Nearly 30 years and now two whole remakes later, Star Fox 64 is still the “animals in airplanes” franchise’s crowning achievement. Not even Shigeru Miyamoto’s efforts with 2016’s Star Fox Zero (which to date marks the last time the word “director” appeared in Miyamoto’s title on a video game) could fully pull the series away from that inescapable N64 memory. This Switch 2 remake is a joyful, updated reminder of why that 1997 game is, in fact, very good and fun, but it also casts a spotlight on the fact that we are long overdue for something – frankly, anything – new from Fox McCloud and team.
The great news is that the simply titled Star Fox for Switch 2 looks great. Any qualms I had about the characters’ appearances became distant memories as I spent more time with them. The environmental visuals make exploring the ocean floor of Aquas feel claustrophobic and scary, and watching the lava flow and burst on Solar is even more intimidating than it was when I was young. Watching the sun of the Lylat system creep through the ship graveyard of Sector X is mesmerizing, and these moments happen often.
Controlling the Arwing feels great, too. Executing those barrel rolls Peppy has been demanding for more than three decades feels smooth, and firing off that last-second homing shot while careening into that final gold ring is as rewarding as it has ever been. Falco is still annoying, though. He demands your help and complains when you take too long, but is also certain he is better than you in every conceivable way. It can be grating, but hey – that’s our Falco, so mission accomplished, I guess, to use the lingo of the game.
It also sounds exceptional. Nintendo still struggles with voice actor performances, which makes it hard not to give in to nostalgia and pine for the original voice lines. Those bizarre quips have sadly become rock-solid artifacts in my brain, but the new music is incredible. Choral additions to boss themes make them feel grand, and I even got emotional during the final moments of the game thanks to the stirring score.
It all feels appropriately familiar, and the base game holds up well as a fun, arcade-inspired experience with a rapid pace. But I like the gameplay additions, as well, though they are generally minor. Unlocking lore details in the Holoviewer for every ally, enemy, planet, and more is a worthwhile pursuit. For example, I have been wondering what Bill’s whole deal is for nearly 30 years, and finally, in this new/old Star Fox, I unlocked a few paragraphs about his history; I couldn’t navigate the menus fast enough to read them. The cutscenes between levels, which inject overdue personality into the Star Fox team between missions, are also attractive and fun to watch. Seeing how they shift (though don’t expect radical changes) depending on the different routes you take makes replays worthwhile. I also appreciate that the requirements for the different routes are now much more transparent.
The addition of challenges for each level (beyond the medals system from the original) is also fun. The comparison is perhaps odd, but jumping straight to Macbeth to try and complete a list of specific tasks feels like classic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. The levels in Star Fox are short, so you only have so much time to hit the checklist items, which is a smart way to make replaying the intricately choreographed stages fun to revisit repeatedly.
The added multiplayer modes are also more substantial than I expected, with contemporary online matchmaking across a suite of different options inspired by familiar online shooter modes (like king of the hill or capture the flag). The augmented reality elements where your face can be tracked on an animated avatar of Leon the chameleon (among many others) to move his mouth when you yell at friends to stop shooting you is equal parts dumb and charming. It’s almost enough to make you want to press the ‘C’ button on your Switch 2 controller. Almost. The single-player experience is the primary attraction.
Another remake of Star Fox 64 is not what I want from this franchise. There has always been an implied depth of character and story to Star Fox, even in the 1993 SNES game, that has never been truly tapped. This remake expands as much as it can within the bounds of the original game in ways I appreciate, but it all still feels held back. But I also cannot deny Star Fox 64’s power over me. When the re-orchestrated music kicks in while firing lasers that cast beautiful modern shadows against the giant spaceships that just can’t hit me, and the bad guys complain about how cool and good I am at flying a spaceship right before they blow up, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having a great, nostalgic time.