Nintendo sends a love letter to old-school fans with a Star Fox Switch 2 remake that closely toes the original. Is it better than the N64 game?
Jason HidalgoReno Gazette Journal
July 27, 2026, 6:34 a.m. PT
There are love letters to fans. And then there’s the new Star Fox for the Switch 2.
Talk about penning a ditty that hits straight through the heart of old-school fans.
For folks not expecting a full-on remake of the original adventure of Fox McCloud and his crew, seeing Star Fox on the Switch 2 is like reconnecting with a high school sweetheart who looks even better after several decades.
It’s enough to make you do a barrel roll.
Granted, when you get past the glow up, you’ll notice that some of the little niggles that used to bother you might still be there. And your old flame might have even picked up some bad habits along the way to all that personal growth.
Like relationships, no video game is ever perfect after all.
Instead, the million-dollar question — well, $49.99 if you get the digital download version — is if this rekindled relationship will work.
Star Fox 64 helped shape the budding 3D revolution for games
Like many folks in their youth, the original Star Fox 64 that released way back in 1997 on the Nintendo 64 console was positively brimming with energy.
Sporting Nintendo’s take on the new-fangled 3D technology of the day, Star Fox 64 was the video game company’s answer to the offerings of the surprisingly capable PlayStation.
Ironically, Nintendo’s new upstart rival was born from a failed partnership between Nintendo and Sony. The latter was originally tasked with developing a CD-ROM accessory for the popular Super Nintendo console in order to beef up its capacity for more demanding games.
With Nintendo ultimately spurning Sony’s technology and sticking with the more expensive and harder-to-produce cartridge format, Star Fox 64 was supposed to show that Nintendo’s decision to stick to its guns for the next-generation console wars was with its own merits.
The result is a game that was essentially a tech demo wrapped in fox’s clothing.
Star Fox 64 flexed the N64 console’s brawny muscles by serving up 3D worlds, including an All-Range mode for 360-degree combat. It also introduced audio improvements that allowed for more dialogue. The game even pioneered the use of rumble technology, which added an extra layer of immersion for players by using the physical feedback from a shaking controller to make hits and explosions feel more real.
Admittedly, Star Fox 64 was still a bit rough around the edges. Even with all its advancements, it used a lot of basic 3D shapes that left a lot to the imagination. And while it had All-Range mode, the game was still primarily on rails and didn’t offer complete freedom of movement.
But like children taking their first steps, Star Fox 64 was full of promise. This makes Star Fox on the Switch 2 — with the benefit of decades of growth by gaming technology — akin to a grown-up version of the game that should have realized its potential. At least it should be on paper.
Switch 2 Star Fox is like Star Wars with cute protagonists
For a remake that was released three decades later, it’s eerie how much Star Fox on the Switch 2 hews to the original’s mold.
Mechanically, the game feels like a modern copy of the old one with a fresh coat of paint. Granted, I haven’t played Star Fox 64 in a long time. But the initial foray into Corneria gave me a heavy dose of nostalgia, including flashbacks to my first time playing the original game. From the feel of aiming at familiar targets to even the parts where I initially struggled in the old game until I got used to them, it was like I was transported back to that old apartment room of my youth.
The game also continues to reward both skill and curiosity, providing players with medals, lore information and new challenges for doing good in their runs alongside multiple secret paths and endings to unlock.
All that being said, Star Fox on the Switch 2 definitely feels different as well.
For starters, the game’s visuals are a huge improvement, and that’s putting it mildly. Instead of the simpler shapes and models of the original, the new Star Fox now looks like a modern game.
For starters, your Arwing space fighter has much more detail and doesn’t look like it’s made from papercraft. The character models especially feel more lifelike than their counterparts in the original and every line of dialogue is fully voiced.
The old music, while great for its time, is replaced by a full orchestral score that further heightens the action while also playing up Star Fox’s more dramatic moments.
Add a generous sprinkling of cutscenes combined with creative character designs and it’s as if someone made a Star Wars movie with Star Fox characters. All the new features and improvements make Star Fox on the Switch 2 feel more like a complete game.
For folks who enjoy the company of others, Star Fox supplements the campaign with a fun online battle mode with 4 vs. 4 dogfights. The battles are spread across three stages, each with its own objective. Corneria has you securing designated zones, for example, while Fichina has you gathering energy crystals. Sector Y, on the other hand, has you retrieving cargo from space pirates.
Performance gets a boost as well, with Star Fox on the Switch 2 boasting a more buttery experience by doubling the frame to 60 frames per second. The game also sees some quality of life improvements, including the ability to restart levels without a relic from the more hardcore era of gaming that previously required players to use up an extra life.
All in all, the enhanced production values combined with several new features result in what should be the definitive version of the original Star Fox experience for modern times.
What could Star Fox on Switch 2 have done better?
Like Commander Peter Quincy Taggart going through the Tothian Minefield in Galaxy Quest, Star Fox on the Switch 2 also drags along some of Star Fox 64’s old problems.
One is the fact that the game is “on rails.”
This means that progress through stages is made through a set path without much freedom to fly wherever you want. It’s especially noticeable in a game with 3D visuals as it just naturally makes one feel like they should be able to explore to their heart’s content.
On the plus side, being “on-rails” makes for a more curated gaming session that ensures you get the experience that the developers intended for you to enjoy. Plus, with this rendition of Star Fox being a remake of the original game, preserving that classic experience is unavoidable unless you want to just make a different game altogether.
For players who were not weaned on old-school, on-rails 3D games such as Space Harrier, Panzer Dragoon, and Sin and Punishment, however, the mechanic can feel archaic.
And just like the original Star Fox, the Switch 2 remake is also a relatively short game, at least for each run. This is a common feature of older games, which put their focus on replayability, which Star Fox certainly has in spades. You could even say the same for games that have stood the test of time such as Street Fighter, which is all about that base, repeatable gameplay as opposed to some epic journey.
If you like your games to have a bit more meat in their bones in terms of story or length, however, Star Fox might feel like it falls short, no pun intended.
Star Fox for the Switch 2 also brings up some new issues to the surface.
While Star Fox certainly “giveth” in the form of new features and visual and audio upgrades, it also “taketh away” some things that fans will remember.
At the top of the list is the removal of the old four-player split screen mode. About the only thing the Switch 2 remake offers for couch co-op lovers is a mode where one player controls the Arwing’s movements while the other mans the guns. For families or friends who like to play together but only have one Switch 2 system, it’s an omission that particularly stings.
Folks who played the old game will also remember having the ability to see their scores from previous runs. The scoreboard was great at motivating and pushing players to improve on their performance and seems like such a simple thing to bring back without investing too much development effort. It just seems like such an odd thing to take away, especially for a game that clearly places value on honoring the N64 original.
Star Fox for Switch 2 also has some missed opportunities with its control scheme.
While you have several options for its controls, it adopts an all-or-nothing approach between classic gamepad and mouse-style motion controls.
The mouse controls in particular just seem unintuitive and very limiting, especially for single-player runs. It’s great if you’re playing as a gunner but horrible for steering your vehicle.
It would have been great if one of the control options for single-player allowed you to control your Arwing with your left JoyCon controller joystick while shooting with motion controls or mouse mode with your right JoyCon so you can have the best of both worlds. To do that, you pretty much have to start a couch co-op playthrough where you take charge of both controllers.
And while it’s great that dialogues are fully voiced, the implementation is a bit uneven. While some characters sound good, others seem a bit lifeless. Some of the boss deaths, in particular, sound anti-climactic.
Speaking of boss fights, I also wish they had better hit feedback. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if I’m hitting a weak point or not due to lack of visual cues or rumble.
The final verdict for Star Fox on Switch 2
For fans of the franchise, Star Fox on the Switch 2 feels like a long-awaited reunion with an old friend.
The game still has the same qualities that made you vibe with it back in your younger days. At the same time, it feels more grown up and mature.
It still has its share of faults and areas where it could do better. While it does some things better than the first game, there are some things where it falls short compared to the original. Then again, all of us have something that we could work on and be better with.
For newer players, it’s also a rare opportunity to experience a beloved classic remade for modern times.
If the idea of an old-school shooter wrapped in a space opera intrigues you, give Star Fox on the Switch 2 a shot. Or a barrel roll.
- Rating: 8 out of 10.
- Cost: $49.99, Switch 2
- More details: Star Fox Switch 2 official site
Jason Hidalgo covers business and technology for the Reno Gazette Journal. He also reviews the latest video games and writes about pop culture trends in his Technobubble features. Like this content? Support local journalism with an RGJ digital subscription.
