Star Fox (2026)

I'm probably not just speaking for myself when I say I was a bit disappointed that when Nintendo announced the "new" Star Fox is yet another repackaging of the levels and mechanics featured in our furry/feathery/slimy friends' iconic 1997 Nintendo 64 outing. There are no surprises here. You probably know already if you like Star Fox 64 or not, and by extension if this remake is down your alley.

But setting expectations and desires aside, Star Fox for the Nintendo Switch 2 is the prettiest, most fluid, content-packed version of this classic. We have every quality of life feature imaginable, from saving mid-campaign to the ability to immediately replay a level if you missed the exit route you were aiming to take. We have stage-specific challenges and online PvP multiplayer to enhance replayability as well. A lot of this was already featured in the previous 3DS remake, but it's nice that this new version is so feature-complete.

What is new is the complete visual overhaul. Star Fox goes for a goofy semi-realistic design for its characters and environments, which shine in the new cutscenes that now bookend every mission. These cutscenes help add so much more flavor to your playthroughs. The presentation generally is just immaculate, from the menus to the environments to the sound, music and voice acting.

So yeah. If you're itching for Star Fox, this will scratch the itch. Of course, it would have been nice to get new levels, more fleshed out online modes, what have you. This is still definitely the core N64 game under the hood. But if you haven't come back to it in a while, it's a joy to see how well it holds up and how much fun it is to revisit.

Star Fox 64 is hands-down one of the best N64 games, and although we got an updated version of it on the 3DS, the spectacle and character that drive this game make it really well-suited to a modern HD remake to play on the TV like this. If you’re on the fence about it as someone who never played the original, you could certainly save yourself some money and play that instead, but as someone who enjoyed the prior versions I think this one is worth it and will likely be the one I return to in the future.

The game remains a lot of fun both moment-to-moment and in how it organizes its multi-route campaign. If you perform well and follow your squad members’ suggestions, you’re likely to unlock alternate routes which manifest both as different experiences within the level and as alternate places you can go once you’re out of it. It’s a great format, varied enough that I was happy to sit down on the first day and play through several times, and nice for easing you into the harder content.

Levels themselves are all well-paced and pretty cool and diverse in their visual aspects. Resource/upgrade management is simple but consistently engaging, and the variety of threats and obstacles definitely have you making use of your whole movement and firepower capabilities. Boss fights seem like pushovers early on but can be relatively precise and tricky to get the hang of in some later cases. The only weaker links are the levels that try something different by putting you on land or in water, but they aren’t actively bad and are at least a decent change of pace.

Pretty core to the fantasy here is not just the aerial combat itself but specifically the feeling of doing it as part of a team. Despite minimal actual “plot”, the characters in the Star Fox squad and those who they fight with and against are surprisingly well-realized with strong personalities and designs. The way your squad members interact in the actual levels with banter, complaints when you shoot them or steal their kill, comments on your performance, calls for help when they’re being tailed that can result in them getting knocked out for the next mission, it’s just pulled off very well as a great example of storytelling and gameplay working together.

It doesn’t take long to clear every possible route in the campaign—I had all but one possible alternate exit covered within three quick runs with no continues needed on Normal, not a particuarly hard thing to do if you’ve played it before considering how many lives you get. But with a bit of extra challenge content on the side and a multiplayer battle mode, in addition to the short length actually making this a great thing to pick back up and blast through again later on, it’s one that I definitely expect to leave installed and keep picking away at for a long while.

Like Star Fox 64, this is a great game with plenty of replay value. However, the main story can literally be finished within an hour as per the 64/3DS version. While the main point of this is to replay it to complete challenges, unlock new levels for new playthroughs, and to just have fun... it's still short.

As someone who just wants to experience all of the levels, this was a 6 hour game for me. Very glad I rented this and did not buy it. I am not 8 anymore. I will not get over a dozen hours out of this like I did back in the day.