Star Fox Designer Prefers Movie Look Over Switch 2

"Personally, I prefer the movie version [of the characters], but I thought this one [the game] was good in its own right; it had a clear direction!" That's Takaya Imamura, the man who originally designed Fox McCloud, Falco, Slippy, and the rest of the Star Fox crew, responding to fans on X about the Switch 2 game's divisive new look. As reported by Nintendo Life, via translations sourced from Nintendo Everything, Imamura's comments are diplomatic but unmistakable: the guy who created these characters thinks the animated movie versions looked better.

That carries real weight. When random fans on social media complain about a redesign, studios can brush it off. When the original character designer says he prefers a different version, that's a different conversation entirely. Imamura worked on the Star Fox series from its 1993 debut through Star Fox Guard and Star Fox Zero, where he served as supervisor. He retired from Nintendo in 2021 after 32 years at the company. He's not some disgruntled outsider; he's the person who defined how these characters are supposed to look and feel.

In a separate reply, Imamura offered another telling comment: "I guess this is how it turns out if I'm not supervising... or something like that. I think the concept is good." Read that again. There's a polite sting buried in there. He's acknowledging that the direction shifted because he wasn't involved, while stopping short of calling it a mistake. It's the most gracious version of "I wouldn't have done it that way" you'll ever see from a Japanese game industry veteran.

What fans actually lost

The backlash has been loud and specific since the Star Fox Direct aired on May 6. The Switch 2 game, which is a ground-up remake of Star Fox 64 launching June 25, trades the series' stylized anthropomorphic designs for a photo-realistic approach. Falco now has realistic bird legs. Fox looks stiff compared to his expressive, charismatic appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie just weeks earlier. Fans have been posting side-by-side comparisons that make the game version look like a downgrade in personality, if not fidelity.

One widely shared post from @Mlickles declared "HERE LIES FALCO'S AURA (1993 - 2026)." Others have been editing the new designs to restore some of the stylized proportions, and the results just highlight how much expressiveness was sacrificed for realism. @Yahiamice and @AdriWindGB both posted comparison images framing the new designs as a generational step backwards in terms of character. Another fan, @AwestruckVox, put it bluntly: "if those star fox redesigns even touches smash 6, i will kill you."

I think this is a strange creative decision from Nintendo. This is a company that has spent decades proving you don't need photorealism to make visually impressive games. Breath of the Wild, Splatoon, the Mario Galaxy games; Nintendo's entire identity is built on the idea that art direction beats raw graphical power. Chasing realism with Star Fox feels like an answer to a question nobody was asking, especially when the movie just demonstrated how good these characters can look with a modern but still stylized approach.

The game itself could still be excellent. A rebuilt Star Fox 64 with expanded story content, new 4v4 multiplayer modes, and full orchestral scoring sounds like a substantial package. But when the man who drew Fox McCloud for the first time is publicly saying he prefers a different version of his own creation, the team behind the Switch 2 game should probably take that as more than casual feedback. Star Fox launches on Switch 2 on June 25, 2026.