Priya Anand28/07/2026
4 min read
Every match played in Star Fox’s Battle Mode on Nintendo Switch 2 now chips away at a much bigger prize than bragging rights: a personal Battle Banner and unlockable GameChat avatars that only unlock through repeated play. The 4v4 multiplayer mode was added to Velan Studios’ remakeon June 25, 2026, according to patch notes
Read also:Star Fox 2026: The 5 Toughest Expert Challenges, Ranked, With Tips to Beat Them
Battle Mode Arrived Bundled With Star Fox’s Launch-Day Patch
Velan Studios released Update 1.1.0 for Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2, introducing several new features including Battle Mode, Avatar Settings, and a new Easy Campaign Mode difficulty option. The same patch also resolved numerous issues affecting campaign progression, challenge completion tracking, hit counts, and mission scripting.
The mode pits two squads of four against each other in All-Range Mode arenas, meaning pilots can fly freely in any direction rather than following the campaign’s fixed rail path. Players discussing the mode on ResetEra noted it can be played entirely solo against bots, locally, or online, with hosts able to adjust a number of parameters, like match length (up to 10 minutes), speed, shields, and CPU difficulty, including allies separately from enemies. Matches split players into Team Star Fox or Team Star Wolf, with a pick of any of their pilots.
61 Backgrounds and 79 Emblems Make Up the Battle Banner System
The cosmetic reward tied to Battle Mode is the Battle Banner, a customisable namecard displayed at the top of the main menu and on the results screen after matches. According to a guide the Battle Banner cosmetic system draws on challenge completions, with 61 backgrounds and 79 emblems available to unlock across the game’s various systems
Not every piece of that collection comes from Challenge Mode alone. Some backgrounds and emblems are only obtainable by actually playing Battle Mode matches online, separate from the challenge-based unlocks tied to the campaign, which is why grinding matches is effectively mandatory for players chasing full completion.
Amiibo Scans Add 12 Exclusive Battle Banner Pieces
Compatibility with existing Super Smash Bros. amiibo figures adds another unlock path outside of straight match grinding. Nintendo Life’s amiibo breakdown confirms there are 12 bonus battle banner elements – three backgrounds, and nine emblems in total – available by using all three compatible amiibo, with each Star Fox amiibo unlocking a new Background, and three Emblems – a paw-print, a front-facing profile and a side-facing profile – to be used in multiplayer.
Notably, the outlet points out that Nintendo has not produced new figures specifically for this remake, so players need to track down the older Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi and Wolf O’Donnell amiibo from the Super Smash Bros. line to claim the extras.
Squad Roles Matter More Than Raw Kill Counts
Beyond cosmetics, Battle Mode’s scoring leans heavily on map objectives rather than simple dogfighting. GAMES.GG’s guide to the mode explains that raw kill counts are only part of the scoring picture, as each map has its own objective events that hand out far more points than shooting down enemy pilots, meaning teams that ignore objectives to chase kills tend to lose even lopsided firefights.
Coordination is the recurring theme across community strategy write-ups. One planet-routes and Battle Mode guide from the same outlet describes effective squads as splitting duties, with one player on the periphery targeting opponents, one flying low toward objectives, and one providing cover, rather than everyone chasing the same target across the map.
25 Character Avatars Feed Into GameChat
The other major unlock track running parallel to Battle Banners is the game’s roster of playable GameChat avatars. Game8’s character avatar guide notes that while the Star Fox Direct initially revealed only eight playable avatars, players can unlock a total of 25 Character Avatars in the game, usable with head and facial tracking when a Switch 2 camera is connected during Battle Mode sessions.
Both unlock tracks reward the same underlying behaviour: playing Battle Mode repeatedly rather than treating it as a side dish to the campaign. For Australian and New Zealand Switch 2 owners who picked up Star Fox at launch, that means online Nintendo Switch Online access is effectively a prerequisite for chasing full cosmetic completion, since several banner pieces are locked behind online-only matchmaking rather than offline bot matches.
With no word yet from Velan Studios on additional Battle Mode maps or further unlock content beyond Update 1.1.0, the current pool of 61 backgrounds, 79 emblems and 25 avatars stands as the full completion target for now.
Sources
amiiboBattle ModeemptymultiplayerNintendo Switch 2Star FoxVelan Studios
