Star Fox Nails the Remake but Leaves Fox Stuck in 1997

An 81 on Metacritic, glowing praise for the visuals, a re-orchestrated soundtrack that reviewers can't stop gushing about. Star Fox on Switch 2, launching tomorrow on June 25, is by almost every measure a successful remake. And yet the dominant note across the review landscape isn't celebration. It's frustration. Frustration that Nintendo chose to remake Star Fox 64 again rather than finally give this franchise something new.

The contradiction sitting at the heart of this game is hard to ignore. Game Informer's review captures it perfectly: "Another remake of Star Fox 64 is not what I want from this franchise," before admitting that when the re-orchestrated music kicks in and the lasers start flying, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't having a great, nostalgic time." That push and pull runs through almost every critique. WCCFTech gave it an 8.5, calling the combination of N64 mission design and new visuals "surprisingly fresh," while conceding that more original content could have been added. Pocket Tactics scored it an 8 but said the remake "reignited my deep-seated desire for a brand-new adventure." Even Vooks, which gave a perfect 5/5, framed it as a blueprint for future remakes rather than a statement about Star Fox's future.

I think the scores tell one story and the actual text of these reviews tells another. Critics clearly had a great time replaying Star Fox 64 in its new skin, but there's an unmistakable undercurrent of disappointment that this is all Nintendo had to offer after a decade-long drought. The last original entry was Star Fox Zero in 2016, and that was widely considered a misfire. So Nintendo's answer was to go backwards, again, to the one game everyone already agrees is great. It's a safe play, and it worked, but safe isn't what Star Fox needs right now.

Fox Deserves Better

Polygon's review, which didn't assign a numerical score, put it most bluntly: "How many more times will he have to prove he's his own fox before he's allowed to fight his own battles?" That line stings because it's true. Fox McCloud has been reliving 1997 in various forms for nearly three decades. Meanwhile, Nintendo's other franchises have evolved dramatically. Zelda got Breath of the Wild. Mario got Odyssey. Metroid got Dread. Star Fox got another coat of paint on the same rail shooter.

Developer Velan Studios clearly put real craft into this remake. Game Reactor UK scored it 9/10 and specifically praised the expanded narrative, updated character designs, and new cinematic cutscenes. The Sixth Axis and others highlighted the 4-vs-4 online Battle Mode and the new Challenge Mode as welcome additions. The game also features a completely new voice cast, with Hunter McCoy stepping in as Fox McCloud and Samuel Drake pulling double duty as both Wolf and Bill. There's a Joy-Con 2 mouse control option for solo play and a co-op mode where one player flies while the other handles the guns.

None of that changes the fundamental issue. TechRadar's review called it "overpriced given the campaign's short length and the unfortunate lack of new content," scoring it a 7. CNET's review reportedly wished for new levels and new worlds instead of a visual facelift on existing ones. When your harshest critics and your biggest fans are both saying the same thing, that Fox McCloud deserves a new story, it stops being a minority opinion.

Star Fox launches worldwide on Switch 2 tomorrow at a lower price point than Nintendo's standard first-party releases, and some Walmart locations in North America have already been selling physical copies a day early. Whether this remake's commercial performance convinces Nintendo to greenlight something new for the franchise will likely determine if Fox McCloud ever escapes 1997.