The black sheep of the Star Fox series, Star Fox Adventures, has landed on the Nintendo Switch Online service. As announced in the September 2026 Nintendo Direct, the GameCube title is available to play as a Nintendo Classic today for subscribers of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.
Star Fox Adventures came out in 2002 and marked a departure from the dog-fighting gameplay the series is known for. Developed by Rare, the game began life as Dinosaur Planet for Nintendo 64 before Shigeru Miyamoto proposed converting it into a Star Fox game.
Featuring Zelda-like action-adventure gameplay, Adventures has Fox McCloud stepping out of the Arwing and exploring Dinosaur Planet on foot, fighting enemies with a staff and solving environmental puzzles. Adventures also introduced the blue fox character Krystal, who later becomes the first female pilot in Star Fox.
Star Fox Adventures is a particularly divisive entry in the franchise, straying from the flight-combat-simulator roots of the original games and delving into Zelda-like territory. It’s also famously Rare’s last game for Nintendo before the studio was acquired by Microsoft.
Some fans might argue that Adventures was when the franchise started to go awry, with its follow-ups Assault and Command receiving lukewarm receptions, and the eventual attempted Star Fox Zero is generally looked down on by fans and critics alike. The series did win back goodwill from fans with this year’s remake of Star Fox 64 on Switch 2.
Other than the shadowdrop of Star Fox Adventures, the Direct also revealed that a free update is coming to the new Star Fox game, adding new multiplayer features and maps. The Star Fox update launches on September 29.