I grew up on Star Fox and Star Fox 64 (or Starwing and Lylat Wars as they liked to be called in Europe), but it’s safe to say that my initial response to the reveal of Star Fox (2026) was…mixed.
I’m still not convinced it’s going to set the gaming world on fire, but having now played the game after being invited by Nintendo to do so, I am a lot more positive than before, and I’m certain that only part of that is due to nostalgia.
Despite wanting to blast through an entire run in the 75-minute preview, I was only allowed to play Corneria, Meteo, Fichina, and Sector Y through a mix of single player and the new co-op mode that has one person manning the gun (me) using mouse controls, and another (one of the two other Alexs present at the event) handling the swooping and barrel-rolling.
Very first impressions were very much ‘Well, this is Star Fox 64 again,’ which isn’t surprising seeing as it’s definitely Star Fox 64 again. After entering Corneria city proper once I’d exhausted a life by slamming into the walls to see what the death screen was like, the changes became far more apparent.
Yes, this is Star Fox 64 again, but the past 29 years have been very kind to the industry’s graphical fidelity. Obviously, the game looks better, but more importantly, Corneria City actually looks like a flipping city now.
Frankly, all the environments I was able to look at were much more ‘believable’, which you’d bloody hope for nearly 30 years of innovation, but in the city specifically, the billowing smoke, the licking flames, the overbearing feeling of Andross’ forces – it all makes the atmosphere so much thicker, and not just because of all the carbon monoxide.
And what controls to move through it! The Arwing feels substantially snappier, more responsive, and much more like a lightweight fighter jet/spacecraft than it ever has before. It didn’t matter what level I was in; the controls paired with a practically flawless (to my trained eye) 60 frames per second just felt like shaking off decades of dust and detritus.
And it doesn’t stop there. As I was playing co-op with another Alex, I got to try out the mouse controls, which I mentioned earlier but felt the need to reiterate in case you’re skimming. I wouldn’t normally go for this myself, being more of a gyro-aiming boy, but for anyone looking to get a high score, this could well be the best way to do it.
The Arwing feels substantially snappier, more responsive, and much more like a lightweight fighter jet/spacecraft than it ever has before
Or it would, if it didn’t lack one key feature. In Star Fox, and indeed Star Fox 64 — which I only learnt on the day — you can disable the lock-on of your charge shot by holding both ‘ZL’ and ‘ZR’ together (or ‘Z’ and ‘R’ on the N64). Doesn’t sound very useful, but what it does do is provide you with more bonus hits if you manage to land this free-aim charged shot.
However, this is not possible when using mouse controls (from my testing), at least in the co-op mode that I played. A crying shame, and hopefully something Nintendo addresses in the future.
Anyone who’s seen anything of the game almost certainly will tell you that it is gorgeous, and I’m happy to report that it looks even better in person. No more so than in the rather splendidly put-together cutscenes, which feature some genuinely great voice acting and voice direction, the latter of which is sadly quite rare in this industry.
All the characters are deeper than ever as well, with Falco in particular being even more bitchy than usual, which I absolutely adored. “Last I checked, a real team needs a real leader” isn’t going to necessarily go down in any books of quotations, but it certainly gave me a hearty chuckle.
There’s one final string to Star Fox’s bow (beyond the AR avatar thing, which was admittedly quite amusing), and that’s the eight-player multiplayer battles. Anyone who played the equivalent in Star Fox 64 will be pleasantly surprised to hear that this new offering is head and shoulders above the original.
For one thing, it’s 4v4, Team Star Fox vs Team Star Wolf, meaning already there are more bodies to fling your shot at. On top of this, there are objectives to complete which vary per stage, such as capturing a zone, which is all I was allowed to do in this preview. It’s all points-based, though, so even if you ignore the objectives but shoot down a boatload of foes, you can still easily take the crown.
Furthermore, there are a load of fodder enemies as well, which provide a smattering of points for taking them down. This, combined with the Arwing’s new, more agile movement and far, far superior performance, makes this a seriously enjoyable dogfighter.
Having said that, with only three levels with their own unique objectives, I can’t help but feel that the biggest worry is longevity. Will swathes of people be playing this online in six months’ time? I wouldn’t bet on it.
But all in all, if Nintendo were set on remaking Star Fox 64, I’m not sure if they could’ve done a better job than what I’ve experienced so far. I still think a new game would’ve been my preference, but if I’m not excited for Star Fox (2026), I’m not Alex from Nintendo Life.