Star Fox review: Switch 2’s latest major game disappoints

Star Fox is the Switch 2’s latest major release. Having spent time with it, we can only come away disappointed.

Star Fox 64 arrived on Nintendo 64 in 1997. At the time, this shooting game made a real impression thanks to its inventive ideas and brisk pace. Nintendo has now brought it back for Switch 2 in a remake simply called Star Fox.

The concept could hardly be more straightforward. From the cockpit of our craft, we follow a fixed path while blasting the enemies that cross our route. There are, naturally, a few extra manoeuvres to master, including slowing down, dodging and performing loops. At times, the game offers more freedom through 360-degree open stages, or puts us in charge of a tank or submarine. This formula has remained unchanged since 1997.

Star Fox, reporting for duty!

In Star Fox, we play as Fox McCloud, leader of the Star Fox mercenary team. The villainous Dr Andross is attacking the Lylat system, and it is up to us to drive him back. That is more or less the extent of the plot. As the campaign unfolds, we make our way through the solar system before eventually reaching Venom, the baddie’s planet.

Every stage takes us to a different setting for a mission lasting around ten minutes. Some missions also assign secondary objectives. Completing them can lead to a different next mission than failing them would. The main adventure takes a little over an hour to finish, while seeing every branching path or achieving the highest score requires roughly four times as long. It is brief.

The remake’s main appeal lies in its visuals. Everyone will have their own opinion on the art direction, which has divided fans; personally, we are not especially keen on it. Even so, Nintendo’s teams deserve credit for the work they have done. Star Fox is beautiful, detailed and transporting, and anyone familiar with the Nintendo 64 version will enjoy revisiting the stages of their childhood. That is the game’s greatest strength: it is a visual showcase for Switch 2. The spacecraft’s fuselage looks superb, but it is unfortunately stuck on autopilot.

So, should you buy Star Fox?

Although the Nintendo 64 version has gained gameplay improvements and new features, including online play, co-op and challenges, the structure and progression remain the same. You move along rails, shoot everything in sight, then take down the boss in ten minutes flat with disarming ease, even on Expert difficulty. It was a formula that worked in 1997, but it feels rather dated in 2026. The rail shooter genre has now been almost entirely abandoned, if not considered unfashionable.

In truth, this Star Fox could have worked as an enjoyable nostalgia trip had it been priced at €15 or €20. The problem is that it costs €50. That raises the question of who Star Fox 2026 is really for. Beyond long-standing fans hoping to recapture the feeling of playing it 30 years ago, it is difficult to recommend it to younger players as an introduction to the series. They will be deeply bored.

Extremely short, straightforward-overly simplistic, perhaps-in its gameplay and above all restrictive, Star Fox has been left largely as it was, retaining both its strengths and its weaknesses. That is a shame, given how successful the presentation is. Perhaps Nintendo should have spent more time considering a complete remake better suited to the present day. As it stands, this reinterpretation is either too cautious or too expensive. Star Fox is certainly not the essential Switch 2 summer blockbuster.

Subscribe to Presse-citron

Star Fox

€50

Overall score

5.5/10

What we like

• Successful visuals
• It recaptures the feel of the original era
• A few gameplay improvements

What we like less

• Very short
• Repetitive
• Has stayed a little too close to the original
• Too expensive!
• Will only appeal to nostalgic players

Buy Star Fox