalities of the team too. While we spent most of our time in the company of the likes of Hunter McCoy and Erik Braa, we did give some of the other languages a go. We can recommend playing the game in Japanese, and even the Dutch version didn’t annoy us as much as we thought it would. We recommend playing this one with headphones too, because the audio design is highly immersive, working in tandem with some of the Switch 2’s other hardware features to deliver sensory feedback for shots, bumps and explosions.
Gameplay
So now, we come to what is probably the most controversial part of Star Fox: gameplay. Not because the gameplay is bad, mind you. You’re still getting the classic 3D on-rails shooting formula you’ve come to know and love over the years here. Taking control of an Arwing, or in some levels a Landmaster tank or Blue Marine sub, you need to make your way through a campaign where you tackle a sequence of seven missions, starting at Corneria and ending at Venom. How you get from A to B is heavily non-linear, with levels hiding secret triggers, specific objectives and unique alternate exits that shift the campaign’s trajectory. Controls feel snappy, intuitive and most importantly, modernized, offering a simplified setup that requires fewer button combos than the original, although the classic inverted-axis configurations still exist, albeit optional.
You may be wondering what makes Star Fox so controversial then, given that it delivers exactly what it promises. Well, for all the good it does, the game plays things too safe and measured. Beneath that gorgeous new coat of paint is the exact same framework that made the 1997 release tick. There are exactly zero new levels or campaign additions in the single-player campaign to surprise veterans. Any improvements and new features focus on taking advantage of the hardware, including mouse controls for aiming utilizing the Switch 2 Joy-Cons, and HD Rumble. You can tackle the campaign in local asymmetrical co-op, where one player pilots the ship using control sticks, and the second player acts as the gunner using those mouse controls. An alternative mode like this is functional, but largely a gimmick rather than a substantial addition. Even the brand-new Challenge Mode simply lets you replay stages that you’ve completed before with new objectives instead of offering new stages.
A single linear run of the core campaign takes between one and two hours. However, uncovering all of the branching paths significantly extends that runtime. Add in that Challenge Mode, and we’re estimating that there is roughly 15 to 20 hours worth of playtime to be found in Star Fox’s single-player experience. To Nintendo’s credit, this shorter runtime is reflected in Star Fox’s lower RRP of €49.99 (or €59.99 if you want a physical copy) compared to other Nintendo-published Switch 2 titles. You can extend your time with the game by teaming up with your friends online too, in a 4-vs-4 competitive mode pitting Team Star Fox against Team Star Wolf across three distinct maps: Corneria (zone domination), Fichina (meteorite gathering), and Sector Y (cargo capture). While we’ll admit that this mode can be fun for a little while, it does become repetitive fairly quickly. It’s a neat addition, but not meaty enough to make the whole Star Fox package feel significantly bigger.
Conclusion
The 2026 iteration of Star Fox is without a doubt the definitive version of an all-time classic. It’s a matter of quality over quantity though, as this is the third time that we’re getting pretty much the exact same game with a different coat of digital paint. We highly recommend this one to anyone who has never played Star Fox, though if you’re a returning veteran, we’re not sure that there is enough here to make your purchase worthwhile. As much as we enjoyed flying through the Lylat System again, Star Fox left us wanting more.
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