Star Fox makes use of the Switch 2 capabilities and dazzles with beautiful graphics and music. Plus, there are better animated, voice-acted cutscenes than we’ve probably ever seen from Nintendo. The rail-shooter definitely feels like the N64 classic in the best ways, but also suffers from some of its design quirks. Thankfully, there’s more than enough here to hope that we’ll be getting more Star Fox in the near future.

Nintendo really are the remake kings. While that undoubtedly may seem to some like a negative, the truth is – Nintendo is also uniquely positioned as a developer with so many characters and games that stand the test of time. Games that are so beloved and adaptable that they can be enjoyed by several generations, and often by the same generation multiple times. Star Fox is another example of a classic that somehow needed very little reimagining and still feels fresh today.

Another example of a Nintendo classic that still feels fresh today.

While appearing for the first time on the N64 in 1997 (and later getting its first remake on the 3DS in 2011), Star Fox is one of the few reasons the series is held in such high regard. The 3D on-rails shooter looked and felt amazing to play, and the story had good voice acting and great heart. And while there’s no doubt the series has been largely a miss since then, the new take on the game clearly understands why the original was so beloved and highlights those aspects and brings all the best bits to a new audience (a new audience primed to learn about the maverick pilot Fox McCloud thanks to his appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy movie.

“You’re becoming more like your father.”

It’s weird to say it, but so many beloved childhood tales start with the death or disappearance of a parent. So, it might not be that crazy to learn that this is how this iconic story starts too. James McCloud (and the mercenary Star Fox team) are tasked with investigating a far-flung planet run by a disgraced evil genius. After being betrayed by one of his ‘literal’ wing-men, James is lost and we have the start of a rather weighty narrative that has us take up the story years later as the newly-formed Star Fox team, now lead by a McCloud’s son (mentored by the wisened Hare) take on the task of defeating the mad scientist ape who defeated his father and save the galaxy.

The Switch 2 provides a system that can handle the new orchestral soundtrack and beautiful planetary vistas and visuals.

It’s epic and clearly influenced by Star Wars and Top Gun, to produce a story that’s interesting and more profound than you might expect. Happily, the Switch 2 provides a system that can handle the new orchestral soundtrack and beautiful planetary vistas and visuals. The new cutscenes not only look great but give you even more of a glimpse into the dynamics between Fox and his crew (Peppy Hare, his toad engineer best friend Slippy and the equally macho and bravado-filled pilot Falco (yup, think Maverick, Goose and Iceman)). And the grand finale is very much an ode to Luke and Obi-Wan from A New Hope. The voice acting is great too, and while I was getting weird Wes Anderson ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ vibes in the trailers – I’m happy to report that while I still wish they had gone a little closer to the movie look, the design chosen here still works and looks better than I thought it would.

“Do a Barrel Roll!”

Now, I have to admit when I had an on-rail shooter – I wondered if the N64’s sensibilities would translate well to modern gaming. It was never a personal favourite, and I couldn’t remember playing the first game much or at least not enough to have developed a muscle memory for it. I also thought of recent space shooters like Star Wars: Squadrons and wondered if it would hold up. The good news is it does. Despite being quite linear in most sections, the in-level design is rather clever, and controls are smooth and feel very natural if you’ve played any recent flying dogfight-style game. In fact, given that players who enjoyed the first game rave about how much of the controls and levels feel the same in this remake, if you’re a fan of the original I think you’re be just as impressed. However, if you’re new, or almost new like me, you’ll get it pretty much straight away (or at least after your first few missions) and realise how well the original game must’ve been and why they ‘didn’t fix something that wasn’t broken’ to steal a phrase. Everything from the trademark barrel-roll to manoeuvring through space, twisting through asteroid fields or around gigantic creatures is great. There are also some levels with the ground and water vehicles, and while these are very similar, there’s nothing quite like flying the Arwing.

There’s nothing quite like flying the Arwing.

If you are a returning player or just someone who likes to know all the bells and whistles, you’ll be happy to know that while the levels are pretty much exactly the same, the game includes extra cutscenes, a ton of collectables, lore/mission files, plus a new First-Person cockpit view. This view is handled with the Joy-Con 2’s mouse controls – which I liked for accuracy, but combining the shooting and the steering was much harder, and even when I got that part right, I couldn’t play this version for too long without my wrist hurting. There are also online and local multiplayer modes (but to be honest I think this is much better as a single-player game). A cool added gimmick was the game chat avatars – if you have a Switch 2 compatible camera, you can change your appearance to one of the characters – pretty fun if silly addition. However, the thing that will likely get most people excited is the new Challenge Mode – where you can replay missions to complete specific objectives. And while I’m a big fan of replayability – I do have what seems to be a pretty unpopular perspective – in that I’m not a fan of how the game (both original and this remake) links its levels, and unfortunately the challenge mode only highlights this specific issue…

“Do a… Belly Flop?”

So, if you’re new to the game – you’ll likely hear about alternate paths and true endings a lot when anyone is talking about Star Fox. The reason for this is that a single playthrough of the game only takes less than two hours – if you’re good, much less. And you won’t see every planet in that playthrough. Yup, several levels have alternate paths that you can take (some that require an extra bit of skill or completing it within certain parameters to unlock). Now, as I’ve said, I actually think that each level is really well designed. My gripe is that I don’t know if the game communicates that you need to play it again and again to unlock all the different planets. I’d even argue that if this game wasn’t a remake and there weren’t any sites and forums talking about how to unlock each new planet and path, this would take a single person ages to figure out. And I’m not the biggest fan of that part of the design. However, don’t get me wrong, this is a game that is very well known and thankfully a lot of fun to play – so once you do know that there are different paths to unlock and a ‘true ending ‘, it’s not something you’ll not want to do. In fact, its shorter length makes this more attractive. I just have a feeling that not everyone is going to love the rinse and repeat (especially if they’re not sure how to unlock an alternate path), and I found the level layout a little obtuse.

I just have a feeling that not everyone is going to love the rinse and repeat mechanic.

What adds to my small concern here is the Challenge Mode. These are specific objectives that you can unlock on each planet. However, you can’t unlock these in your normal playthrough – once you have completed a planet, you can then jump into this mode to try the challenges. I just wish that the challenges were available at all times. That way you could organically (even accidentally) complete a task, get the notification in your playthrough, and this would encourage you to look for the others. The way it’s laid out here meant I had to keep going back, even when I knew I had achieved some of the tasks when I first played the level. Also, these challenges are only available in Normal and Advanced difficulty. This rewards skilled players – but given some of the difficulty spikes on the last planet or two, this will mean a portion of the unlockables will just never be achievable for a lot of newcomers. Now I hear the Git Gud argument – but this is supposed to also welcome a new audience to the game; it feels a little incongruent.

 “I’ve been waiting for you, Star Fox.”

In a world of ever-increasing game prices, it’s a little crazy that we keep paying for the same game, but I think when a remake is done this well and brings more than enough to the table to make it feel fresh, it makes sense. Plus, the original is a classic for a reason, and so whether you’re a returning player or someone that is meeting Fox and the gang for the first time, I suspect this will be an excellent starting point. Sure, the level layout takes a little getting used to – but repeated playthroughs feel great and as your skill increases, hearing and seeing more of the story makes this a compelling game no matter where you’re coming from. So as Peppy keeps telling us – ‘Do a Barrel Roll!’ Come back around and play this one again… or for the first time. C’mon… It’s a Han Solo/Maverick as a fox!?

REVIEW CODE PROVIDED BY: NINTENDO

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