I played Star Fox on Switch 2. Multiplayer mode rules.
In 1997, Nintendo made Star Fox 64. In 2011, Nintendo remade Star Fox 64 for the 3DS. And in 2026, Nintendo has re-re-made Star Fox 64, this time for Switch 2.
And you know what? That's fine! A long time ago, a very bad man, in one of his fleeting moments of lucidity, coined the phrase "I'll keep drinking that garbage," and that's how I feel about the second remake of one of my favorite games of all time. I got to play a bit of the new version, simply titled Star Fox, at a preview event and came away caring less about the necessity of another remake and more about the fact that it seems like a pretty good take on a great game, with some fun new bells and whistles that go beyond a fresh visual pass.
My big takeaway? Don't sleep on multiplayer mode.
Star Fox for Switch 2 is very much the single-player game you remember
My hands-on time with the new Star Fox was relatively brief, as I only got to play through the entirety of the first two levels of the single-player campaign's easy branch. If you're not familiar with Star Fox 64's whole deal, a playthrough of the campaign takes roughly 30 minutes and always starts at the same level, but will branch in different directions depending on which bonus objectives you complete. Harder objectives lead to harder levels, which in turn lead to a true ending you won't get if you just do the most basic mission in each level.
It's not possible to see every single level in one go, so a big part of the fun is trying to find different paths through the galaxy. That aspect of Star Fox 64 made the game exceedingly replayable, and I was assured by Nintendo reps on site that the remake maintains that design philosophy.
In solo play, Star Fox for Switch 2 handles pretty much exactly how I, a seasoned veteran who has completed the original game dozens of times, would want it to handle. Level layouts, enemy placements, and power-ups are all exactly how they were in 1997, just with swanky new visuals that do a great job of showing off how powerful Nintendo's new console is. While I certainly have a fondness for the simpler look of the 1997 original, I would not call this new version "ugly" by any stretch of the imagination. The opening level, Corneria, has a distinctly apocalyptic feel that the original lacked, while the second level, set in an asteroid belt, feels appropriately mysterious and menacing.
To the remake's credit, Nintendo has done more than just slap new visuals onto an old game. There are new cutscenes before, after, and between every mission that add some new flavor to what was otherwise a pretty barebones story in the original game. While these cutscenes threaten to slow down the game's nearly flawless pacing a bit, I liked the ones I saw for a couple of reasons.
First, I'm pretty into the idea of seeing Fox, Slippy, Peppy, and Falco actually hanging out with each other outside of combat, which never happens in the original game. The cutscenes I was shown dug a little deeper into their characterizations than anything in the original did, as Falco in particular is repeatedly shown to be kind of a cocky nuisance in a way that felt right to me. What I saw did a nice job of making these characters feel a bit more three-dimensional without flooding the zone with a bunch of needless lore nonsense.
Beyond that, the game's branching structure also means you'll see different cutscenes every time you play the game. Star Fox doesn't necessarily need even more incentives to explore every branch of the story, but I'll welcome new ones anyway. And while the initial reveal of the new character designs was met with some hostility online, I think they work once you actually sit down to play the game. I dig how much more animalistic each character looks, personally. Falco has nasty-looking bird talons instead of regular legs now, and I think that's awesome.
But the new Star Fox multiplayer might be the reason to get this remake
Star Fox for Switch 2's solo mode was more or less exactly what I expected it to be during the demo session, but the new online battle mode stole the show for me. Up to eight players can participate in these objective-based 4v4 dogfights across a handful of maps, each one having a different central objective.
We got to play a couple of rounds on Sector Y, a new multiplayer take on one of the game's classic single-player levels. In battle mode, Sector Y is basically airborne capture the flag, with dozens of AI-controlled enemy ships flying around to feed on if you need to get some more points for your team between objective spawns. The space cargo you're fighting over initially belongs to NPC space pirates who will mess you the hell up if you take their cargo without killing them, adding a fun layer of danger on top of the fact that four other humans are also gunning for you.
The surprisingly large map had portals placed around it for easy and sometimes strategically crucial quick traversal, while Mario Kart-style bonus weapon pickups ended up being the star of the show here. You can get cluster missiles, a one-time-use healing item, a quick teleport tool, and even a giant Dragon Ball-style beam attack that does pretty nasty things to enemy aircraft. In general, I was pleased with how busy and chaotic these matches felt, and with how satisfying it was to successfully complete objectives without getting horribly murdered by my fellow video game journalists.
I was fairly happy with what I played of Star Fox prior to its release later this month, but there are a couple of points of concern. The voice acting has been entirely re-recorded, and while the quality of the acting itself seemed fine, a good amount of the dialogue has been rewritten, and some classic quips like Peppy's "it's quiet...too quiet" from the start of the asteroid belt level have been removed or replaced. First-time players won't notice that, but people like me will, and it is a little jarring if you have all of those lines seared into your memory.
On the multiplayer side of things, I worry about a seemingly small rotation of maps putting a cap on how long the game remains interesting. I don't need a forever-game to hold my attention for months or years, but the competitive side of this game seemed fun enough that I hope it's compelling enough to be fun for a few weeks, at least. Still, those are pretty small warts on what was otherwise a highly enjoyable demo experience. We'll have a full review of the final release when the time is right.
Star Fox launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25. You can pre-order the digital edition for $49.99 or get the physical edition for $59.99 via Amazon, the Nintendo online store, and other retailers.
