Star Fox is a notable Nintendo property both for its enduring popularity and its rather nebulous timeline. The 1993 SNES original was rebooted as 1997’s Star Fox 64, which was itself remade as Star Fox 64 3D (2011) and further reimagined for the Wii U as Star Fox Zero (2016).
This is all to say that you’re very likely already familiar with the Lylat Wars, the Star Fox team, and that sinister simian, Dr. Andross. However, no matter how many times you’ve fought your way through the system’s sectors and planets, you’ve never seen anything quite like Star Fox for the Nintendo Switch 2.
While the game makes the most of its classic rail shooter roots, Star Fox goes out of its way to let you pilot the iconic Arwing your way. There are first- and third-person perspectives, All-Range Mode segments that let you add quick turns and loops in addition to your obligatory barrel rolls, and even Joy-Con 2 mouse mode support, which extends into Star Fox‘s two-player co-op option, allowing a second player to serve as a mouse-controlled gunner.
Star Fox additionally makes great use of the Switch 2 hardware with robust GameShare and GameChat support, with its character avatar system serving as solid motivation to finally pick up that compatible USB camera you’ve had your eye on. You can participate in GameChat sessions as your favorite character with nicely responsive face-tracking and animations.
Multiplayer Battle Mode puts players in a four-on-four mercenary clash featuring team Star Fox vs team Star Wolf, complete with the matching character avatars, but it also supports the single-player Bot Battle for those just looking to practice or get their feet wet. Star Fox boasts a Challenge Mode, wherein you can revisit previously explored levels (alone, using local co-op, or via GameShare) in an attempt to complete any number of interesting new objectives.
At the heart of the experience, though, remains the traditional campaign. Just like the Star Fox games of old, it offers branching maps and a similarly branching narrative, where your in-game performance and decisions ultimately determine how your play-through ends. This initially straightforward experience cultivates and actively rewards replayability, with more and more of the Lylat System opening up as you hone your skills.
This is further reflected in your Holoviewer, where you’ll continue to fill out encyclopedic entries on allies, enemies, and locations, and in the form of additional unlockables like more avatar rigs and customizable player icons/Battle Banners. All this hard-fought loot is certainly appreciated, but I quickly realized that the real reward of playing through Star Fox on the Nintendo Switch 2 is the very experience itself.
Visually, the game is impeccable, with characters, vehicles, and environments that are all less photorealistic than they are hyper-realistic. Every element fits perfectly into this living, breathing game world with a stunning fidelity that elevates the time-honored tale of space-fox against space-wolf into the realm of a veritable space opera.
Star Fox‘s expansive suite of lushly rendered songs and sound effects, as well as its fully voice-acted dialog, completes the package, making for a seamlessly cinematic experience that lands in this weird middle ground between Star Wars popcorn entertainment, Mass Effect-style immersion, and… the Muppets? (I’m reaching for a beloved talking animal property here, and as a Gen-Xer, that’s obviously the first place my mind went.)
All of this is ably served by a control scheme that is as responsive as it is uncomplicated. Movement is tied to the left analog stick, Shoot/Charge and Bomb are A and Y, respectively, and Boost and Brake are mapped to X and B. Even the most complicated aerial maneuvers are easy to execute, with Somersault and U-turn tied to the up and down arrows on the D-pad, directional tilting mapped to the L and R triggers, and an all-important Barrel Roll as simple as a trigger double-tap.
Fans demanding a little more panache can enable button combos in the Controls menu, where you can also invert the Y-axis for each of the featured vehicles, but Star Fox outright refuses to belabor the point. This helps keep the experience pure and accessible, just like it was for those of us from generations past on other Nintendo systems.
Look, the Star Fox franchise will likely never reach the heights of, say, Mario or Zelda, and that’s ok. (Even Donkey Kong himself has had to fall in line behind Nintendo’s big two.) Instead, the series is best served by putting its best foot forward, by channeling all those decades of space-faring history into an experience that is polished, engaging, and above all else, fun.
That is exactly what Star Fox for the Nintendo Switch 2 represents. Robust multiplayer options make it a fine fit for online gaming enthusiasts as well as family gamers, the GameChat avatar system adds a nice dash of novelty to its particularly well-designed character models, and the campaign’s multiple difficulty levels ensure that everyone from old heads to new players who only discovered Fox and company via Super Smash Bros. or the Super Mario Galaxy Movie can all have a fine time on Corneria… and beyond!
Star Fox is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, available on Thursday, June 25, 2026, at an MSRP of $49.99 digital and $59.99 for the physical release.
Review and promotional materials provided by Nintendo of America. This post contains affiliate links. Do an aileron roll!
