---
title: 'I recommend: Star Fox (2026) - Review'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=d3qbo9EySB8'
video_id: 'd3qbo9EySB8'
date: 2026-06-24
duration_sec: 1238
---

# I recommend: Star Fox (2026) - Review

> Source: [I recommend: Star Fox (2026) - Review](https://youtube.com/watch?v=d3qbo9EySB8)

## Summary

The video reviews the 2026 remake of Star Fox for the Switch 2, developed by Villain Studios. It explores why the original Star Fox 64 remains a classic and whether the remake successfully modernizes the experience while staying faithful. The reviewer ultimately recommends the game for fans and families but notes it may feel niche to modern audiences.

### Key Points

- **Why Star Fox 64 was a classic** [0:35] — Star Fox 64 was a cutting-edge arcade game with tight controls, branching paths, and high replayability. The remake preserves these elements.
- **Game structure and length** [5:03] — Missions last 3-6 minutes; a full run is 7 missions (1-1.5 hours). There are 16 total missions with branching paths based on performance.
- **Timeless gameplay** [8:42] — The core gameplay (boosting, breaking, banking, barrel rolling) remains responsive and fun. Mission design is clever with hidden objectives.
- **All-range mode and level design critique** [10:27] — All-range mode missions offer dogfights in limited open space. The reviewer wishes the linear levels were wider to let the Arwing stretch.
- **Visuals, music, and storytelling changes** [13:14] — New visuals, orchestral music, and cutscenes are highlights. But character designs are too serious, and Fox and Falco are unlikable.
- **Final verdict** [16:54] — The reviewer recommends the game for longtime fans and families with kids, but thinks modern audiences may not be won over. He wishes Nintendo had allowed more innovation.

## Transcript

This video is brought to you by Dbrand
and their summer sale. Do you want to
get up to $55 off the best Switch 2 case
money can buy their world famous kill
switch? If so, visit dbrand.com/skillup
or just stick around to the end of the
video to learn more. Okay, Star Fox,
they remade it again. Can you believe
it? Yeah, you can. Remakes are all
getting these days and this is the next
one. So, buckle up and keep limbs clear.
I think a really interesting starting
point for this review is to explore that
question more earnestly. Why the hell do
they keep remastering or remaking this
game since this is literally the fifth
time they've done it depending on how
you categorize each retelling of the
original Lilat Saga? Well, the truth is
Star Fox 64 was an instant stone cold
classic that sat on the absolute cutting
edge of game design, presentation, and
technology. Hell, this was the game that
came bundled with the Rumble Pack. The
next time you're enjoying the haptics in
your fancy PS5 Dual Sense Pro, remember
the debt we all owe to Fox Mloud and his
squad. Star Fox 64 was a near flawless
arcade game at a time when it was novel
and interesting and desirable to have
arcade experiences playable in our
living rooms. Its pick up and play
gameplay made it immediately accessible,
but its intricate level design and tight
difficulty tuning created a vast skill
ceiling that rewarded those willing to
invest proper time into it. Its
run-based branching path structure made
the game even more enticing to play and
replay, following your nose on each run
or focusing on specific objectives and
pathways to really push yourself. It
also had a surprising amount of gameplay
depth and diversity across its mission
design and its range of vehicles such
that no two missions ever felt the same.
All these years later and recreated with
such obvious love and care for the
source material, all of these elements
hold up brilliantly. If you know what
this game is and you remember playing it
and enjoying it back in the day, you're
almost certainly going to love this
because developer Villain Studios has
done a wonderful job in bringing it to a
modern presentation standard, complete
with some new game modes that are sure
to appeal to longtime series fans.
Alongside that though, sits another more
interesting question. How much appeal
might Star Fox hold for the person who
has never played it before? Has its
structure and its gameplay aged in such
a way that it feels contemporary even
today? Or does it feel like a retro
novelty that reminds us how different
modern games are today? Well, it's going
to sound like a bit of a copout, but I
honestly think it's kind of both. I do
think there are elements of Star Fox
that feel fresh even in 2026. Like its
inviting premise, like its brilliant,
snappy controls, like its clever mission
design, like its branching pathways and
objectives based gameplay. All of this
sings as loudly as it did 30 years ago,
and it feels particularly at home on a
handheld device, which encourages pick
up and play experiences. And the
inclusion of couch co-op makes it really
easy to play alongside kids. But there's
no mistaking that this was a game that
was made 30 years ago. You can feel it
in the short mission duration with some
of them being as short as around 3
minutes long. You can feel that in the
linear level structure where it feels
like the agile Rwings are aching to
stretch their wings more than the narrow
levels allow for. You can feel it in the
lack of progression or upgrade economy,
which is a feature that most modern
games have. And please, for the love of
God, do not clip this and make it sound
like I think this stuff should be in the
game because that's not what I'm saying.
I'm just saying that games back then
were built very differently to the way
they're built today. The arcade game
doesn't really exist anymore, at least
not like it used to. And playing through
Star Fox reminds you of that because it
doesn't feel like anything you've played
recently. That's going to mean that Star
Fox is going to hit really hard with
some and it's going to be a total
moonball miss for others. And honestly,
both reactions are perfectly justified,
and I'm going to be really interested to
see where the balance on that lies.
Separate from that fundamental question
about the game's enduring appeal,
there's also going to be commentary
about how much this remake does or
doesn't change versus the original.
Purists will appreciate that the core
gameplay and most of the level design
remains untouched, but they may bristle
at new cutscenes that offer a radically
different tone for the crew, not to
mention those controversial character
models. Personally, I would have liked
to have seen Villain push the level
design further since I think the narrow
levels do feel a bit long in the tooth
at this point, and I would have loved to
have seen some wider arteries, more
optional pathways, and some more
demanding flight sequences that rewarded
precision flying. I'll put it this way.
I do recommend this, but not to
everyone. And ultimately, I found myself
wishing that Nintendo gave Villain a
little more latitude to expand this
offering because 30 years on, it does
feel like some aspects of this package
could have been refreshed without
upsetting the delicate balance that made
the original so wonderful and so loved.
>> Nice job, team. Status check. So many
targets up here, you're missing out.
>> Starbucks completed the objective.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with
Star Fox, let's cover the basics because
I think that understanding what this is
may quickly filter out some people who
are like, "No thanks, that's not for
me." Star Fox is primarily an on rails
arcade shooter that's mainly spent
flying an Rwing, but there are some
levels involving a cute little tank and
a sprry little submarine. Most of the
levels you play through are strictly
linear in that they guide you on a very
specific path, though some levels do
have branching pathways that open up
depending on which objectives you hit.
There are also some all range mode
missions where you fly the Rwing in a
limited 360° space, either in dog fights
with an enemy squad or with specific
objectives in mind, like taking down a
satellite array or defending your
capital ship from oncoming missiles.
>> 5 seconds for impact.
>> Beautiful shot, Bob. I'm impressed.
>> Each mission runs for about 3 to 6
minutes, and a full run of the game is
seven missions. So, you can knock over a
run in anywhere from an hour to an hour
and a half depending on how good you are
and which paths you take. And that's an
important point because while a run
consists of seven missions, there are
actually 16ish missions in the game. And
each run you'll choose a path based on
your performance in a given mission. Hit
specific objectives and you'll unlock a
certain path. Fail to achieve those
objectives or make different choices and
you'll unlock a different path. This
naturally lends itself to a lot of
replay-ability since each run is like a
playlist that you can remix on the fly.
Over and above finishing a run is
finishing it well, maximizing high
scores, keeping all of your crew mates
safe, earning medals, and later on
completing challenges in the dedicated
challenge mode which offers you even
more intense objectives per mission.
Finally, sitting alongside all of that
is the option for co-op play during the
campaign where one person controls the
ship and the other acts as the gunner,
as well as a dedicated multiplayer mode
that is surprisingly cool. It's 4v4
versus either bots or other players
using either online or game share. It's
PvE VP where you have to accomplish
specific objectives like capturing
points, collecting things laying around,
as well as a capture the flag mode that
I thought was a real highlight.
>> Star Fox completed the objective.
>> So, that's an overview of what this
package is, but let me put it to you
another way. In the modern era, we
typically play through a single player
game for multiple hours, expecting to
experience new content throughout that
play time, and we typically stop playing
the game either when we finish it or
when we get bored of it. Even the single
player games that we are expected to
replay, like rogue likes for example,
even they slowly meter out new content,
typically in the form of upgrades or
endgame challenges, people criticize
Resident Evil games for their short 8 to
10 hour run times, and the response is
often they're meant to be replayed. But
even then, there's still a critical mass
of people who are happy to play through
a Resident Evil game just once, and
they'll feel like they got their feel
because 8 to 10 hours was enough for
them. Saravox is a totally different
value proposition, a more throwback
retro proposition that says, "Hey, we
got about 3 hours of content here if you
string all the missions together, but
the appeal is replayability and mastery.
You don't pick up Star Fox expecting a
15-hour campaign. You pick it up
expecting a 1.5hour campaign that you
play again and again, getting better at
it each time, discovering new secrets
and efficiencies that help you chase
higher scores and more medals. Now,
immediately some people are going to
hear that and say, "Lol, what?" And I
get it. Expectations about the structure
and content offerings of games have
changed considerably in the last 30
years. And where back then Star Fox 64
was the sort of game you'd immediately
and enthusiastically recommend to
anyone, in 2026 is a decidedly more
niche offering. But separate from the
enduring appeal of this formula and the
quality of this remake, there is
something else that modern Star Fox has
in its corner. And it's the hardware
that this is being played on. Sure, we
can play lengthy 80our RPGs on the small
Switch screen, but I'd argue that the
portability of the Switch is best
leveraged by shorter, more immediate
experiences that could be played while
on the train ride to work or during a
lunch break or whatever. The mobile
market is built on game sessions that
last 2 to 5 minutes. Now, just imagine
the best mobile game you've ever played
without any of the in-game spending
[ __ ] That's kind of what Star Fox
is. To hell with Candy Crush, this is
the [ __ ] you should be playing on the
toilet. Okay? And believe me, I mean
that in the most complimentary way
possible.
>> I teach you kids some respect.
Obviously, there's more to Star Fox's
appeal than just its brevity. Its core
gameplay really is pretty timeless.
something that becomes immediately
apparent to you once you pick up the
controller and start flying. The Rwing
is the foundation. It's the thing that
you're piloting the most, and it handles
the same as you remember if you played
it back in the day. The simple move set
of boosting, breaking, banking, and
barrel rolling is all there. Incredibly
responsive, really snappy, just super
fun to glide around with. To see Star
Fox is to want to grab the controller
and play it. That was true 30 years ago,
and it's still true today. It's a simple
gameplay formula, but one that works
well because of really smart mission
design and difficulty tuning. Most of
the time, you're just flying in a
straight line, dodging various obstacles
while trying to shoot down as many
enemies as possible. But that's not as
easy as it sounds given the very
specific placement of these objects and
enemies and how hostile some of these
levels can be, particularly on the
harder pathways. What doesn't jump out
at you immediately just by watching this
gameplay is how clever the underlying
mission design here is. It may all look
like you're just flying in a straight
line and shooting stuff, but nestled
into each mission are a number of big
and small objectives that affect things
like your squad's health, the medals
you'll unlock, and the pathways you're
able to open up. For example, one
mission sees you trying to stealthily
infiltrate an enemy stronghold, and in
order to do that, you need to take out
every single radar sensor along the way.
Failed to do that, and a certain
completion path is closed off to you,
forcing you toward a different mission
route and potentially a different game
ending.
>> Guess we'll have to take them all out.
>> Another smaller example happens in the
very first mission where Falco tries to
test my flying skills by asking me to
fly between a number of archers. Miss
one of these and the mission proceeds as
normal. But nail all of them and Falco
invites you down a secret path that you
can't access without his invitation.
>> I've got eyes on a high value target.
Follow me.
>> You'd better be right about this, Falco.
I say we trust Falco's instincts.
>> After you finish the game the first
time, a challenge mode opens up that
offers even more objectives to complete
during missions. Nintendo have asked us
not to share those objectives, but they
aren't too surprising. They're really
just about pushing committed players
further, giving them an even higher
skill ceiling to pursue. There are
plenty of more ways that Nintendo keeps
this formula interesting across the 16
missions. One of them is the all range
mode where the Rwing can fly in any
direction in a limited open space. These
missions are often highlights since they
see you dog fighting with the Emperor's
Chosen. And these dog fights can be
really tough because the enemy AI is
really good at this video game and once
they get on your ass, it can be really
hard to shake them.
>> This can't be happening.
Not so tough now, are you?
>> Teamwork. Got to love it.
>> Experiencing the Rwing like this with
its wings at full stretch with so much
more room to move around, it did awaken
in me a longing for more of this. And
this is sort of my biggest
disappointment with the remake. See, I
kind of feel like the Rwing is too quick
and too maneuverable for how narrow
these main linear levels are. I hit the
screen edge too often, and I feel as
though I don't have enough choice with
regards to my flight path. I want to
really put the Rwing through its paces,
but the levels just aren't big enough to
let me do that. I'm sure this is going
to be a controversial opinion with
Purus, but if I was remaking Star Fox, I
would have looked to have addressed
this. I would have kept the same
missions, the same objectives, the same
scenario design and beats, but I would
have given people a little or a lot more
space on either side of that central
artery such that the original experience
is still protected, but each level also
offered more. More secrets, more
challenges, more interesting flight
parts, more space for the Rwing to
operate in. I get why that might
endanger the careful balancing of this
game, but I think it's a risk worth
taking because it feels as though the
Rwing has more to give and a remake
would have been the perfect opportunity
to let it give it.
>> Something's wrong with my cheetah
diffuser.
Fox, use your boosters to catch up.
>> Similly, I do think a few of the
missions could have done with some
updating. Most of the missions have aged
beautifully since their layouts and
objectives still feel really engaging at
every moment. Some of them though, like
the all-range Area 6 mission, is just
really boring since it's sort of just
flying in a circle, hitting static
targets, and that's about it. I
appreciate the fact that Villain are
going for a faithful remake, but there
is such a thing as being a little too
faithful, I think.
>> I've got you covered, Fox.
>> These complaints aside, Star Fox is
defined by the cleverness and diversity
of its mission design rather than any
shortcomings we might nitpick at. The
tank and submarine missions are
particular highlights. Remixing the
experience in clever ways. The Defense
of the Great Fox is another highlight.
That mission where you need to shoot
down the missiles before they hit your
capital ship. Incredibly tense. Very
cool. You know what it reminds me of?
Ace Combat. That is a game where you
look at it and you think, "Oh, you're
just dog fighting the whole time,
right?" No, you were definitely not. You
were doing a whole bunch of different
stuff from strafing runs to precision
flying to escorts and so much more. That
mission design ingenuity combined with
precise difficulty tuning combined with
the demanding objectives and challenges
combined with the branching mission
structure means that even though
missions and runs are short, they're
incredibly dense and diverse and they do
keep you coming back so long as you're
the type of player that's after that
focused old school challenge.
>> Report in everybody.
>> That bomb could have been bad news. Nice
work, Fox. When
>> you next take flight, you take the hoax
the entire system with you. While
Villain obviously had pretty strict
marching orders for keeping the core
gameplay and mission design intact, they
were clearly given a lot more freedom to
refresh other aspects of this
experience, namely visuals, music,
voiceover, and storytelling. Visually,
man, you can see for yourself this is
just a really lovely looking video game,
though some levels do a better job of
showing it off than others. Sure, you
can be out the lava level or the
asteroid field and be a little
unimpressed, but the real story of the
visuals are the more detailed levels
sporting more terrain, buildings, and
spaceships. They look great, made all
the better by some responsive lighting
and particle effects that add a lot of
pop and sizzle to the action. Nintendo
has also commissioned the recording of
all new music for the game. Gone is a
digitized soundtrack of yesterday year
replaced with a fully orchestral
soundtrack that honestly sounds
incredible. I absolutely love it.
>> Nice little block you've got here,
Lombbertie.
>> You built a good crew, Fox.
>> Something I'm less in love with are
these new character designs. And look, I
don't want to make a big deal of it
because it's all personal preference,
but for me, these characters look a
little too serious compared to the more
stylized art direction of the past or
even more recent Nintendo games. And
yes, I know these designs are based on
the original 1993 designs. I get that.
But I don't know how important that is.
I think a really good point of reference
to ground the discussion is to look at
the Fox Mloud design from the Mario
movie and compare that to the fox of
this remake. Personally, I think the
movie kind of nailed it. I want to give
Glenn Pal's Fox Mloud a hug, whereas I'm
kind of scared of this other fox. And
why does Falco look so prickly? What's
really interesting though is that this
more serious visual design was clearly a
deliberate choice to mirror the more
serious characterization and
storytelling going on. Arguably the
biggest change that Star Fox serves up
other than the visuals and music is the
fact that Fox Mloud is no longer an
enthusiastic dogooder who just happens
to be a mercenary. He's now a very
shrewd bottomline focused gun for hire
who seems to have very little interest
in anything other than his paycheck.
>> As promised, my crew is worth what
you're paying us, General.
>> But Fox isn't even the worst of it.
Before, Falco was a bit of a
wisecracker. But here, he's a straightup
[ __ ]
>> I've seen that thing in the hanger.
What's it made out of? Scrap metal and
chewing gum.
>> It makes for an entirely different
storytelling tone. One that I'm kind of
not on board with, to be honest. Like, I
don't like this Fox Mloud. I think he
kind of sucks. And I definitely don't
like this Falco. I'm not sure what the
goal was here except to maybe make this
appeal to a more mature audience. But if
that was the goal, then I think Nintendo
and Villain missed the mark here.
Thankfully, a lot of the other changes
to cutscenes and storytelling are really
nice and really additive. Where before
the game only had radio chatter between
missions, now it's got these beautifully
detailed, fully animated cutscenes that
allow the characters to shine a lot
more. Especially General Pepper, who
gets a lot more dialogue, these cut
scenes not only provide exposition, they
also respond to the branching path
structure of the game. As different
cutscenes roll based on which missions
are available to you next, and they do
an excellent job of framing why these
missions matter and why you might want
to choose one over the other. It makes
your decisions feel better understood
and more weighty. It sounds risky, but
ignoring that creature sounds riskier.
>> We'll be pushing the limits like never
before, but the Rwings are up to the
challenge, Fox. I know they are.
>> This new angle on characters and this
expanded storytelling secretly makes me
hope that Nintendo have plans for Star
Fox that go beyond this remake. Fox and
Falco being dicks in this game might
make for a great character arc in an
upcoming trilogy. Right. It'sium, sure,
but the Hopium flows because 30 years
on, Star Fox still holds up while still
also being full of potential.
>> Decent shooting, Fox, let's call it a
tie.
>> I think that's actually my biggest
takeaway from this latest remake. The
very core of the Star Fox experience has
long, long legs. 30 years later, it's
fun to fly an R-wing, to barrel roll, to
get a bogey off your teammate's tail, to
thread the needle through some narrow
gap and accomplish some tricky
objective. All of that stuff is here and
it all works. But it does feel a little
trapped in a game that in the modern era
could be more. You could expand these
levels to give the Arwing a little more
room to breathe. You could refresh some
of this mission design. You could add
some entirely new missions that feel
like they were designed with those
classic sensibilities while also showing
off some modern flourishes. Had you done
that, I think Star Fox might have found
some new broader currency in 2026,
whereas I think this package is going to
be quite niche. It's a really nice
package. Absolutely one I'd immediately
recommend to longtime fans or people
with kids who are looking for a really
accessible co-op game. But I do suspect
that modern audiences may not be won
over by its charms in quite the same way
we were 30 years ago. I also think that
Villain remaining so committed to the
source material is a bit of a missed
opportunity since this remake might have
been the chance for them to experiment
with some new ideas and technologies
that could then be redeployed in a
follow-up because I really really want
there to be a follow-up. The series is
too cool and has too much potential for
Nintendo to just keep remastering and
remaking the same game over and over
again. We need a proper Star Fox sequel.
But for now, 30 years on, there is still
a tremendous amount of fun to be had
with Star Fox. I recommend it. Oh, and
by the way, if you're planning on
picking up Star Fox or any other Switch
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