Nostalgia hits different sometimes. You skim over a water world. You hear that familiar theme. You’re smiling like you’re eight again.
I’ve played StarFox on every Nintendo console. Or close to every one. My hour with the Switch 2 build was enough to trigger that childhood rush.
Then I told a younger colleague I’d played StarFox. He asked me what it was. What? Right. I shouldn’t be surprised. The franchise pops up with the irregularity of a stray comet. StarFox Zero dropped on the Wii U ten years ago. Before that, StarFox 64 defined an era in 1997. It got a port on the 3DS. It lives now on the Switch via Nintendo 64 Online.
Nintendo posted an overview video. I saw it. I only played for an hour, though. I wanted more immediately.
The Fox McCloud cameo in the Mario Movie wasn’t subtle.
A lot of us grumbled that this $50 release is just StarFox 64 in a fancy coat. Disappointment, initially. But look. Nintendo did this with Metroid Prime: Remastered. It still held up. Why should StarFox be different?
It shouldn’t.
The graphics are top-tier for the Switch 2. Frame rate? Buttery. Cutscenes are brand new, bringing a Guardians of the Galaxy meets Star Wars vibe to the proceedings.
The character designs changed, obviously. Fur and feathers rendered in high def. Some fans called it uncanny. They wanted cartoons. I liked the feral edge. These animals feel dangerous now, not just plushies with pilots in helmets.
I recognized every corner of the first level. Déjà vu is baked in if you know the classic. Asteroids. Missiles. It’s the same layout, same beats. But the presentation sells it.
The real draw isn’t just nostalgia, though. It’s what they added.
I tried co-op. A rep flew the Arwing while I wielded a Joy-Con in “mouse mode.” Aimed with a cursor. Felt weirdly intuitive. Usually, mouse modes feel tacked on, gimmicky, disconnected. Not here. With enemies strafing from all angles, aiming manually makes sense. Especially in the first-person cockpit view. It added tension I hadn’t felt before.
Then came multiplayer. This is where I stopped thinking about “remake” and started having fun.
Dogfight battles. Open arena. Chaotic, loud, fast. We were four against four, scrambling to capture tanks and haul them to the goal gate while shooting everything down. It reminded me of Star Wars Battlefront arena games more than Mario Kart battles. Just pure aerial mayhem. I loved it.
Nintendo even hid a quirk in GameChat. Plug in a USB webcam? StarFox avatars map onto your face. They open their mouth when you talk. Silly. Authentic. I barely noticed during the heat of battle, but it’s a nice touch for social play.
So yes. It’s StarFox again. The same mission structure, the same icons, the same plot beats.
I love it, though. And I’m impatient.
Make a new story already. 🦊
