Star Fox review: modern cinematic visuals, but still retro to its bone

When a game is remade, it's usually to modernise a beloved classic for a new generation, especially if the original isn't readily accessible on modern platforms. You might then wonder whether Star Fox needs to exist when the game it's remaking is Star Fox 64, which has already been remade before on 3DS and is available to play for nothing more than the cost of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription.

The new Star Fox is such a faithful recreation of the original that you can also play it using the Switch's wireless N64 controller – the button layout and rumble feedback is exactly as on the N64 version and the controller's same inputs are also displayed correctly onscreen. But when Star Fox 64 executed its on-rail shooting gameplay so perfectly, there really was no need to tamper with it.

Image 1 of 3

That isn't to say that Velan Studios' remake is just a glow-up in a similar vein to Metal Gear Solid Delta (incidentally another example of a modern remake when the original is also available on current platforms). Besides incredible high-fidelity visuals that take full advantage of the Switch 2's power, made possible with the developer's own in-house Viper engine, it's a chance to give its previous back-of-the-box story a more cinematic presentation.

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

So where the N64 game gives a brief voiced opening crawl to set up the Lylat system under peril from the nefarious Dr Andross, this new Star Fox opens with a substantial cinematic prologue that shows us the original team led by James McCloud as well as Pigma's betrayal.

Star Fox's cinematics

Image 1 of 3

All missions come with new cutscenes and newly recorded dialogue to flesh out the story. That isn't to say it's that much deeper, as this is still ultimately about a band of space mercenaries defeating evil, and the script is still kept rather snappy so you're never going to find yourself sitting through a cutscene for longer than playing the game itself (and they can all be skipped in any case).

Just how much you'll enjoy these cinematics is another matter. Obviously, it's a chance to see Fox and his crew up close, though their more realistic redesigns have been divisive. I personally don't mind this direction, especially once you see them animating and talking, though I take more issue with some of the characterisations.

Granted, Fox's lines in 64 were of the rather bland do-gooder hero type, but in this version he comes off a touch cockier and more motivated by money. Yes, these are adventurers-for-hire and the campaign always ends where your high score converts to your payout, but the emphasis somewhat dampens the Nintendo charm of it being anthropomorphised animals as X-Wing pilots.

Where Star Fox succeeds cinematically is actually less on the characters but rather those grand sweeping shots at the beginning of a mission, like when you first make the descent to Corneria or join a much larger battle out in space with an armada of ships in sight. It has the same kind of mouthwatering spectacle taken from an epic space battle in Star Wars. You can naturally make out a lot more detailed environments in each stage too, as Corneria's city does look genuinely burned out from being under fire, while Zoness' dramatic ocean waves are a sight to behold.

Realism has a downside

Image 1 of 2

However, the higher fidelity is a double-edged sword as it also impacts how readable targets are, especially when you're trying to spot a boss's weak point, which was easier to represent in an era of simpler 3D models and textures.

Where the N64 version could get away with bosses flashing red when hit or enemies and objects blowing up in OTT fashion, the more realistic aesthetic in the remake means you're missing the same clear visual feedback.

More detailed visuals also doesn't mean the level design has changed at all. Star Fox remains primarily an on-rails shooter with a few occasions when can enter all-range flight in an arena space. Velan hasn't messed with the formula so all the ways you can interact with a stage, which can in turn open up different routes in the campaign, remain the same.

The main difference is that it's packaged towards achievement-hunting players so that it's more explicit that you are meant to be playing multiple runs to uncover all the secrets of the Lylat system.

Star Fox's modes

Image 1 of 5

Where in the past discovering a new route or the true ending might be satisfying enough on its own, there are also now incentives in having the opportunity to unlock new content each time, albeit small things like cosmetics and lore entries. Factor in a Challenge Mode where you can dip back into any mission to complete more obscure challenges, as well unlock an Expert mode for a real challenge, and there is substantially more content despite still having an arcade structure where you can technically 'beat' the game in under an hour.

What is arguably new to Star Fox is that it's the first game in the series to actually have online multiplayer, giving you the ability to dogfight alongside or against friends or strangers in 4v4 matches. Purists might bemoan the lack of splitscreen multiplayer though this is arguably for the best when the smaller screens in the original meant you could barely make out who you're targeting but it's made up for by supporting GameShare so that up to four players can play together in the same room with their own Switches and just one copy of the game.

Perhaps leveraging its AR expertise when working on Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, Velan also makes novel use of the camera function in GameChat so that you can make your face appear and animate as a Star Fox character avatar, or alternatively unlock a bunch of silly props like eyepatches or hats.

Whether people will get out of these GameChat features is another matter as the actual online content available is actually pretty slim, with just three maps, and each with its own specific set of rules. It's hardly a robust offering compared to any other online multiplayer out there, which is also a shame given Velan's expertise in this field with its former live-service game Knockout City.

Instead, my highlight actually comes from the co-op feature that's available for both the campaign and the Challenge mode that also makes use of the Switch 2 Joy-Con's mouse controls. While purists will opt for the N64 controller, I found the pro controller best as its HD rumble just offers a more sophisticated amount of haptic feedback than the former's basic emulation of the Rumble Pak that launched alongside Star Fox 64.

Mouse controls sounds nice on paper though in execution you're restricted to first-person view mode while I found it unwieldy given that you're using it to aim and move your Arwing at the same time.

Image 1 of 3

It's a different story in co-op however when controls are split asymmterically between two players, with one holding a split horizontal Joy-Con as the pilot, while the second player holds the Joy-Con in mouse mode as the gunner. It's a fun way to play the campaign together where roles are divided rather than player two being just the default younger sibling tag-along that can sometimes be the case for Nintendo games.

You might even say it manages to achieve what Star Fox Zero failed to do as that Wii U game also had separate controls for movement and aiming, but made the mistake of splitting a single player's attention between two screens whereas here it's splitting the two functions between two players.

Go a bit under the surface then and there are definitely some smart features and functions that elevate Star Fox beyond a glossy refurb, even though it's still arguably its classic shooter gameplay that holds it altogether. Still, here's hoping that it's also more of a trial run that means Nintendo entrusts Velan with giving us a proper new outing for Fox and friends next time.