Games age. So do movies. We do.
Star Fox is back. On Switch 2. It is a remake. Not a new entry. Definitely not that. The game costs $50. That buys you a glossy coat of paint over a very old chassis. New cutscenes. New challenge modes. Multiplayer. The level design? Beat for beat identical to Star Fox 64. That one. From 1997. Which you can already play for free if you subscribe to the N64 Classics app.
Why buy this?
I spent hours with it. Weeks ago. Then more hours at home. And some on the train. I like it. I think it is the best version. But you have probably already beaten it. You just didn’t look at it in 4K.
Here is the thing about time. Star Fox 64 came out four years after the Super NES original. Back then the jump felt like a decade. Now? It has been nineteen years. This remake makes Star Fox 64 look like a wireframe toy. That is expected. The charm remains. Still. But the new one wins on kinetics.
It is about flying. Fast. In space. On the Switch 2 this feels alive. It looks better than anything else I have played on the console so far. Responsive. Snappy. Visceral even.
You can fly first-person now. Flip a Joy-Con sideways. Use it as a mouse. The aiming changes. It feels like a different title. I don’t care. I stay in third-person. Behind the Arwing. It feels right. There is a co-op trick though. One person steers. The other shoots. Smart.
Playing through the Viture Beast glasses with a Switch docked behind me was… weird. It felt almost VR. Hovering two giant screens in the air while piloting a ship is a new high for retro gaming.
Alongside Donkey Kong Bananza and Kirby Air Riders, this is the most kinetic experience Nintendo has released for this machine.
There are challenge modes. Checklists. Achievements. Higher difficulties. You can branch off on paths. Visit planets you skip on the first run. But let’s be honest. It is still on-rails. Arcade logic applies. Levels are short. Punchy. No open world freedom here.
Multiplayer? I skipped the home play for now. I tried it at a demo. It was chaos. A USB camera captures your face. Filters apply during video chat. It mimics the cockpit comms in the single player campaign. The disconnect is intentional. The free-moving multiplayer feels like the main course. The campaign is the appetizer.
I wanted more levels. New worlds. More Fox. Too much? Probably. It stings that this is a rehash. Maybe a sequel is coming later. If sales spike. Who knows.
It raises a question. Is this the playbook now? Remakes as strategy? Ocarina of Time gets a fall remake next. You can play the original on the emulator. You don’t need the $50 version. Metroid Prime was remastered. Link’s Awakening too.
Why keep redoing what works?
Maybe because the originals are slipping away. Or maybe we just like them shiny again. There is a cost to nostalgia though. $50 is steep. You lose the history when you repaint it. The rough edges vanish. It becomes safe. Clean. Star Fox fits the bill perfectly though. It upgrades without breaking the spirit.
There is a demo on the eShop. It is free. Try that first. Decide if the gloss is worth the price tag.
I still wonder. Does a perfect remake erase the original?
