Leave it to Nintendo to drop a surprise Star Fox Direct with a new game reveal. A remake of Star Fox 64, simply titled Star Fox, is launching exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25 ($49.99).
Oh, and the Star Fox Direct spoils a fun cameo from the new Mario sequel movie, though you probably already watched it, or had it spoiled by now.
Star Fox is a cinematic upgrade of the original 1997 rail shooter, a pivotal game in Nintendo’s transition to 3D, and one of the best Star Fox games. It was also famous for including the Rumble Pack controller add-on.
The new Star Fox overhauls the character designs into a modern animated movie, including detailed cutscenes and full voice acting. And yes, the banter returns!
The remake also supports Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, and a quaint GameChat feature that maps your real facial responses onto the character avatar (camera sold separately).
In Fox McCloud’s trusty Arwing, players will fly and shoot through several planets of the campaign, including the Earth-like Corneria, to the toxic oceans of Zoness, and lava waves of Scorch. Several missions allow Fox to pilot vehicles from land and sea as well.
The campaign includes easy, medium, and, once unlocked, an expert mode. Difficulty levels affect shields and laser power, as well as enemy damage.
Campaign levels can be replayed via Challenge mode, which also adds new objectives to tackle.
Finally, there’s the multiplayer Battle mode, which expands to eight players in 4v4 matches between Team Star Fox and Team Star Wolf. Battle mode features three stages, each with a different objective. Four players can play locally via GameShare. GameShare support also allows players on the original Nintendo Switch to join and play with the host player (just like Pokémon Pokopia).
Thanks to the Joy-Con, players can also split controls in a novel co-op mode, by literally splitting up the controller. One player handles the flying, while the other takes over the shooting.
A Star Fox game isn’t unwelcome, but fans are cynically pointing that this isn’t the first time Nintendo has remade Star Fox 64, with Star Fox 64 3D on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011.
Since the ’97 entry, Star Fox has only had a handful of outings, including the much-different third-person action game Star Fox Adventures in 2002, the more in-line Star Fox Assault in 2005, and Star Fox Zero for the Wii U in 2016, which no one played because it was on the Wii U.
Let’s not bring up the unreleased Star Fox 2 inclusion in the SNES Classic Edition, oof.
Star Fox as a series can’t seem to get past the shadow of Star Fox 64. At this point, most gamers recognize Fox McCloud more from the Super Smash Bros. series.
But hey, maybe if this game is successful, Nintendo will provide an all-new game in the future.
The new Star Fox remake will release on Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25. It’s rated E10+ with Fantasy Violence.
