Star Fox for Switch 2 could set the series on a new course

Star Fox returns in a remake for Nintendo Switch 2, but what does the future hold for a franchise that has never quite taken off?

There are Nintendo properties the company nurtures with loving consistency, and others it never seems entirely sure what to do with.

Star Fox, more than most, has suffered from that uncertainty, but the upcoming remake of Star Fox 64 gives it a chance to chart a new course.

Star Fox for Nintendo Switch 2 is based on Star Fox 64, the 1997 Nintendo 64 game that effectively reimagined the SNES original. It arrived after Nintendo had shelved Star Fox 2, a sequel that would not officially see release until decades later with the SNES Classic Mini.

The recent Star Fox Direct presented this new version as a cinematic retelling of the Nintendo 64 classic, though it is far from the first time Nintendo has revisited it. Star Fox 64 3D brought the game to Nintendo 3DS in 2011, while Star Fox Zero arrived on Wii U in 2016 as another loose reworking of familiar material.

Outside of this game and its various iterations, the franchise has had a patchy history. Star Fox Adventures (2002) saw Rare rework its Dinosaur Planet concept, casting Fox and friends into a breezy Zelda-like adventure. Star Fox: Assault (2005) stitched rail-shooter sections to on-foot combat with mixed results. Star Fox Command (2006) on DS was perhaps more successful creatively, blending aerial combat with turn-based strategy.

Finally, the release of Star Fox Zero was supported by Star Fox Guard, a curious Miyamoto-conceived tower-defence spin-off that leaned into the dual-screen aspects of the Wii U.

In between and since, the franchise has been a monument to unrealised potential, punctuated mostly by Fox’s appearances in Smash Bros. and a brief but rather enjoyable sojourn in Ubisoft’s Starlink: Battle for Atlas in 2018.

Another Barrel Roll

Does it matter, then, that Nintendo has once again returned to the same well? If you’re a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscriber, you can play the N64 original right now. It’s hardly a lost game; it still holds up, and it’s still fantastic. Watching the Direct, I was both disappointed by the prospect of another version of the game, albeit a handsome one, and excited to see one of my favourite titles of the late ’90s make such a spectacular return.

Perhaps there is something neat about the idea that Star Fox 64 is simply the Star Fox game and not a starting point that has to lead somewhere. It can be a self-contained gem to be polished for every new generation. Perhaps not every franchise needs to sprawl, and some stories are just worth retelling twice, thrice, or a thousand times.

But no. What I really hope is that this new Star Fox becomes a launchpad.

Fox McCloud’s appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie earlier this year was not just fan service. Announced so soon after the film, this remake feels less like an exercise in nostalgia than a controlled reintroduction.

People beyond the Nintendo faithful now know who Fox McCloud is, and a remake of his best game is right around the corner. Nintendo is rebuilding the brand in public, almost in real time.

Nintendo at least appears to have a clear sense of how to rework the game. The new character art has proved slightly controversial, but the more animalistic, puppetry-influenced approach is genuinely lovely. It is a striking take that honours the franchise’s heritage while also feeling confident and fresh. (Furry amiibos, please.)

The new cutscenes shown so far have an epic scale and impressive performances. I wonder if they are the work of Nintendo Pictures, the subsidiary focused on animation and visual content production. The production quality certainly feels a cut above the usual for a Nintendo title and adds a new cinematic dimension to a familiar game.

The new game also has a fully orchestrated soundtrack and, based on the sample selection added to the Nintendo Music app, it sounds wonderful. One of my favourite pieces of video game music is the Select Menu theme from the original game. That track, now retitled Main Menu, has been transformed from an ambient synth daydream into a piece that sounds like a companion to Maurice Ravel’s Boléro. It is quite something.

If Star Fox for Nintendo Switch 2 sets the course, narratively and stylistically, for the series to continue with direct, no-nonsense sequels in the same genre, sign me up.

Star Fox Today!

An interesting note about this release is the way it was announced. Rumours of a new game in the Star Fox series had been swirling for a while, but Nintendo gave the world just a few minutes’ warning via the Nintendo Today! app.

The app, initially positioned as a companion tool, has quickly evolved into something more specific, acting as a direct-to-consumer communications channel that allows Nintendo to sidestep the traditional press cycle entirely.

I was shopping for groceries when the notification popped up. One minute I was idly sorting through some bananas, the next I was rushing to get home to watch the game’s reveal.

Whatever else you can say, Nintendo knows how to play to its audience, and I can’t wait to play the game.

Mission Accomplished, then.