Star Fox

Star Fox is a rail shooter for the Nintendo Switch 2, developed by Velan Studios and published by Nintendo. It launched on June 25, 2026, with South Korea receiving it on July 2. The game is a remake of Star Fox 64 from 1997 and reboots the series, keeping that game’s level design, story, and gameplay while giving it a new art style and a full visual overhaul.

Fox McCloud, son of the late James McCloud who founded the mercenary squad Star Fox, leads a revived version of the team. Their mission is to stop Dr. Andross, a mad scientist who has named himself emperor, before he destroys the Lylat System. The campaign is split into levels set on different planets in the Lylat System, with dialogue and cutscenes carrying the plot, and new extended cutscenes between levels expand on the story, characters, and world. The game also features new fully voiced dialogue and an orchestral soundtrack.

Played from a third-person view, the game moves the Arwing forward through each level automatically. Lasers and bombs handle offense, while a somersault and a barrel roll help deflect incoming shots. The outcome of a level can change, and branching paths lead to other levels. There are three difficulty settings; on Normal and Hard, shield and boost start out limited and are restored or expanded by collecting gold and silver rings, and each level has optional tasks that earn other rewards.

A Challenge Mode lets individual levels be replayed with different objectives. In the competitive battle mode, players split into the Star Fox and Star Wolf squads across maps with their own rules and objectives, and computer opponents are available. In co-op, one person pilots with traditional controls while a second aims and fires using the Joy-Con 2 mouse controls. The game also supports GameChat, with webcam filters based on members of the Star Fox squad, plus GameShare and the Nintendo 64 Wireless Controller. An update on September 29, 2026 added more battle mode maps.

The game was built in Velan Studios’ own Viper engine, which renders cutscenes in real time and keeps gameplay at 60FPS, and the Star Fox 64 music was rearranged by Max McGuire and Stephen Barton. Nintendo revealed the game in a surprise Nintendo Direct on May 7, 2026, and a demo followed on June 9. The reveal drew mixed reactions to its art style and to the choice to remake Star Fox 64 again. After launch, reviews were positive, praising the gameplay, graphics, and faithfulness to the original while criticizing the lack of innovation and extra features. As of September 30, 2026, it had sold 1.17 million copies.