How to Unlock All Map Routes in Starfox

1 month ago 19

Published Jun 29, 2026, 10:35 AM EDT

Stephanie Watel is a Contributing Writer at DualShockers who has been covering games professionally since 2022. She specializes in guides and reviews, with additional experience writing lists and features across RPGs, horror games, cozy sims, action games, open-world RPGs, JRPGs, and indie titles.

Before joining DualShockers, Stephanie contributed to GameRant, IGN, MovieWeb, Pro Game Guides, Twinfinite, and Prima Games. Her work has covered major releases, underground sleeper hits, and indie games across a wide range of genres. Stephanie holds a B.A. in English, including studies in journalism.

The thrill and glory of Star Fox has returned in its unexpected Switch 2 remake, with plenty for new and veteran players to dive into from the outset. While nearly two decades separates both versions, the remake includes many of the familiar bells and whistles of the original, such as the incredibly diverse map of the Lylat system.

For those unfamiliar with the original, Star Fox features a variety of potential routes to explore on the map, and each one is determined by the choices you make throughout the campaign. If you're unsure where to start, below is a guide to all possible map routes in Star Fox, including all alternatives, choices, and endings.

How to Complete a Route in Star Fox

Just like its Nintendo 64 predecessor, to progress the story in Star Fox, you must complete at least one of several optional routes in the Lylat System to reach the distant toxic planet Venom, where Andross is waging war from.

Your actions on each planet, asteroid field, or satellite base affect how your route progresses. There are hidden objectives or paths that will lead you to different outcomes much of the time, and to experience every route in the game, you'll need to be mindful of those objectives each time you pass through certain locations. For instance, flying through certain obstacles on Corneria will take you and Falco on an alternative path near the end of the level. Meanwhile, successfully reaching a wormhole in Meteo will send you in a different direction than originally planned.

Regardless of the route you take, once you reach Venom and defeat(?) Andross, that concludes that specific campaign. You'll then need to restart a new one to go on a different route. However, one particularly useful feature in the remake is that you can replay the planet/location you've just completed, in case you want a different outcome than the one you got. That's in addition to the option to change course at certain junctions on the map, whenever Peppy and/or Slippy mention such. For example, from Sector Y you can opt to explore Katina or head for Aquas as intended.

Either way, this makes it easier to consolidate completion of all locations in the Lylat System in fewer runs, if you want to conquer the whole map.

All Possible Map Routes in Star Fox (How to Unlock)

The Lylat System features a variety of possible routes to Venom, though the main thing to note outright is that regardless of the route you take, they all ultimately lead to two possible endings on Venom (see our endings section below). What route you take leading up to that point is arguably what matters more.

The thing is, routes in Starfox are almost entirely customizable, and there's no default route that's predetermined for you to take. Likewise, these routes aren't filtered by preset difficulties, meaning no route is technically more difficult than another. How you reach the system's 15 different locations (16 if you count both Venom variants) is entirely up to you.

All that said, to help get your bearings on how to travel through the Lylat system, there are three fundamental routes you can work off of, and that you should start with. Two of them focus on navigating the locations in the lower half of the system, which lead to the first variant of Venom, while the third focuses on the locations along the northern half and leads to the second variant of Venom (and the true ending).

Route

Route 1

Route 2

Route 3

All Included Locations

Corneria, Meteo, Fichina, Sector X, Titania, Bolse, Venom

Corneria, Meteo, Katina, Solar, Macbeth, Bolse, Venom

Corneria, Sector 7, Aquas, Zoness, Sector Z, Area 6, Venom

Starting with these three main routes ensures you unlock and experience each location before you start exploring the game's alternate routes/outcomes.

As mentioned previously, nearly each planet/location has at least two possible outcomes you can reach, based on the objectives given. Below is a comprehensive list of each location in the Lylat system, the possible outcomes for each, and where they lead next.

Corneria

Objective

Outcome

Fly straight to the default final boss (Granga).	Leads to Meteo
Save Falco when he's attacked by enemies, then fly through the seven archways on the water just before the default final boss. Falco will then take you through the waterfall to the right to an alternate boss (Attack Carrier).	Leads to Sector Y

Meteo

Objective

Outcome

Fly straight through the asteroid field to the default final boss (Meteo Crusher).	Leads to Fichina
Fly through the warp portals in the final section of the level, which leads to a wormhole with a gauntlet of enemies.	Leads to Katina

Sector Y

Objective

Outcome

Fly straight through the level to the default final boss (Shogun Warlord).	Leads to Katina
Fly straight through the level, destroy at least 100 enemies, and defeat the final boss (Shogun Warlord).	Leads to Aquas

Katina

Objective

Outcome

Complete the level without saving the base from the Saucerer.	Leads to Sector X
Complete the level and save the base from the Saucerer.	Leads to Solar

Fichina

Objective

Outcome

Complete the level and defeat Star Wolf's squad before the countdown timer runs out.	Leads to Solar
Complete the level without defeating Star Wolf's squad before the countdown timer runs out.	Leads to Sector X

Sector X

Objective

Outcome

Fly straight through the level to the default final boss (Spyborg) and have Slippy caught.	Leads to Titania
Fly straight through the level to the default final boss (Spyborg) and make sure Slippy isn't caught.	Leads to Macbeth
Shoot open the four warp gates and fly through each one to reach a wormhole (similar to the one in Meteo).	Leads to either Macbeth or Sector Z

Aquas

Objective

Outcome

Travel straight through the level to the default final boss (Bacoon).	Leads to Zoness

Zoness

Objective

Outcome

Fly straight through the level to the default final boss (Sarumarine).	Leads to Macbeth
Fly straight through the level and destroy all searchlights without being detected. Katt will assist in destroying some of them. Defeat Sarumarine boss at the end of the level.	Leads to Sector Z

Solar

Objective

Outcome

Fly straight through the level to the default final boss (Vulcain).	Leads to Macbeth

Sector Z

Objective

Outcome

Fail to destroy all six Copperhead missiles, leading Great Fox to be damaged.	Leads to Bolse
Destroy all six Copperhead missiles before they hit Great Fox.	Leads to Area 6

Macbeth

Objective

Outcome

Go straight to the end of the level, ignore the rail locks, and defeat the final boss (Mechbeth).	Leads to Bolse
Switch all eight rail locks along the train tracks before Mechbeth passes the fork in the path that leads to the base. Doing so with automatically defeat Mechbeth for you.	Leads to Area 6

Titania

Objective

Outcome

Go straight to the end of the level and defeat the boss (Goras) to rescue Slippy.	Leads to Bolse

Bolse

Objective

Outcome

Destroy the base on the satellite to complete the level.	Leads to Venom (default ending)

Area 6

Objective

Outcome

Fly straight through the level and defeat the final boss (Gorgon).	Leads to Venom (true ending)

Venom

Objective

Outcome

(Variant 1) Fight your way through Andross's waves of enemy forces and confront his robot form inside the underground base.	Campaign is completed but Andross is not truly defeated. Default ending.
(Variant 2) Fight and defeat Star Wolf's squad again, then confront Andross inside his underground base. Defeat his true form (brain), then escape the base as it self-destructs.	Campaign is completed and Andross is truly defeated. True ending.

All Possible Endings in Starfox

Nintendo Needs a New Star Fox Not a Fourth Version of the Same Game

While there are many different routes you can take to Venom in Starfox, there are just two possible endings to unlock at the end of the road, depending on which side of the planet you fly in from. This is virtually the same as the original N64 version of the game, including the objectives leading up to said ending.

Ending 1 - Andross Lives

This is the so-called default ending, meaning the one that's easier to reach, as more possible routes lead to this side of Venom than the other. After completing the Bolse level, you'll arrive on Venom to meet a seemingly endless gauntlet of enemies standing between you and Andross. Fight your way through them, along with an extra boss called Golemech, to reach Andross's underground base.

Once there, you'll fight against Andross's robotic form, which is divided into two phases. After defeating these two forms, you'll retreat from the base and return to Great Fox. 'Mission Complete' will display, and a cutscene will reveal that Andross wasn't truly defeated.

Ending 2 - Andross Dies (True Ending)

This is designated as the "true" ending, meaning it's the one you want to reach most in terms of putting an end to Andross. After completing the Area 6 level, you'll arrive on Venom initially undetected. However, Star Wolf's squad will intervene in new, stronger fighter ships, and you'll need to take them down again.

Once they're dust, Fox will then enter Andross's underground base. You'll confront him in a final boss battle, and this time, defeating his initial robotic form (head and hands) will reveal his floating, reinforced brain and eyes. This is Andross's true form, and defeating it will put an end to him for good. Afterward, Fox will flee the base as it self-destructs with the help of a mysterious stranger (no spoilers!), and return to the Great Fox. 'Mission Accomplished' will display, and you'll get the full credits followed by a lengthy cutscene afterward.