It is nearly impossible to talk about this game without explaining the complicated pedigree that precedes it. Star Fox is an established Nintendo IP, but unlike many others such as Mario, Zelda, or even Metroid, the scope of games in Star Fox's library is a little bit muddled. Even though there are about 10 games in the franchise, roughly half of them are the same game. There were Star Fox Zero for the Wii U and Star Fox 64 3D, both remakes of the iconic title Star Fox 64 for the Nintendo 64. But even that game is arguably a reimagining of the original Star Fox, which was released on the NES. While many of these remakes have unique features, they are all, more or less, telling the same story with incredibly similar gameplay. It's important to bring this up because Star Fox 2026 is just as guilty as its predecessors of retreading incredibly familiar ground. If you are a longtime Nintendo fan, this is nothing that you have not seen before.

Star Fox's gameplay is that of a third-person rail shooter. You are flying in Star Fox's iconic ships, the Arwings, on short yet intense linear levels with different terrain, or you are taking on a variety of different enemies in open zones. You can shoot enemies down with your lasers, fly through rings that spawn to recover health, or even extend your health if you find the rare gold rings, tilt your Arwing to get through tight spaces, perform loop-de-loops to avoid obstacles, and, of course, do those sick barrel rolls to avoid or even reflect projectiles. The name of the game is to complete each stage presented to you to reach Andros at the end. A standard playthrough will probably run you about an hour at most, depending on the difficulty. However, not every playthrough will be the same, depending on your actions during the stages.

You could just run through each stage and make it to the end, since each stage has very clear objectives. Some of them are simple, like taking down the boss at the end of the stage and utilizing all the upgrades or power-ups you acquire along the way. Others are a bit more open, like destroying a certain number of enemies in an area or taking down your rival team, Star Wolf. Some have clear bosses at the end of a stage who need to be defeated and will throw everything and the kitchen sink at you. The goal is to make it to the end of the stages by taking as little damage as possible while also occasionally helping your teammates, who are, ironically, among the most accident-prone in video game history. Sometimes they will fly in front of you, and you can accidentally shoot them; other times, other enemies will chase them, which you need to destroy before they shoot down your teammate. Having all your teammates survive at the end of the level will not only earn you more points but also give you benefits in other stages.

The great thing about Star Fox is that every action you take could have consequences or benefits later on. If you manage to keep all your teammates alive or complete an objective, then you can get bonuses or upgrades faster. Keeping your teammates alive also unlocks additional routes to explore more of the game. Consequently, if your teammates fall or if you fail the objective, you could get knocked off your intended course even if you make it to the end of the current stage without dying. There are three main routes, each roughly corresponding to a different difficulty spike, and you might sometimes use other vehicles to get the job done (though the Arwing is used for about 90% of the game). If you perform well in one stage, you'll take the more difficult route, but if you fail objectives or lose your teammates, you'll be knocked down to the easy route. The reason why a standard gameplay loop is so short is that Star Fox's bread and butter is in its replayability. The idea is to explore all the stages in all possible routes, especially the ones that are a bit more obtuse to figure out.

Sometimes a specific route or objective will be hidden, with only the occasional hint or one-off comment as a tell to help you figure it out. Maybe you need to fly through a certain obstacle to unlock it, or maybe you need to perform a specific action in a stage before it ends. This is something that was retained from the original N64 game, and while there are definitely more hints to clarify exactly what it is you need to do, it can still be incredibly difficult to figure out how to perfect this game. It's a good thing the gameplay is so fun and energetic; otherwise, the idea of replaying these stages to discover everything could feel incredibly tedious. Thankfully, Star Fox does embody what it was always meant to be: a fast-paced, exhilarating arcade shooter of yesteryear. While I am bummed that this game doesn't innovate the gameplay enough to be very different from its predecessors, it is nice that, in the year 2026, we have a very well-polished game that highlights why these games were so popular back in the day.

What does this remake bring to the table if the gameplay isn't that much different? Well…we have cutscenes now? Nintendo is very proud of just how cinematic this game is, and it shows. The game opens with the backstory of James McCloud's death, and other cutscenes appear between levels, creating a narrative flow from beginning to end. This was never present in previous games, and, from a narrative perspective, it is meant to be the definitive Star Fox experience. There is actual character work in these cutscenes, and they are all very well acted. I like that Nintendo and the writing staff seem to account for actual story reasons that explain why the Star Fox crew would need to change course to go to one level rather than another, depending on the player's actions. It feels very organic. While I'm not the biggest fan of the game's hyper-realistic art direction, there is a real camaraderie among the characters that I think many fans, new and old, have never seen before.

I find it interesting that the best character work in these cut scenes occurs during stage transitions, when you actually fail a mission. For example, if a teammate goes down, Fox will actually voice that frustration or butt heads with others about how to proceed. There is also a lot of subtle dialogue thrown in regarding Fox's complicated relationship with his dad. It's nothing groundbreaking, and all of this does actually make me wish for a more story-focused Star Fox game that isn't just another remake, but I do appreciate what is here. Outside of that, there are a few scene transitions that come off as a bit bland when you're just taking a more optimal route. The cutscenes could just come off as the characters going “Ok, so we're going here now”

When the game adds more to the Star Fox formula, it is at its best. However, it is at its worst and most meandering when trying to recapture the magic of the original. While I did praise the voice acting and character work in certain cut scenes, the same can't be said for much of the endgame dialogue. The characters will often exchange quips or pleasantries in the heat of combat, and these lines are ripped right from the original Star Fox games. The problem is that the acting never feels like it evolves beyond what I saw in those cutscenes. You might think that's a good thing since I praise the voice quality there. Still, considering that the environment and stakes are very different in combat than when casually in the hangar at the home base, it becomes very jarring. Iconic lines that were full of emotion, as cartoon as they were, come off very bland and tired during combat. It almost feels like all of the voice lines were recorded at the same time, and there wasn't much distinction given to the actors about how they needed to have a more frantic attitude to accompany the endgame dialogue versus the cut scene dialogue.

When I first picked up this game, I was scared it would be just a very safe yet well-produced retread of familiar ground, and I was mostly right. Don't get me wrong, everything new here is exciting, and the gameplay is probably the best it has ever been, fine-tuned to perfection. If there was one Star Fox game that I had to recommend to people, it would be this one. The extra character work is appreciated, the gameplay is snappy, and the music is an absolute treat for the ears, feeling like definitive recreations of iconic Star Fox themes. I'm almost infuriated at how good the music genuinely is.

However, I feel this was a lot of money spent on ideas that didn't need to be done again. I really wish that we got a new Star Fox game with all of this style and production value. I know that, given how dormant a lot of IPs are, this is more or less a way of testing the waters before Nintendo commits to the franchise again. Given how it is selling and the overall reception, I'm more excited about what comes next than about potentially revisiting this game. If you have never played Star Fox before, this is a fantastic place to start. But if you have played all the other Star Fox games and felt trepidation about picking this game up at full price, I would say wait for a price drop or wait patiently to see what comes next.