Skyler Orton
Nintendo is famous for killing its franchises and abandoning them to an endless fate of existing as cameos and easter eggs in games like Super Smash Bros. From Chibi-Robo to F-Zero some of the franchises with the most potential have been long forgotten by their creators.
For the last decade it seemed like the Star Fox franchise had joined their ranks. This all changed this year with both a somewhat confusing appearance in the Super Mario Galaxy movie and now yesterday’s shocking last minute Nintendo Direct which highlighted a brand new title exclusive to the Switch 2 simply titled Star Fox. Let’s take a look at everything announced and why it’s so surprising to see a brand new Star Fox in 2026.
What happened in the direct?
While the direct was fairly lengthy clocking in at over 15 minutes, it doesn’t tell us too much about the game beyond the basics. Star Fox will be a remake that takes most of its inspiration from Star Fox 64 (more on why this is controversial later). The N64 classic is still the most well-known iteration of the series and from the direct, it seems as though the remake will cling pretty tightly to the original. It even says that it will keep the same map layouts simply with updated graphics so it’s still to be determined how much actual new gameplay there will be.
That aside, the graphics look amazing and seem to take full advantage of the Switch 2’s additional power. The landscapes during the main gameplay are genuinely amazing looking and it’s great to see beloved settings across the Lylat System become fully realized in this way. The character designs will likely be more controversial. They take a much more realistic style than I expected for a cast filled with anthropomorphic animals but overall it’s a creative decision that could still work.
Speaking of the characters, they tie into another one of the additions to the game that I’m fully on board for. Cutscenes are unsurprisingly expanded from the original game to give the characters a little more personality and the story more weight. While the story was never the true focus of the original game, it’s good to see it getting recognized a little bit more in this remake.
Another major expansion from the original game comes in the all-new versus mode that looks like a lot of fun. The mode is expanded from the simple 4 player dogfights of the original to a 4v4 team battle across three maps with completely different objectives. While it’s definitely not going to be the main focus of the game, it’s a nice side mode that I could see growing a dedicated community of fans.
The last notable feature announced was that the game will use some of the Switch 2’s most interesting features in full force. Mouse mode can be switched into at any time for precision aiming which is nice to see. It will also use GameShare and GameChat for multiplayer which feels like a great throwback to the 3DS era of download play. Finally it’s going to be $50 for a digital copy and $60 for a physical copy when it releases on June 25th 2026.
Why is it controversial?
While most fans are simply happy to see the franchise be recognized again, there are valid complaints about this game simply being a Star Fox 64 remake. For those unfamiliar with the series’ history, Star Fox 64 is in itself a remake of the original SNES title. This means that out of the already small Star Fox franchise the majority of the entries are iterations and reimaginings of the original.
Star Fox, Star Fox 64, and now this brand new remake all share the same DNA but so do the 3DS’ remake of Star Fox 64 and the Wii U’s much maligned Star Fox Zero. It’s safe to say that for long-time fans it’s slightly disappointing to see a new entry simply be a new coat of paint on a classic regardless of how pretty that paint is.
That being said, it’s safe to say that most modern Nintendo fans have never played a single Star Fox game. From that logic I can understand why Nintendo would want to test the waters with a game that’s guaranteed to be good instead of risking it all with a brand new title. After all, when looking at the Star Fox series as a whole, most of the games that are not iterations on Star Fox 64 are surprisingly controversial.
Star Fox Adventures for the GameCube is something almost entirely different, closely resembling a 3D adventure game more than an on rail shooter. The other titles in the series, Star Fox: Assault and Star Fox Command, have been mostly forgotten by fans and reception was overall mixed. So it’s not surprising that Nintendo would stick close to the classic and view fan reception before making a riskier game.
In conclusion
I think that this game could very well be the exciting franchise revival fans have been looking for. If it succeeds it will open doors for further entries which is something that’s exciting to say after a decade of complete dormancy. I also think that the game likely has a handful of tricks up its sleeves that’ll make this a different experience for fans of the original game. Finally, at the relatively affordable price (compared to the new world of $80 games at least) there’s a good chance that this does pretty well. But what do you think? Let us know in the comments!
