Star Fox for Nintendo Switch 2 suggests Nintendo has found a new way to revisit its classic games, preserving what made them great while finding space for something new.
The debate over what constitutes a remake versus a remaster is one of gaming’s more tedious arguments. Star Fox, Velan Studios’ reimagining of the Nintendo 64 classic for Nintendo Switch 2, is the latest game to reignite that conversation, but thankfully, it offers a new approach
Consider the spectrum. At one end sits Star Fox 64 3D, Nintendo’s own 2011 reworking for the 3DS, which received a texture refresh, stereoscopic 3D, and little else. At the other end you have Capcom’s Resident Evil remakes or Square Enix’s ongoing Final Fantasy VII project: works that rebuild their source material so thoroughly they become distinct experiences. Nintendo has historically taken a predominantly conservative approach. The game is the game is the game. Aesthetic tweaks and mechanical refinements are permitted, but there is minimal interference with the core text.
With Star Fox, Velan Studios have found a third way. The original experience is preserved with something close to reverence. Visually, it has been given a handsome gloss, but the real work lies in the connective tissue, the framing, the storytelling, and the characterisation. It’s a fascinating approach, and one that points towards what the new version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time might look like later this year. The question is whether it works.
For the most part, the answer is yes.
Star Fox belongs to a holy trinity of on-rails shooters I adore, alongside Rez and Sin and Punishment, that represent the absolute ceiling of what the genre can do. What distinguishes Star Fox from its peers is a quality of physical grace. Where Rez is hypnotic and Sin and Punishment is brutal, Star Fox is elegant.
The Arwing handles like a dream. Barrel rolls, turns and U-turns are not just evasive manoeuvres. They are the vocabulary of a game that wants you to feel like a pilot. The moment-to-moment rhythm of tagging a target, locking on, and delivering the kill shot has a satisfying compression to it. It’s a small, repeatable loop that never grows old across the campaign.
What’s remarkable is how naturally the combat sustains the pace of an on-rails structure. You’re always doing something different. One moment you’re deciding the best approach to dismantle a formation of enemies; the next you’re twirling defensively and squeaking your way to a power-up. Every set-piece feels earned because that loop – engage, dodge, acquire, fire – is so finely judged. It’s no wonder the game keeps getting remade. It’s close to perfection.
Star Fox 64 was so mechanically complete that Nintendo largely abandoned trying to improve it. Instead, the company focused on its characters to keep the franchise culturally alive between entries. Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy have accumulated more personality through Smash Bros., spin-offs and meme culture than they ever possessed in the original game. Star Fox 64 gave players a tight, exhilarating shooter, but its cast existed mostly in outline, defined by a handful of now-iconic catchphrases.
The most consequential addition Velan has made isn’t graphical. It’s narrative. New voice performances and cutscenes expand the universe’s backstory and flesh out relationships the Nintendo 64 original could only hint at. The classic lines land perfectly, but it’s the new material that surprises. There are fresh quips that are genuinely funny, and the characterisation has texture. Falco, in particular, emerges as a spectacular piece of work. He’s abrasive, swaggering, and utterly convinced he’s the only competent pilot in the Lylat System. Frankly, he’s a bit of a dick. But I love it.
The campaign remains brisk but its presentation has the energy and gloss of a major animated feature. It’s smooth, widescreen, and unapologetically cinematic. The Star Fox crew finally feel elevated to the same tier of Nintendo royalty as Link or Samus.
On the audio side, a superb reorchestration breathes new life into Koji Kondo and Hajime Hirasawa’s memorable score. Some of the original’s harder edges – a product of the N64’s hardware – are inevitably softened by modern production values, but the gain in texture, depth and outright sweep more than compensates. The propulsive urgency that made these compositions so distinctive is not merely preserved but enriched. The ‘Main Menu’ theme, in particular, is one to savour.
Then there is the rumble. It’s worth remembering that the original Star Fox 64 was, in part, a vehicle for the Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak. The game and the peripheral were bundled together, and haptic feedback was baked into the experience. That novelty has long since faded, but the Nintendo Switch 2’s HD Rumble 2 more than carries the torch. Every lock-on, explosion and glancing hit across the Arwing’s wings registers with a texture and subtlety the original could only approximate. It stands as one of the strongest demonstrations yet of what Nintendo’s updated hardware can do.
Beyond the main campaign, two additional modes flesh out the package. Challenge Mode allows players to revisit cleared stages and tackle a structured set of objectives that encourage mastery rather than simple completion. The real highlight, though, is Battle Mode.
Back in my uni days, Star Fox 64 was as much a multiplayer game as it was a single-player one, and that legacy has been meaningfully expanded. In four-versus-four matches, players join either Team Star Fox or Team Star Wolf, earning points through mission objectives and takedowns. Matches can be played against bots, locally via GameShare, or online. The online mode has a kinetic energy that recalls those gloriously chaotic Nintendo 64 sessions. If only my reactions were still up to the task.
If Star Fox 64 is one of Nintendo’s core texts, and let’s just agree that it is, then a loving, intelligent reinterpretation of it is worth infinitely more than another half-baked spin-off.
Velan Studios has done something genuinely impressive. They have updated the game without touching the game. More importantly, they’ve demonstrated that Nintendo’s classics don’t need to be rebuilt from the ground up to feel new again. That said, I hope the studio is given the opportunity to take what they’ve learned about this universe, these characters, and this singular sense of aerial joy, and build something entirely their own.
Game: Star Fox
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2
Developer: Velan Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: June 25, 2026
