If You've Already Beaten Star Fox on Switch 2, You're Probably Playing It Wrong

I’ve spent the last few days milking Star Fox on Switch 2 for all it’s worth, and I still can’t get enough of it. This is not only a solid experience as far as remakes go, but it’s a remake of a Nintendo 64 classic that, even back in 1997, I couldn’t take my hands off of. But what’s most interesting about that statement right there is that Star Fox 64 launched during a time when game length wasn’t as big of a deal as it is today. These days, players want their gaming experiences to be long enough to justify the price tag, but back then, all we really cared about was substance, because we could easily turn an otherwise short campaign into hundreds of hours of worthwhile gaming time. Well, that’s actually still the case with Star Fox on Switch 2—you just have to know how to play it.

Star Fox‘s campaign is exceedingly short, I won’t deny that. In fact, it’s possible to see the credits roll within just a few hours of playing it. Preservationists will be pleased to know that part hasn’t changed from the original game on N64, but because the remake is stepping into an entirely different world than the one the original met in 1997, that world has seen its short campaign and immediately dismissed it as being too short to purchase. But again, that’s not entirely true. Star Fox is only short if you’re playing it wrong.

Star Fox Review

Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 is the best way to experience the classic Star Fox story, but it’s a story we’ve heard too many times before.

Star Fox’s Branching Paths Are a Major Part of Its Appeal

I’ll say it right now: Star Fox 64 would not have been as famous as it eventually became if it had featured a campaign that could be beaten in a few hours and that’s it. If that were the case, then the game’s replay value would have relied too heavily on players wanting to experience that same campaign all over again before they even had the chance to forget it. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, and Star Fox 64‘s campaign soared to recognition for being one of the earliest console examples to make branching paths central to its replayability.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

In today’s games—like many modern RPGs—the routes to branching paths are fairly evident. Ultimately, they boil down to players choosing a different dialogue option that makes its outcome painfully obvious, or a game might straight up tell players that they’re at a crossroads. Even recent games like Directive 8020 are pretty clear about the consequences of most choices, making discovering those paths far less rewarding than if they were shrouded in just a bit more mystery.

Star Fox is only short if you’re playing it wrong.

Star Fox 64, on the other hand, was different in 1997. Many of its branching paths weren’t immediately obvious, and it forced players to replay levels over and over again until they discovered each one. For example, the first branching path on the game’s iconic Corneria level required players to save Falco from some ships that were tailing him and then complete his challenge of flying through archways on the water. The game never told players that, though, and simply left it up to them to figure it out.

Star Fox Team image for the Switch 2 remake screenshot

Star Fox on Switch 2 maintains that feeling of discovery by presenting players with many of the branching opportunities the original game had, and in the same way. The biggest difference is that players can actually check, once they’ve completed the story for the first time, whether they missed out on an alternate route and how to unlock it. Of course, fans of the original Star Fox 64 might not like that amount of handholding, but it’s nonetheless a brilliant way for Nintendo to bridge the game’s past with modern gaming expectations.

Each level in Star Fox on Switch 2 also has a medal players can earn by achieving a certain score.

In other words, maybe you have completed Star Fox on Switch 2 once, but this is a remake of a game that needs to be completed multiple times for you to get the full scope of how things can play out. Plus, it helps that the remake has legitimate storytelling cutscenes that will change depending on which route you choose when one is presented to you. That ultimately increases its replay value, and the fact that it’s already a cheaper Switch 2 game helps all the more with that.

Star Fox’s Challenge and Battle Modes Are Even More Reasons to Keep Playing

Then there’s Star Fox‘s Challenge Mode to consider, which I am just eating up currently. Challenge Mode essentially requires players to replay levels they’ve already reached in the game’s main campaign and complete certain challenges like “Defeat 3 or more enemies with a single charged shot” or “Defeat all 4 Ski Bots” on Corneria. And again, it should be emphasized that unlocking the challenges for a particular location requires players to replay the campaign multiple times until they take the alternate routes necessary to visit each level in the game, adding even more replay value to Star Fox.

Maybe you have completed Star Fox on Switch 2 once, but this is a remake of a game that needs to be completed multiple times for you to get the full scope of how things can play out.

Plus, once players complete all the challenges available to them on Normal difficulty, they’ll unlock Expert challenges, giving them yet another reason to return to levels they’ve probably already completed multiple times. Some might consider something like this to be superficial progression, but this is an arcade rail shooter we’re talking about here, and scores, ranks, and challenges are what these games are all about.

Finally, Star Fox on Switch 2 also includes a Battle Mode, where players can play alone with bots or online with real people. In this mode, players can choose from several different missions that each have a unique objective, and while the reward for completing them is strictly the fun you’ll have doing it, it’s worth it in the end—especially if you get to play with your friends. If nothing else, it serves as a solid way to break up the monotony of simply replaying campaign missions over and over again.

Star Fox‘s Battle Mode does require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, which might be a deal-breaker for some as far as replay value goes.

So yes, Star Fox on Switch 2 is short if all you’re trying to do is reach the credits once and move on. But the more I play it, the more that feels like judging the game by a standard it was never designed to meet. Star Fox is an arcade-style experience built around repetition, discovery, score chasing, alternate routes, challenges, and the simple desire to get better every time you jump back into the Arwing. Its campaign may only last a few hours, but its replay value is where the real game lives. If you’ve already beaten Star Fox on Switch 2 and walked away thinking there was nothing left to see, you probably weren’t playing it right.