Star Fox on Switch 2: the triumphant return of Fox McCloud

I'll admit that when the surprise Nintendo Direct on May 7, 2026 opened with Shigeru Miyamoto and Yoshiaki Koizumi side by side, my heart already knew what was coming. And it came: after an entire decade of silence, the Star Fox team is back with a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. I spent the last few days buried in the Arwing's cockpit, shouting "do a barrel roll!" to no one in particular, and I came out of this journey with a huge smile on my face - and one or two caveats up my sleeve.

Ten years of longing: the long wait since Star Fox Zero

To understand the weight of this release, you have to remember where we came from. The series' last original game was Star Fox Zero, from 2016, on the Wii U - a bold experiment by Platinum Games that stumbled badly on the mandatory motion controls and the GamePad's dual screen. The result? The franchise slipped into a coma. Fox McCloud spent ten years appearing only as a guest in Smash Bros. and in easter eggs scattered across other Nintendo games, while fans begged for any sign of life.

The sign came in force. Announced at that May Direct and released worldwide on June 25, 2026 (July 2 in South Korea), the new Star Fox - with no subtitle at all, a clear reboot gesture - was developed by Velan Studios, the team behind Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit and Knockout City, published by Nintendo. And yes, it is a full remake of Star Fox 64 (1997), complete with a free eShop demo for anyone who wants a taste before buying. The critical reception confirmed the hit: 81 on Metacritic and 87% recommendation on OpenCritic, plus a number-one debut on the charts in Japan, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Story and campaign: from Corneria to Venom, once again

The plot is the one you know and love: the evil Dr. Andross threatens the Lylat system, and it falls to the mercenary squadron Star Fox - Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy - to cross planets, asteroids and enemy fleets to the final showdown on Venom. Velan kept the stage design and the script of the classic, but expanded the narrative with extended cutscenes that give the cast more personality and, a touch I loved, new scenes that acknowledge the different routes you choose along the way.

And speaking of routes: the original's branching structure is back, but with a smart change. Instead of locking the alternate paths behind your performance in the previous stage, the game now lets you freely choose the routes you've already discovered, which turns the campaign - short, about an hour per run - into a constant invitation to replay. Some branches still require specific conditions to be revealed, and hunting them all down is a serious and delightful challenge, worthy of the 64-bit era.

Gameplay: the barrel roll never gets old

At the stick, this is the most delicious rail shooter I've played in years. The Arwing responds with a fluidity the 1997 original could only dream of: dodging pillars in Corneria, diving between asteroids and deflecting shots with the barrel roll is still pure serotonin. The energy rings, the charged shot with lock-on, the bombs, the eternal mission of keeping Slippy from being shot down for the thousandth time - it's all here, intact and polished. There are three difficulty settings, and the game even accepts the Switch Online Nintendo 64 wireless controller, a treat for the nostalgic.

The big gameplay novelty is mouse aiming: hold the Joy-Con 2 like a mouse and control your aim from inside the cockpit. On paper, it's brilliant. In practice, it's the weakest part of the package - the mode forces the first-person perspective the whole time and the mouse controls the entire ship, not just the reticle, which severely limits maneuverability. I tried it, found it curious, and rushed back to the traditional controller. It comes across as a console tech-demo feature, not a real evolution of the formula.

Graphics and performance: the Lylat as you've never seen it

Visually, this is where the Switch 2 flexes its muscles. The game runs at a rock-solid 60 frames per second, with a more realistic art direction, vibrant colors and dynamic lighting that turn the Nintendo 64's limited palette into something genuinely grand. One detail that won me over: the character models were inspired by the original 1997 promotional puppets, the ones from the press photos of the time - an odd choice at first glance (the expressions take time to win you over), but one that grows with the great voice acting and expressive animation.

My only gripe is that the polish sometimes works against the game: certain bosses have their attack patterns partly hidden by the excess of particles and glare on screen. It's too pretty for its own good at times.

Soundtrack: an orchestra in service of nostalgia

The Star Fox 64 score was rearranged by Stephen Barton and Matt Pirog, and the result is majestic: full-bodied orchestration, live instrumentation and a grandeur that fully embraces the Star Wars inspiration that always ran in the series' veins. The Corneria theme in its orchestral version gave me chills at the first note, and the Star Wolf motif is more menacing than ever. It's the kind of work that elevates every moment of the campaign.

Content and modes: couch co-op and online dogfights

Beyond the campaign, the package brings the Challenge Mode, which revisits the stages with extra objectives and conditions - great for anyone who wants to squeeze every drop out of the game. The co-op is a delight: two players share a single Joy-Con 2, one piloting and the other on the guns, with GameShare support to spread the fun across consoles. Meanwhile, Battle Mode pits 4 against 4 in online dogfights of Star Fox versus Star Wolf across three maps, complete with GameChat and webcam filters that turn your face into the pilots'.

Not everything flies smoothly: the online showed lag in some matches during my testing, and three maps is too few to sustain the mode in the long run. Added to the lean campaign, it's easy to understand anyone who balks at the full launch price.

Against the 1997 giant: the shadow of Star Fox 64

The comparison is inevitable, especially because this is, believe it or not, the fifth retelling of the same story - after the 1993 original, the 64, the 3D on the 3DS and Zero. Fidelity is the remake's greatest strength and greatest weakness: anyone who lived the classic will find here, without exaggeration, the best version Star Fox 64 has ever had - prettier, more fluid, more generous. But veterans won't find a single surprise in the script, and it's impossible not to ask why Nintendo simply can't tell a new story with these characters.