Games are coming out, and time is running out. Years of movies. Age of books. We all age.
But Star Fox is back Nintendo Switch 2and it is an act of love. It’s definitely not the new Star Fox, though. The $50 game is a fantastic remake, with new cutscenes, new challenge modes, new multiplayer modes…and beat-for-beat level design similar to 1997’s Star Fox 64, included “free” with the subscription-based Nintendo 64 Classics app on Switch.
After playing the an hour or two a few weeks agoI’ve been playing a lot at home, and on the go, on the Switch 2. I love it, and it’s the perfect way to play Star Fox, but then again, you may have played this game before. Not as good as this version.
Star Fox 64 on the Nintendo 64 only came out four years after the original Super NES Star Fox, which feels amazing now. The graphics jump between those two games feels like 10 years or so has passed.
It’s been 19 years since Star Fox 64, and not surprisingly, the graphics in this new version make Star Fox 64 look like a classic. But there’s still a lot of charm in that classic game. I choose the new Star Fox, because, for me, this game has always been about the fight of a kinetic movie like space. On the Switch 2, this game shines and looks better than any Switch 2 game I’ve played before. It’s also incredibly responsive.
The new first-person cockpit mode can be switched to at any time by placing one Joy-Con controller down to mouse mode. Control schemes are changing a bit, and now steering is based on the mouse. It’s almost like playing a new game, but I still prefer the first third person, shipboard controls. Co-op games can allow one person to aim and the other to shoot, a clever idea.
I got an extra kick out of playing Star Fox in Viture Beast display glasses connected to the Switch 2’s battery dock, and it put me in an almost VR-like state of mind as I moved my giant displays in front of me and explored my Arwing fighter. Next to Donkey Kong Bananza again Kirby Air RidersStar Fox is the most visceral and kinetic game in Nintendo’s Switch 2 library.
This game gives me all kinds of good Star Wars feelings.
Challenge modes offer more replayability in this Star Fox, as well as achievements for hitting certain tasks in the challenge mode checklist. There are ramped-up difficulty settings for this mode, too. Star Fox is also a branching-path game, so there are ways to explore new planets to some extent. Anyway, all levels are on rail, as before. There is a limit to your freedom. Star Fox is, at heart, an arcade genre. Each level doesn’t take that long to play.
What I haven’t played at home yet is the multiplayer mode, something I tried out at Nintendo’s demo event. It’s been a blast, and having a USB camera connected allows for AR-like overlays of character face filters that move through the video chat as you play, which sounds exactly like how the pop-up talking to your Star Fox drivers already feels in campaign mode alone. The multiplayer chaos is going to be the meat that keeps me interested in this long after I’ve tired of the campaign and challenge modes.
I want to play multiplayer: and yes those pictures that show the movement of your camera face are not good for me.
I would have liked more levels here, new worlds, more Star Fox. Would that be too much to ask? I think so. It’s a shame that Star Fox isn’t an actual sequel, but I’d like to think that, maybe, that adds up depending on how well this one does.
It also makes me wonder if remakes are a new strategy for Nintendo. Image of N64 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time next on deck this fall. Also, the game you already played on the N64 app, is a game that doesn’t “need” a new version. Metroid Prime Remastered came back a few years ago. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening came before that.
Or, as games age and we lose ways to play them, maybe remasters and remakes are the future of everything. Remaking loses the history of what the original game felt like, and it’s a slippery slope for how games should be preserved and remembered. In the case of Star Fox, however, it’s a great game and a complete improvement, even if $50 is a high price for nostalgia.
If you’re looking for a cheap ride, there’s a free demo to check out on the eShop, too.