Star Fox Hands-On Preview

On a rainy morning in May, I stood outside the Nintendo Australia headquarters awaiting an emotional reunion. It vaguely reminded me of those makeover TV shows, where family members nervously await the arrival of a loved one who has been absent for weeks or months undergoing a major transformation. I had arrived to visit with the legendary Fox McCloud and friends after a long hiatus. They're back after quite a radical makeover that walks a careful line between warm nostalgia and the cutting edge.

The last time I visited Fox McCloud and friends was on the Nintendo 3DS with Star Fox 64 3D, which was released back in 2011 (and which I've replayed several times since). If you happen to have a 3DS, please do check it out. As an elder millennial, I also vividly remember the original Nintendo 64 game, which was titled Lylat Wars in PAL territories. I don't think it's too controversial to say that Lylat Wars/Star Fox 64 has long been considered the definitive Star Fox game, perhaps explaining why Nintendo has chosen to revisit it numerous times over the years.

Star Fox wasn't on my bingo card for 2026, but here we are: Nintendo unveiled the game mere weeks ago and its June launch is imminent. I am writing this preview on the 28th of May, having just spent an entire morning at Nintendo's offices becoming reacquainted with Fox and his mates in their strikingly modern guise. This new Switch 2 exclusive - simply titled Star Fox - is indeed a remake of Star Fox 64. But what does that mean, exactly? Before I give you a tour, let me set some further context.

The hands-on demo effectively showcased the fusion of old and new here. I played four single-player levels at the beginning of the game (Corneria, Meteo, Fichina, and Sector Y) which were preceded by an all-new tutorial level. I also spent a good amount of time with the shiny new cooperative mode and online team-based multiplayer (featuring hilarious GameChat features that I'll discuss in more detail shortly). While there will be plenty more to discover, my general impression is that Star Fox really brings three key elements to the table, at least when compared to Star Fox 64:

• Entirely new presentation (graphics and sound design).
• Refinement and extension of multiplayer.
• New interaction options that leverage the Switch 2's unique hardware.

From a general gameplay and level layout perspective, this really is Star Fox 64, at least from what I played during the preview session. I can't say if there are any broader structural changes beyond those I'll discuss here. However, I wouldn't say that this is merely a re-skin of Star Fox 64 either, as this would greatly undersell the significant attention to detail that clearly went into this experience.

Let's dive in further and explore each of these key elements in more detail.

All right, Mr. McCloud, I'm ready for my close-up

Star Fox games have always had a cinematic flavour, right from the beginning. The single-player campaign never felt lonely because Fox was always surrounded by his crew, who chatter back-and-forth during missions, engage enemies, and respond to the player's actions. Many of these moments combine artfully scripted set pieces with a degree of real-time response and they tend to feel both natural and realistic as a result. Slippy - our hapless amphibian squaddie - might get into trouble in all the same places each time, but I'll never let him succumb to enemy fire (despite the fact that he's an obvious insurance liability for the Star Fox organisation). These moments played out in largely the same way in the new game but they still felt both fresh and organic. I think this is, in part, a testament to how well they were designed 30-ish years ago; but new art design, new voices, and updated dialogue only serve to further sharpen the experience.

Importantly too, Star Fox features entirely redesigned cutscenes. Not only have original cutscenes been dramatically re-worked from the ground up, but numerous brand new story elements have been injected all over the place. Star Fox is impressively cinematic, perhaps more so than any previous game from Nintendo (including the Zelda series). It's not just that the characters themselves have been brought to life with stunning visual detail (those fur effects!); it's that every element of their presentation has been dramatically enhanced. Dialogue is consistently well-written (thoughtful, punchy, humorous), voice acting is superb (each character is more distinct than ever), and animation is stunning (highly expressive faces and body language are major highlights). While Star Fox is certainly an action game, Nintendo hasn't spared any expense on characterisation and story, which is good news for fans of the franchise.

The Lylat System as you've never seen it before

With the introductory cutscene out of the way, I was straight into the action. The demo kicked off with a surprisingly long tutorial level (which itself has a pretty awesome twist that I won't spoil here 😉). As I put the Arwing through its paces, I immediately noticed how fluid and responsive the piloting felt. The original game was pretty sharp too, but the combination of buttery-smooth 60 frames-per-second gameplay and ultra-tight controls felt glorious. Not unlike Mario's running and jumping, it's a pleasure to manipulate the Arwing. While I didn't encounter anything fundamentally new in terms of mechanics (you'll still barrel roll, somersault, boost/brake, and so on), it's also true to say that these manoeuvres have never felt so effortless.

Star Fox looks as good as it feels. I was sitting up close to an enormous TV and found myself studying all of the tiny details on the Arwing itself. You can see wear and tear on your ship's surfaces, the boosters cast a soft glow across the tail, wisps of condensation trail across the wings (and if those wings should actually break, you'll see - and feel - the crumpled limb hopelessly smoking and sparking as you fly). Your squad mates each fly their own Arwing and you'll notice some cute little personalisation elements on each one; it's clear at a glance who is piloting each craft (even setting aside the name labels floating above them).

This extraordinary attention to detail extends out to the environments themselves; they are, really, the stars of the show here. Corneria's shimmering blue ocean stretches out for miles in all directions, Meteo's asteroids cluster and tumble against an eerie indigo light that casts rays across and between objects, Fichina's snow drifts billow across the frigid landscape, and Sector Y's endless star field is punctuated by the vivid neon rainbow of glowing robotic foes. The forward-scrolling levels always felt like little narrative progressions thanks to the scripted moments peppered throughout, but in this new iteration, those scripted moments are enhanced by dramatic shifts in lighting and visual effects. For example, Corneria's early moments - where you're approaching the coastline from the deep ocean - are idyllic, replete with eye-popping colour. But as you approach Corneria City, which is in the midst of battle, everything changes: plumes of black smoke darken the sky and obscure your vision while collapsing buildings progressively disintegrate before your eyes. Again, the events themselves aren't new, but the comprehensively reimagined presentation elevates the entire experience in ways that my prose can only inadequately convey.

While I was playing Star Fox, I commented that the experience reminded me of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in one important way: there's something uniquely special about returning to a familiar location and seeing it with a new perspective. Of course, Tears of the Kingdom introduced many changes - large and small - to the Hyrule we'd experienced in Breath of the Wild, including fundamental mechanical changes. But I would argue that Star Fox captures the sense of returning to a familiar place with a fresh perspective thanks to an art design that is scaffolded by decades of technological development. Nintendo has clearly been deliberate about weaving familiarity and novelty together in a way that makes revisiting the Lylat System feel both surprising and delightful. Isn't that the essence of the Nintendo experience, after all?

I hope I have gone at least some way to conveying the value of the new presentation. Fortunately, though, Nintendo has gone further. I was able to play around with some shiny new features that seek to further modernise and expand the experience. The value of each of these changes is definitely going to vary from player to player, but in general, I would say that they make Star Fox a more approachable - and in some ways, more engaging - experience overall. They also tap into unique Switch 2 features that simply weren't available in previous generations, and I think this contributes to the game's sense of modernity. Let's take a look.

Pushing the boundaries

The first big change I noticed - purely by accidentally clicking in an analogue stick - was that Star Fox supports both third and first-person modes. You can switch between these instantly at any point and in any game mode. Unlike the somewhat clunky Wii U experience, shifting perspectives in Star Fox on Switch 2 feels fluid and intuitive (I didn't notice any gyro controls here, although they may exist - my session involved pure twin-stick goodness). In first-person view, you'll find yourself sitting snugly inside a wonderfully-detailed Arwing cockpit (which also reacts beautifully to the constantly-shifting lighting conditions around you). While I generally prefer the classic third-person view, it's great to have this option; I know many folks who always prefer a first-person view in space combat games.

Speaking of preferences, Star Fox also supports Switch 2's mouse mode. I can't see myself using this mode often, but again, it's a great way to leverage the Switch 2's capabilities to customise the way you play. If you want super accurate aim - especially on higher difficulty levels - this might be a perfect option for you. You can even use mouse mode while in first-person view, which I can see being very appealing to folks who tend to prefer keyboard and mouse controls for first-person flight combat games.

Star Fox also introduces a unique cooperative mode. This isn't a split-screen experience where two players each fly their own Arwing. Instead, one player will pilot the Arwing while the other acts as gunner. I only briefly played this mode and I found it somewhat unintuitive, although focusing purely on piloting the Arwing made it easier for me to perform tricky flight manoeuvres that opened up alternative paths forward while my buddy kept enemies off my back. Again, it's not for everyone, but I don't think it needs to be: some players will enjoy the added challenge while others (especially parents with children) will appreciate the option to experience the campaign together on a single screen.

If you're looking for something a little more competitive, then the Battle Mode is a great place to start. In the preview session, I played Zone Control, which is a particular Battle Mode flavour that involves two teams of four competing to control a designated space around satellite towers on Corneria. You'll need to fight off the opposing team to protect your turf and gain points, but you'll also have the opportunity to take down NPC enemies who invade the space for additional points and bonuses. During the session, we were able to select characters from either the Star Fox or Star Wolf squads, although there were numerous hidden character portraits suggesting future character reveals/unlocks.

Although I only played Zone Control at the preview event, Nintendo has mentioned that there are additional flavours (for example, collecting energy crystals on Fichina and retrieving space cargo in Sector Y; the latter looks to be a capture the flag style experience). There may yet be more multiplayer goodness to be revealed, but so far, I appreciate that Nintendo have revised the multiplayer experience here. These challenge-based experiences offer more variety and complexity than the standard free-for-all deathmatch.

I must admit that it took me a while to jump into a multiplayer match because I got stuck on the character select screen. And no, it wasn't a bug: it was because I was having too much fun there. When you enter a GameChat session in Star Fox, you have the opportunity to select a wide range of character filters. If you simply want to wear Falco's beak on your own face, you can do that (I nearly cried laughing when I saw it on another player). But you can also completely turn yourself into your favourite Star Fox character. Better yet, the character will accurately mimic your facial movements and expressions - yes, that meant I spent a good ten minutes poking my tongue out repeatedly and giggling to myself at Nintendo's office. Always the professional.

Blast off on June 25th

It's great to see Star Fox return in a form that really does justice to the things we love about the series: the incredible alien worlds, the wonderful characters and their often-hilarious banter, and the razor-sharp flight and combat controls. For those of us who grew up with Lylat Wars/Star Fox 64, this feels like a special kind of homecoming. But I'm also super excited for all those gamers who will be diving into a Star Fox game for the very first time. In fact, I might be green with envy: Star Fox on Switch 2 is shaping up to become the definitive Star Fox experience.

I'm also pleased to see that, while Nintendo don't seem to have made radical changes to the overall gameplay or structure of the single-player campaign, they have absolutely re-thought the multiplayer experience (both in competitive and cooperative terms). The end result is a game that actually feels current/modern, which is both a testament to the strength of the original game's design and a credit to the work Nintendo have done to make careful decisions about where to apply wholesale redesign and where to apply restraint.

Star Fox launches in globally on June 15th.