Starfox Nintendo Switch 2 Review
Summary: A superbly polished remake with a premium price tag that might make you wait to do a barrel roll.
4
Classic Flight
Few video games have stories and set-pieces as vividly imprinted into my childhood imagination as Nintendo 64’s Lylat Wars. Its tightly paced campaign, level branching system and frantic arcade rail shoot ‘em up gameplay are still unmatched in terms of sheer replayability today.
For me, though, it was its earnest voice-acting that elevated it to Nintendo’s best. Peppy Hare’s lines, “Never give up, trust your instincts!” and “Do a barrel roll!” are forever shouted around the house unironically.
Since 1997, Lylat Wars has been remastered and re-imagined twice before, and with the debut of Starfox on Nintendo Switch 2, we’re now revisiting the storied tale of Fox McCloud and his ace squadron for the third time. As much as I loved it, is the ‘third time’s a charm’ overdoing it?
The latest Starfox doesn’t take long to ease many worries of reboot fatigue, or get curious newbies on-board. From its lavish new opening cinematic that shows what happened to James McCloud and started the Lylat Wars, to its polished visuals and slick menus, this is a big budget refresh of the franchise that aims high from the get-go to appease new and returning fans alike.
The scene-setting is simple and effective. As Fox McCloud, you and the latest Starfox mercenary squad are hired by General Pepper to take flight and fight Andross, a mad scientist who has invaded the Lylat system as revenge for his exile on the toxic planet Venom.
The original game’s narrative moved at a brisk pace and the remake deftly weaves in additional scenes between Fox, his mentor Peppy, squad hot-shot Falco, and nerdy engineer Slippy in the form of their squad mission briefings between levels that add more layers to their dynamic and some fresh, fun banter without overstaying its welcome.
The main campaign is a straightforward set of levels that harken back to the good old days of gaming before open-world settings became the default. Starting from Corneria and ending at Venom, you’ll fight your way through seven planets in a single playthrough, each with their own unique stories, secrets, and bosses that flesh out the conflict and the Lylat System while hinting and offering other, alternate ways to progress through the game’s branching level system.
This system was one of my favourites as a kid and it’s no less effective nearly 30 years later. Each level takes only minutes to clear with the average playthrough taking just under an hour, but with several hidden objectives, secret paths, and rare failure states, there’s at least 12 hours or so of additional playthroughs to experience the different ways Starfox can fight their way to Venom, with 16 stages in total and some being a lot harder to clear and unlock than others.
The remake even adds unique new cinematic cutscenes between each level that change depending on the path (standard or alternate) that you take, adding more incentive for a replay.
If you haven’t played before, Starfox is a fast and frantic on-rail shooter where you’re piloting Fox through most levels in a straight line from A to B where you shoot at incoming foes, dodge various obstacles, and fly over useful power-ups to unlock better shields, weapon upgrades, Nova bombs, and health, all while aiming for medals and the highest score you can manage. Each level culminates in a battle with the area boss, and some open up into a full 3D space where you can fly around more freely to take the battle to the enemy.
Almost all levels take place in the cockpit of Starfox’s iconic Arwing fighters, but three levels shake things up by putting Fox in the driver’s seat of a tank (the Landmaster) and a submarine (Blue Marine). Shooting and movement feels as snappy as ever here, and the rewards for good timing and instinct abundant.
I chose the ‘easy’ route on my first playthrough to see how rusty my dogfighting skills were and to my joy, the game presents the right amount of challenge even on Normal difficulty. I was sweating by the time I got to Titania, where enemies and obstacles swarm the screen, and keeping up the high score while experimenting with the secret pathways kept me on my toes.
Newbies don’t have to worry too much, though; the tutorial world of Corneria does an excellent job of easing you into the chaos of maneuvering the Arwing and navigating each level’s various paths, including managing the survival of your wingmen who each have their own health and provide assistance to Fox in various ways.
Falco, for instance, helps you find those alternate routes, while Peppy gives advice and Slippy plays the role of annoying but endearing newbie. The banter between the squad and the antagonistic bosses throughout each level is one of the most fun aspects of the game, and it’s still intact in the latest remake, albeit somewhat muted.
Why? I’m not sure if it’s because the voice direction this time around was to play things a bit more straight to move away from the dramatic, high-tension voice-acting of the original, but the impact of winning the fight against Star Wolf on Fichina, or making it through the impossible odds of Area 6 felt greatly lessened. Peppy’s iconic barrel roll tutorial, the Macbeth train commander’s menacing southern drawl, and Fox’s ace pilot one-liners were some of my favourite moments in the original, but the new voice actors are hit or miss in their delivery. There are some standouts, though, such as Pigma (more devious) and Falco (as arrogant as ever).
On the visual front though, Starfox is a significant step-up from the original. Much of that is due to developer Velan Studios’ impressive in-house Viper engine. The level of graphical fidelity and texture detail in the remake’s cinematic cutscenes is essentially what kid me imagined Lylat Wars looked like in 1997, while the in-game missions look and play fantastically at 60fps (cutscenes seem locked at 30fps). Count me in as a fan of the new character designs, too, with the exception of Slippy (anthromorphic annoying frog now in life-like detail just looks really off).
In terms of new content, I was surprised to see the developer approach things relatively conservatively in the final product. Challenge Mode adds 192 optional missions to complete that add fun new twists to your next run and unlock collectibles in the game’s new Holoviewer, which compiles dossiers of all the characters, enemies, planets and history of the game. Most of this lore was previously scattered across external media and I found it fun to unlock these new tidbits, giving good incentive to replay the story for more rewards than just high scores and bragging rights.
There are some new multiplayer modes in the form of Co-Op (with a friend, one can shoot and the other can pilot) or Battle Mode (4v4 dogfighting either online or local) and while I very much enjoyed the faithful recreation of Lylat Wars realised in current generation graphical fidelity, it was slightly disappointing to discover a lack of new missions or twists to the current levels. I get wanting to focus on sharpening the 1997 classic for modern audiences, but the lack of any expansion or even restoration of cut content seems like a missed opportunity.
The Final Verdict
“Okay, I’ll admit it. You did good, Fox.”
Starfox (2026) is a beautifully crafted, fun, and faithful remake of Lylat Wars/Star Fox 64 that proves the original’s unique gameplay formula of fast and frantic space on-rails shooting, arena dogfights, and branching level design is as fun and timeless as ever in 2026.
I can definitely see this latest entry as a jumping point for a return to the Lylat Wars universe, and I hope Velan Studios gets a chance to move the franchise forward with a sequel, because as much as I love the latest entry, it does play things very safe, with minimal new content and a focus on modernising what came before, mostly in the visual department.
This is an admirably polished product, but when it’s sold at the same RRP as brand new titles, and taking into account the original is on the shorter side in terms of time to beat, it doesn’t offer the best value at a time when gaming as a hobby is getting more expensive and there are so many other fresh experiences vying for your attention.
If that fact doesn’t bother you as a long-time fan itching to fight Star Wolf again on modern hardware, or if you’re a total newbie wondering whether this dusty old Nintendo franchise is worth a play today, this is a must-play Switch 2 exclusive… just not necessarily on day one.
Game Details
Primary Format – Games – Nintendo Switch 2
Game Genre – Rail shooter
Rating – PG
Game Developer – Velan Studios
Game Publisher – Nintendo
About the Author
Nathan Misa A senior writer for ImpulseGamer.com and former writer for MMGN and Ninemsn, Nathan has been reviewing video games and interviewing talented developers since 2012. As a nostalgia tragic eternally tied to the glorious 1990s, he's always playing retro gaming classics whenever he's not entrenched in the latest RPG, or talking your ear off about why The First Law book series is better than Game of Thrones - to anyone who dares listen.
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