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With protagonist Fox McCloud appearing in a surprise cameo in the recent Super Mario Galaxy Movie, it’s clear that Nintendo wants to bring its niche on-rail space shooter series to a wider audience. To that end, this new Star Fox makes a lot of sense. It’s a remake of the 1997 title Star Fox 64, which is beloved by fans and a good starting point if you’ve never played one of the games before.
Review info
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Release date: June 25, 2026
The problem for me is that this is far from the first time that Nintendo has brought Star Fox 64 back. I grew up with the Nintendo 3DS, and experienced it as Star Fox 64 3D. This was followed by some hands-on time with the Wii U reimagining Star Fox Zero, and then finally a playthrough of the original release when it came to Nintendo Switch via Nintendo Switch Online.
Every single mainline Star Fox game that’s come out since I was about eight years old has been a version of Star Fox 64, and now, as an adult, I’m getting yet another one in Star Fox for Nintendo Switch 2.
I really wish the gaming giant had been a little bolder with this release, adding even just a smidge of new gameplay to freshen up the old campaign. Still, Star Fox 64 is a cult classic for a reason, and thanks to its strong base, this remake is still plenty of fun to play through for what is, hopefully, one last time
Into the Lylat Wars
The premise is simple, if a little unconventional. You’re a dashing fox in a universe populated by anthropomorphic animals where civilization has managed to crack space colonization despite an apparent lack of opposable thumbs.
Rather than rooting through sci-fi bins, you’re the leader of a mercenary squad (staffed by you, the bird-like Falco, the lagomorphic Peppy, and slimy Slippy toad) that lends its services to the highest bidder — in this case an intergalactic army that’s waging war against the evil scientist dictator Andross.
Fully voiced and animated cutscenes to convey all this information are one of this remake’s biggest new additions, and they feel like a natural inclusion. They’re not super long or expansive by any means, but all flow well and are decently acted throughout even if there are a few moments where the animation can look a bit cheap.
They provide some much-needed downtime in between each of the levels, which are hectic, high-score challenges that see you steering your ship, the Arwing, through intense battles. The action unfurls in a largely on-rails format, but that doesn’t mean that this isn’t a degree of strategy to it.
You can swerve all across the screen, hitting barrel rolls to deflect incoming fire and blasting your laser canons. Your craft very much exists in a 3D space, so enemies often come up behind you, requiring evasive maneuvers like somersaults or hitting the brakes.
There’s a boost too, which, deployed at the right time, can see you zooming under falling debris or through closing gaps — often picking up a power-up or two in the process. It’s all remarkably smooth to control, and sections where you pilot other vehicles keep the stages feeling fresh.
Each campaign is extremely short, taking just over an hour to complete, and has you working your way through a map of the galaxy littered with 16 unique planets.
Best bit
The challenge mode lets you replay all of the levels from the campaign but with some new tricky objectives. These reward you with unlocks like profile badges and lore to read, and I can already see it being a huge hit with completionists.
You can’t visit all of them in one playthrough, which, alongside the two main story paths, gives you plenty of reasons to replay it at least a couple of times. That said even when you bear that in mind, the experience is still pretty fleeting and doesn’t feel befitting of the $49.99 / £41.99 / AU$84.95 digital (or £44.99 / $59.99 / AU$99/.95 physical) asking price.
This is especially true if you’ve played all the other versions of Star Fox 64, as you’re basically just paying for a new, admittedly quite pretty, coat of paint.
There is thankfully a new battle mode to try out, and it’s pretty good on the whole. It’s in an online 4v4 player versus player (PvP) format, with one team playing as the Star Fox squad and the other cast as their rivals Star Wolf. Each of the three maps has its own associated game mode, ranging from simple control point capture to fighting to drag limited space cargo back to base.
I’ve had a great time with it so far, though I can imagine that online populations will quickly dwindle given the small map pool. Hopefully a post-launch update will add some more.
Should I play Star Fox?
Play it if…
Don’t play it if…
Accessibility features
As with most first-party Nintendo releases, the accessibility features here are thin. Subtitles are used throughout the game, though their appearance cannot be customized. You can invert the axis of the control scheme and disable features like controller rumble, but that’s basically it.
How I reviewed Star Fox
I played Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 for roughly eight hours, experiencing all of its major campaign routes, unlocking every planet, and trying out challenge mode.
I also dived into its multiplayer offering, using my earlier hands-on experience with other players when trying it at Nintendo HQ and testing matches against bots. I mainly played the game in handheld mode using the Joy-Con 2 controllers, though I did briefly test it in docked mode on a 4K Samsung TV to ensure the performance and Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller support is up to scratch.
First reviewed June 2026
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dash.wood@futurenet.com (Dashiell Wood)
