Star Fox Remake: A Polished Tribute or a Franchise Revival?

Nintendo caught a lot of people off guard last month when it hosted a livestream starring the company's most famous space canid.

Even though Fox McCloud is one of Nintendo's most recognizable mascots, the franchise has essentially been on hiatus for a decade. Aside from a brief cameo in the latest Mario movie, at this point Fox is probably better known for his appearances in Smash Bros. more than anything else (no items, Fox only, Final Destination anyone?).

After getting a chance to play a preview of the Star Fox remake, it feels like Nintendo is paying tribute to the series' best game while gauging people's interest in the franchise before committing to an entirely new release.

There's no doubt that Star Fox's biggest upgrade over the original is its new visual treatment. Often, when a company like Nintendo revisits one of its classics, they end up making something that looks like how you remember the game in your head, even if that recollection is embellished due to time and nostalgia. However, this time Nintendo made something that looks even better.

Cutscenes are simply gorgeous and have been updated with extra action and more interactions between characters and events in the game, which makes the story feel deeper and more developed. Meanwhile, flying around in an Arwing is smoother and more detailed than anyone could have imagined back in 1997. I even dig Fox's more grizzled look in this game compared to the overly cutesy rendition we saw in Mario Galaxy, as it reminds me of the old Super Famicom box art.

Gameplay is also super tight, though in this case that works both for and against the overall experience. Maneuvering through levels, sniping enemies with lasers and double tapping shoulder buttons to do a barrel roll felt extremely responsive. All the old secrets are still here too, like the tunnel behind the waterfall in Corneria. (I'm sorry if this is a spoiler, but there's gotta be some kind of statute of limitations on a 20-year-old game.) But because Nintendo stayed true to the original's formula, I found myself quickly remembering that games from the late '90s aren't nearly as deep as more modern titles. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because there's a certain kind of fun to be had from a straightforward rail shooter like Star Fox. But Armored Core VI this is not.

Aside from new and improved graphics, the biggest addition to the new Star Fox is support for "mouse" controls via the Switch 2's Joy-Con. Instead of a third-person view, this setup gives you a first-person POV from inside an Arwing's cockpit, with the right Joy-Con serving as your cursor when titled sideways on a table. This gives you even more precision over where you're aiming, and if you are so inclined, you can even use this control scheme to play the game in co-op mode: One person flies the ship while the other serves as the gunner. That said, this inclusion definitely has a small learning curve, and after the novelty wore off, I found myself wanting to go right back to the classic button setup. Unless I was playing with a kid that could use some help getting through stages, I don't think I'd use mouse mode very much.

The other notable update to Star Fox is expanded multiplayer options, which includes a new capture the flag-like mode in addition to the classic battle royale stages. I got to try this out with three other people while the game filled out the rest of the ships with bots to create a 4v4 scenario. You get points for shooting down enemies or capturing cargo being escorted by pirates and safely bringing it back to your flagship. And while I had a good time with this mode, I think it's safe to say this isn't going to be the next big thing for competitive gamers.

Finally, for people with a camera attached to their Switch 2, you can also overlay Star Fox's new character models over your face in Nintendo's Game Chat. You can pretend that you are Fox, Falco, Star Wolf or any of the other big names from the game. These avatars will match your facial movements like smiling or yawning, and they work even when the person on the other end of a video chat is playing a different game, which can be rather entertaining. But at the same time, I find it hard to believe that anyone would buy a $50 game just for this.

In the end, this new Star Fox looks and feels like a much prettier and better animated version of one of the most iconic games of all time. The new multiplayer modes, mouse controls and avatars are nice, but also kind of superfluous. For older gamers, you're buying this because you want to re-experience the game that cemented Fox McCloud as one of Nintendo's biggest stars despite a relatively small catalog of games compared to characters like Mario, Kirby and others.

The big question is: will this be the title that inspires a new generation of pilots? As charming as this remake is, I'm not sure if it's enough to give the franchise the popularity boost it probably needs for Nintendo to greenlight a proper followup like everyone's favorite ape got with Donkey Kong: Bananza. But at the same time, I commend Nintendo for trying, and as a tribute to an all-time classic, this new take on Star Fox 64 has been polished in all the right places.

Star Fox will be available as a digital download for $50, or $60 for a physical cartridge, on June 25.