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| Title | Star Fox |
| Developer | Velan Studios |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Release Date | June 25, 2026 |
| Genre | Adventure, Shooter |
| Platform | Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Age Rating | Everyone 10+ |
| Official Website | |
I have a gaming confession to make: I’ve never played Star Fox. Or rather, I’ve never engaged with the series in any meaningful way. I beat Corneria maybe twice on the SNES, and couldn’t even get that far in Star Fox 64 because it made me nauseous. I tried playing Star Fox Zero on the Wii U, but couldn’t wrap my head around the controls and set it aside for good. I wrote the series off as “not for me” and didn’t think much of it outside occasionally playing as Fox in Super Smash Bros. But, then Nintendo announced Star Fox for the Switch 2, and I thought “well, here’s my chance.” I would finally, really, give the series the attention and attempts it deserved. Would it turn out the games really weren’t for me after all, or would I join the ranks of Star Fox aficionados the world over?
Star Fox (2026) is an updated and expanded retelling of Star Fox 64. On a mission to the planet Venom in the Lylat System, James McCloud – leader of the mercenary group Star Fox – is ambushed and presumably killed by one of his own under direction by the evil Dr. Andross. Several years later, his son, Fox – with the help of veteran mercenary and James’ good friend Peppy Hare – is called upon by the Corneria Defense Force to once again save the Lylat System from the machinations of Dr. Andross.
To save the Lylat System, Fox and friends will battle across multiple planets and even in open space, though the route you choose depends on the conditions you meet in each level. For instance, from Corneria you can either head into Sector Y to provide backup to the Corneria Defense Force, or make way to the asteroid field Meteo in search of unusual energy readings, depending on whether you meet specific criteria. The game, thankfully, provides you those criteria and the chance to redo the level before moving forward so you can experience both forks in the story. I really appreciated this, because it meant I knew what I needed to do to see a new world, rather than hope I unlock the second route by luck.
Gameplay alternates between on-rails shooting sequences and free range mode. Fox can speed up, brake, and lock-on to targets to deal splash damage to anything around the target. He can perform loop-de-loops, quick turns, and barrel rolls, which repel projectiles. His moveset expands slightly in free range mode, where he can also do a 180 turn. Taking enough damage will damage the Arwing’s wings, limiting mobility and losing any upgrades you’ve acquired (on Normal difficulty). Upgrades include larger health bars and stronger lasers. I definitely preferred the on-rails sequences, where the only things I had to worry about were what was directly in front of me, with the occasional brake to let things pass me by so I could shoot them down. The free range mode was more frustrating due to needing to keep track of three axes. This was particularly true of the dogfights against Wolf and his crew. While these are thrilling encounters that really tested my abilities (and often ended in me angrily resetting), they were a huge difficulty spike, even on Normal. That being said, beating them for the first time while keeping all of Star Fox active felt amazing.
To expand on that, you will always start the game at Corneria with all four members of Star Fox: Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad, Falco Lombardi, and Fox McCloud. Peppy will provide advice and is generally good at keeping himself out of trouble. Slippy frequently gets into messes and will go down easily if you don’t back him up. Falco is brash and hotheaded, and that will sometimes mean he gets in over his head and needs to be bailed out. Failing to keep your teammates protected means their Arwing will take too much damage and they have to abandon the duty. On Normal difficulty, losing a member of the team on one mission means they are not available for the next one. More often than not, I was down at least one team member on every level, so eking out wins with everyone intact was a rarity, but one that came with a sense of accomplishment I don’t often feel with games. For all the frustration and resets, I can’t deny the rush of adrenaline I got when all four Arwings made their way back toward the Great Fox.
I played through the Campaign mode three times so I could see every level at least once. Along with the flight levels, there are a handful that take place on terrain or underwater, though they play functionally the same. I found the Landmaster and the Blue-Marine to be clunkier to control than the Arwing despite using the same control scheme. The Landmaster has a hover ability for verticality that I just did not gel with for whatever reason. The level designs themselves were all varied enough, though some were more inspired than others. I particularly liked Katina, Solar, Aquas, Zoness, Sector Z, and Area 6. I was never bored even on the levels I found otherwise dull visually thanks to an abundance of enemies and obstacles, as well as the aforementioned challenges to unlock alternate routes.
Speaking of challenges, the game has a Challenge Mode to earn medals to unlock in-game items and encyclopedia entries. I did not do much with the Challenge Mode, though I did at least try my hand at a few of them. As much as I enjoyed the challenge posed by the Campaign, I know my strengths, and some of the challenges were well beyond my ability. That being said, they are a goal to work toward, and no one ever said you only need to play a video game once. Along with Challenge Mode, there’s a Battle Mode, where you can play against others. I did not do this mode.
A novel control scheme introduced with the Switch 2 is mouse targeting. Once engaged, if you place your Joy-Con on its side, the game swaps to first-person perspective and alters the control scheme somewhat. The mouse Joy-Con controls shooting and direction, while the regular Joy-Con is for somersaults, barrel rolls, tilting, and answering calls. I found actually shooting and targeting in this mode really intuitive, but wasn’t as much a fan of the limited first-person perspective, and all-range mode was particular difficult to catch my bearings, though the actual dogfights felt more engaging. This isn’t a mode I would play extensively, but I think it was a good use of the Joy-Cons, which also feel otherwise really comfortable to play with regularly. I can see it especially being useful if you’re traveling and playing the Switch 2 undocked.
Long ago, I’d written Star Fox off as “not for me” for a number of reasons, but now that I’d finally played and beaten one, I wanted to know if that was true. I went into Star Fox (2026) basically series blind, and found myself equal parts enamored and frustrated, but would that extend to previous titles? So I booted up Star Fox 64 on both Nintendo Switch Online (played with a Pro controller), and our N64 (played with and OEM controller), and gave three worlds each a go. I can confidently say that playing the game on the N64 controller felt infinitely more natural and is one of the only games I can say that for, considering how much I do not like the N64 controller. Playing it on a Switch Pro controller was clunky and unintuitive. But no matter which controller I used, I found that I actually enjoyed myself. It was significantly more difficult to parse enemies, and I struggled with all-range mode more than I did in Star Fox (2026), but I think I can definitely say that Star Fox is more for me than I originally thought it was.
I really had a lot of fun with Star Fox (2026). I enjoyed the simple but effective story, the characters and their interactions, and especially the music. Visually, the game is stunning with some truly standout locales. Fox and friends all looked fantastic, with expressive facial animation and excellent voice acting. I struggled with the all-range mode sections, but had a blast with the on-rails sections, and the sense of accomplishment from overcoming the Campaign’s difficulty spikes was enormous. For fans of Star Fox 64, I think there’s still a lot to love here, with beefier cutscenes and a unique control scheme, and for new fans like myself, it’s a great jumping on point.
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Review copy provided by the publisher.
