{"id":137414,"date":"2026-06-02T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-201893"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:00:00","slug":"preview-star-fox-2026-just-a-remake-but-what-a-remake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/06\/02\/preview-star-fox-2026-just-a-remake-but-what-a-remake\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: Star Fox (2026) &#8211; Just A Remake, But What A Remake"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/74e31ffefa287\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/74e31ffefa287\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<figure class=\"youtube\" data-videoid=\"FShhfC1c4b4\" data-start=\"0\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FShhfC1c4b4?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1\"><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>I grew up on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/snes\/star_fox\">Star Fox<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/n64\/star_fox_64\">Star Fox 64<\/a> (or <strong>Starwing<\/strong> and <strong>Lylat Wars<\/strong> as they liked to be called in Europe), but it\u2019s safe to say that my initial response to the reveal of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch-2\/star-fox\">Star Fox<\/a> (2026) was\u2026mixed.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m still not convinced it\u2019s 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\u2019m certain that only <em>part<\/em> of that is due to nostalgia.<\/p>\n<p>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 <em>other<\/em> Alexs present at the event) handling the swooping and barrel-rolling.<\/p>\n<p>Very first impressions were very much \u2018Well, this is Star Fox 64 again,\u2019 which isn\u2019t surprising seeing as it\u2019s definitely Star Fox 64 again. After entering Corneria city proper once I\u2019d exhausted a life by slamming into the walls to see what the death screen was like, the changes became far more apparent.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"cols cols-2\">\n<div class=\"col col-1 col-width-50\"><a title=\"Preview over shoulder 1\" class=\"scanlines\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/b36099cbfec9c\/preview-over-shoulder-1.large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/b36099cbfec9c\/preview-over-shoulder-1.445x250.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"250\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Preview over shoulder 1\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col col-1 col-width-50\"><a title=\"Slippy in spaaaace\" class=\"scanlines scanlines\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/29b8f64e88da1\/slippy-in-spaaaace.large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/29b8f64e88da1\/slippy-in-spaaaace.445x250.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"250\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Slippy in spaaaace\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\"><em class=\"credit\"><span class><\/span> Images: Alex Olney, Nintendo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/aside>\n<p>Yes, this <em>is<\/em> Star Fox 64 again, but the past 29 years have been very kind to the industry\u2019s graphical fidelity. Obviously, the game looks better, but more importantly, Corneria City actually looks like a flipping city now.<\/p>\n<p>Frankly, all the environments I was able to look at were much more \u2018believable\u2019, which you\u2019d bloody hope for nearly 30 years of innovation, but in the city specifically, the billowing smoke, the licking flames, the overbearing feeling of Andross\u2019 forces &#8211; it all makes the atmosphere so much thicker, and not just because of all the carbon monoxide.<\/p>\n<p>And <em>what<\/em> 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"cols cols-2\">\n<div class=\"col col-1 col-width-50\"><a title=\"Map\" class=\"scanlines\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/f1a0e5ab9d693\/map.large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/f1a0e5ab9d693\/map.445x250.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"250\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Map\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col col-1 col-width-50\"><a title=\"Barrel roll\" class=\"scanlines scanlines\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/eab6f1ca6ae20\/barrel-roll.large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/eab6f1ca6ae20\/barrel-roll.445x250.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"250\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Barrel roll\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\"><em class=\"credit\"><span class><\/span> Images: Nintendo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/aside>\n<p>And it doesn\u2019t 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\u2019re skimming. I wouldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"right\">\n<p>The Arwing feels substantially snappier, more responsive, and much more like a lightweight fighter jet\/spacecraft than it ever has before<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Or it would, if it didn\u2019t lack one key feature. In Star Fox, and indeed Star Fox 64 \u2014 which I only learnt on the day \u2014 you can disable the lock-on of your charge shot by holding both &#8216;ZL&#8217; and &#8216;ZR&#8217; together (or &#8216;Z&#8217; and &#8216;R&#8217; on the N64). Doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who\u2019s seen anything of the game almost certainly will tell you that it is <em>gorgeous<\/em>, and I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n<p>All the characters are deeper than ever as well, with Falco in particular being even more bitchy than usual, which I absolutely adored. \u201cLast I checked, a real team needs a real leader\u201d isn\u2019t going to necessarily go down in any books of quotations, but it certainly gave me a hearty chuckle.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture\" data-uuid=\"c58577fde4933\"><a class=\"scanlines\" title=\"Preview over shoulder 4\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/c58577fde4933\/preview-over-shoulder-4.large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/c58577fde4933\/preview-over-shoulder-4.900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Preview over shoulder 4\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption\"><em class=\"credit\"><span class><\/span> Image: Alex Olney<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There\u2019s one final string to Star Fox\u2019s bow (beyond the AR avatar thing, which was admittedly quite amusing), and that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>For one thing, it\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s new, more agile movement and far, far superior performance, makes this a seriously enjoyable dogfighter.<\/p>\n<p>Having said that, with only three levels with their own unique objectives, I can\u2019t help but feel that the biggest worry is longevity. Will swathes of people be playing this online in six months\u2019 time? I wouldn\u2019t bet on it.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"cols cols-2\">\n<div class=\"col col-1 col-width-50\"><a title=\"Preview over shoulder 2\" class=\"scanlines\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/3fd0e45d34abf\/preview-over-shoulder-2.large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/3fd0e45d34abf\/preview-over-shoulder-2.445x250.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"250\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Preview over shoulder 2\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col col-1 col-width-50\"><a title=\"Preview over shoulder 3\" class=\"scanlines scanlines\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/f3649f7b0028c\/preview-over-shoulder-3.large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/f3649f7b0028c\/preview-over-shoulder-3.445x250.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"250\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Preview over shoulder 3\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\"><em class=\"credit\"><span class><\/span> Images: Alex Olney<\/em><\/figcaption><\/aside>\n<p>But all in all, if Nintendo were set on remaking Star Fox 64, I\u2019m not sure if they could\u2019ve done a better job than what I\u2019ve experienced so far. I still think a <em>new<\/em> game would\u2019ve been my preference, but if I\u2019m not excited for Star Fox (2026), I\u2019m not Alex from Nintendo Life.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><!-- cache: html:nintendolife.com\/ssl\/nintendo-switch-2\/related-articles:201555,201048 @ 1780423294 --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"block object-related\"> <\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s safe to say that my initial response to the reveal of Star Fox (2026) was\u2026mixed. I\u2019m still not convinced it\u2019s going to set the gaming world on fire, but having [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}