Star Fox Review: It's Not Perfect, But Star Fox 64 Has Never Felt Better

I know it's a meme that Nintendo has repeatedly remade Star Fox 64 several times over the years, but there's a reason why: it's an absolute classic.

The first time I played Star Fox was at a friend's house, and I fell in love instantly. As soon as I saved up money from mowing lawns for my neighbors and relatives, I bought it and played it non-stop. Flash-forward decades later, and I'm still playing it on a regular basis. It's my comfort game, whether it's on my TV or playing in handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch as my wife and I are about to catch the red-eye flight home after our honeymoon.

Despite its iconic status, the Star Fox franchise has kinda been floundering around for a while. Part of the reason is that, rather than doing something new, Nintendo keeps reviving the past. With the release of Star Fox on the Nintendo Switch 2, there are nine games in the Star Fox franchise. Four of them are a remake or remaster of Star Fox 64, which in itself is essentially an expanded version of the original Super Nintendo game from 1993. The franchise has been in desperate need of a step forward for quite some time.

Enter The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which features Fox McCloud himself in a surprisingly prominent role, kickstarting the hopeful return of the Star Fox franchise. Hey, we saw it recently with Metroid Prime 4 finally released, so why not Star Fox? The good news is that Star Fox is back. The "bad" news is that it's just Star Fox 64 again, but hey, that's not the worst thing in the world.

Star Fox 64 Has Never Looked or Felt Better

The last time we had a reimagining of Star Fox 64 was the infamous Star Fox Zero for the Nintendo Wii U.

Does Zero deserve some credit for trying something new? Yes. Did it fall flat on its face? Also yes. There's a reason why the Star Fox franchise hasn't seen a new release in a decade, and Zero is the main reason why. Sure, Shigeru Miyamoto has explained over the years that they haven't been able to find new ideas compelling enough to make it worth their time. However, if you take a look at some of the other recent releases from Nintendo, particularly the Mario sports games for the Nintendo Switch, you can't help but wonder what Fox McCloud and company did to deserve the cold shoulder.

It turns out that it takes Glen Powell starring as Fox in the new Mario movie to bring the game out of the Nintendo vault. Don't go in expecting that new compelling idea, though. At its core, the gameplay of Star Fox remains unchanged from Star Fox 64. The presentation, however, has been revamped. I was someone who was iffy on a more cinematic experience, too. I mean, it's Star Fox 64; did we really need to give this a full story presentation?

Yes, actually, we did. Much was made about the game's character design, but truth be told, it never bothered me. Star Fox looks absolutely fantastic, at times giving a Star Wars-esque vibe, particularly during the final moments of its campaign. The cutscenes between missions do a good job of filling in the gaps from the original, placing greater emphasis on whom the Star Fox crew is and what's going on in the Lylat System.

Best of all, though, the gameplay backs it up. Playing Star Fox is like riding a bike: it's familiar, comfortable, and exhilarating. The Arwing has never felt better to control, and I didn't feel any of the rust I expected from getting accustomed to playing with the Switch 2's Pro Controller. This is how I want to play Star Fox moving forward.

There's a Surprising Amount of Enjoyable Content in Star Fox

Lucky me that there's a lot of content to be found in Star Fox. Beyond your base on-rail shooter, which takes you through various stages (and is still as fun as ever, mind you), there's more content waiting for you even after you defeat Andross and the credits roll.

You'll be able to go back and complete various objectives throughout each mission. Star Fox is already one of the most replayable games for the Nintendo Switch 2, but adding in these bonus objectives, as well as unlocking additional difficulties, helps keep each run fresh and enjoyable. They're not as replayable as something like a Roguelike, but it's still a noticeable difference compared to the original experience.

One aspect that surprisingly won me over is the game's multiplayer. Having played Star Fox 64's multiplayer modes for a total of an hour or so in a friend's basement, which was honestly far too long if you ask me, I didn't expect anything remarkable here. Instead, I wish Star Fox's multiplayer were more fleshed out.

It's a testament to how well the gameplay works here. Sure, Star Fox isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, but why does it need to? It's already been done in the past, and we've seen how "well" that works out. It's the real conundrum that comes with the game on the Switch 2. The franchise certainly needs something new and fresh, but for what's serving as an introduction to the series for many, this is an excellent place to start.

Let's Talk About The Voice Acting Changes...

There's a fairly large elephant in the room when it comes to Star Fox, though, and it's the voice acting.

It was impossible to retain the original voice actors as Star Fox 64 is nearly 30 years old. New voice acting was a given, and in some cases, such as Andross and Fox, it works quite well. Everywhere else, however, is a massive disappointment, and there are several reasons for it.

Star Fox 64's dialogue is a wonderful mix of over-the-top '90s flair with a sense of urgency stressing the importance of each mission. You genuinely feel the veteran leadership from Peppy, the indifference and attitude of Falco, and the eagerness of Slippy, even if he's the butt-end of many a joke. These characters are still written in the same way (for the most part, why are we not saying words like "crud" in 2026, Nintendo?), but the delivery doesn't match.

The over-the-top nature was primarily delegated to the game's bosses, and they were absolutely incredible. Overacting, silly banter, one-liners, and even some taunting were all in play back in the day. That's not the case here, with every boss sounding flat, monotone, and lacking any personality. Macbeth's boss, for example, lacks his trademark southern accent and iconic lines. For a game that does such a good job of staying true to and improving on the source material, this is a major misstep.

The return of Star Fox is a very welcome one, and the gameplay still holds up even after all these years. What's surprising is that the replayability of a game we've been playing for nearly three decades is even better, thanks to surprisingly fun multiplayer modes and the added challenges. It's a shame, though, that given the improved presentation of the game's story and cutscenes, the voice acting falls short, especially since that's one of the more iconic parts of Star Fox 64. As it stands, this is a great re-introduction for the franchise and will hopefully help kickstart the return of Star Fox.