Yo everyone! Alex Olney at Nintendo Life just got invited by Nintendo for hands-on time with Star Fox (2026) on Switch 2 — and honestly? After initially being mixed about the reveal, this preview had him seriously rethinking everything I was hearing before playing it myself. What's so interesting is that despite wanting to blast through an entire run in his full 75-minute preview session, he only got to tackle Corneria, Meteo, Fichina, and Sector Y — but wow, what a taste! And let me tell you why this might be one of those remakes where the actual experience beats all the initial hype.
So here's my take: YES, it is still unmistakably Star Fox 64 at its core (I've played them both since childhood and yeah, Alex called it out perfectly), BUT after crashing into some Corneria city walls to test the death screen properly — classic gamer move — he found that twenty-nine years of graphical innovation have been incredibly kind. The environments feel genuinely believable now rather than just remixed nostalgia, but Corneria City specifically is a revelation. We're talking billowing smoke clouds, actual licking flames on buildings, and an overbearing sense of Andross' forces pressing down on you — the atmosphere feels thick enough to taste carbon monoxide! And Alex's big praise? The Arwing controls have never been snappier or more responsive; they make it feel like a lightweight fighter jet rather than what was basically space-craft drift physics. Paired with nearly flawless 60fps performance (trained eye of an experienced previewer), he described the whole experience as "shaking off decades of dust and detritus." But here's where my heart breaks slightly for old-school fans: ZL+ZR to lock-off your charge shot so you can score bonus free-aim hits — that beautiful classic trick we've all mastered over years — is completely unavailable when using mouse controls in the co-op mode he played. He didn't play it personally as a gyro guy, but said if anyone's chasing high scores via mouse aiming this could be their best option; just one key feature missing for now!
Cutscenes are gorgeous too with genuinely great voice acting AND direction (which Alex specifically noted is surprisingly rare nowadays — bless), Falco being even MORE bitchy than usual and dropping the line "Last I checked, a real team needs a real leader" which gave him his biggest hearty chuckle of the preview, plus there's an AR avatar feature that was amusing. But what really sold me on this? Eight-player multiplayer battles have jumped head-and-shoulders above original Star Fox 64 — it's Team Star Fox versus Team Star Wolf in four-on-four dogfights with unique objectives per stage like zone-capture and a point system where you can still crown yourself even just by shooting down masses of enemies. Fodder units give bonus points too! Only three levels feature their own distinct missions though, so he did wonder if longevity might be the biggest worry — would swaths of people still play online six months out? "I wouldn't bet on it." His final verdict: if Nintendo were set on remaking Star Fox 64 rather than creating a new game entirely (his personal preference remains a fresh entry), this is absolutely what they could've done best. And honestly, I'm with him — feels like the kind of remake where atmosphere and feel trump everything else. Plus there's an official day-one update mentioned for required online features!
Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/previews/star-fox-2026-just-a-remake-but-what-a-remake
Also see: News Star Fox On Switch 2 Is Getting A Day One Update
So here's my take: YES, it is still unmistakably Star Fox 64 at its core (I've played them both since childhood and yeah, Alex called it out perfectly), BUT after crashing into some Corneria city walls to test the death screen properly — classic gamer move — he found that twenty-nine years of graphical innovation have been incredibly kind. The environments feel genuinely believable now rather than just remixed nostalgia, but Corneria City specifically is a revelation. We're talking billowing smoke clouds, actual licking flames on buildings, and an overbearing sense of Andross' forces pressing down on you — the atmosphere feels thick enough to taste carbon monoxide! And Alex's big praise? The Arwing controls have never been snappier or more responsive; they make it feel like a lightweight fighter jet rather than what was basically space-craft drift physics. Paired with nearly flawless 60fps performance (trained eye of an experienced previewer), he described the whole experience as "shaking off decades of dust and detritus." But here's where my heart breaks slightly for old-school fans: ZL+ZR to lock-off your charge shot so you can score bonus free-aim hits — that beautiful classic trick we've all mastered over years — is completely unavailable when using mouse controls in the co-op mode he played. He didn't play it personally as a gyro guy, but said if anyone's chasing high scores via mouse aiming this could be their best option; just one key feature missing for now!
Cutscenes are gorgeous too with genuinely great voice acting AND direction (which Alex specifically noted is surprisingly rare nowadays — bless), Falco being even MORE bitchy than usual and dropping the line "Last I checked, a real team needs a real leader" which gave him his biggest hearty chuckle of the preview, plus there's an AR avatar feature that was amusing. But what really sold me on this? Eight-player multiplayer battles have jumped head-and-shoulders above original Star Fox 64 — it's Team Star Fox versus Team Star Wolf in four-on-four dogfights with unique objectives per stage like zone-capture and a point system where you can still crown yourself even just by shooting down masses of enemies. Fodder units give bonus points too! Only three levels feature their own distinct missions though, so he did wonder if longevity might be the biggest worry — would swaths of people still play online six months out? "I wouldn't bet on it." His final verdict: if Nintendo were set on remaking Star Fox 64 rather than creating a new game entirely (his personal preference remains a fresh entry), this is absolutely what they could've done best. And honestly, I'm with him — feels like the kind of remake where atmosphere and feel trump everything else. Plus there's an official day-one update mentioned for required online features!
Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/previews/star-fox-2026-just-a-remake-but-what-a-remake
Also see: News Star Fox On Switch 2 Is Getting A Day One Update