Star Fox is back, and it is Star Fox 64 again. The 2026 release from Velan Studios and Nintendo arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 as a full remake of the 1997 Nintendo 64 original, with overhauled character designs, revamped stage looks, detailed cutscenes, fully voiced dialogue and a sweeping orchestral soundtrack. It launched June 25, 2026, and it carries a published critical score of 7.5/10.
That number is the right one, and the reasons are not mysterious. This is a faithful, well-made rail shooter that knows exactly what it is. It is also the third time Nintendo has told this particular story, after Star Fox 64 3D in 2011 and Star Fox Zero in 2016, and the game does not have much of an answer for why it needed to be told again.
Fox McCloud and the Lylat System
The setup is the one players know. Fox McCloud leads a revitalized mercenary squad — Peppy, Slippy and Falco alongside him — on a mission to stop Dr. Andross, the evil mad scientist and self-proclaimed emperor, from destroying the Lylat System. The campaign moves planet by planet, and it carries the tragic legacy of Fox’s missing father, James McCloud, the deceased leader and founder of the Star Fox squad.
Star Fox is a third-person rail shooter. Players control a variety of vehicles piloted by Fox, and the Arwing moves forward on its own. The work is in defending yourself: lasers and bombs on offense, a somersault or a barrel roll to deflect incoming projectiles on defense.
Levels are built around different planets, and they carry plot through dialogue and cutscenes. Players can change the outcome of a level and find branching pathways to other levels. That structure is the spine of the thing, and it still holds up. Branching routes through the Lylat System remain a better idea than most modern shooters manage.
Three Difficulties and the Ring Economy
The campaign supports three difficulties, the same as Star Fox 64 and Star Fox 64 3D. On Normal and Hard, shield and boost abilities are limited at the start of each level. Gold and silver rings scattered through the level restore and expand them. Optional tasks unique to each level can be completed for other rewards.
This is a small economy and a smart one. It gives every stage a second job beyond survival — fly the route well, collect what you need, keep your options open. The rings are not decoration. They are the difficulty curve, and they are why Hard mode means something.
Star Fox adds extended cutscenes between levels. These flesh out the narrative, characters and world. A Challenge Mode lets players replay individual levels to hit different objectives. Two options for multiplayer are included. One is a competitive battle mode that splits players into the mercenary squads Star Fox and Star Wolf. Those are the additions, and they are modest ones.
Joy-Con 2 Mouse Controls and GameChat
The 2026 version includes Joy-Con 2 mouse controls. It also includes a new GameChat feature that puts you in the cockpit as your favorite characters from the Star Fox universe. Those are the platform-specific additions, and they are the part of this release that could not have existed before.
Mouse controls are the more interesting of the two. A rail shooter lives on precision, and pointer input is a genuine change to how the Arwing handles. Whether it beats a stick is a taste question, but it is a real option rather than a bullet point.
GameChat is the softer addition. Putting players in the cockpit is a presentation choice. It does not change what the game asks of you.
The May 7 Nintendo Direct
Star Fox was revealed in a surprise Nintendo Direct on May 7, 2026. That reveal followed numerous reports and leaks of a Star Fox game after protagonist Fox McCloud appeared in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026).
The response was mixed, and the source gives two reasons: the art style, and the decision to remake Star Fox 64 yet again. That second complaint is the one that sticks. Star Fox 64 3D already remade this game in 2011. Star Fox Zero reworked it again in 2016. A third pass at the same campaign is a choice, and the source offers no reason for it beyond the new artstyle and the series reboot.
The reboot framing is doing a lot of work for a game that adapts the original’s level design, story and gameplay.
What Works and What Does Not
Reviews were positive, according to the source. The praise went to gameplay, graphics and faithfulness to the original. The criticism went to the lack of innovation or additional features. Both halves of that are correct, and they are not in tension.
Faithfulness is the product here. The Arwing controls the way it should. The barrel roll still deflects projectiles. The branching paths still reward a player who learns the routes. The cutscenes are extended and voiced, and the orchestral soundtrack is doing real work across the campaign. If you wanted Star Fox 64 with modern presentation, this is that, and it is done well.
The lack of additional features is the cost. Challenge Mode and two multiplayer options are the new content, and neither is a reason to buy a console. Extended cutscenes flesh out a story that has been told twice before.
Four Releases, One Campaign
Here is the comparison that matters, drawn only from what is established about these releases:
| Release | Year | Relationship to Star Fox 64 |
|---|---|---|
| Star Fox 64 | 1997 | Original |
| Star Fox 64 3D | 2011 | First remake |
| Star Fox Zero | 2016 | Second reworking |
| Star Fox | 2026 | Third remake, new artstyle, series reboot |
Four releases, one campaign. That table is the whole argument, and it is why the 7.5 is where this lands rather than higher.
The Verdict on Star Fox
Star Fox is a good game. The gameplay is solid, the graphics are strong, and the faithfulness that drew praise is real craft rather than laziness. Velan Studios built a clean version of a design that has aged well, and Nintendo published it on hardware that finally has the headroom to do the Lylat System justice.
Star Fox is a 2026 rail shooter game developed by Velan Studios and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch 2.
That sentence is accurate and it is also the problem. The most interesting thing about this release is the hardware it runs on, not the game itself.
The extended cutscenes are the best new idea here. They give Peppy, Slippy and Falco more room, and they let the James McCloud thread breathe in a way the 1997 original could not afford. Fully voiced dialogue and a sweeping orchestral soundtrack are not small things when the source material is this thin on story.
But a remake should answer a question the original left open, and this one mostly re-asks it. The mixed reveal response was not noise. It was an accurate read of a project that chose the safest possible path.
The Joy-Con 2 mouse controls are the one addition that could change how the game feels in your hands. That is worth watching, because a rail shooter with pointer precision is a different animal than one on a stick. If the mouse controls land, they are the reason to play this version over the 2011 one. If they do not, Star Fox is a well-executed cover of a song you already own.
The reboot framing deserves skepticism. A reboot that adapts the original’s level design, story and gameplay is a remake with a press release. Nintendo has the characters and the setting to take this somewhere new, and it chose not to.
None of that makes Star Fox bad. It makes it unnecessary in a way that is hard to ignore when the same campaign has shipped three times between 2011 and 2026. The 7.5 is not a punishment. It is what a faithful, competent, unambitious remake earns.
Play it if you never played Star Fox 64. Play it if you want the cutscenes and the soundtrack. Do not play it expecting the series to move forward, because this one is looking back.
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