How to Unlock All Medals in Star Fox

Just like its predecessor nearly two decades ago, Nintendo's Star Fox remake puts you in the middle of a ruthless war raging across the Lylat System thanks to Dr. Andross, and General Pepper calls upon Fox and his band of mercenaries to help turn the tide in their favor. However, in true mercenary fashion, there has to be something in it for you, the player.

Thankfully, that turns out to be the case as the game rewards your most exceptional efforts through Medals you can earn on each planet. If you're on a mission to collect some or all of these, here's how medals work in Star Fox, as well as how to unlock each of them, and what they in turn provide as rewards.

What Are Medals in Star Fox?

As you fight your way through various locales in the Lylat System, you'll likely notice that each one has unique, greyed out icons depicted over its silhouette. While the icon with a forked arrow refers to an alternate route option, the other two icons refer to Medals, which are special accomplishments you can earn at each location if you meet their requirements.

This is a feature that's carried over from the original Nintendo 64 version of the game, though some of the requirements to earn them have been altered for the Switch 2 version. At each location, you can earn a medal on Normal difficulty and the other medal on Expert difficulty, once you've unlocked it.

How to Earn Medals From Each Location in Star Fox

To earn Medals from each location of the Lylat System in Star Fox, you need to meet two core requirements:

• Reach the required number of kills (Normal or Expert difficulty)
• Complete the level with all three squad mates (Slippy, Falco, and Peppy) — none can be out for repairs

These are the only two things that matter. What path you take on certain planets/locations (e.g., the waterfall on Corneria) doesn't apply here, as long as it's one that allows you to get enough kills by the end of the level. Each location has its own required stats, so keep an eye on your hit score as you progress. You'll know you've hit your target score when it turns from white to gold.

Tips For Earning Medals in Star Fox

While earning Medals seems fairly straightforward, given that it's focused almost entirely on your hit score, each location in Lylat presents its own challenges when it comes to getting a high enough kill count. That said, there are some things you can keep in the back of your mind to ensure you hit the numbers you need to soon enough for those accolades.

Practice Each Location on Easy Difficulty First

If obtaining medals is on your to-do list, then you should start by practicing each level on Easy Difficulty first. The enemy spawns are the same, regardless of difficulty, so this will help you memorize at least some of the spawn locations and the best methods for bringing down certain types of enemies (e.g. — lasers vs bombs). While you can't earn medals on Easy Difficulty, it'll still give you a leg up by starting you off with fully upgraded lasers, so just bear that in mind.

Use Bombs and Charged Shots Generously

When it comes to racking up kills quickly, particularly before and after a level's checkpoint, it's important to make use of your bomb stores as frequently as possible. Focus them on the largest groups of enemies that cross your path, especially when the waves are consecutive.

Also, upgrade your Arwing's laser weapon as quickly as you can to Level 3. This ensures that you can take enemies down quicker with fewer shots, and charged shots are your best friend. Use them to take down small or mid-sized groups of enemies, rather than trying to shoot them individually before they flee.

Certain Routes or Choices Yield More Enemies

While it's not always the case at every location, there are certain choices or routes that can spoon-feed you more enemies, if you find yourself coming to the end of the level shorthanded.

For instance, the alternate path through the waterfall on Corneria gives you a final wave of enemies before the boss appears, versus the default path that cuts your kills off sooner. Meanwhile, in Meteo, using the warp portals after the checkpoint to enter the wormhole bonus stage can give you a much-needed boost in the final leg of the level with plenty of targets to go around (and bomb resources for that matter). There's another wormhole you can reach on the Sector X level as well via the four warp gates, if you need some kill score leverage there.

Some of these tricks can be more elusive. On Zoness, if you deliberately miss the searchlight hidden behind a gate after Rob64's routine supply drop, it will spawn more enemies since you've technically been spotted.

On Fichina, while the hit score requirement there isn't nearly as high as other planets, you don't get much time to take down enemies before Star Wolf's squad rains on your parade. Once they've arrived, focus on taking them down as quickly as possible, as doing so nets you more points (10) per kill. The same rule applies to them on Venom 2 as well, though you'll earn 50 points for fast kills there. This is a necessity, as it's your only chance to get enough points before reaching Andross.

Replay Levels if Needed

While the original Nintendo 64 version of the game condemned you to your results at each stop in the Lylat System, the Switch 2's remake surprisingly brings more lenience on this front. You can now replay entire levels, if you're not happy with the results. You can even replay checkpoints, if you just want to polish up the second half of the run. So if you're gunning for those medals, this can prove very useful to avoid having to do countless campaigns (cue a "back in my day" joke here).

Watch Your Allies Closely

As previously mentioned, the other main requirement for unlocking medals in Star Fox is to ensure all three of your squadmates stay in the action until the end of the level. That means not letting them get shot up by enemies until they retreat, and you'll need to focus your fire on any tagalongs they have the moment they show on your screen.

Furthermore, beware of friendly fire, as it's very much a thing in the remake as it was in the original. Don't find yourself sniping Falco out of the sky totally by accident for his G-Diffuser hubris.

Rewards For Earning All Medals in Star Fox

Earning medals in the Star Fox remake doesn't just lead to mere bragging rights among your fellow mercenaries. Rather, there are some actual benefits and rewards you can obtain for all your efforts across the Lylat System.

All Medals on Normal Difficulty

• Unlocks Expert Difficulty

All Medals on Expert Difficulty

• 100% Completion for the Campaign
• An Alternate Title Screen
• New Multiplayer Mode