Star Fox Review

In 1993, Nintendo released Star Fox for the SNES, a highly innovative rail shooter that told the story of anthropomorphic animals battling it out in spaceships. In 1997, Nintendo retold and reimagined Star Fox‘s story in Star Fox 64. In 2011, Nintendo remade Star Fox 64 for the 3DS as Star Fox 64 3D. The Star Fox story was retold yet again in Star Fox Zero on the Wii U in 2016. And now, in 2026, Nintendo has released yet another Star Fox that effectively tells the same story, but this time on the Switch 2.

Star Fox on the Switch 2 is a remake of the Nintendo 64 game, with near-identical level design and core gameplay, but with significantly improved graphics. Like the N64 game before it, Star Fox‘s campaign sees players bounce between different planets of the Lylat System in pursuit of the villainous Dr. Andross, completing a nice variety of missions objectives along the way using the titular Star Fox team’s Arwing ships.

The Classic Star Fox Campaign Returns (Again)

A short-but-sweet experience, every level in Star Fox offers something different. One level will have players battling enemy forces in outer space dogfights, while another has them withstanding the extreme temperatures of a lava planet, complete with a boss fight against a giant magma monster. Most missions have Fox and crew piloting their Arwings, but there’s also a submarine and a tank level on occasion to help spice things up.

Star Fox is a game that’s meant to be replayed over and over again, with alternate routes and secrets to discover. Fulfilling the conditions necessary to find Star Fox‘s alternate routes and unlock new levels is a thrill, and makes it so replaying the campaign multiple times never gets old. It helps that the core gameplay is plenty action-packed and a lot of fun, of course.

Star Fox on the Switch 2 doesn’t differ much from the Nintendo 64 game in terms of gameplay. In fact, they’re virtually identical. Players have standard lasers and powerful bombs at their disposal to destroy any enemies unlucky enough to get in their path, and the vehicles have tricks that make things a little more engaging than many other rail shooters. For example, the Arwing can perform barrel rolls to deflect enemy attacks, and the tank can briefly hover to get past obstacles and collect otherwise out-of-reach power-ups.

Something new the Switch 2 version does introduce is mouse controls, which work very well and offer a fresh way to experience classic Star Fox action. I think most fans will want to stick with a more traditional control scheme, but Star Fox offers perhaps the best use of Switch 2 mouse controls to date. They don’t take long to adjust to, and they help what is nearly a 30-year-old gaming experience feel at least a little fresh.

The fresh coat of paint also goes a long way in helping Star Fox on Switch 2 stand out from its predecessors. Nintendo opted to go for a more photo-realistic take on Star Fox‘s characters and worlds, with vastly improved graphics that make it unrecognizable compared to the older games. The new Star Fox character designs aren’t for everybody, but they are undeniably detailed, and everything looks sharp, with top-notch performance to boot. New and expanded cutscenes are also in Star Fox on Switch 2, though I was disappointed that the much-touted prologue mission starring Fox’s dad, James McCloud, is merely a cutscene and not playable.

Just like the graphics are miles ahead of the older games, the voice acting is as well (even if it’s not exactly perfect), and while some of the campy charm is lost, it’s an improvement overall. Out of all the times Nintendo has retold the Star Fox story, the Switch 2 version is easily the best-looking and best-acted. Star Fox‘s campaign on Switch 2 is an improvement over the previous iterations of it thanks to these upgrades, but those that have already played the older versions extensively might find it hard to justify spending $59.99 on what is, at its core, an experience already available on Nintendo Switch 2 through the Switch Online Expansion Pack’s N64 games library.

Star Fox Multiplayer is a Mixed Bag

Others will likely take issue with Star Fox‘s co-op implementation. Instead of doing a proper co-op mode for the campaign, Star Fox on Switch 2 opts for one of Nintendo’s cop-out co-op modes, which is simply a far inferior way to play the game. In Star Fox‘s case, Nintendo basically splits functionality between the two players, so one person controls the Arwing’s movements and the other controls the guns. It’s not an ideal way to experience Star Fox, and it’s hard to shake the feeling that the mode was tacked on for the sake of saying that the game has a co-op campaign. It’s not true co-op, and if you go into this expecting true co-op, you are going to be greatly disappointed.

But when it comes to the biggest disappointment in the Star Fox remake on Switch 2, it’s the complete lack of split-screen multiplayer. Star Fox 64 split-screen was a blast back in the day, but that’s been removed with the Switch 2 version. Star Fox supports GameShare so it is at least a little easier to still have local multiplayer matches, but the lack of split-screen is the game’s biggest misstep by far.

If you can get past the lack of split-screen, Star Fox’s PvP multiplayer is fun, but light on content. Star Fox multiplayer battles are 4v4 fights where players can compete against local friends on other Switch consoles, bots, or online players. Star Fox only has three multiplayer maps at launch, and so it gets repetitive pretty quick, but multiplayer-specific power-ups and the competitive thrill keep it at least somewhat engaging.

“Beating” Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 takes 1.5 – 2 hours depending on skill level, but there are alternate routes, a Challenge Mode to tackle, and multiplayer to take into account.

While the multiplayer is fun, for the most part, if you have played Star Fox on Nintendo 64 or 3DS, you have effectively already played Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2. That makes the $59.99 price tag hard to swallow, but if you are someone who has never played Star Fox before, you will likely get a lot more mileage out of the Switch 2 remake.