Star Fox

Let's get this out of the way first: I'm a big fan of Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars. It was one of my favourite Nintendo 64 games, among the ones I put more hours into (both SP and MP), and then I double-dipped 15 years ago with the 3DS remaster. So take that as a caveat: those are the biased lenses I'm going to be talking through, where nostalgia is as high as demands.

Now, what a weird little game this is, isn't it? Mainstream, accessible, yes, but at the same time a bizarre combination of challenging Japanese arcade shoot 'em ups, and a more light-hearted tribute to Star Wars in Nintendo's furry fashion. The classic space shooting shenanigans, but with an added depth as you fly in 3D. The seemingly simple, repetitive proposal, then the hidden complexity and the tough mastery. In other words, you probably love it or hate it, as it's based on its own unique formula, and this remake's mission isn't to convince you otherwise.

So, if you already loved it, or were remotely interested in it in the past three decades, is it worth it even if you have the original available on the NSO catalogue? Well, I say yes. Basically, because this is probably Nintendo's finest remake ever.

We've seen a bunch of remakes and remasters by the company, especially over the past decade when the newer hardware allowed devs to make a more noteworthy difference. But if we put the remaster restorations aside, I believe the new Star Fox sits comfortably on the same VIP table as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Metroid: Zero Mission, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, and Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver.

Compared to those though, Velan Studios' effort felt to me more like some of the acclaimed Resident Evil remakes by Capcom. Namely, I get more of what I enjoyed from the original formula, but with the current visual fidelity and gameplay standards, a significantly expanded narrative, and in this case a ridiculous number of unlockables as the (challenging) icing on the cake for fans.

You have to know, however, that the new Star Fox on the Switch 2 feels the same. Or at least, how you remember it, because the improved manoeuvrability with the refined controls, together with the smoother framerate, increases its sense of speed often. But your muscle memory will serve you right, as things are where they should be, at exactly the same time you expect them, which was a must for hardcore fans of the original. That being said, I performed ever so slightly better on the 3DS while chasing medals and hi-scores (still didn't get to beat my 212 hits record in Corneria on my Switch 2). Was it down to my rustier reflexes? The added graphical bells and whistles reducing visibility and clarity? I can't put my finger on the reason, but I'm enjoying the gauntlet throwing nonetheless.

And it's right here where I have to applaud the newly-added Challenge Mode as the best reason to play the new game, even before the fancier graphics, the more detailed lore, or the new multiplayer mode. Because, like in the past, you can try to earn a medal on every planet by scoring a certain number of hits while keeping your wingmen alive, and then you have the Expert Mode, which already induced nightmares on N64 and 3DS. But the Challenge Mode is just what a game heavily based on repetition, like an arcade cabinet, was begging for.

It's the type of gameplay loop veteran players needed, with up to six objectives to complete per planet, and some of them will take you many, many attempts. Besides, these achievements feel fresh and interesting, as they spark your curiosity and force you to play better and more attentively. After all, a big part of the Star Fox charm always was to find not just the ways through the different routes, but also the many little hidden secrets that make more enemies appear, that grant you with more items, or that trigger a new comment by your colleagues.

And worry not, as one of my fears in my preview has been wiped: Co-op challenges have a separate space (to avoid unfair differences as you split flying and shooting), while the also new Mouse Mode controls are so demanding, I don't expect the highest scores to depend on this.

Coming back to the lines uttered by the cast, and even if I know some fans wanted them to remain literally the same as they've been trademark memes for decades, I also approve of the rewriting of the whole game. The actors did a great job, but even more than that I appreciate how the new writing seamlessly gives you more context. And this happens not only in the intermission chatter between the crew and General Pepper, but also with the occasional added comments and jokes before, during, and after missions, not to mention the encyclopaedic Holoviewer. This is how you update what always was a straight, one-liner-filler story not just to make more sense (for example giving elaborate reasons for path branching) and to gift fans with a couple of revealing details I won't spoil, but mostly to be enjoyed by old and new audiences.

Even if some environments such as Fichina or the multiplayer version of Corneria look a bit uglier (more so when you crash), this one's a looker too, especially for Nintendo users. The balance between cartoon and realism is well kept in my opinion even if it dares leaning to the latter, but colours, lighting, and designs push the fantasy setting above all. The furry characters work too, and surprisingly well in the intercoms or if you use them as your own avatar on GameShare. Technically, while I had some doubts at first, it's an incredibly solid effort by Velan Studios on their own Viper Engine, and something tells me Nintendo will keep them close for future games, hopefully a new Star Fox among them. It makes better use of HDR and surround sound than most first-party games, and it produces some of the best in-engine cutscenes we've seen on a Nintendo system, with improved cinematography and amazing shots.

This also helps to make already legendary moments more memorable, another request for remakes. My first time on the new Zoness or Titania, the first time I re-experienced that moving sequence, or the first time I dug through the wormhole gave me goosebumps, and I'm an old hare like Peppy. There's a John Williams/Star Wars magic to Koji Kondo's work on Star Fox, as beautiful and even more epic than his tracks for Mario and Zelda at the time. And to enjoy them fully, sensibly orchestrated, just uplifted the whole experience.

Finally, the multiplayer. First and foremost, no, there's no 4-player split-screen possibility. And I was mad too, "because that's how we played" in the 90s. But nowadays the compromise a modern game demands makes those only reserved for Mario Kart and a few more, and the 3DS remaster already introduced a formula that works even better here: one copy of the game, four consoles can play. In this case, even three old Nintendo Switch (1) consoles can join the party via GameShare, and you can do that either locally or even online. To me, it's a great solution to recreate what we did back then.

Regarding the multiplayer Battle Mode itself, it's also brand-new, as the original was admittedly bare-bones. I've played a couple of hours versus both CPU bots and some other European journalists, and as I like the concept, I hope it gains some momentum to eventually get expanded with more content. It's just three maps/planets/modes, but the systems are in place (including accolades, rankings, and more) and the dogfights were fun and intense, with the three proposals feeling strategically different even if you shouldn't expect a fully-fledged online shooter. Prepare to be downed and to respawn a lot unless you communicate with your wingmen, and that is a very interesting approach should this mode grow in the future: to see if well-organised squadrons conquer the online galaxy.

On the Switch 2, Star Fox is giving me exactly what I ask for in a modern remake, and therefore shows Nintendo what will be required from The Legend Zelda: Ocarina of Time in a few months. Modern, spectacular graphics, yes, but also a careful tweak of the original gameplay, an interesting expansion of the narrative, a respectful update of the beloved characters boosting rather than ruining their personality, and a generous bunch of playable extras. You've done your father proud, Velan Studios.